What is the brightest red LED flash light out there?

Lambda has inspired some of my direct drive builds. The SST90 is actually a little less powerful than the PT54 and is no match for the PT120/121 series.

This was with a 8A build.

And PT120 green build.

While that is definitely a good start, I found that my ET T20C2 MKII XML with a red filter isn’t nearly as bright as using the red LED drop-in in the same light. I use red and green frequently and have been thoroughly pleased with the red drop-in for my EagleTac.

Some really great stuff here . . . great pics on I think it was the TR1200 build or next link, willie! Did you ever do a thread on building those feeder lights? Solar powered?

How about one of these 5 XRE lights and we swap them all for red XREs that would kick some serious ass.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/trustfire-tr-1200-cree-q5-wc-5-mode-1200-lumen-white-5-led-flashlight-2x18650-3x18650-4x16340-57380

Just finished soldering a triple XP-E red (in N3 bin) to a modified (so each LED is individually regulated to 700mA) 2.1A driver. From the specs it should be between 300-330 lumen. All I have left is to get a P60 drop-in shaped piece of aluminum machined out and I will have a 50m+ bunny torch. Awesomely bright for a red torch however the soldering took me many hours to get right. I will stick so photos up if I ever get it finished (I started at least 2 months back).

As far as I am aware the XP-E N3 bin is the best there is when it comes to efficiency vs red output. It is about 62 lumen per Watt. Wavelength is 620-630nm. I got mine from Cutter electronics in AU.

Really not much to build them. I used two 3up XPC (typo xre in post) & and a 1400ma buckdrive from ledsupply. Wired the 3up in parallel to each other for a conservative 700ma. Put a switch on the buckdrive to toggle a resistor to 350ma for everyday use. Only run with 700ma when hunting that stand to minimize battery drain. Lucked into the following 48w panel and 85lb large AGM battery for CHEAP. The brains and control is a solar street light controller that regulates the over or under charging of the battery and is programmable for runtime or dusk to dawn. Uses the solar panel for a light sensor. One like this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10A-12-24-Auto-Distinguish-Switch-PWM-Solar-Street-Light-Panel-Charge-Controller-/280882460728?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4165e63838

On my smaller setup have used this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Panel-Charger-Controller-Regulator-3A-12V-70-45-18mm-/280917789070?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416801498e

Found most of my panels and batteries used for cheap local on Ebay, Craigslist as shipping kills most deals on these items.

Your solution and Led Engin does make the most out of battery life. Definitely the smart solution. On my Crossbow have resorted to a modded 501b P60 PT54 using a Lifepo4 3.2v. Getting 8a to the led with a my own machined copper heat sink. Runtime sucks but it’s a secondary light used only for throwing sticks when needed. Still undecided on which way to go on my Saiga S&W500 semi-auto rifle. Last year used green XRE w/aspheric. Still PT54 experimenting and have a C8 on order to try and compare to P60 aspherical for my 100yd+ red rifle lifepo4 light. Seem to remember suggesting Ebay seller mentioned above. Think he ships international now, just the emitters with out the swarf.

How hard is it to make a the PT54 P60?
Do you have to buy a special reflector?

the nichia 4 die red looks interesting as it does not require much for amps but need forward voltage of 9v which is quite high
anyone out there have experience with these nichia red emitters?

CarpentryHero,
Made a copper pill setup for positive ground, direct drive, lifepo4 3.2v. Modded an OP XRE reflector so as not to make a direct short to negative solder connection on the emitter.

I have two of DTL’s PT54’s I’m going to have to try that (or find someone to do it for cheap) :wink:

I have several Nichia LED’s Red, Blue, Green…Red is capable of 1000+lumens although im running direct drive off 1 18650 so the output is much less than spec. Keep in mind the RED Phat Lite LED’s are harvested from home entertainment systems. The Blue and Green Phat Lite LED’s can be purchased from LED suppliers and are expensive. The RED will be much less and more common among the DIY’rs and modders. I see a few from LPF here.Im sure they can chime in. These LED’s output a heck of a lot of red light . The Blue LED specs if im correct can run at higher voltage… There very great LED’s if you want high out pure 635nm, 445nm etc If a few are interested i can ask a good friend and well known builder to perhaps come here. Keep in mind its not plug n play it does require basic DIY skills. another note its fairly easy to convert to a P60 type drop in and play with a different host and optics configurations…

Nichia makes high lumen color LED’s ? I’d love to know more
If love to here from your friend and see pics of the bare led and a beam shot :wink: if you got time

When you say positive ground does that mean you just wire it backwards of cree led?
Thanks
Posted on iphone

I would also be interested. Thanks

Most leds on stars are neutral with no ground (there are exceptions to everything). PT series LEDs are module based with a gold plated copper base and have a positive ground. Some modders insulate the base for their particular application, like Jayrob’s PT54 9a 32650 li-ion Maglite build. Direct driving as I do involves installing batteries in reverse for a pos+ base/ground. I do use heat sink paste for thermal transfer but my PTs are affixed by metallic screws so to provide good contact.

Ok thanks for clearing that up. Now i understand the concept.

Thanks

Here is a review and build thread.

Mouser stocks the Blue, Red, and Green Phat Light LED’s…The Red is in fact not made by Nichia. I dont want to
broadcast the manufacturer. Thread explains a bit better

Its a pretty amazing build and not hard at all. The diode itself is a powerhouse and pure red is really something!

Tell us something new.

Update of my earlier posts - since nobody posted any broader experience with it my son ordered the SolarForce 1 mode red XPE drop-in. We’ll try it with and without an aspheric. This should help him get a frame of reference as to what he wants. If it’s really 225ish lumens it may meet his needs.

This is probably just another gateway path . . .