So I was testing my work so far on my lawnmower LED headlight project and my testing included this single mode 3-18v KD driver so I thought I'd post my measurements here too.
I used this 3v to 12v power supply rated up to 2A (until I touched the leads together and blew the fuse with no spares on-hand):
I mounted a spare XM-L U2 1B to my heatsink (it was 16mm and my heatsink is tapped for a 20mm star):
EDIT 9/11/2013 - Just realized that I used my meter which is known for being "out of calibration" for the voltage measurements. When I rechecked with my good meter the voltage levels were within .02v of the dial setting. END OF EDIT.
LED lit up just fine from 3v (yes, at 3v on the supply) to 12v. I didn't get an actual voltage measurement of what the power supply puts out at the 3v selection:
Interesting to note is that my power supply voltage only showed 10.46v when set to 12v and driving the LED (it read about 12.1v with no load):
At the 6v setting I read 6.10v load or no load:
Here are my emitter current measurements at each voltage selection:
@3v = 1.39A
@4.5v = 1.39A
@6v = 1.47A
@7.5v = 1.29A
@9v = 1.30A
@12v = 1.36A
After I blew the fuse in my power supply (DOH!), I had to come up with a way to measure from another 12v source:
From the car battery I measured an input current of 0.58A and emitter current of 1.26A. (I don't think there is any voltage sag through the 6ga jumper cables! :) )
I only used my Elenco for voltage measurements. I used my Mastech clone for current measurements along with my custom short 12ga leads.
I guess these measurements are inline with RaceR86's though not as consistent as his.
So this driver doesn't put out the 2A to 3A I was hoping for, which is why I asked for another cheap +/- 8.4v to 15v driver.
-Garry
EDIT - no objects were staged / posed in any of the above photos.