Another (Very) non-budget light I want.

http://flashlightnews.net/forum/index.php?topic=2563.0

Yours for only $175 + shipping....

Good grief that thing is bright! That can't be legal.

I compare the brightness to a big shoulder carry spotlight.....I agree that sucker is bright.

And it is raining hard. And the dog has a urinary tract infection and wants out about every 90 minutes.

The light has 32 levels via a dimmer switch. On 3 D's the lowest level allows me comfortably to look into the lit LED. On 4 Cs which is what it designed to run on, I can't.

So here are a few pictures to be going on with. These were done with 4 Cs - it is pretty much twice as bright with 4 Cs.

Lowest level

Highest level

Ceiling shot - lowest level with an ROP high on the right. the spot is in exactly the same place in both these shots. I can just see the spot in this shot. Pity I've never been able to turn off auto white balance on this camera.

Ceiling shot - highest level with an ROP high again on the right. Both of the above were done with the lights tailstanding on my desk about 1.5 metres/5 feet from the ceiling.

It does get hot, there is 30W going through the LED. The ROP is roughly a 35W device for comparison but is a lot less efficient though it is being driven at very close to death current so is about as efficient as a non-exotic incandescent bulb can get. It just doesn't last very long - you'll be lucky to get 8 hours out of a bulb. The SST-90 is not a cheap part - about twice the price of the ROP bulb set but should last a long time.

Dropped a small aspheric lens on the glass so here's an image of the illuminated die. This is on 3Ds as the Cs are charging again. Camera screens are a good way to see if a light is using PWM for power control. The screens strobe like crazy even if you can't see the light flicker. It wasn't at all green to my eye - the LED is a 5700K part which is pretty blue - about the same colour temperature as high noon sunlight - in places that get that - we tend not to.

This lens on the light is not actually practical as it is quite a bit smaller than the Mag glass but it does let you see the LED lit without burning out your eyes.

Hey how would you like to send me the light so i can give it a few runs....lol, just joking of course. Cant wait to see what the range is like on that sucker.

If it doesn't rain and I remember to take my measuring tape, I've made up a bunch of range markers to show distance along the forest path I have in mind. Digging out lights, chargers, batteries, dog food, waterproofs, boots and other stuff. Sadly no phone line or mobile data reception so uploading the pics will have to be after my return.

Note to self: Get a new card reader that doesn't corrupt HC memory cards.

Second note to self: Remember to take some clothes.

Have fun with the new light! Look forward to the results once you get back.

Spent an hour waiting for customer to show without any luck. So time for some more pics. Still raining and my garden is way too short for this thing at anything even approaching full power. Plan to do a beamshot at each of the 32 levels with 4C and 3D where it is much less bright. This light was the prototype of the series - they will shortly be on sale here.

http://www.lambdalights.com/varapower.html

By the time I got some Cs from him, paid the postage and import duties this cost me not far off $300, but certainly thus far it is well worth it.

Here it is next to a 2D

The 2D is stock externally but hardly any internal parts are stock. It has 2 D lithium cells and runs an ROP High bulb. Metal reflector, glass lens, resistance fixes to switch and tail- just the usual Mag mod stuff.

Beside a 2D and a more or less stock 3D

The front ends. How's that for a humungous hole in a reflector? The typical ROP High bulb on the right, identifiable by its pointy tip. Sadly they tend to explode when they die which has done Bad Things to the KD metal reflector. At least 3 of them have blown up in there.

VaraPower front end on its own. The smooth reflector is a brutally cut down stock plastic Mag item. I've not yet pulled out this quite heavy OP reflector to see if it is a sputtered stock Mag item. You can see the lines on the LED die that got projected by the aspheric.

The tailcap is a long way from stock. You can just see that there are two springs in there - the stock 3D Mag item that makes the tailcap almost impossible to get on. Just like every other Mag and there's a smaller spring recessed into the tailcap for use with 4 Cs.

Stock Mag spring removed. Sadly the 4C spring isn't quite long enough for use with 3Ds or I'd toss the 3D spring in the parts box. I'm going to grind a coil or so off it anyway and grind the top flat so it isn't so cruel to my Ds. Note the inside of the tailcap has been deanodised

More mods to the tailcap. That is a vent plug in case the batteries get bored with the power they are delivering. While NiMH cells don't burn up like venting lithium cells, they can still generate a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure in a sealed metal tube is another way of saying "pipe bomb". Best avoided so the disc in the centre will blow out if cells vent. Some of the knurling has been grooved out and an O ring installed instead. It probably is a little more easily handled that way than the stock Mag one. It would be really nice if some flats had been machined on to it as an anti-roll device.

Here's the 4C adapter tube. The O ring to hold it in place is a nice touch - I also got a bag os spare O rings.

Here it is installed with cells. It will drain the 5,000mAh cells in about 23 minutes so it is pulling of the order of 12A from them.

Here it is lit at its lowest level with 4 C cells. You can't look into it even at the lowest level without discomfort. Talking of which:

http://www.dilbert.com/2010-04-26/

And here it is about 3-4 clicks up the scale

Now that is one hell of a light......

It is, but then it ought to be!

After all you could get 70 Powerlights from DX for what I paid for it. Or about 100 of them from other places. But 100 of them would probably still make less light. The LED alone would buy 7-8 Powerlights.

However, to power it properly and still get decent life from alkalines you'd probably need 720 alkalines simultaneously. (50mA from each alkaline - 12A at 4.5V in total. An alkaline shouldn't sag in voltage at 50mA per cell) Might get a bit pricey... I can get 12 junk alkalines for a pound ($1.50). About $90 to fuel it with dirt cheap junk alkalines. Should run for about 10hr before all the cells leak and eat the light.

More than a little bulky too. Suddenly, even rather expensive NiMH cells make sense.

Hey you have a self-defense tool and you can also blind a person as well.......now thats what i call a mega-light.

Awesome torch Don! Cool

Annoyance before dishonor! Laughing

Any beam shots of this yet then Don ?

When I was away, the rain came on as the sun came down (and up). Will do some at the usual tree tonight, weather permitting.

I guess you've been reading the results at CPF for one of these things? He's getting over 1500 lumens, but that's all his measuring sphere goes up to. So now he's thinking he needs a new sphere.

Does it have a sleeve to put in there when using C cells?

Not looked at CPF in a while - yes there's a sleeve for the C cells with a shorter tailspring.

Here it is in place

The shorty 4C spring

4C fully charged and rested for a few hours. OP reflector - I also have an appropriately cut smooth reflector which I've not yet installed. Apparently you can double the throw by taking the dome off the LED but I have my doubts about LED longevity if I were to do that. They are premium bin SST-90's and not all that easy (or cheap) to find.

Lightbox (total output) readings in Lux The left column is the number of clicks from on at lowest level to highest level. Meter range changed for measurement 11 and i miscounted somewhere as I'd got to 32 and found I had some more clicks - there is not a big jump to 32 and the reading for maximum is correct - the click number probably went wrong about 25 I think. Having given the cells a short rest I saw 5850 on full power. For comparison, the Piritlight SG-L8 which is just a budget light gave me 2380 lux on high and 151 lux on low (Same meter, same box)

1

28
2 34
3 40
4 314
5 522
6 760
7 985
8 1290
9 1500
10 1736
11 1950
12 2110
13 2380
14 2600
15 2840
16 3040
17 3240
18 3440
19 3620
20 3780
21 3940
22 4090
23 4230
24 4350
25 4500
26 4630
27 4790
28 4930
29 5050
30 5200
31 5320
32 5750

With the OP reflector I get 16,000 lux on high at 1 metre which is suspiciously low. Will investigate. The Piritlight got 29,500

1 1
2 2
3 1?
4 103
5 275
6 380
7 549
8 638
9 767
10 877
11 989
12 1100
13 1223
14 1303
15 1445
16 1472
17 1571
18 1662
19 1774
20 1865
21 1966
22 2060
23 2150
24 2240
25 2350
26 2450
27 2550
28 2650
29 2760
30 2850
31 2970
32 3250

I used 3 D's and used one other high power light to compare it with. There didn't seem to be a lot of point in using 4 Cs when it is twice as bright as it was just going to saturate the sensor. I've not yet tried the smooth reflector which should improve the throw at the cost of a less pretty beam. I can halve the size of the hotspot and double the throw by removing the dome from the LED but I reckon it's there for a reason and SST-90's in premium bins are not cheap.

Control - it doesn't really get fully dark at this time of year - I am north of 57 degrees Taken at about 22:45 GMT+1

Just for fun, the BLF DeLight - I found the good one. You could get 200 of these for what I paid for the Varapower, batteries, postage and import taxes.

Took the Varapower at 4 levels, 8, 16, 24 and 32 clicks - or 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full

8 clicks

16 clicks

24 clicks

32 clicks - full power

50 feet to the tree is not adequate for a light of this power - I've seen 150 metre beamshots from this light.

So for comparison, here's the Piritlight SG-L8 which isn't pumping out nearly as much light - less than a third as much at 500 lumens or thereabouts but puts about 450 of those in a tight hotspot.

Again 50 feet is far too close - about 150 metres will show what it can do.

Now that sucker is bright.....I can feel the heat coming from the emitter way over here.