Q8, PMS SEND TO THOSE WITH ISSUES BLF soda can light

[Tom_E]

@JasonWW

Just for my understanding, and to kill time, the Q8 driver is considered a dual channel, right? It uses the single 7135 (350 milliamps?) current regulator for the light levels under 350 milliamp, then the brighter levels switch (maybe the 7135 is still in use?) to using the FET from there all the way to max 20 amps. Is this correct? (This is the FET+1) To veer away from the Q8 for a second, FET drivers that have 9 of the 7135 would be considered triple channel where a single 7135 chip controls the levels up to 350 mA. Then the other 8 7135 chips come into play for the levels from 350 mA to 3,150 mA (350×8=2,800+350=3,150). Then for levels above 3,150 mA the FET takes over. Am I right? This makes sense to me.

Yes - the BLF Q8 driver is two channel, but for the new FW3A, the driver will be 3 channels.

Yes - brighter levels include the 7135 full on, but on the max level, brightest setting, it's FET only. We found it's more efficient giving all the amps to the FET for resulting maximum amps to the LED.

Triple channel drivers can have 2 or more 7135's in the bank. We (or I, not sure) call the channel with the multiple 7135's a bank. I've used boards with 3 to 9 7135's in the bank but the bank can go much higher. Texas_Ace has a large selection of exclusively triple channel boards, including SRK versions up to 15 7135's in the bank here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/40540, while Harley's SRK board is versatile enough to use as a triple or 2 channel board here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/40540.

pilotdog68 was the first one to create an open source driver using 3 output channels here, back in Dec 2015: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/37080

For ramping in triple channels, when the FET kicks in, the 7135 channels remain turned on full, up til the max output. Sometimes you can notice the slight bump at the max level when the 7135 channels are turned off.