Review: DRY 3*XM-L 3*18650 4-mode neutral white

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.

Here's a thread started by Match that has some useful graphs. https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/2346

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.

You have to remember that Match has a 10lb block of alu under the star, yes. But you need to remember that it doesn't matter even if he has 1000lbs, as a mere 0.1lb of aluminum would be better if you place that combo out in Northen Vancouver (think you said your place is elevated in the mountains) at -5 deg C with 10kph wind. It is still relatively inefficient, but there will be gains. For what i used, i managed to gain 14% from the DRY with active cooling....ala "not too bad for flashaholics for a fun light". You do use such stuff outside, anything > 2000 lumens is just for WOW inside the house.

Of course I believe Vancouver i mean British Columbia is one of the hottest states in Canada. There are quite some folks here in Russia, Harbin, Sweden/Finland etc... Even Belgium does 0 deg C in the night, and sometimes i guess even sub zero.

Match's testing date : 29th May. Location : South Carolina USA.

PS. I'll try to do some video testing.

I didn't receive any of this ... i ordered from sbflashlights, sent them a mail right away... Because if CNQ sends the lights out with these items to them, I should get them...

And for what i can say now (couldn't test the light yet) i totally agree about the cheap looking battery holder which i'm waiting for to be replaced. Will update the driver but only if strobe comes after turbo.

UPDATE: these items weren't shipped to sbflashlight, Ric from CNQ will send them to me when I order a new driver

Anyone has a picture of a (flash)light which accurately shows the tint of the NW DRY? Ric sent me my replacement carrier today so i'll probably have to wait another 2 weeks until i can fire my DRY up :(

SA, check this post, https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/3212?page=2#comment-63517

There's a lot of info on this forum.

Yes i know about that thread but 2100 told me that in the comparison the neutral white is represented too warm and i really hope it is :p

On my monitor it doesn't look too warm. Or maybe that's how I feel about it.

As I have suspected.

Demensions:

Length:153mm

Diameter:58*46mm

Weight:450g

Package:Neutral packing/white box.

An even other variants with 5 LEDs

Hehe nice find, strange on their official site i don't see this light under their products. So the DRY is actually a Brinyte without logo?

Runtime:3hours in high mode = exagerated?

output 1000-1200 lumen = too modest?


I want that Bryinte 5 x Q5!

Nothing is to be trusted electronically. Look at the DRY 3*XM-L 4 Mode, 2.8A-3A regulated .......... it isn't.

Maybe it's 3 hours in high mode because it's not regulated.

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/480745925-BR3000-LED-Flashlight-Made-of-Aircraft-grade-Aluminum-Material-with-High-Power-Over-1000lm-Luminous-Flux-wholesalers.html

$85 shipped to SG via DHL....

would cost me almost same as DRY, what would be the biggest difference between triple xml and 5xQ5?

The price for one piece is $52.30 then there's the part where the shipping comes.

It a good price considering that CnQG asks $45 for empty host. Which has a different reflector of course, for the 3 * XM-Ls . Anyway as you can see you may buy the 3 * Q5 reflector from Taobao.

Maybe you don't want to use DHL.

$52.30 x 1 + $42.90 = US $95.20 to Belgium .
Airmail shipping should be around $15. If they would agree to ship that way.

The properly driven 5 x Q5 is about 27k from what i goggled. DRY is 26k (using my meter uncorrected, it might be 28.6k corrected). So around the same throw.

But hotspot and perceived brightness would be a big difference. :)

too bad too sad i already bought one, there will always be something :d. Q5 is brighter?