this is both a mini review and a mini mod, although I don’t know what mini + mini add up to
bought one of these at the beginning of the year:
http://www.fasttech.com/product/1134800
as I’m a cheapskate and wanted to try out a multi-mode driver in one of my RC-G2s before slapping down 7 big ones on a much nicer 3 mode from Shiningbeam. Also, the SOS mode is a bit of piece of mind as this’ll be going into my car torch (hopefully never to be used in that mode).
Here’s the driver
a bit of the inductor plastic has broken off, but it still works fine.
here’s the old driver:
and the pill:
the pressed in brass insert has an ID of ~14mm and perhaps 0.5mm lip under that. Neither was small enough for the Fasttech driver to fit, which was ~12.5mm in diameter, so I trimmed the tabs on the driver so that they rested on the lip, then jammed in a spare piece of brass cut to fit into the gap. Lots of heat and solder gave this:
not the prettiest piece of work, but good enough. Doesn’t move either.
Thankfully it all worked too. Here are some figures:
Emitter/ tail cap amps:
original driver 0.25A / 1.86A (ratio 7.4:1) (note old meter)
new driver high 0.3/ 1.64 (5.5:1) (old meter)
med 0.11/ 0.54 (4.9:1), new readings 0.17/ 0.63A (3.75:1)
low 0.02/ 0.12 (6:1), new readings 0.1/ 0.35A (3.5:)
slightly higher high and the levels are quite nicely spaced. Med and low exhibit some high frequency whine (any tips, fujik potting?), with low at a much higher frequency. Some people might not even hear it though. Strobe = find out who in the crowd is epileptic and SOS is SOS, with a short gap between each SOS. As far as I can tell it has next mode memory (bletch), but I haven’t left it long enough to see if it just starts on high if enough time has passed. Not a major issue for its intended use, but I can see the advantage in springing an extra $4 for the SB driver (next on the list for my other RC-G2). It’ll be interesting to see if emitter amps increase with a lower Vf LED (XP-E2 NW is going in there next), like the original driver did with a Nichia 219.
Also of interest – the two lights are now more equal in brightness now that they’re both at 0.3A. XR-E has a tighter and slightly brighter spot with very little spill, Nichia has a bigger (50%?) spot and a much brighter spill.
Edited with new readings for Med and Low, which better match what my eyes are telling me
Cool, thanks for the meter readings and review!
Thanks very much! Sticky’d.
Budget Light Forum ...where Frugal meets with Flashlight!
ooh wow, this is my first ever sticky on a forum! I’m blushing :8)
As soon as I get the XP-E2, I’ll update the meter readings and same with the Shining Beam driver.
quick update – I sort of fixed my Fluke’s ability to read current, thanks to some help from Texaspyro, so I managed to take some emitter and tail cap readings for Med and Low. They’re now a bit more realistic (Low is way too bright for 0.02A!), although I’m currently (he he he) stymied by why I can’t read current on high. Hmm, a mystery.
When I get the time I’ll do some beamshots with the XP-E2, it’s really rather nice