The big picture explanation is this (XP-E2 datasheet):
Red and Green have very different forward voltages (in fact they are further apart than any other color)
The C01R was designed around the red’s very low voltage requirement.
How each individual driver reacts to this is what is unknown.
Also, there is an element you are mentioning “spacing” which you are using a lux meter that can barely “see” very deep red and I don’t know how well it correlates to your eyes but surely it’s good enough to know if the modes are even changing at all.
fwiw, deep red, far red, photo red, are vague terms, I prefer to specify the nm
some call 660nm deep red, others call 730nm deep red. They are totally different in the amount of visible light, and that also shows up on my meter.
for example, w 660nm I get 8 lumens from my Maratac, but with 730nm I only get 0.6 lumens (which is why I removed the 730nm, since all 3 modes only give the same 0.6 lm.)
on my T10T the 730nm gives 0.05, 0.1, 1, 5 lumens
so the spacing is still there
I kept the 730nm in that light, specifically for red light therapy. I mostly use the 1 lumen level to reduce pain from arthritis, headache, sore muscles…
I dont use red for illumination… but the 660nm does work for that, the 730nm does not…
Which model thrunite AAA was it?
I modded a thrunite Ti3 V2 with a red XP-G3 645nm and all modes worked fine.
I have the SST-20-DR-B120-V660
XP-G3 photo red 645nm
XP-E2 photo red 660nm
LH351H red 643nm
.
I still have a few Ti3 V2 to mod, which led are we seeing the mode changes disappear in.
I will see if I can duplicate the problem if I have the right red led.
I believe the problem combination (for me) was Ti3 V2 and Far Red XP-E2 but my trouble was slightly different. It would sometimes go through the modes fine but sometimes get stuck on the same mode and not increment. Like it was not recognizing it was losing power completely?
I also had trouble in a very old Olight AAA with the same LED. Memory is hazy
iow 730nm?
I get no modes w that LED in my AAA Maratac and Tool
same issue w XP-E2 660nm
if there is a resistor mod, that would be great to learn.
or
if SST-20 660nm works in an AAA Thrunite, Maratac, Tool,
without losing mode spacing, and without a resistor mod… then I would go there
I prefer not to go below 660nm, so the XP-G3 645nm is not as interesting… but good to know it retains modes on the Thrunite AAA.
SST-20 in 660nm that Sofirn is now using in the C01R, are available here
but the VF is similar to XP-E2 660nm and XP-G3 645nm, so there must be another factor in play for the Thrunite AAA to retain modes with the XP-G3, and not with the XP-E2
I dont see a big difference in VF, so dont know why modes are retained w XP-G3 and not w XP-E2
I swapped the Ti3 led for the 660nm SST-20 and I get low and strobe.
I powered the driver out of the light with my power supply and SST-20 installed, at about 1.77v the modes come back and work as they should.
Not sure what’s going on with it, but I changed one capacitor value up then down with no change.
Also wired in a 50k pot for one of the resistors to get a full range of values and also got no change.
I dont know what to change yet but I know which capacitor and resisitor doesn’t effect it.
thanks for modding to test
so, I wont bother buying SST-20 660nm then
and we know the XP-E2 660nm does not work either
sounds like XP-G3 645nm is the easiest way to have normal mode spacing on an aaa swap
I would prefer to try an XP-G3 660nm… googling now
I built a Convoy S8 with quad Nichia E17A 4500K LEDs that I got from Virence. I wanted to keep the current to less than 7 amps so I got a Convoy 17mm Driver for SST40 which maxes out at 5 amps.
I encountered 3 new challenges with this build:
Soldering the 4 wires to the non-DTP board was very tricky! One time when I was soldering a wire, another wire unsoldered and fell off. You have to be quick, precise, and not worry about imperfections.
I used thinner silicone 24 AWG wire vs my normal 22 AWG, but it was still a very tight fit curling up all 4 wires into the shallow pill cavity (the S8 has the same pill as an S2). The bigger S2+ pill would’ve been much more accommodating, or next time I’ll get some 26 AWG wire.
Convoy states “This 12 groups sst40 driver is compatible with lighted switch.” This is true, but I noticed the output greatly decreased with a small drop in voltage when using inefficient switch LEDs (like orange). I made a salmon colored switch (pink and orange LEDs mixed), but couldn’t use it because of this issue. So instead I swapped the switch with a green one that I had in another flashlight.
And in case you didn’t know, E17As are very fragile. In another flashlight I was building, the LED spacer gently bumped against one of the E17As and broke it. Went from a nice CCT to purple. So for the S8 I decided not to use a spacer – GASP! The 4 wires on the LED board do a great job centering the reflector and the silicone sheathing prevents any shorts. Plus now the aluminum reflector helps to dissipate heat.
When I put it all together, as expected, there was a small donut hole in the beam. So I lightly frosted the inside of the lens and the beam turned out great. And the flashlight still has some good throw.
The output and tint is awesome! Certainly some nice rosiness in the tint, but a little less than my 219B sw45k S2 triple at lower currents. At higher currents the E17As are rosier. I’m not sure which I like better yet, but not a bad dilemma to have.
