“Underpowered…” Wellp, with these drivers they're being driven at their maximum datasheet driving currents. These are meant to provide some healthy minimum lifespan figures, which for general lighting is something important. In a flashlight lifespan is overall not so important, while actual sustainable driving currents are always obtained at lower modes. So, in practice with a powerful driver you can have both very high performance and long lifespan using a lower mode -after all, the heatsinking capacity of the flashlight imposes a hard limit on the mode current and power which you can effectively use continuously-.
P.S.: for very powerful 1S boost drivers the tailcap switch starts to matter. Springs too.
All good info, thanks Barkuti. and ggf31416 the halving of amps due to doubling of LED voltage is something i read before but forgot about. i agree - 6a and 9.8a are nothing to write off.
M3-C so as M21C-U have problematic ramp speed and FC40 is 12V.
It would be great if you could make XHP35 driver for M21C-U with only 4 groups but a little faster ramping than on M21C-U now (when steped groups are selected)
Simon has already told us that he’s planning a 3x21700 SBT90.2 version of the 4x18a. I suspect the L21a and/or L6 might get it eventually as well, since many will ask for it.
I do have a request for product improvement. I have two of the latest versions of the M2, and while they are great in so many ways, there are a few things I’d love to see in the future…
Supply ’pan head’ screws in place of the flat head type for clamping the mcpcb. The original setup forced the LED off center when tightened down and made it impossible to get a good beam. I swapped in some pan head screws and was finally able to clamp the board and have it centered at the same time.
Also, I’d love to see a forward clicky switch and maybe a rubber tactical grip ring for the light. The lack of knurling really makes it a slippery light, especially when combined with the deeply recessed switch that forces your thumb to bend tightly. I might be a minority here but I love the sharp knurling on the C8+ and would like to see more of it, as well as forward clicky options in these larger thrower/tactical lights. Maybe we get an M2+ ?
Can the C8+ with 2700k SST-20 handle the 4.8 amp driver on some of the hotter models? My current one has a 2.8 amp driver and I was wondering if a driver change would make much difference in light or just heat.
So yes, up to 5A can be considered a great turbo mode. In any case, due to the high emitter Vf achieving such current with a linear or even plain MOSFET driver will only be possible under optimal conditions (high battery voltage, low component resistances and etc.).
P.S.: this or that, these are max 5A linear drivers.
I wonder which of Convoy’s flashlights now use “button” on the head (driver) side instead of “spring”.
I have the S21B with SST40 and S21B with CULPM1 (6Amp driver), both use a spring on the head/driver side.
I have the Convoy L21A with XHP35-Hi, and it uses a spring on the head/driver side.
But on the Convoy L21A with CULPM1, it uses a button on the head/driver side.
