Review: NANJG AK-47C 1050mA driver

NANJG AK-47C 1050mA 3-Group 9 mode Driver

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

Size: 17mm
Voltage: 2.6-4.5V
Regulation
Linear Regulator
Current: 1050mA
Modes: 9 in 3 groups
Price Paid: $3.60
From:

DealExtreme 1)

1) The availability of this driver is uncertain. I got it when I ordered the linked sku 7612 (101-AK).

Pros:

  • All 9 modes are available with soft-selection of groups
  • Well regulated and efficient driver
  • Has memory with indication of snap-in
  • Has a 3-level group with no nonsense and very good spacing
  • Has a high PWM frequency giving a steady light at low level

Cons:

  • Unintentional group switching is possible
  • Memory kicks in 2 secs after switching on (would prefer after off)
  • Can only be used with 1 Li-Ion cell

Features / Value: ★★★★

Mode Groups

The groups are as follows:

1. Low(4%) - Medium(28%) - High - Fast Strobe(11Hz) -SOS(decent speed)

2. Low - Medium - High

3. Low - Medium - High - Fast Strobe - Police Strobe(1/2 sec Fast Strobe, 1/2 sec off) - Slow Strobe(3Hz) - Super Slow Strobe(1.1Hz) - Beacon(7sec) - SOS

The PWM frequency is high at 5.3kHz.


Mode switching

The AK-47C has stars on the bottom side just like the well known AK-47 but on the AK-47C they have no function. The mode switching is done entirely with the on/off switch in the following manner:

Select low level and stay here for 3 seconds until the light blinks, then shut off (one has to ignore a weaker blink after 2 seconds indicating memory snap-in). At next power-up the light will start up in the next group.

Mode Memory

The mode memory snaps in 2 seconds after a mode switch and indicates this with a weak blink. I normally prefers memory after switch-off so I don't need to tap twice to shift level, but this approach normally needs three more components.

Build Quality: ★★★★★

NANJG has a fine build quality and can withstand normal soldering with a fine tipped soldering iron.

This one runs with a MCU PIC12F629 instead of the AK-47 ATtiny13. This has hardly any influence on quality but NANJG has managed to make it run like it has PWM although the PIC MCU does not include PWM (or am I wrong here?).


Battery Life: ★★☆

Linear regulators with 7135 devices normally are well regulated and efficient. At lower battery voltages the drive becomes direct with a very little loss.

Light Output: ★★★★☆

The output current 1.05A is a fine level to drive XR-E and XP-E LED's. A fourth 7135 could be soldered on top of one of the existing ones to get 1.4A for a XP-G LED. The driver has no boost capability so it must be expected that the output falls at lower battery voltages where the drive becomes direct with no regulation.This happens at a lower voltage with XP-G than with XR-E/XP-E because of its lower forward voltage.

Summary: ★★★★★

The 3 modes have a very usable spacing of 4% - 28% - 100% and maintain a constant output as long as the battery voltage is higher than the LEDs forward voltage, all the time with good efficiency. A lot of special modes are readily at hand, but out of the way if one wishes so.

Nice review sixty545

Does it come with leads?

Does the negative lead go on c1?

Positive lead?

Thanks, how2. Yes, it comes with the normal red and black leads.

C1 is the capacitor to the left of the MCU. North of that you can see a solder pad with a little minus to the left. Here the negative end of the LED goes. The positive goes to the top of the diode to the right of the MCU.

Well done sixty545! Thanks for the pics and the technical details. Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.

Can anyone tell me what type of diode is nbelow the Led +

I need one and dont know how to identify?

Thanks!

Hi, e-rock and welcome to the forum!

The diode has the function to protect the MCU from wrong insertion of the battery. If the driver has a voltage divider to detect low voltage, then the sense level is dependent on the type of diode.

It comes in two categories, General and Schottky.

A general purpose diode has a voltage drop of about 0.6 V and can be marked with an arrow or a bar to indicate the direction of current flow.

A Schottky diode has a voltage drop of about 0.26 V and is often marked "S6". It has the advantage that the MCU can function at a 0.34 V lower battery voltage.

Multimeters (also cheap ones) normally has a position marked with a diode symbol. With this you can easily measure the voltage drop across the diode without help from a battery. The multimeter delivers the power to do this.

I have looked through my drivers and found:

NANJG 105, 101-AK, 101-AK-A1 all has a Schottky diode.

AK-47, AK-47C, 105A all has a general purpose diode.

If you are not going to use low battery detection then you could in all cases use a general purpose diode.

Where can i find these? digikey?

There are many different types as well.

Mine had the direction arrow so thats what i am looking for.

Any part numbers would be great.

Thanks again.

Aloha and welcome to BLF e-rock!

Well we live in different parts of the world, but you will be looking for an electronics outlet or hobby store. I just remember that you have Radio Shack and found this general purpose diode. You can see that these things are cheap, 10 pc. for $1.49. This is perhaps not the form factor you are seeking, the small ones are called SMD components. Try on the net or perhaps a member in the USA can guide you.

Good hunting.

Thank you very, very much for posting this!

I bought (at least I was thinking so) an AK-47 driver. Tried to solder bridges about an hour, no 3-mode...

Opened my eyes and noticed DX had sent me an AK-47c, found this page : presto!

Anyhow, my L2i is now better than ever. OK, it only pushes 1A, BUT no visible PWM and chance to change mode groups ( I somehow burned my original driver, had this on shelf...)

e: did I mention that great, lower-low-than-in Solarforces dropin :D

The same happened to me so now I know how to use it.

Thanks.

Where can this driver be purchased ?

Does this driver have a low battery warning?

I think the link below are those

here is the C model

I don’t think so. It’s missing R1 and R2 that are the low voltage detection input.