I am still kicking around the idea of getting this light, but it seems that about 1 in 3 folks who have purchased it have had it go *poof* in the first few hours of operation.
So I have a couple questions:
1) Is yours still functioning or did it die?
2) If you bought one recently, are they still pulling 4+ amps, or have they regulated it to a more reasonable 3A or so?
If you own a 980L and also have a Fenix Tk35, I'd like to hear how the two compare. A TK 35 for 60 bucks sounds like a great deal, and if I talk myself out of the 980L, then with what I save I'm only $60 away from a TK35
Mine still works after the driver swap, it still pulls 4.5 volts on an unprotected Trustfire flame if the need arises. Unfortunately after waiting 2+ months for Manafont to send me a replacement driver the replacement driver that Jim sent out was DOA and the pill it was in does not fit a UF980L. I actually have no idea what the pill fits, but like a dumbass I mounted a new U2 emitter from KD with Fujik in the pill before I tested it. I have a new pill now with a new U2 emitter glued on it and a dead driver to god only knows what kind of light. Oh well at least the light still works. The trick is if you want this light to last don't put a battery in it that will deliver over 3 amps on high and it should go forever.
Mine is fine but I swapped out the LED and driver, so its not really the same. At the time that I modded it, the stock parts were working fine. The original LED is now serving a life sentence in an old Brinkmann 3AAA headlamp. The driver will probably get put in a larger light or to run a triple XPG dropin.
I use my 980l as my duty light..I was one of the first if not the first to receive this light so that tells you how long I have been using it..so far it's worked perfectly without issue..I don't use high for long periods because it's not necessary unless i'm doing a search or need a lot of light..medium is more than enough for 80% of my tasks..but I do use high fairly often..love this light and everyone is envious of it when it fires up lol
some batteries have a higher internal resistance and are just harder to suck high draw out of..I have several trustfire flames that will deliver 4.6a and several that will only manage 3.6-3.8..I use the batteries that give me the lower amperage reading..not all cells are the same..
pounder has it right. The light is direct driven on high. What happens is that the higher the voltage supplied to the LED the more amps it will draw. Using hypothetical numbers, a good battery may only sag down to 3.9v under the load of the XM-L. When you supply the LED with that voltage it draws 4.5 amps. If you have some badly abused Ultrafire 3000 it may only be able to hold 3.2v and at that voltage the LED only draws 3.0 amps. Depending on the cells, you're using 17.5 watts or you may using only 9.6 watts at start up.
Most of that power is turned into heat and heat is the enemy.
Thats the problem with these lousy drivers. In order for them to be run reasonably, you need to use crap cells.
