It looks decent, least to me. It's a CW, which I don't use often, but the beam isn't that bad.
In an old ThorFire JM07, 43 mm head diam, OP reflector, with a FET+1 setup, Noctigon MCPCB, 20 AWG LED wires, UCL/p lens, spring bypasses: on a GOLISI at 4.20V, measured 7.75 amps
Maukka calibrated lumens: 2010 at start, 1940 at 30 secs, and throw: 70 kcd
It's about matching the output of a SST-40 in lumens, but the SST-40 draws more amps (at ~9 amps), so...
The throw isn't bad - in comparison, the reflector diam matches a FT03 Mini that I tested at 95 kcd w/SST-40, but the FT03 Mini has a SMO reflector, and again, draws about 9 amps.
I'm pleasantly surprised - didn't expect it to be as good as an SST-40, but actually it's better because it basically matched it at lower amps. One noticeable advantage is there's less output drop over the first 30 secs.
Based on the yellow bubble design, I'd expect the 5000K-6000K beam to be uglier
I need some advice.
I am looking for a 17mm driver that will work with li ion and lithium batteries (16340 and cr123). No strobe, lo > hi, with or without memory, 1-4 modes.
I’ve already searched the kd, but I don’t know if and which one will be good.
Based on this by HKJ, a CR123 is roughly equivalent to 2xAA. So if you find a 2xAA boost driver that can go up to lithium ion voltages (4.2v) then you’re set.
This one has 4 mode groups but only says it goes up to 3.3v. I’d bet it would survive a 16340 though. Just a guess… If the battery voltage is more than the LED Vf, then it’ll probably be direct drive though.
Both those driver look like PAM2803 based drivers. The first one that gchart linked has a current limiting resistor (R270) so it should work with both types of batteries fine.
The second link, I think from the pics has a (R120) current limiting resistor, so it should work also but at a higher output with a Li-ion than the first one.
I’m just guessing from the pics and what I can see, someone that has one would need to confirm that or just buy a couple and let us know what you find out.
That first one doesn’t appear to be a PAM2803. Outside of the FET, the only non-passive component appears to be a single SOT23-6 which could be a PAM2803, but then what would control the modes (Low > High > Strobe)? I’m guessing it’s a dedicated flashlight driver chip.
As moderator007 said, second one does look like it could be a PAM2803 which is advertised to be safe up to 6.0 volts. Worth a shot (well, assuming you can spare the $3.57 if it happens to fry).
You probably are right gchart, without a mcu it would about have to be a dedicated led driver ic. Usually those have different value resistors for modes, one for each.
If the second one is a PAM2803 based driver the resistor value can probably be lowered to gain more output with a Li-ion or increased to lower the output.
The first one might benefit from a lower resistor also but now from gchart’s obversations, I’m not sure what ic its using. So it could go POOF! There’s only one way to find out.
I’ve used that driver before. Someone asked me about it a while back and here is what I had to say: I have used that driver. “I am pretty happy with it. The mode spacing is not ideal in my opinion. Low is about where I would like medium to be. You also have to wait a painfully long time before turning the light back on in order to avoid advancing to the next mode (like 5 seconds). The PWM is audible to me but I have pretty good ears so I’m not sure how noticeable it would be to most people. It is pretty noisy to me though. I don’t “see” it though. I have run it a fair bit on an 18350 and single Cr123s and had no issues thus far. I did not run it long on a single AA but I did some when outside of a host for testing the modes. It seemed to run great on it. For the price I am happy with it and don’t mind living with its quirks.
In short it does work with both small li-ions and cr123s. They have held up well for me but the memory and lack of lower low keep it from being a really good driver.
I hope that helps.
Is 10KK still white?