The general build quality, just from the look and feel, is not as good as the FT driver. There are less parts on the pcb (don't know if that's bad or good), the wires are stiff and quite thin. The wires on the FT driver are definitely better to work with.
The driver can also be used with a LiIon cell, but it will be more like direct drive then and I've read tailcap currents of 1.2 - 1.5 amps.
Some thoughts beforehand:
I performed the test with an XR-E R2 mounted on a fan-cooled chipset heatsink. This is an older emitter with a relatively high Vf. I think one can safely assume that driver efficiency will be better with a newer, lower Vf emitter.
The batteries were fully charged eneloop AA cells, HR-3UTGA, about one and a half years old.
Driver performance in real life applications will likely be better. My testing setup consisted of battery holders, alligator clips and breadboard, which added additional resistance to the circuit.
Since I wanted to include efficiency, I decided to measure the input voltage as well and not guesstimate it from the charge state of the batteries. It is quite interesting to see how much they sag under load.
There's a german saying: Wer misst, misst Mist. It basically says that every measurement has to be taken with a grain of salt and is probably not comparable to other measurements.
Results:
Batt
U in (V)
I in (A)
U out (V)
I out (A)
P in (W)
P out (W)
Efficiency (%)
1x Eneloop
1,25
1,29
2,91
0,21
1,61
0,61
37,90
2x Eneloop
1,92
1,91
3,10
0,60
3,67
1,86
50,72
3x Eneloop
3,79
0,77
3,14
0,64
2,92
2,01
68,86
Conclusion:
The driver does its job, but it doesn't manage to meet its specs. The FT driver gets more juice to the LED from 1xAA (according to MRsDNF), but the DX driver is better with 2xAA (judged only by tailcap current of FT driver).
To come to a final conclusion, I guess I will have to do the same thorough testing with the FT driver.
And as asidenote, it is quite sad to see the efficiency so low at lower voltages. It would be interesting to see if newer drivers are better. It is not suprising that the efficiency gets better with Input voltage getting closer to Vf.
Thanks for the review Chief. I have a disclaimer in my signature for the very reasons you suggest. Loved the test. I never know what they advertising on currents are. Half the time I reckon there talking input currents and I take them as output currents which aren’t even close. As anyone here will tell you I know nothing about electronics and just enough to measure current and voltage with a DMM which is probably a bad thing. Are you going to do a review on the Fasttech driver. The pressure’s on now but being the Chief I know you can handle that.
I'm really in the same boat, not really knowing anything about electronics, just equipped with a strong enthusiasm (although constricted by terrible laziness). I even managed to solder a bunch of guitar effects pedals together, the most complicated one of them was a phaser, but all I did was to follow building plans when I built them.
I guess I have to do the FT driver test now too... But I will have to wait for my next FT order, I have used two of these drivers and I'm too lazy to take them out of my builds
O.K., late to the thread…actually, just found this forum.
Dumb question time…I am still trying to turn my Fulton G.I. flashlight into something more than a livingroom/kitchen light. But, will the drivers listed here stand the current from 2 D cells? The voltages are the same, but they are specifically sold for 2 AA/AAAs. Is there another single mode driver I should be considering, or will these work?
I am now running an ancient no-name, unknown wattage PR-based LED drop-in, which is dim, even with new batteries. Is there a brighter drop-in anyone can recommend? That would be the easy solution!
Thanx
No problem using D cells, the voltage is the same, and the ability to deliver power dos not depend of the size, but of the chemistry/quality. AA eneloops will deliver more amps than (at least most) D alkalines, and I assume your d cells are alkalines because it’s not very common to use nimh d sized cells, they are very expensive, and some times they are a AA wrapped in a bigger package
I recently discovered that 4/3AA NiMH cells are available, and are the same size as 18650 li-ions (more or less)
so I”ve begun looking for drivers so I can convert some of my li-ions to NiMH flashlights to give them away in good conscience.
It’s handy that the 4/3AA NimH fit the same space so they’ll charge in, for example, the Intellicharger i4, which automatically detects cell chemistry.
i haven’t found any low_discharge NiMH in the 4/3AA size yet, hoping they’re out there somewhere.
But hey, it’s a start
