Have you thought about this solution?
You may need to add a resistor in line as the XML has a much lower Vf than the p7. This was for a triple emitter mag but applies to the DRY triple too.
(this comes from CPF user “download”)
Excellent review DrJones. Thanks. I suspect most if not all 4-mode buyers are going to want that 5-mode driver. I certainly want it. About the 4-5 seconds, is that the minimum amount of time you have to leave the light off for it to forget its last mode? That's a little long for my liking. I prefer 1.5 - 2 s.
Thank you for the review!
That driver is certainly a joke. For that price it starts to look like nothing special. The manufacturing costs for that body can't be high, really.
Where have you found one?
I just made some measurements and added them into the 1st post.
@Ford Prefect: Yes, I know this setup, but didn't think of a resistor for an additional voltage drop. Good idea. That drop will become unwanted when the battery voltage goes down though. Hm, I'll think a bit more about that.
@peteybaby: Yes.
@ Hikelite: KD
Aaaah, too bad this has that bad PWM :|
Thanks for the review!!
Greetings DrJones,
Thank you for the review. Sorry to hear the driver doesn't live up to the potential it could have been.
Does anyone know if there is a prefered driver by KD, DX, MF, etc that could be used and physically fit without modifications? Looking to buy this but would prefer a more efficient driver or one that can sustain higher lumen output for a longer time as DrJones suggests. I might go the route of just buying the host and utilizing a driver that someone can recommend.
Best Regards.
Thanks for the review Dr Jones! I've been wanting to read a detailed review on this one, I appreciate you doing it.
Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.
I see you have updated the current readings. :(
Thanks for the review.
Honestly, there's nothing worse than a product failing to meet expectations. Especially a product that costs twice as much as the rest of the 3x XM-L lights. Which btw, aren't exactly budget in the first place. ($50+)
You would think that at this price point, something as vital as the driver would be top notch.
Your bad news is my good news, so thanks for taking one for the team!
If you look at the spreadsheet, you'll see that this Dry is $250 cheaper than any other 3x 18650 side-by-side triple XM-L, at the moment at least. Pocketability isn't an issue for some people but it is for me, so the Dry is currently my only choice.
I do not think that the ability of having 3x 18650 side by side justifies the price of those flashlights neither the DRY's. Technically it's nothing special, and with nothing more complex than a 3 x 18650 end-to-end.
What improvements could be brought to the DRY right now :
1. Serious Driver
2. Serious battery holder
What else could it be? Another front glass lens, AR coated, and some sort of knurling, my hands sweat on this body and it slips off my hand.
I have already reported pretty long ago what the 4-mode can/cannot do with measurements etc.... No big surprises bros... LOL!
Something like NW 4-mode is 168 lux vs SR3800 160.... and since it's not current regulated it slips. I also did mention countless times that the DD version also slips, so after it drops till about 3.9V when the triple 18650s starts to rock and roll on the plateau, it is in the 3 plus amps region maybe still close to 4A, so ready to rock and roll in cool winter countries. Tested with ice somemore etc....
Anyway those who are interested in a cool similar product can try the Jetbeam RRT- triple XM-L, its usd275 from HKE shipped, good for international customers. Not as discounted as the TK70, nevertheless just pop 3 x 18650 inside and off you go. Guarantee, no PWM and many many modes for you to try on the nice ring. :D
BTW, the TK70 can use the Kaidomain's 32600s. No issue, tested like 4 hours in Turbo (but split into like 10-15 min runs). Also stress tested it On and Off many times. The driver can take it, and like many others suspected, the drivers are the same as TK70S...... just that they give you an additional TK50 tube. If you are still skeptical, just try the $20/pr Ultrafire LiFePO4 32600s. So that's another option.
The TK70 does about 220 lux ceiling reflected, and DRY about 245-250 lux. Cool countries would be even higher, i tested with ice (freezing point) and it was 290. I'll try to get the UCL lens figures for you guys soon..... (busy with testing the TK70 with Li-ion)
BTW, throw for CW 3-mode is about 400 for 8.17m = 26k. It outthrows my UF-980L at 19k measured on the same meter.
Just took 3 weddings in 3 consecutive days....recovering. This morning's wedding started at 4am, and just ended at 4.30pm. LOL! Zzzzz....
Seriously if you ask me to try the Sky Ray lottery or paying more for the DRYs, i'd choose the latter.
Seriously there are absolutely none NW/WW triple XM-Ls. If you can DIY and afford the time to R&D + CNC a 3 x 18650 side by side, then you are good and more power to ya...... I'll say it in a bad way even as an end-consumer, no seller in a right frame of mind would sell the DRY at $45 because it is "nothing technically special". Remember, you can only get the DRY NW now at a higher price at SB plus international shipping via USPS First Class . Maybe we shall wait for the next emitter....
Remember, you have support, plus the driver is just a meagre 5 bucks to buy. I couldn't even get MF to send me a SR3800 driver (LOL!), i just hooked it up to a 13.6V open circuit full charged SLA and let her rip with DRY ICE. (Later then "R&D" and DD it with 3 x 18650, because the SLA did blow the LEDs twice well it just glowed a wee bit like 5 lumens, and twice i just knocked it hard and it came back on. Welcome to Sky Ray lottery, some spent $110 and never got a good flashlight, third time might be lucky and you finally get a working 1600L OTF light for $160+ gone, might as well just spend it on a TK70 2200L ANSI OTF in the first place)
Since this is truly budgetlights forum, I shall think of it this way for you budgetholics.....
SR3800 is $52 and is playing roulette plus more or less it would flame out. Driver support is nil (forget about the TF 3T6 driver, read my comments on the SR3800 review thread). 160 lux vs DRY's 250. 160/250 = 0.64. $52/0.64 = $81 if you wanna reach DRY's CW 3-mode output. Seriously I don't see any problemo.... But please, do not gun the light for very long in "turbo DD", there is nothing "long runtime" about the DRY in DD. Ric very open about this and is specifically noted in the website. This is probably a bit better in heat levels between this and a Uniquefire UF-2100. (that one heats up really fast due to little mass for heatsinking)....
I thought this too after my Sky Ray 818 disaster.. But well.. My Dry came DOA.. 2 loose solder points and a "nonworking isolator" on top... after fixing, its working fine.. Seems all chinese lamps are lottery with no exception :/ But better crap assembly what I can fix, than a crap driver that dies early...
True, but it's useful to see DrJones' test results showing how the driver works, and showing that on High, the 4-mode is run at 50% duty cycle, and that on all modes, the LEDs are driven at 4A, which is inefficient. Those are all minuses, but there's not yet any competition with a similar form factor and price. BTW, DrJones, did you use a scope to do your measurements? I just bought a $50 DMM a few days ago, but I was considering a handheld scopemeter until I saw the prices.
Poor you, 2100. I photographed exactly two weddings before I gave up because of the stress.
HikeLite, you're probably right that the price is too high for the technology used in the light, but there's not much competition yet with that form factor. What I told myself is that I used to spend $60-70 on little Fenix lights with < 200 lm. If I can spend $85 (+shipping) on 1500 lm or more, that's a good deal to me anyway. And it's still pocketable.
Totally agree with you on your recommended improvements.
@peteybaby: Yes, used a handheld scope :)
Does anyone know what the LED current is on High? (not the battery current)
There's a thread on CPF about overdriving XM-Ls but the thread is one of those ones that was lost in the big database snafu and the restored version of the thread is hard to read. I'm curious to know how much benefit there is to driving XM-Ls beyond 3 A, if indeed the Dry pushes the LED beyond 3 A (with the 3 mode and 5 mode drivers). According to my rough calculation/estimate in another Dry-related thread, it should be pushing the LEDs at around 4 A.
My first WW got a sort of semi faulty driver, it was stuck on high and could not change modes. I was sent a replacement, swapped out the thing (just a matter of splicing + / -) and ok. Another possible mode of failure is the switch and you sure can order additional switches. I mean nothing lasts forever, not even the high priced brands except maybe Elzetta. :D
Petebaby, as I've tested, there is only advantage to driving above 3A if you can properly cool the light in cold temps. This is a very simple/repeatable experiment. Just get 2 ice cubes and the lux rises insteads of falls, it is supposed to be slowly falling due to heat soak plus cell voltage drop (it drops very fast from 4.2-3.95V, check out the battery discharge graphs for the reason why). Warm temps like in my country yields nothing. However, you have need to remember the important point that this is not current regulated, like quite a number of single cell budget light. Why isn't this DRY regulated (buck and boost and whatever, it's at that particular point), if you ask me i seriously don't know, and seriously by gut feeling i would not want it to be current regulated due to the stresses involved.
I have mentioned many times this phenomenon in the DRY thread which i posted, all the info is there. Also mentioned there that since you are in Vancouver, Cananda, you are really good to go. I probably can't even get my room air-conditioning to a temperature below a hot summer's nite at your location!
Anyway i charged up the cells, yeah in a reflected ceiling bounce i could get ~ that 5.5% increase in output with the UCL. (I measured the DRY with UCL direct hotspot intensity in low mode, and then put the original DRY lens in front and got 5.5% drop). Previously it was like 245-250 stable reflected ceiling bounce. Now it is ~ 260. 5.5% cut is not bad....some lights like the OTR X5 I have measured more than 15% drop.
Thanks, fnsooner.
Yes thank you 2100 for all your testing over the past few weeks, it was really helpful to me and others, I know. I did remember that your testing showed that there is a benefit to driving beyond 3 A, but I also remember a thread about some 1*XM-L light, where people were discussing whether it was possible to be seeing more output beyond 3 A, and I don't remember the conclusion. I remember some people were convinced that there were no gains to be had beyond 3 A, and others were equally convinced (with their eyes) that there were gains. I think your testing, plus Match's testing, show that there are gains to be had, if adequate cooling is available.
The reason I'm asking this question is that DrJones found that the Dry is pulling 4 A peak in all modes (DrJones was it a fairly clean rectangular wave?), and I was curious to know if 4 A produced more output than 3.5 A or 3 A peak. 4 A peak is definitely less efficient (less lumens per A), but I personally don't mind if the light isn't absolutely the highest efficiency possible in the lower modes--I can live with shorter run-times and more heat as long as the light can dissipate that heat okay, as I believe the Dry can do (except in DD at 4 A). And then on High (or Turbo), which is DD, there's no efficiency problem because it's DD (no PWM)... I mean, there isn't a more-efficient drive method available like there is with the lower modes. I guess I can conclude that there is performance to be gained by driving at 4 A. Good.
It also didn't occur to me before that with the 3-mode and 5-mode drivers, if the highest mode is DD, then the battery current measurement equals the LED current. So yes, this light does push > 3 A through the LEDs. Sorry if I'm repeating stuff that has already been written, but info is kind of spread out over a bunch of threads and I have a bad memory.