Thanks for checking for me. If you're happy @ .6A draw, then I cant wait to get this into my 504B. It should last forever at that current. If I dont like it, I'll simply swap the driver.
It just shipped. That was fast! I should see it in about 3 weeks and will report back on how the driver performs. Thanks again!
Damn DX, I'm pretty sure I ordered my second one before you and it's still pending.
I ordered mine on 9/5.
8/31, still "awaiting stock". They figured I already had one.... why rush.
Same here! Grrrr.
Now I wonder if they sent my the right dropin.
My second still hasn't shipped, but FlashPilot, I did measure brightness on 2 lithiums.
About 2.2 times brighter (center spot) on the lightmeter I just recieved.
Thanks but Im not sure that I understand you.
Are you saying that it is 2.2 times as bright on 2 x lithium cells than one 1 x lithium cell? Please explain.
Yes. Looks to be about linear (or slightly more) with voltage, implying the current is held flat from at least ~4v to 8v. I actually have a bench supply to find the whole curve, but I haven't pulled it out in ages.
So... it sounds like this would do better with 2 x 16340 than on 1 x 18650? If so, the driver seems better optimized for 8.4V. Lets hope I get the same driver as you.
First of all, I'd like to apologize to anyone who bought this because I said it was a 2 mode light. It is not. Now, the reason behind this:
I recieved this on the same day my solarforce L2 came in. I stuck it in and it is two modes. I liked it so much I never took it back out. But this was not because the drop-in was two modes, and today I found out why. The tailcap on the L2 is two stage??!!!ones??? I found out only because I was testing it with two lithiums for FlashPilot and the "low" mode in that case was not the same proportionate linear drop compare with that of one battery, which is suspicious for a more advanced density regulated driver. I'm going to investigate further when I get time.
I've never had a host with a switch like that, or any stock light for that matter. Are all L2 solarforce tails like that?? My L2r certainly isn't. I've never heard of it nor can I find any info on the web that states this. I bought this in Sand from ITC.
So that's the bad news. The good news is that you can keep following my misplaced recommendations and get a L2 like mine (what better excuse?). :D
I still like it a lot and it's my go-to light in this config.
Also, to address the 2 battery issue: I think this is going to be very clos to the limite for the emitter. The tail current is a bit over 0.6A . Assuming fresh batteries ~4V under load that's 4.8 watts, and with typical 3.9v Vf for a XR-E @ 1A that's around 1.2A plus losses.
Is there an easy way to measure current across the emitter?
The light w/ 2 batteries and low stage on my L2 is similar to high stage on 1 battery (numbers from meter).
We all make mistakes. I have a 2-mode tailcap in one of my lights and I like it. Although the resister isnt that efficient, I almost never run it in low mode. In fact, thats true of almost all of my lights. lol Thanks for the report. Im still looking forward to my warm drop-in..
I ordered it at DX due to the recommendation here. But after 3 weeks I got the message "sold out"
I got a refund and ordered this from KD: http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=9770
I would have preferred the 1 mode from DX, but will see how it performs when i gets here.
In the meantime I´ll consider this:
which agenthex gave me a hint to.
The color is the main thing here not the brightness, so I´ll probably need to buy it anyway to see for myself
I gave a review of the Solarforce LC-Yellow drop-in here:
http://budgetlightforum.cz.cc/node/638#comment-9927
"
Just got the LC-yellow. It's similar but slightly better than the DX neutral. It's about 4000K as they said, but NOT a p3-8b. Draw is 1.1A instead 0.6A of DX one, so it's brighter, but slightly warmer (DX is maybe 4500K).
The driver's also different. DX maintains constant current at 0.6A, so with two batteries, it's about as bright as SF, whereas the SF ramps to about that on 2 cells. However the DX maintains its brightness better as 1 cell goes down.
So there you have it. Perhaps a bit better on 1 cells, tint is close enough, but not a huge win. Worth the price.
"
Biggest plus is that at least it'll be in stock.
Thanks for update and information on the Solarforce warm white. I think my KD is too yellowish,
so if I´ll get another one is gonna be the SF. Good that its brighter.
You know I got the Warm White 502B and that will be enough for the moment together with the
one from KD. I use them where I have to get as much natural light as possible to identify things.
Another data point on the LC-Yellow: as implied above, the output drops pretty quickly. When the cell is at 3.8v, the draw is only .45A