The bit about forward voltage going up as current is applied is new to me. Is that the case on all LED’s or just UV ones? What is forward voltage? Is that the same as Voltage Floor? VF is voltage floor right?
Forward voltage is the voltage needed to overcome the junction bias to conduct and create light. Below Vf you get no current (aside from leakage, but that’s another issue). Above Vf you get current and light.
As above, the forward voltage is the voltage required to push any current at all(*) through the LED. Also called Vf (the f should be subscript but many formatting options prevent that). For all LEDs, this voltage increases with current (otherwise you could have a runaway LED that drew more and more power). There’s other factors in play as I recall, like temperature. But it’s the fundamentals of why some LEDs with higher Vf (like XPL-Hi) are fine with single-cell direct drive, and others are not (Osram 1mm would fry itself).
*: there is leakage current, but this is valid for our purposes
The Vf is what drives the led to allow more amps to flow through it. You can drive leds with constant current unregulated voltage or constant voltage and unregulated current. For the latter as the led heats up it will draw more and more current until it destroys itself. Therefore the safer way to drive leds is to set a current limit and allow the voltage to be whatever it will be. For instance I have a diy 100w light that is really well cooled with a big fan and heat sink. This setup doesn’t need to be current driven I could set the Vf and forget about it. The driver is capable of delivering many more amps than the LED is using but the led will only use more amps if I increase the Vf (voltage differential across the led). Hope this isn’t confusing and somewhat helpful!
Oh and I think a lot of people are confused about how LEDs and current actually works. When you look at some datasheets for LEDs you will see that the Vf is plotted along the x axis aka the independent variable and the forward current is plotted on the y axis aka the dependent variable. This is because the forward current is dependent on the forward voltage.
I will have another flashlight similar to M21E. The head is slightly smaller than M21E, but slightly larger than M21B. It uses the same driver as M21E.
Pioneman is my friend’s brand.
I am going to release this flashlight, but I hope to use a driver with a higher current.
If the increase in range is not obvious, the larger diameter head seems meaningless.
Thank you so much for your feedback.
Next week I will produce some 16*1.5mm copper plates. It can be used to raise the LED position.
I can’t find a suitable TIR lens at present, and all the lenses will be much lower in height than the reflector.
Have the group issues with the 13 group AA/14500 driver been fixed yet? The T3 and bare drivers I got have incorrect groups 12 and 13. I wanted to order a couple more drivers if they aren’t still messed up.
For this batch, I will correct the modes as follows,In the next batch of production, I will adjust it according to your opinions, and I can add more groups to meet your requirements.
I hope everyone can express their ideas enthusiastically.
Group 1 1, 10, 35, 100
Group 2 1% 10, 35, 100%, strobe, biking, batcheck, sos
Group 3 100, 35, 10, 1
Group 4 1, 20, 100%, strobe, biking, batcheck, sos
Group 5 1, 20, 100%
Group 6 100, 20, 1%
Group 7 1, 10, 50%, strobe, biking, batcheck, sos
Group 8 1, 10, 50%
Group 9 50, 10, 1%
Group 10 20, 100, strobe
Group 11 20, 100
Group 12 100, 20
Group 13 100%
I don’t see the appeal of that mode spacing. On the three 12 group lights I’ve tried, even 20% and 100% seem too close. There would be almost no difference between 50% and 100% from most emitters.