EDITED the topic title as I think the question is answered.
Thanks all for the helpful info.
Looks to me like it’s either a gen2 CREE (XM / XP) or a 3535 samsung. You can see the dot’s on it is why I say that.
Can we get bigger pic’s?
Hank, is this is the one from your zeusray? problably an XML2, just something wrong with the phosphor(?)
edit: silly spelling mistake
bigger:
For the context see trying to consolidate all ZeusRay posts
I may be able to get a better focus on this —- camera struggles with it — but most of the blur is how it looks zoomed to focus the image of the emitter.
onto a flat white sheet of paper.
Focus changes a bit over time as I let the light warm up, but the pattern seems to be consistent.
I have two of these, both in seemingly identical lights that came yesterday.
What color is the wall? I agree with pd68 I would say XM-L2.
What’s the post number? The direct link doesnt work for me (we must have different display settings).
its the second-to-last post #291
My Zeusray was like that too, when it worked.
Actually, the spots weren’t as colorful, but they were there.
context is at post #291 today, in the trying to consolidate all ZeusRay posts
Summed up below.
> what color is the wall?
Of the three pictures, the darker of the three where you can see a wrinkle upper left, and some scrapes on the surface, is projected on foamcore board (white)
The other two are projected on white drafting paper taped up on the wall
All done in a dark room — with the flashight at bright or medium, the speckling is easy to see with the eyeball but overexposed with the camera
The pictures are taken with the light at low level. I’ll fiddle with the camera and try for better images later.
No big deal here, I basically wondered if this could be a bad batch of cheap emitters that someone might recognize.
They all are supposed to be
History in brief from my point of view:
The first version of that flashlight (ZeusRay from DealMetic) was excellent and got widespread applause (“solid pillow” meaning solid thick pill, great heatsinking.
That was improved over their default by using an “XML-L2” and a “solid pillow hole” — trouble with English but really good lights.
The second batch I and others got from DealMetic had overcut the pill depth so there was a hole behind emitter filled with a loose aluminum shim without heatsinking — many of those lights failed fast;
— somewhere in there others got some that have worked fine that they haven’t taken apart —-
this is the third version I’ve seen, it came yesterday, I’d expected one as a replacement for one that failed.
(The other one that also arrived yesterday I ordered from what appears to be a different company using the same product photos, at a higher price — they use the same website behind their pages. Different shipping envelope, same product).
Comparing my first version to the third — the emitters all have the grid of dark spots (XM-L2). The first version is a brighter and more blue-white light.
The third version has the same grid of dark spots, is less bright at full, and has that yellowish-with-red-purple color.
Funny thing — set up all three with batteries that are equal and swapped batteries around to make sure that’s not a difference —
With all three lights shining on the same piece of white paper — the images of the two new ones in the viewfinder strobe like crazy, the original (blue-whiter) image doesn’t.
I guess it could just be a warmer batch of emitters — or maybe the a difference in the driver or both
“phosphor”, phosphorus is a different thing.
I’m sorry hank, I read your summery and looked at the big pictures but I’m still not sure I know what the real question is. EDIT: I went and ready post #291 as well, the question is clear now.
I don’t really know what the deal is with the purple, blue, and white… but I’ll speculate anyway! I’ve recently seen arrays which were a mix of UV, royal blue, blue, cold white, etc. Here for example.
Maybe Cree attempted to do something similar on a single die through ‘sputtering’ the phosphor onto the die… and then attempted to destroy them. Destroying manufactured goods can be hard to do cheaply, they often fall off the back of the truck.
EDIT2: or, simpler is better… maybe they were sourced the same way (fell off the back of the destruction truck) but were just a faulty run of the regular stuff.
Hm. We got one really good batch — solid pills, good emitters, good driver.
Popular, sold out repeatedly.
Then for the December batch they screwed up pills and/or drivers, with failures.
Now, I’m guessing they cut costs with the third batch — fixing the bad pills — by getting cheaper emitters somewhere.
Looking directly at the emitters, they all do look like the same ones used in the first batch
Looking at all three lights (2 new yesterday, plus one from the first good batch) the two new ones are definitely warmer and dimmer, one slightly yellower than the other — both with some of the red splotchiness — while the one from the first batch is solid blue-white. All show the same square grid of dark spots characteristic of the emitter.
Oh, and of the 2 new ‘warm color’ ones
— the brighter and yellower one has a warm flashlight body by now
— the less bright and redder one hasn’t gotten the flashlight warm at all
and the poor little camera thinks they’re blinking at three different speeds, in the viewfinder. I assume that’s some interaction of PWM in the lights (they’re all at Low setting).
Since I’d never seen this splotchy pattern in a focused emitter image, I wondered if anyone else had seen it.
My prediction — they’ll be showing up in cheap lights for a while to come. Just guessing.
I have that with all my XM-L2s; you can also see it when directly looking into the LED in moon mode (must be low enough not to blind you at all).
You have colors like that? Blue/purple? I’ll have to check on my own.
Could be the original one I got — that looks brighter and bluer-white to me on lowest setting — just doesn’t ever get dim enough to see color variation on the surface.
Well, I expect it’ll get a moonlight driver, I’ll come back to that.
Here’s one last side-by-side-by-side of all three.
Two new ones on the left, first version on the right, all three with matched cells, at low setting, after being on for most of an hour continuously.
PS same exact setup using the “video” choice on the camera, the middle one looks much brighter.
The left one’s blinking slowly, the middle one’s blinking faster, and the right side (the original one) is even faster.
I just dunno.
I have seen specs like that in my other cheap zoomies. With a zoomie you get to see many of the “flaws” that I think are always there but get “homogenized” in the emitter beam of non zoomies.
Looks like the usual bottom of the bin barrel stuff… 
The cheapy flashlight manufacturers always get a large new shipment just after an engineer at Cree accidentally spills his m&ms into the phosphor mixing container 
Looks like typical polypack level components…
I don’t even save my pulled out factory XM-L2’s anymore, from budget lights, except for art, not to reuse. Quality is to low and unknown bin’s…
polypacks.
you are telling on yourself!