I canāt say it better so Iāll quote it.
This. Anyone going for a premium upgrade component like this will want premium components on it and is willing to spend a few extra $ to make that happen.
Thatās great to hear that your designās going into mass production. Be proud of it!
Canāt wait till I can get my hands on one.
I am going to get a few of these drivers with RGB boards to replace in all my FW3A lights, ONLY if they are produced with the matterials proposed by the designer. No cut corners for me please.
I have little faith that Neal and Lumintop wonāt value engineer this into a lower-quality product eventually. I guess Iād best get mine early.
But to echo whatās been said, Iām content with a higher price if it means the components will be high-quality and consistent over time. Iād have been happy to pay more for my FW3A if it was better-made as well, and kind of wish the project hadnāt been trying for a $30 price point.
If anybody involved in the business side of things is reading this thread, know that the availability of this driver will cause me to buy an FW1A, and possibly more FW series lights.
In for 1
Edit: just noticed the update 
Looking forward to when theyre available 
How much cost could we possibly be talking about? Decent FETs are around $1 in low quantities. In bulk, there canāt be more than pennies to save there.
I know integrated boost modules are more complex, and this will be one of the critical components of this driver, but even the big one I see in the GXB172 parts list is $2 in moderate quantities.
I doubt thereās a single person interested in this driver, much less a premium light like an FW3exotic, who wants the efficiency of a boost-buck driver over a linear driver, but would trade 5 percentage points of efficiency for $1-2 in cost savings.
Basically, this driver should be popular if it is well made, but if it doesnāt have the same performance as the prototype because the manufacturer tried to save a buck by substituting parts, it will ruin the business case.
Pretty sure I read in one of Lexelās thread the FET was changed in the FW3A after only the first batch or two. People can change components for reasons other than cost as well. I agree with zakās sentiment. Assuming they even get the first version right itās probably going to be the most authentic one.
Good point. I would probably really like this driver with a single emitterā¦ Especially something with low Vf. Whereād I put those Luxeon Vsā¦
Boost for nothingā¦ driver is for 3v LED
My recollection is a good buck-boost driver is still more efficient than a linear driver for intermediate and low modes. Turbo should have the same efficiency.
A boost driver to enable use of higher voltage emitters in the FW3A would be pointless. 20mm direct copper triple stars for larger than XP footprint donāt exist. And even if they did, 20mm optics for larger emitters also donāt exist. It probably wouldnāt be too hard to get a custom star made, but making a custom optic is a whole other deal.
Exactly, boost when the Vin is 4.2V and LED is 2.8Vf or 3Vf.
The driver still has high resistance in direct drive, right?
You have a point, but it basically already exists (4x XHP35):
9V triple is more interesting to me but no one else seems to want it (besides LUX-RC drivers) and boards would have to be remade or old Noctigons brought back from the dead
I think the point being raised is not about the efficiency, but about regulation.
In basic theory, a good buck driver can maintain regulation until the battery voltage drops to the forward voltage. In practice, Iām not sure it tends to work out quite as expected. Also, while a forward voltage around 2.9V may be common at an LEDās standard rated current, at 3A, the forward voltage rises to typically 3.2 to 3.4V depending on the LED (the 219C is known for having a low forward voltage. The XP-L HI tends a little higher). So even with a perfectly performing buck driver, you could fall out of regulation with 1/3 of the battery charge left.
As far as efficiency, a lot of current generation LEDās have a forward voltage around 2.9V at rated current. For a battery that averages 3.7V throughout the discharge, that should yield 78% driver efficiency. Loneoceans report 93% efficiency from his driver. Of course, linear drive efficiency improves at higher currents due to the higher forward voltage, but LED efficiency decreases, so there is a net decrease in overall efficiency.buck-boost driver over a 95% efficient buck driver, and definitely over a 78% efficient linear driver.
That said, as I understand it, boost-buck circuits tend to make a small efficiency compromise compared to buck-only circuits.
And iām reading only bla bla bla
The best BLF driver version is cominā and iām sure as hell buying many for other hosts i have
Hello,
the moon mode is important to me and is used often.
The moon mode at the driver is higher than the output of the stock driver. But you wrote, it is possible to reduce this even further. Do you mean by software (me) or hardware (you)?
Thank you.
I second the request for the lowest possible moon mode, one way or another.
Thirded.
I will buy at least 10 straight up