This is a pretty interesting looking light, but there does not seem to be much for info on it…anyone know more?
So I missed the name of the Company when first looking at this light, and found their website.
spent considerable time at this website! Doesn’t seem possible to purchase a light. Maybe that’s good as these are amazing. I have an e-mail in to them.
thanks for the link….
It appears he does very limited runs of his lights. Supposed to be info coming shortly on the FJ33…
Yea, that FJ33 looks very interesting!
And sure would like a couple of those Artifacts : Lux-RC Labs - Products - Artifact Flashlight - Artifact 2020 - On Sale
thanks again for the link…
(have a friend in Coquitlam)
Lux-RC makes some beautiful lights. But they are high-priced collector’s items with unique designs and very limited runs. Sorta like purchasing a Spy-005 flashlight. Beautiful… but you better have a lot of $$$ standing by.
I recall seeing one design they were working on maybe 5 years ago. It was a fairly compact light powered by four 18350 cells and had something like 12 XPG emitters, and it had a built-in cooling fan. No idea if it ever went into production.
What were the FJ33’s going for new?
Even if “Fj33” would be made (the first info about this project was in 2013-2014) the price can be for sure 500+$ , 700$ is even more real.
My bad, it is the FL33 I am looking at. Seller is asking $450usd+.
The one I am looking at is a mint condition unit with TiCN finish, from the original purchaser. Twin cell or single 18650.
I wouldn’t pay that much for a flashlight…! Out of my price range 
Nice lights though 
appreciate the added inside information, it made things easy for me as I wanted to buy several lights. Not any more 
1000 lm OTF with 5.6 watt is 179 lm/W with triple XP-L HD. Lux-RC is good but it just doesn’t seem possible. That’s the efficiency of bare XP-L V6, no optical and no driver losses.
He may use XP-L W2 to get some small improvement (~4%) but that’s by far not enough to cover the losses.
EDIT:
My mistake, that’s the level of XP-L V5.
So he can get nearly 8% by using W2. That’s really close to being believable, if he got a LED batch significantly better than average and furthermore tuned the system to the max (significantly better than he’s done before) he might just do it. But I’m still sceptical.
Also, what he says about FET lights is plainly and simply incorrect when it comes to BLF-related FET drivers.
They are surely not efficiency queens but while PWMing they don’t hammer the LED on-off-on-off at maximum current but smooth it out somewhat.
They do as any other FETs.
Arguing with LUX`s conclutions cannt be reasonable until you have same amount and quality measurement tools in your lab.
No, they don’t:
I seriously doubt his calculator is better than mine.
Yes, I won’t be able to measure whether his results are true or not. But I can calculate that they are doubtworthy - and that’s what I did.
What do do you refer to? Common blf driver is equipped with 1x7135 (0.35A) and many low Vf leds in combination with high-amp cell (8+ Amps). For sure 1x7135 makes sense if you test 10% fet+7135 mod. But if your led can not carry your max current (black flat), you can not just limit fet pwm and dont worry about les lifetime. It will die as fast as with any other fet driver.
He get the results with measurements. You can calculate results but how do you estimate better glass, or custom optics, or custom led dome improvements?
I’m refering specifically to:
This omits FET+1 and FET+N+1 drivers. Which are not efficiency queens either but are significantly better in their regulated modes than he states. In this regard - it is misleading but it is not incorrect.
However it is incorrect w.r.t. higher, FET-only modes of BLF-related drivers.
As maukka’s scope shows, in PWM mode current is lower than with FET wide open. That’s because something (which TK expects to be a resistor) slows down current rise and fall, reducing peak height.
Yes, FET, FET+1, FET+N+1 drivers are not really efficient. But not as bad as he stated.
Sure, a FET driver can kill a LED. We’ve had such failures even in production lights. That’s not what I referred to though.
Did maukka tested 8+ Amps 100% pwm+1 mod?
Did maukka tested any leds after hard fet usage (I mean regular maukka color test, new 80 cri xpl vs used at 6-7Amps xpl) ?
Also, I dont think output voltage from light meter is proper value to measure (for this discussion). Led have some delay but sensor also have some delay.
D4 is 8A. Or maybe you mean 8A/LED?….
Would be an interesting test.
Now… that’s a really good question. Now I also have my doubts about maukka’s result. Some people who are more knowledgable than myself have validated them so I still view them as “rather true than not” but I’m no longer sure about them.
Therefore my statements that Lux-RC was incorrent in saying that FETs always run LEDs at full power are also questionable.
I’d love to some more people who know to chime in….
Also I’d like to clarify one thing. I’m not claiming that FET based drivers are particularly good.
I think that when used correctly they are a fair compromise between price and quality. Heavily leaning to the “price” side.
When used incorrectly they are terrible, I surely think so.
FET drivers are a quite polarizing topic. Many despise them. Many love them, some don’t even want to read about regulation. Myself I’m between.
On many occations I reject some statements from the first camp:
- that PWM means flickering
- that they are super-inefficient
- yes, I will stop using one argument until I see more evidence on the topic
- but people speaking about inefficiency tend to ignore FET+1 and FET+N+1 which are significantly better than FET alone. And often better than PWMing 7135s.
- that FETs kill LEDs
- they do…but only when used wrong
I reject claims from the other group as well:
- that this is the only option with good power density
- Led4Power shows this is wrong
- that nothing else will drive LED X strong enough
- same as above
- that this is the only cheap-and-powerful option
- OK, I don’t straight reject it - but I question it. FET-based linear drivers shouldn’t cost much more if not for the lack of competition.
ADDED:
And I’d like to also note that I’m a big fan of buck and boost drivers. Because efficiency tends to matter to me a lot. And I’m a big fan of FET-based linear drivers. Because they offer superb power density and regulation. And I kinda like FET+1 and FET+N+1 drivers. Because they are cheap, powerful and available. I don’t think that there’s only 1 driver type that makes sense. I dislike PWM*7135 drivers but I see uses for them as well. Primarily - I think that different lights call for different designs.