Hello again,
I have been in flashlight modding mood lately and have come to an issue. I am building up two P60 drop-in’s with U3 LED’s for two SolarForce L2 hosts, and the time has come to decide on a driver, except for the first time I can’t decide what one to use. Do I go with a KaiDomain 2.2A? Nanjg 105C @ 2.8A or do I go big with the 3A KaiDomain? Is 3A over doing it for a P60? I know I want a 3-mode with memory, but how hard to drive it and what to drive it with.
What would you do?
Just go with the Nanjg 105c.
I would have recommended this driver from DX...
http://dx.com/p/5-mode-led-driver-circuit-board-for-flashlight-dc-2-8-4-2v-106796
...but they have been unable to ship this driver lately, and have been shipping me other random drivers in its place.
The 105c or the KD 3.04A would be my pick.
-Garry
It depends on your usage, frankly.
If you are going to use it for a car light, you may want one with strobe mode - it's very useful in alerting vehicles to a disabled car's position in adverse weather.
If you plan on using it for a camping/outdoors light, then the driver with the lowest low and more modest high output (for longer runtime) may be the best choice.
If it's going to be an infrequently used "wow" light, then go for the highest amp draw driver available.
This leads me to a second thought, these two lights will be more “general purpose” than most in my collection, so blinky modes might actually be useful come to think of it.
I do have two 5-mode UltraFire XM-L T6 drop-in’s that I think are 2.3-2.5A or something, they are the ones with “sg pcb” written on them with a green pcb. I had initially ruled out using these pills (was just going to upgrade them to U3’s) because I have no idea what those drivers are or how efficient they are compared to the linear drivers we all know and love.
I may use them, does anybody know anything about those?
Paradox of Choice? Was this just a clever choice of wording, or have you ever actually read the book Great book btw. Fascinating topic. Here is a link to just the highlights (no pun intended).
Sadly, I don’t have enough knowledge to be of any help with the driver question. Sorry.
I haven’t read it, but do mean to. I know the just of it hence the title. 
Nanjg 105C @ 2.8A is about the best you can get. I often run 3 amp units and properly wrapped. The heat in not much of an issue when you monitor it.
This is the driver I think is in my current drop-in’s, this is a third one I have with a black PCB but I think it is the same as the green ones.
Worth re-using or should replace? Are the drivers like the Nanjg significantly better in any way?
The Nanjg driver will give you low voltage protection / warning and reverse polarity protection.
-Garry
Still waiting on the 2nd BLF Mini but have been using the stock version and have occasionally found the blinky usefull. I don’t know the host but just from a modding standpoint, you could start with a 3A 105C and if it gets too warm, desolder a chip or two from the spring side or start with a 6-chip KD v2 and add chips if you want more. For me, it’s physically easier to remove them than to add them though. Small blob of solder across all three pins, melt it and slide the chip off the board(the blob makes it so all the pads melt at once).
Despite the literary reference, this is more of a quandary than a paradox.
I think, when in doubt, always go for the max recommended current, 3 amps or close to it. If you use a KD V2 or Nanjg 105c, you can always remove a chip or two later if you want.
I would opine that it's a function of need/purpose.
If your goal is to have X lumen for Y minutes, then the higher-binned LED may make Y a greater value through efficiency alone.
With that said, I rarely turn down the brightest option. ;)
Settled on the Nanjg 105C @ 2.8A, figured it’d be the most useful, and if I decide to have a blinky mode I can certainly have it. I have other lights with them (no P60’s though) and have always really liked the performance.
I decided not to use the UltraFire drivers after some testing, the UltraFire drivers will give anywhere between 2A and 2.5A depending on what batteries I use, not cool. When I tested with my XinTD with a Nanjg 105C I got a steady 2.7ishA, no matter what battery I used. That made my mind up right there.
might be worth checking out DrJones’ LupoDrv drivers where you can program how many and type of modes plus their brightness yourself. Seems to be the best of both worlds. I’m going to be using one to build a headlamp for DIY and car work, where it’s hard to find just the right amount of light. They’re either $7 plus $2p+p or $9 plus $2p+p, I can’t remember. Either way, not a whole lot more expensive than a KD V2 driver, especially given the extra functionality.