I was seriously questioning my DMM but I told E1320 to give my F15 3.50 amps on high. That's what he did and when I got the light, this is what I measured with a fesh charged Solarforce 2400:
This is my 980L with the same SF 2400:
And, you can tell by the tint reflection on the bottom of the keyboard, this is the warm white and same SF 2400 in an L2:
Mind you, this is what it settles down to. Fresh off the charger on initial start-up I got 5.20.
I don't mean to belabor this but some time ago (before my period of absense) a person I won't name PM'd me saying he did not believe my 980L was really pulling over 4 amps. This was after I pointed him to the thread with E1320's picture of his 980L in front of a Fluke pulling 4.somethinginsane. If anything, my Extech reads a little low and that's probably because the leads on a cheapo DMM are usually where they start cutting manufacturing costs. (mine are already bending)
On the internet, all you have sometimes is your word and my credibility here is something I get touchy about, I'll admit. Erik knows my F15 did 3.50 when he built it so, I'm feeling a little better about Mr. Extech.
I'm also going to buy a Fluke here in the next few weeks.
Foy , I would love to have that driver , I have a SST 50 that might enjoy it immensely , as well my Dual XM-L U2 P60 drop in which is in need of more current ..
As Tim the Toolman used to say , More Power !
I just wish those Ultrafire Drivers were available for the DIY crowd ...
I just wonder about efficiency ? , even so , it sounds BOSS !
Have you checked for sag on the emitter ?
I have some new drivers if you want to trade , 8x7135 , and another that's 5 mode from KD [ XM_L , MC-E , SSC P7 ] I think its the one they [ KD ] Rate 2A , but the one I have does more like 2.4A .. or 4x7135 [ if mem serves , I should have 2 left ] or maybe just some PP
Yep , need a light meter , then make a light box , turn the light on to measure Lux , and if there is sag , the output will drop [ light meter read out ]
My other 3 mode pulls 3.8A , but I potted the emitter and glued the reflector down to the emitter base for another thermal path .
No LEGO on that one any more .
Hmmm , some SLR cameras have light meters , and doing a ceiling bounce , with the camera light meter might work [ never done it myself ]
Its very hard to detect by eye , as when the light sags , your eyes adjust , unless its terminal sag [ thermal run away ]
Emitter turns blue , severe output sag [ 90% or more ] and the emitter begins to emit smoke [ cos its cooking ]
I've got a light meter. I bought it on Match's recommendation so I could build a light box, sphere or whatever.
Heres some more fun with this drop-in . . .
This is with a fresh charged Solarforce 2400, installed in the light 10 minutes after it came off the charger.
Medium on the left and low on the right.
And this is what happens @ 5 amps after six or seven minutes. Ever tried to pick something up that is 160 degrees? I don't know why I find this kind of stuff so fascinating.
I'm not sure what to think about this driver. I have an underwhelming SST-50 and I'm wondering how it would do with this bad boy behind it. I guess I don't understand why they would make a drop-in like this. Is it because they thought the warm tint looked dimmer, so they drove it harder? When you look at Match's chart thing he did a while back, 5 amps over 3 amps doesn't net you many more lumens. But, it does give you more heat and less run time.
yeah i would stick that driver in your 2.5 amp SST-50 and the driver from that in this. as 5 amps is nuts, but with my luck if i brought the same drop in and the same batteries i would be lucky to get 2 amps lolls but i rather under driven for run time and heat and i dont like the warmer tints im crazy like that.
My experience with the DRY and 1A, 5A3 tints is pretty noticeable. Like 16%. So WW is pretty significant.
My Balder BD-2 WW, actually it's the higher range of the WW I believe it's like 3500K (Should get the cam out to test)...it takes in 3A at the tail and gets me only approx 500L OTF initial lumens. Ric listed it as NW, but it is pretty warm. Luckily i am sort of a "I Like warm lights" kinda guy. My Yezl M7X CW easily gives me 650 OTF lumens initally same form factor but of course slightly different drive levels.
I don't know . . . I'm a sucker for stupid stuff like this. Other than the heat demonstration, I'm not going to leave it on high for long and I've learned from some of you how they actually get it to be "warm." As usual, I gain as much information as I give when I do things like this - it's part of why I do it.
It's interesting too, that most here believe the high amperage was not the builders' intent, which suggests very high manufacturing variance - something I've not encountered (to this degree) with other drop-ins with regard to current. Quality and other factors are occasionally all over the place but among the 10 UF XM-Ls I have, none pulls 5 amps.
And, Boaz is right; an XM-L driven this hard is going to have a very hot and very short life.
I just got this dropin today. I ordered on 10/22. Mine has a very warm incandescent glow to it like Langcjl's photo's show. I took tailcap measurements in my new L2P and my old 501b and on high was getting 2.80-2.83 amps with a protected TF flames 2400.
I don't like the disco modes, so I think this will be my first victim for a driver swap.
Just a thought for you guys: That driver likely isn't going to give you 5A to an SST50. I assume the Vf of the SST is higher, so you'll get less amps. It's all just DD so the LED will dictate the current.
