Agreed, prtial and off would be great.
But as someone suggested above, 5A no FET would be a dream driver.
[quote=pol77]
A no FET and a patial - PWM FET, if technically possible, would be great for people that use 219b. Unless full FET is deemed safe for a 219b setup with this driver.
[/quote]
Actually, if you noticed, I've been running my original Lume1 build in a FW3C, with the 219B 'rosy' LEDs since the beginning of this project, and I haven't had any issues with Turbo mode at all (direct FET drive). However, I did make sure to reflow the LEDs as well as possible, and I made sure heat-sinking between the MCPCB and copper shelf was good by removing any burrs I found on the shelf, and replacing the thermal paste with a good quality one.
In fact, I usually do out-of-flashlight tests with a single Cree XML LED on a large heatsink - I found that Turbo on that single LED actually leads to phosphor damage. I can't guarantee that your 219B setup will work with direct drive, but it certainly hasn't caused any issues for me in my FW3C. I use a Samsung 30Q (pink) battery for this flashlight.
Huge thanks to ToyKeeper for rolling in the Lume1 modifications to Anduril2! I'll get started testing it out, and I'll be happy to provide config files for disabling the FET - this is indeed the easiest thing to do if you want to remove the Turbo feature.
For PWMing the FET, the Lume1 driver uses a tiny charge pump to drive the FET gate, resulting in a high performance Turbo drive. However, this causes a limitation in FET PWM which while not affecting things like 'party strobe' or 'tactical strobing', will limit the ability to PWM at high frequencies. As a result I do not recommend having PWMing on the FET, even though it is possible (with reduced PWM frequency) - this will require some config lines the config files to change the TCPWM for the FET line.
Finally, you all are also right that there is currently no software support for the four aux solder pads. I think it's worth playing around with the firmware to see if I can enable those solder pads to enable easy changing of features - at least disabling / enabling direct drive.
I always reflow the LEDs very well, making sure they have a perfect contact and no excess solder underneath. I use high quality PC CPU thermal paste. I have not used my FW3x lights on Turbo a lot, but the original FW3A used to be an XP-L and I have 219b emitters on it for ages, with the firmware it came with - no issues.
It seems like good reflowing and good thermal paste do make a difference.
I am now wondering if it is worth it losing the FET altogether, since PWM on the FET is not good. I will probably keep the lights running full FET 
Now hearing this i'm thinking the same, going full throttle.
As for heatsinking, i have soldered MCPCB directly to a copper shelf on 2 FW3C and 1 FW3B. I think it has a good heat transfer :)
219B
What’s your preference contactc? Sliced dogfarts?
High CRI is my only preference. I have 219B lights, hell I modded a 219B Emisar D18 but you’d think they were like ancient artifacts that need white gloves to handle. If someone kills one with one of these drivers you probably learned a good $9 lesson in modding and can simply buy more and learn from whatever mistake was made.
I can’t help but see it as a distraction. The first thing people want from our hardware and software gurus is a way to bastardize an excellent driver before it has even been tested for what it is.
I’ll end my rant with that though. I know people are very attached to their LEDs and don’t want to risk ruining them it just doesn’t resonate with me. I’ve ruined so many things modding that this seems like a non issue, it comes with the territory.
I haven’t done it yet… that’s a few steps ahead. Here’s how the plan looks at the moment:
- LoneOceans created a nice new driver.
- LoneOceans got Anduril working on the new driver, using an old branch of the Noctigon K1 code.
- I isolated the changes and adapted them to a current version of the FSM branch. (was necessary because the ADC and thermal code have been completely rewritten since the K1 came out)
- Test on real hardware to make sure adapted code works. <— we’re here now
- Merge changes into upstream FSM branch.
- Merge changes into Anduril2 branch.
- Test again on real hardware. (optional; changes should be pretty straightforward and low-risk)
- Finish Anduril2 (mostly just needs more documentation).
- Merge Anduril2 into upstream FSM branch.
- Publish builds for enthusiasts to try, and get more widespread testing.
- Merge into trunk.
- Send builds to manufacturers.
This would probably all be done already, but I’ve had very limited time to work on things lately.
Thanks for the clarification, will work on the updated branch :)
I do have one question that is a bit off topic. Based on your other pure boost drivers if we had triple MCPCB’s which were configured in series could a 9V boost driver have been an easier design with less tradeoffs or does that have negatives of its own?
Actually that would be my preferred design if I were to build an entire flashlight from scratch, but it would be impractical for me to do so if I was going to build one for the community because there's a huge demand for 'turbo direct-drive mode' (which is not quite my preference, though not possible with a boost design), and because MCPCBs are typically not in series. Having series-LEDs would in fact, allow some interesting opportunities, such as using different kinds of LEDs on a single MCPCB with equal current through all of them.
I'd love to have something like a 3 or 4 LED (with mixed tints) with a 15-20W driver, or even better, a double channel boost flashlight with say 5+4 Nicha E21s or even just 2+2 2700K and 5000K LEDs with tint mixing. This could be made small and compact, and Anduril already has support for this.
I dropped a few messages to flashlight manufacturers at the beginning of the year including the examples above, but alas nobody seems to be interested, or had their own projects already, and most of them wanted 'headline' features like maximum turbo brightness. For example, having '4300 lumens maximum' sounds a lot better than '2000 lumens maximum', even if the 4300 lumens lasts for just a few seconds... as opposed to high efficiency.
Maybe tagging up with Clemence and Skilhunt would be interesting.
Edit:
The market is flooded with triples and quads and FETs and all the lumens and pocket smoldering, skin scorching half baked lights one can imagine. SBT90s in featherweight “EDCs”, 10lb behemoths that don’t fit in a backpack, 87 pieces of XHP70s running off of a single 21700. I don’t desire any of them.
My custom FW1A (soon with a Lume1 once Anduril2 and some spare cash comes around) is currently my most valued light. It probably doesn’t even make 800 lumens on turbo with it’s sliced SST20.
I still desire slimmer hosts (~22mm for 18650, 25 for 21700), variable CCT, dual beam pattern, efficient buck and/or boost drivers, and for the love of all things good… a proper POCKET CLIP! OH and uhhhh if Luminus is listening by chance — SST40 95CRI. Thanks!
I suspected as much, too bad. There are PCBs that have jumpers to allow for either configuration but expecting people to get specialized pcb in addition to driver is a bit more involved than just dropping in a new driver like the FW series.
+1
I can’t seem to get any companies interested in something slim and moderate though, or something with variable CCT or variable beam pattern. And it’s really hard to get anyone to make a good pocket clip.
I’m pretty happy with just one LED, especially if it’s in a host which is barely bigger than the battery. And I find “narrow” is more ergonomic than “short”.
If a light is a quad, I’d prefer to have warm and cool LEDs I can ramp between. Or for a triple, it could have one throwy LED and two floody LEDs with a ramp between… ideally on a headlamp. Like, in a T shape.
I agree with all of the above, I’m looking for a more compact high efficiency option. The FW3A is awesome for wow, but realistically a quality single emitter with a high efficiency driver in a narrower package is my preferred form factor. Apart from led choice and a lack of throw, the zebralight SC64c is the closest thing for me. The FW3X has throw by virtue of sheer output, and the FW1A isnt available in Ti or Cu with a narrower head.
The Lume1 has in my eyes really dealt with the first and biggest issue which is the linear driver, and for that I am really happy. Next is to have a non-fet option, with the UI adjusted to suit.
In the D4 era, BLF convinced a manufacturer to make a 6 lumen, single mode twisty (Sofirn C01). And the lantern was a very novel project, but BLF worked out all the key details for the body, the driver, and the UI.
If we show a sizeable interest list, a clearly defined and stable feature set, and keep the amount of development work reasonable, it seems like we can usually find a manufacturer to build it.
It might not be a good time, though, since the company that has been most accommodating of BLF requests recently seems to have quite a few things on their plate at the moment. Also, it always takes commitment ahead of time to conceive and prove out the concept and manage an interest list before a manufacturer will commit. I know I don’t have to tell you about how these projects can burn members out, so I’ve generally kept to making supportive comments when concepts like these are mentioned, but not pushed too hard.
A 14500 or 16340 based Anduril flashlight would be brilliant. Tint ramping would make it even better, and hopefully work without needing further modifications of the existing lantern firmware. It can be done in a compact host, if it’s ok to be floody - Clemence already offers an MCPCB for a Nichia E17A quadtrix that can be configured for multiple channels, and he recently found a spiral honeycomb TIR that blends the beam well.
Output would be modest, but easily meet my EDC needs - a 15mm, two-sided driver should be able to fit 2 channels of 3x7135 each.
Or keep it a single tint if a no-FET Lume1 variant could fit.
Less EDC-optimized, I also wonder if maybe Hank might try adapting his 5A linear driver to have 2 channels (no FET) for a tint-mixing quad. In fact, if he did that and also offered an alternate bezel option that was a lantern-style diffuser, then that right there would be both a great flashlight, and I think provide every desired feature of the LT1m mini-lantern except USB charging.
I’ve digressed, so to get back on topic, I agree with loneoceans that maximum turbo brightness is not my priority. In fact, one of the reasons I’ve been following the Lume1 development is I presume the better efficiency should provide a slight advantage in sustained output for the FW3A. Maukka measured 280 lumens under thermal regulation in his prototype review when the battery was nearly full, but 420 lumens when it was nearly empty, and the linear driver wasn’t burning off so much excess energy as heat.
That’s 1 of 2 theoretical advantages for sustained output. The stock FW3A driver also PWM’s the LED’s at ~933mA each. Lume1 should be feeding them constant current at around 400-500mA each, so the emitters will be slightly more efficient, too (example data and data source). That should raise the sustained output a hair more - perhaps close to 500 lumens.
Maybe the recent improvements in Anduril’s thermal control will eek yet a little bit more out of it.
I am also +1 about the status of current flashlight situations.
I would like the idea of the 9V (3 LED’s in series) version of the driver, as well. Then, we can use E21 or other domeless and small die LED’s for the best throw with 10507, assuming using the existing components. I would go with 18650 for the diameter of the tube, meaning narrower. With 10507, the height will be shorter, too. For the AUX board, we can maximize the output and put E17 or other small LED’s for the flood and any color combinations. The AUX mode can take care of the moon mode, too, for the better optimization of the main circuit.
It is not my priority to have the maximum TURBO mode, either. Especially, with the configurations of the Lume1 right now, the Turbo mode will be less bright than the maximum regulated mode as the battery voltage gets low.
The wires for the AUX board are coming next week. Hopefully, I can swap the driver with Lume1 without too much difficulty.
Thank you very much for all of the tips and ideas for the assembly.
Is there an interest list for a ToyKeeper/loneoceans designed flashlight. :) I don’t care which one of these ideas gets up they’re all great. I’m ready to place my order and pay a deposit. If Hank Wang can be convinced to manufacture the light it’s guaranteed to be great.
Can anyone recommend a modder to hire for a lume1 and Aux install? I’m spread way too thin to attempt it myself right now. I have an FW3C that I was hoping to have modded by jku2017 but I believe he retired from modding.
It would help to say whereabouts in the world you are.