Thanks! It's a really simple flicker algorithm but I have some ideas to make it more realistic. I suppose the first step is to try it out in a <3000K flashlight though because it looks a little odd now coming from a 5700K emitter. I tested it yesterday night with a yellow plastic bottle on top of it in a dark room, and it was surprisingly pleasant, would be fun in outdoor camping I think. I'm also pretty sure I've seen some mention of candle flicker and other modes in some custom firmwares, like in the BLF lantern, or some of the modes in Toykeeper's firmwares.
Many thanks for sharing this excellent build! In line with true BLF spirit, this is a good inspiration. really cool build.
I like the candle flicker mode, was wondering why almost no other light has it.
Quick update! I've further improved the performance of this build - again this build was designed to be a primary test vessel for my GXB172 50W Single Cell Boost Driver.
First, I swapped out the optics. Originally this used an Orange-Peel reflector. However, for those who are familiar with Nichia 144 LEDs, you may know that the phosphor on the die appears to be fairly un-uniform. As a result, the center of the beam is typically much yellow then the outside. In order to fix this, I replaced the OP reflector with a TIR 45-degree honeycomb optic with suggestion from Texas_Ace. Thanks for the tip!
The result is a much more uniform beam and a very very pleasing tint! This really transformed the output of the light! The only downside is a slight drop in OTF lumens, but with a much better quality flood beam.
Details for different TIR optics here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/26270
Next, I also improved the tail-switch by adding in:
My single milli-ohm FET tailswitch (GFS16)
An additional battery-sensing LED tailcap light
Swapped the clicky switch to a stainless steel one.
The tailcap light has the added feature of changing colours (in this case from Blue to Red) when battery voltage drops below 3V, and turns off completely when battery voltage drops below ~2.7V.
Oh wow! Nice job on this light! I’ve been following your driver threads and your new tail-switch PCB thread. Plenty of us are waiting for you to release the drivers so we can have them in our lights!
You just made something very close to an ideal flashlight for me. If I had it in 4500-5000K, I might think I had died and gone to heaven. Anxiously awaiting commercial release of your parts.
And I can’t help but drool over the possibility of a 21700 light almost exactly like this.
I’ve never seen a high CRI Cree LED, but I would be willing to try one. Unfortunately, I don’t have the tools to reflow, so if you aren’t planning to sell that service, also, I’ll probably go with a Nichia 144 and mcpcb from virence.com.
I am guessing I will order a few extras. The tests I have done with the 90CRI XHP50.2 so far have been fantastic. Great rosy tint and great output (around 4000 lumens in my testing IIRC). It is what I plan to convert a lot of my lights to including my EDC.
The tint of the XHP LED’s is actually pretty good, it is just not good in a reflector but the 144 is even worse really.
The issue is the tint shift you get in a reflector causes it to look bad but that is where the TIR comes in, it smooths out the tint and mixes it so that it looks very nice.
With the right TIR the XHP50.2 90CRI looks fantastic in the little I have played with it on the bench.
The high CRI light (bottom photo) is one of Zebralight’s “Floody” version lights with diffuser lens (over a OP reflector I believe)
For a modded light I guess applying DC fix over the glass would produce similar results. This may be similar to what a TIR optic does for the beam.
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SC600w IV Plus by Cree XHP50.2 NW 4500K (2300lm)
SC600Fc IV Plus by Cree XHP50 H-CRI 4000K (1816lm)
Note:
The CRI 80+ 4500K (upper photo) has the XHP50.2
The CRI 90+ 4000K (lower photo) has the XHP50 (1st gen.)
The High CRI looks WAY nicer! And the diffused lens really spreads out the beam to see surrounding areas, and smooths it out for an even tint.