Cutter is taking pre-orders for XM-L LED's and there is a USA-only group buy underway at CPF. Not sure what configurations are available in terms of the mounting board (I think the group buy is just doing unmounted LED's, but it sounds like Cutter is offering a lot of options). I'm tempted. With a 2.8A driver, you could get over 800 lumens at the emitter, which should beat an MC-E and no donut hole. Possibly shipping in a week or so.
Group buy:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=240815
Cutter:
This is starting to put the fun back in it! It wont be long before XM-L's will be offered mounted on stars through Cutter, so it looks like I need to hold off until the second round group buy is announced. I have the perfect host to test one of these. The MCE that came in mine has a horrible bin with crummy output, however it measures 2.9A at the tailcap. At first, I thought it was the TIR optics that robbed lumens, but it works perfectly well with another known high BIN MCE I have.
Review: 150 Million Candlepower Military Xenon Arc Battlefield Illuminator (AN/VSS-3A)
My new collection of 50+ Chinese knives
Are you sure it's regulated to that and not direct drive? A lot dx mc-e lights have varying draws in the reviews which makes me suspicous.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
Cutter is taking pre orders - But they still dont know when they will arrive ... If I remember , they are speculating for a month [ last time I asked about the XM ] , also the XP-G S2 is supposedly on the way ?
Who wants a XP-G S2 after the release of the XM ?????
Now the main issue will be the board the emitter goes on , if its 20mm , thats going to be too big for most flashlight applications ...
They will need to be mounted on 14mm boards ....
I have several lights earmarked for the XM ... Ultrafire A20 / Solarforce L2X / Solarforce L2 / Skyline 1 / RQ / HS-802 , for starters ... So if I can get 5 to 10 XM's from cutter ?
Again will be very dependent on the board there mounted on .
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
Well, the xm costs more, and 3A /10W is not really feasible in most flashlights anyway. I think the better question is who would want a mc-e or p7 now.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
Price of 7 bucks at cutter doesn't seem so high to me... the XM-L might replace both lines MC-E/P7 in fully driven and XR-E/XP-G in underdriven... one emitter to rule them all
You're right, they charge $7 for xp-g at cutter.
I was thinking of reel prices, which are much lower.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
Of course its not regulated. If DX sells ANY li-ion lights that are properly flat current regulated through the ENTIRE operating voltage range of the battery via the diver, I am not aware of them. Some do to a certain degree, but I don't recall one that maintains that current from start and until the battery is depleted (3.2 - 3.5V). In most cases, or to a greater degree, the stability of a descent battery somewhat provides this service - not the cheap driver. Depending on the resistance and forward voltage requirements of the particular xm-l sample I receive will determine if the stock driver in my light will be appropriate. I suspect it will but, and I will test it at the connecting lead to the star with a DMM just to be sure its within spec. Up to .5A over will not be a cause for alarm unless I read or discover otherwise. What are your thoughts? Have you found any drivers that might regulate well @3.0A from 4.2 down to 3.2V? Anyone? (something without hords of 7135's please)
As an aside, the lumens on the preliminary spec sheet aren't as great as many had anticipated. Still, I suspect it will be a very noticeable leap above the current MC-E or P7 offerings when driven at the same levels, at least to the naked eye. Along with that, the large footprint of the LED to the mounting surface should transmit heat quite well, and hopefully allow for a certain amount of current above the published max... we can only hope! This is exciting and it can only get better as newer and more efficient bins are introduced. The true test if these produce bright light without artifacts; would be for gynocologists that currently hail their remote xenon short arc light sources for shedding light upon their subjects, to make the change to XM-L. I guess I better find a forum where members boast about their new speculums to see if anyone is interested in the XM-L.
Review: 150 Million Candlepower Military Xenon Arc Battlefield Illuminator (AN/VSS-3A)
My new collection of 50+ Chinese knives
Historically, cutter charges a slight premium for their product, but at least you have access to lesser available bins on the star size you want. And probably more important is the fact that you know what you are getting when you order... unlike the bin lottery you play with Chinese lights manufacturers, including the more expensive varieties.
Review: 150 Million Candlepower Military Xenon Arc Battlefield Illuminator (AN/VSS-3A)
My new collection of 50+ Chinese knives
Star size you want ? from cutter , I think not .
Cutter is very limited in star size ... I would be buying more XR-E R2 if they were not limited to 20mm bases ....
Ive already been pushing for 14mm stars , but the flashlight market is so small for cutter that there simply not interested ..
I can only hope the XM is not going to be limited to 20mm bases from cutter , as I simply cant use them ...
?
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
I'm not so sure. The figures from the dx forum seem to imply that it's regulated to some extent, or otherwise the draws reported wouldn't all be around 3. Witness the recent tr-801 thread where people got everything from 0.6 to 1.9A draws.
"Regulated" is a tricky word. A lot of these cheap lights aren't flat regulated (and really, it hardly matters), just enough so that it won't fry the emitter with a new battery, and it won't drop too low with a discharging one.
If it's not regulated, the XM-L would likely fail, as I'm guessing the Vf might be lower than mc'e with the typical process improvements, or at least not exactly the same unless you get lucky.
This is supposed the ~2.5A driver at dx that actually works http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.20330
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
That driver is huge !!!
I would suggest most of your SSC P7 / MC-E drivers will be ok , since they dont seem to push the SSC P7 to max .
KD sells ... http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1845
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-132/3-dsh-Mode-Regulated-Circuit-Board/Detail
I currently have both in hand for the XM ,
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
That SB one is 8x 7135, which works in the brute form manner, and the KD one according to its reviews is not really any more than a 1A driver.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
I'm hoping someone will try KD's "1100mAh" 8x7135 driver:
http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=10995
Looks similar to Shiningbeam's but cheaper and free shipping.
I ordered one yesterday. I don't have any light that would need or could even handle that kind of curent, but I figured it's the cheapest source of 7135s available. Remove the chips on the bottom and you're left with a 1.4A NANJ AK-47, plus four 7135s
.
You can always try the Knipex-solution for P60 dropins, but I admit... it is a lot of work.
If you read my entire post, I do believe that is what I already tried to convey, but I definitely agree with you.
Review: 150 Million Candlepower Military Xenon Arc Battlefield Illuminator (AN/VSS-3A)
My new collection of 50+ Chinese knives
http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=10995 Ordered last week .... I think the product description is wrong , or the picture is wrong ...
. http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1845 Not a 1A driver , Direct drive on High , SSC P7 and MC-E over 2A
I just hope the MX will be on at least a 16mm base ... 14mm would be better ..
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
I think the stars are all added by other parties. I've not seen anything that says Cree mounts them on stars.
BICBW. Have been before, will be again.
The numbers from my light tests are always to be found here.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApkFM37n_QnRdDU5MDNzOURjYllmZHI...
I'm a lot more interested in a new LED than I will ever be in a new bin. It may have its drawbacks, but until you get the light in your hands, who's to know?
The numbers from my light tests are always to be found here.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApkFM37n_QnRdDU5MDNzOURjYllmZHI...
Really? What would you guess the other SOIC chip is for, the photos don't show the label?
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
No idea , but I have been using this driver for almost 2 years now , very versatile , Ive used it on everything , Cree XR-E , Diamond Dragons , SSC P4 , Luxeon K2 TFFC , XP-E , XP-G , MC-E , SSC P7 ..
I alway have this driver on hand ... http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1845
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
Agree of the first one.
The latter I have put in a MC-E plugin. It draws only 1 amp at the tail. I have ordered a 2.8 amps from an other vendor and cross my fingers.
Cheap quality is good - Expensive crap isn´t
2 Possibilities , faulty driver , or lousy LED .. I have a SSC P7 that only draws 1.2A , go figure ...
The KD 1845 driver , I tried one with a XP-G R5 a few days ago , and it pulled 2.2A at the tail , to much for the little XP-G ....
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
orgasm!
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=3605340&postcount=223
Enjoy BLF
Cree XM-L T6 test from China : http://www.shoudian.com/thread-163941-1-1.html
With many picture!
My shop on aliexpress , welcome to visit my shop !
someone needs to get these for us on 14mm and 16mm boards!!!!!
i dont see any
It looks like it is going to need MC-E P7 drivers to be worthwhile - still it'll handle 3A and give a ton of light there.
Think a P7 or MC-E dropin needs one of these transplanted into it to see how it does.
Hopefully the Hong Kong dealers will have them in quantity on stars by the end of Chinese New Year.
The numbers from my light tests are always to be found here.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApkFM37n_QnRdDU5MDNzOURjYllmZHI...
I'm thinking they will be a lot like MC-E's or P7's, just without the donut hole. Lots of flood and short battery life in a P60. If you want any throw you will need a bigger reflector and two 18650's powering it.
The latest on the CPF group buy was that Cutter would release 20mm stars first, followed soon by 14mm boards. So I'm hoping to build a XM-L P60 before Christmas, maybe with a custom-programmed UI.
Taken from Solarforce on Facebook
Solarforce Flashlight I got lots of email inquiry about the XM-L based dropins~i have read the spec of this led ~
Surely, this MUST be included in our upcoming projects~
If i got any news for this XM-L led~ NO matter, we will make it as a P60 size dropin, turbo head or a Larger size flashlight like Masterpeice or L1000
I will updated all of you here the soonest i can~^^
Pages