L6 uses multiple emitters as well. The same exact dies, capable of the same exact power. It’s just different drivers responsible for the different brightness.
The Q8 emitters are spread further apart, the L6 emitters are close together.
The Q8 draws about 15A at 4v.
The L6 draws about 5A at 8v.
If we convert the L6 to 4v the amp draw becomes 10A.
So Q8 15A
—— L6 10A
These are the rough numbers I was using to get the reason the Q8 is brighter and hotter due to its higher amp draw.
Now if you want to get real numbers, if you bypass the springs on the Q8 and run Sony VTC6 cells, it can pull 21A and do 6,375 lumen as tested HERE by Tom E.
The L6 with a FET driver, stock xhp70 and Liitokala cells can pull 12A at 8v. That is 24A at 4v.
So Q8 21A
—— L6 24A
Pretty darn close. I would actually expect the Q8 to draw a bit more amps than the L6 due to its stronger batteries.
4 x 3,000 = 12000mah Q8
2 x 5,000 = 10000mah L6
Stronger, higher mah cells generally equate to less voltage sag and higher amp draws. To account for this reversal in amp draw, I’m guessing the L6’s higher voltage (4 emitters wired 2 in series and 2 in parallel) must create lower resistance in the driver FET as well as the wiring and circuits. Maybe a more experienced member here can explain the difference.
Now if we swap to lower Vf emitters like xpl2 on the Q8 and xhp70.2 on the L6 (same basic dies) then the amp draws will jump up again along with output.
DB Custom has swapped to xpl2 on his Q8 and figures it’s pulling about 30A and measures 10,200 lumen.
On the L6 I’ve seen 18A at 8v which about 36A at 4v. At these power levels the 4 dies being so close together seems to produce more heat and lower efficiency. So output is only about 9,000 lumen (assuming a top bin emitter).
So Q8 30A (might be higher, it’s hard to measure)
—— L6 36A
Aren’t flashlights fun? Lol
If anyone sees any issues or has questions let me know.
I left a lot of tiny details out just to keep this post “short”.