Not wanting to solutioneer, but there could be several ways to achieve it. It could be a ‘step’ in the smooth ramping. As a High 1 and then High 2 at the top and Turbo on top.
I still love the idea of hot rodded torches. That isn’t my issue. The issue I have is the simple practicality of using the light.
e.g. If I grab a light running the BLF A6 driver. I can have it set to turn on in Turbo ——> ONE click is all it takes. And the light will just peroform. I know it has a timed step down, but the step isn’t huge. It means I can just turn it on and use it. Brilliant
If the same light had Anduril, I could double click to get to High. Which is fine. But it’ll likely want to dim quite dramatically after about 15 seconds and then within a minute drop to a level way below. This seems to happen on almost all of my Anduril lights (6 or 7 of them). So the reality is, you can’t just turn it on, you end up having to faff about with it continually.
As said, I don’t think changing the ceiling is the answer. Not unless the maker has already done this or their version of Anduril is custom built to have the correct ceiling in the first place.
What is an Anduril problem is the speed that it dims and the fact it dims to such low levels. You yourself said earlier that 750 lumens should be sustainable. So why was it dropping down to 215 lumens??? That is a VAST difference.
Anduril allows you to set a Sustainable ceiling, while still giving you the option to use UnSustainable Turbo
I do not consider Sustainable Output to be a compromise.
I could even say that UnSustainable Output is the compromise, since it is short lived and causes Step Dows.
imo, Turbo is only for marketing, not for real world use.
What good is an output so High, that the Heat it generates cannot be dissipated, and forces the output to Step Down?
This whole thread started because of your dissatisfaction with UnSustainable outputs. I offered you a solution, but you cannot have it both ways. If you dont want step downs, you must not use Turbo.
There is nothing you can do, to make Turbo Sustainable…
Turbo is an UnSustainable Output, but Anduril lets you choose a more realistic Sustainable Output.
Presently there is an epidemic of TurboItis.
It Is a treatable condition,
that requires embracing a new concept:
Sustainable Output.
All lights I’ve factory reset. The temp readout on Anduril 2 would appear to correct to room temp.
Stock 45 C should be fine. Any higher and it just makes things too hot to hold. And does not explain lights dropping to 200 lumens when they should be fine at 700-800.
Not an issue with the battery. And it would be hugely unlikely that 6 or 7 different torches each with a different battery (18650, 21700 & 26650) would all be battery issues.
You are wrong. It did maintain it for the bounds of my test.
I haven’t used the stepped mode of Anduril, are you telling me it won’t dim if I do?
And I’m not necessarily asking for a stepped mode. But it would be nice to quickly and easily set the light to a point that it’ll hold a fairly stable output for longer than an ANSI FL1 test. Such as when going for a walk or using the light across the fields. Or even as a compromise. If I set the light a little high, let it drop to what is a reasonable high output that it can maintain, rather than nose diving off a cliff to a much lower output that you have to them ramp back up a bit.
I think you are all missing the point here and just not getting it. Not sure if on purpose or just for being obtuse about it.
Lets paraphrase.
If you buy an economy car. I’d expect it to be able to travel on the motorway at 70mph without issues…… even on cruise control. As most economy cars have cruise these days. I would not expect to struggle.
Anduril is like buying a premium sports car. Way more Bhp than you need. It can maybe allow you to do 180mph if you want. Way exceeding the capability of the economy car. Maybe with a V8 or some other less appropriate and overpowered engine for the host vehicle.
The issue I have is, in the premium Anduril sports car. I’m setting the cruise to 80mph and within less than ONE minute. It is dropping the speed down to 50mph and not even able to match the speed of the economy car unless you keep manually nudging the car back up to higher speeds.
This conversation has never been about “UnSustainable Outputs”. It has been about the opposite, but you keep trying to change it to being about this.
If I’m reading you correctly, Anduril does not allow you to access the higher ramp modes if you set a ceiling. So clearly if you lower the ceiling you then can’t make full use of the potential output. I’m not talking turbo as that is sometimes a vast jump above the regular High ceiling point.
There will be times I’d like to use the real High output and not turbo. But I don’t want to knobble the light so you can’t actually access 100% of the High output. It would completely defeat the point in buying most of the lights in the first place.
> I don’t want to knobble the light so you can’t actually access 100% of the High output.
well… we already know that 100% output is going to step down…
if you do not want the light to step down, you need to change the output to a lower level.
Here is another way to use Anduril, that might meet your needs
Instead of setting a ceiling, just set a Manual Memory, to the Sustainable Output. You can predict the Lumen level by multiplying the weight of the light, times 5. Then using your Lumen tube set Manual Memory to that output.
You can still ramp higher, just understand that the light will step down.
A car example
If I drive my car above the RPM Redline, it can OverHeat.
otoh
If I drive my car in a way that keeps the RPM below the Redline, it will not overheat.
in a flashlight
Turbo is above the Redline, the heat is generated faster than it is dissipated, so the light lowers the output to prevent OverHeating.
I do not expect to drive my car, on cruise control for an hour or more, with the RPM above the redline. And I do not expect my Flashlight to maintain Turbo, or any other high mode that generates heat faster than it is being dissipated.
This IS about Sustainable vs UnSustainable outputs.
You can still access turbo which is past the ceiling. You would only lose access to the levels between your sustainable ceiling and turbo. That is undesirable because turbo heats up so fast—faster than some of the ramping levels you give up by setting a lower ceiling than the default.
I think your best solution is to customize stepped mode. You can configure the position of the stepped levels. You can then set a highest-sustainable level but keep a couple of steps in between that and the default ceiling for when you want a lot of light but you don’t want hot-as-a-pistol turbo.
I agree that Anduril setup is inconvenient but I don’t think we are paying hotrod car prices for these lights. For the level of customization, quality of parts, and number of features they are fairly reasonably priced. The labor costs to configure these lights across all driver options and emitter options would significantly increase the cost of the lights. Maybe Hank should add a “professional setup” service.
I just wish you could choose Timed step down or Thermal step down —— I definitely prefer timed— Guppy UI you can set timed and anything above 50% will step down to what you have it set —— I have numerous small lights set up like this that work perfectly
Andurils temperature regulator seems to work fine, but configuring it (or everything in this FW) is a nightmare. I was able to remember most things, but gave up with Anduril 2. I’m too old for this.
Wish other manufacturers would use the nice temperature regulation code instead of their zig-zag algorithms. The nicest light have been sawed up this way, fun-wise.
I do not use stock 45C Thermal Limit. I always raise it to at least 50C
The light wont step down as far, using a Higher Thermal Limit.
I suggest you explore the effect of raising the thermal limit, just 5C.
The outside of the light will not get as hot as the inside, so raising the Thermal Limit does Not necessarily mean making the light too hot to hold. And Raising the Thermal Limit is Really Helpful for raising the floor of the Step Down. Try it, I think you will like it
Since you have the ability to measure output, you will be able to easily confirm that the step down is higher, w a higher Thermal Limit. 5C more makes a Big Difference…
hope that helps… I had overlooked mentioning that 45C is just too low… for your application
You’re right of course, but is this effect of cooling the light by surrounding air or your hand to prevent an equilibrium noticeable? I found no light (allthough I tried only a few), actually earlier versions of Anduril overshot the limit by a few Kelvin before settling down to the limit. I reliably measure the body of my D4V2 to the adjusted temperature limit after the regulation has settled. I’d have said the difference is no more than 1°K. Or am I on the wrong track somehow?
They both have incredibly unsustainable turbos for their size (FT03 or EA01). Start either of them around 1000 lumens though and they will probably hold it for quite a while. Emisar lights with boost drivers start a lot lower and maintain much higher sustainable output through their runtimes. The problem isn’t Anduril, it’s pushing 80+ watts through a inefficient driver into a flashlight that can’t move the heat out fast enough. You don’t notice a ~20 minute stepdown from 2000 lumens to 1000 in an efficient light (D4V2 w/ boost driver), but you sure notice the 4 minute stepdown from 2500 lumens to 200 lumens in lights with a less efficient driver (FT03).
It compares the past temperature to the current temperature to determine how fast it’s changing, and in what direction… and if it looks like it will soon overheat, it throttles down.
However, turning the light off/on clears its thermal history buffer. This resets the “slope” to zero and disables the predictive response for a while.
Let’s say it has a limit of 50 C, and the current temperature is 45 C. Should it ramp down? The answer depends on what the temperature was in the past, like 30 seconds ago or whatever time the firmware is configured for.
Past = 35 C, Present = 45 C: Predicted temp is 55 C. Response: Throttle down.
Past = None, Present = 45 C: Predicted temp is 45 C. Response: Stay at current level.
Past = 55 C, Present = 45 C: Predicted temp is 35 C. Response: Throttle up.
That’s why cycling the light can make it stop adjusting the output.
