OK, so I did a quick and dirty test of the ENOVA 2600mAh cell.
Last weekend, the cell averaged about 2660mAh reported on the Opus at 0.5A discharge. I'm not sure how accurate it is, except it seems to be in the ballpark on the cells I've tested.
I tested it direct drive to an XM-L (not XM-L2) I had on my large heat sink. The XM-L usually reads a bit higher direct drive compared to XM-L2s. 4.2v starting voltage for all cells. 4" 24 AWG leads + meter leads.
Sanyo FJ 2200mAh: 4.7A
Enova 2600mAh: 5.7A
Samsung 25R 2500mAh: 6.4A
Average of 3 internal resistance readings on Opus (do not compare with readings from other sources:
Sanyo FJ: 128 mOhm
Enova 2600: 85 mOhm
Sam. 25R: 45 mOhm
It isn't a 25R replacement, but it is a decent enough performer for the price.
Have you done any night hunting/special purpose lights with the most powerful red LEDs available yet? Thinking that a SRK or M6 with your 7 level firmware and the red LEDs would make an interesting light for those who want both night sight preserving low red light output and high output red for hunting or night animal observation seeing as how most wild animals are blind to red light.
Nothing I know of on the market that quite fills that bill other than a DIY light possibly. Closest might be the Nitecore Chameleon CR6 but it’s red output is weak compared to what I expect could be done.
I actually have done a few of them for friends and family, but I'm afraid that I just don't have time to reach out to any new markets right now. I am maxxed out as it is.
Richwouldnt, you might be able to at least stick your foot in the water. It’s not terribly difficult to put a red LED into an existing host, as long as you make sure to keep the current at appropriate levels. The XP-E2 won’t deal with the same amount of power we give to XM-L2s.
The brightest one I’ve made goes up to about 170 lumens of pure red (driven very conservatively), with 1x16340 as the power source:
This is a rather small light, nowhere near the output you seem to have in mind, but on the highest mode it kind of makes my eyes want to bug out. It’s just soooo red!
I’m only doing 700mA on mine in order to make it more efficient, but you can probably safely get 300lm per emitter at ~2A each. And since it’s so small, it should have pretty good throw. You might want to use LiFePO4 3V batteries instead of the common Li-Ion cells we use though, to keep the voltage down closer to what the red XP-E2 wants and reduce unnecessary heat.
Or of course there’s the CR6. Much easier than building one.
Actually I have another member who has volunteered to do a build if I order the LEDs and the SRK 7135 board and have Richard send the parts direct to him. I figure I will send him my level 1 modded M6 that RMM did as it has the wanted firmware already in it. He seems to think it will be a fun project and volunteered to do it via a PM.
Thanks for the fast delivery of the BLF 20DD driver Richard, but could you make the leads longer? They don't reach the the LED on the Defiant 3D/3C lights, I'll have to splice extensions onto them.
I was wondering, could you program the moonlight special driver to drive the single 7135 at 100% and just have two modes. 380mA and 3.04A? I think that would be cool for an Ultrafire 602. You could have a fairly bright little light running efficiently at 380mA most of the time but be able to light up a quarter acre for short bursts. It would be great i fit could also have Qlite's beacon mode, 2 flashes at 4 second intervals. I'd buy a few of those!
I’m curious if anyone has suggestions for a small, cheap Li-Ion charger which reliably charges pretty close to 4.20V.
I have a Nitecore i4 which terminates at 4.22V, and three Xtar MC1 chargers which terminate at 4.24/4.25V, 4.12/4.13V, and 4.15/4.16V respectively. Mostly, I’m looking for something to include with gifts.
I’ll probably use the ~4.12V charger myself, since I don’t mind the lower voltage and potentially getting more cycles per battery, but the 4.25V one seems like it might significantly reduce cell life due to overcharging.
I’m throwing some chips down on the Miller ML-102 v7. I have not used any Miller chargers yet. For a long time I was put off because the Miller chargers look so generic and seemed like a prime target for clones even if they were any good. At this point it’s pretty clear that Miller mostly has his/her crap together and that FT has the real ones, so I’m picking up 3. Note that protected cells don’t fit and you’ll need spacers for smaller cells. Stock charge rate with the latest ones is 1.25A so it won’t be appropriate for many tiny cells.
FWIW I looked inside the cheap SupFire charger and with my limited knowledge I do not think that it will be satisfactory.
The sale was going to start next Monday, but it might be delayed because we are still waiting on some shipments (including M6s) that were supposed to be here already but are still stuck in customs. You will receive a newsletter notice when we have everything pinned down.
I usually get complaints that I make them too long. The Defiant is a longer reach than most lights, so if you need extra long leads please let me know in the checkout comments.
Yes, but I'm afraid that the single 7135 might get overheated running at 100% with a good cell behind it. I do run the single 7135 for the moonlight and 2%/5% modes, but not for the higher modes. I can put in a beacon mode.
I still rely on my XTAR WP2 charger. 4.20V dead on every time. I also have the MC0 for small cells and it too is dead on. My choice for gifting a good flashlight kit would include the WP2 and a set of the 3400mah 18650 from Mtn Electronics. Maybe not the cheapest package, but if you’re going to give something, give the best you can.
Yes, some people expect me to be clairvoyant about wire length and spring length for their various lights.
For a single 7135, take the difference between Vin and the forward voltage needed for that LED to sustain 0.35A, then multiply that number by 0.35A to get the approximate watts dissipated. The 7135s have a thermal limit mode, where they start to limit current so they don't burn up. With MT-G2s they hit this all the time on 100% if you don't use enough chips to get Vin close to the needed Vout, since you are working with twice the voltage, twice the watts with the same Vin/Vout differential...that and the MT-G2 has a slightly lower vF to begin with which makes things worse.
Speaking of MT-G2’s … I just rebuilt my Yezl Y3 yesterday evening with a piggybacked BLF17DD Z driver. Yes, I’ve got an MT-G2 in it. And the EVVA 26650 5200mAh cells I got from you will run 9.47A through it for some 4061 start lumens! That number plunges fast, as the cells don’t seem to be able to keep that load for long. (Also got the MT-G2 from you on a Noctigon, and moved it to a 25mm MAXToch board…also from you!)
And astonishingly with the ramping firmware I’m using it also makes 0.345 lumens on it’s lowest setting! (Ramping firware courtesy of Comfy and ToyKeeper, loving it!)
Thanks Richard, for supplying us with the Very Bestest Out There! :bigsmile:
That ramping firmware isn’t done yet, but I’m glad you like it.
I have no idea how it would behave on a zener-modded board. At the very least, I assume the voltage monitoring bits are probably totally broken, and I haven’t made it easy to turn that stuff off yet. It also doesn’t offer easy compile-time options to disable the PFM bits (for smoother ramping at the bottom end) or change the ramp shape. And there’s no battery check mode aside from the rather uncommon red/green indicator LEDs. … and stuff.
Anyway, Comfy requested that UI. I didn’t think I’d like it, but it turns out to be my favorite so far, and he didn’t like it as much as one with fixed levels. I guess that’s how things go.
I should probably get a Yezl Y3 or Convoy L4 so I can have a dual-switch light to test.
Comfy made a change to facilitate a smoother ramp on the bottom end and I like it much better now. And it works fine with my MT-G2, this big emitter really shines (pun intended) with this style of UI. Massive amount of light, easily controlled for optimum battery usage.
I wasn’t really fond of the Yezl Y3 at first, but set up this way it now sits on the front row on my shelf in prime time with other favorite lights.
I think Comfy removed the PFM bits, which would make the ramp less smooth but more consistent across devices and different voltages. Combining PWM and PFM allows really smooth ramping even between individual PWM levels, but it’s annoyingly sensitive to the exact hardware and even battery voltage. PWM alone gets stair-steppy at the bottom end, and PFM smoothes out those steps. (PFM changes the frequency of the pulses, PWM changes the width of the pulses, so it ran anywhere from 9 kHz to 20 kHz at the lower levels)
IIRC, he also changed the ramp shape from logarithmic to quadratic, and may have reduced the bottom to fast PWM=0 (instead of phase-correct PWM=1). I just haven’t made time to include everything yet; got interrupted and didn’t get back to it.
