Hi,
I was able to get in on RMM’s recent 219C special offer, with three 219Cs mounted on a Noctigon along with Carclo optics.
My order from RMM also included the MTN-17DD FET driver loaded with Toykeeper’s excellent firmware / UI, the Convoy S2 host, the S2 copper spacer/heatsink, and Samsung INR18650-30Q battery.
Last weekend, I assembled the above S2 with the triple nichia 219C noctigon, the S2 copper heatsink/spacer, and did a switch and spring bypass (with 18 gauge wire) on the S2’s clicky. The MTN 17DD driver already had a spring bypass done by Richard with copper braid.
I kept the stock 17DD driver wires provided by Richard to attach the driver to the nichia LEDs on the noctigon. I think these are 22 gauge wires, and I am contemplating replacing these wires with something heavier, given that the projected amount of current draw with this setup (over 10 amps?) is in excess of 22 gauge wire’s rated maximum current carrying capacity. I’d like to use 18 gauge wires to attach the driver to the LEDs, but these may be too thick to solder onto the driver’s + and - pads. Additionally, the thinner 22 gauge wire, however, may be acting as a resistive “safety valve” to limit current to the nichias, and it may be better to retain the smaller gauge wires provided they don’t eventually act like fuses when running on turbo.
So far, I have run this light configuration on turbo for no longer than 15~20 seconds or so - I’m not yet brave enough to run it on turbo much longer. . I’ve done this quite a few times over the last 3 days, and the 219Cs seem to be taking it just fine so far.
It’s output is truly stunning on turbo!
To my eyes, I don’t see any tint anomalies when running on turbo, just that pleasant nichia whiteness.
I don’t have a way of measuring the light output, but doing a ceiling bounce with the above S2 configuration running on turbo lights up an entire bedroom! I have a Trustfire X100 (9 LEDs) that appears, to my eyes, to have similar ceiling bounce performance. The x100 light is supposed to emit roughly 3000 OTF Lumens.
On turbo, the S2 copper spacer/heat sink and S2 flashlight body get warm pretty fast (in about 7 seconds or so), but the heat sink/spacer appears to be doing a good job at removing what must be significant amounts of heat density. This seems to help keep the nichias from burning up (at least for short turbo bursts for roughly 15 seconds).
The 30Q battery seems to be one hell of cell when coupled with the 17DD+FET driver!
I don’t think I have a way to measure the amount of current that must be flowing in the setup. My meter has a 10 amp maximum capacity. I hope to investigate means to measure the current in this setup a bit more this weekend. Don’t know that I’ll be successful, but will post any findings or observations.