Jubeldum
March 21, 2015, 5:56am
1
I got a couple of XM-L’s that have a real nice tint but are under driven. I plan on having them reflowed on to copper DTP MCPCB’s and driving them harder. How hard can they be driven?
MRsDNF
March 21, 2015, 9:51am
2
We will need some more info to help. Are they XML, Older XML-2 or newer XML-2?
I have XM-L U3-1As that I can drive pretty hard up to 6A, but I never went beyond that.
I have newer XM-L2 U3-1As that I can narrowly get to 4.09A.
Both on Noctigon XM16s and an INR18650-25R.
FWIW, here is what RMM said on driving an XM-L2 vs an XM-L
RMM:
That said, the newer XM-L2s do have a much higher vF than the older ones. If you don't have something like a 25R, then 4A does seem like what I would expect from one of the newer LEDs.
You can try an XM-L, but I think that you might find that while you will be able to pull a lot more amps, generate a lot more heat, it won't be a lot brighter. Like a loud exhaust on a car makes it feel faster, seeing big amp numbers and feeling a lot of heat can make it seem brighter, the light out the front won't really be much more. You would probably have to pull 6A on that XM-L just to equal what that XM-L2 does at 4A-4.5A. In a small EDC you have to ask yourself if the extra 2.5A worth of heat is worth it for a measly 100-200 lumens out the front gain.
southland
March 21, 2015, 11:02am
4
Have a Maxtoch 2x XM-L2 modded by Tom E that is supposed to be 7 to 7.5 amps at the led.