Guys, let's not over complicate this. Yes...ideally it would be nice to have a database containing every aspect of a light, including runtime charts, beam profile, heatsoak, and lumen output throughout the entire run of the battery.
Probably not going to happen... There are many different ways people use there lights. Take me, for example: Some of my most used lights are at work doing inspections...but they're quick inspections and aren't on for more than 10-15 sec, much less 3 minutes...but like I said, that's me. Also consider this: Can one really notice a slight drop in lumen value over the course of 3 to 10 minutes? For example, say Brand X light puts out 300L on start-up, but drops to 270 after a certain time period. Can one truly tell the difference after staring at the beam the entire time? I know I can't.
I'm about to post up here a lot of my own data to be added to the list. My measurements were taken just after meter stabilization, which is anywhere from 10 to 30sec.
Want to know what it is after 3min? General rule of thumb here - Subtract 10% and you'll be pretty close.
>>>>>>>>>>it’s a SkyRay A0 clone, here is the light : http://www.ebay
Thanks for the answer. I saw those two 800+ lumen fireballs and I literally couldn’t control myself and couldn’t wait, so I ordered the F15. The sky ray clone could be the next one after that though.
This lumen chart will cost me money!!!
No more guessing. I — for one — find this one of the handiest tools that BLF has to offer, even more so once it gets fleshed out.
Here’s an example of a broken rule of thumb. It is a 6W MR16 bulb being driven by a precision power supply. Driver power changed less than .005W over the 18 hour run. The light started at 420 lumens and was down to <280 lumens and still dropping (1 lux = 1 lumen on this graph). Although the temperature fairly well stabilized after 15 minutes (those pulses on the temp line are the AC cycling), the light output kept dropping.
you are completely correct, however a standardized set of conditions helps compare lights, say 10-30 secs after starting, freshly charged battery at 4.2V, model preferably listed (when possible).
For popular lights some followup would be nice, 4.0V and 3.8V, and 15 and 30mins of constant running (constant running starting from fully charged battery). I doubt many lights would get the popular light treatment, but even a half dozen best models that do would be extremely informative. I’ve been trying to put together such data from my cyclone c88, but as my PMs to you illustrate i got a dud.
JohnnyMac, Holy crap! You got 418.4 out of your TF Z8??? I am using the same cells you are, and mine doesn’t seem to produce anywhere near that much light. My Mini-01 kills it - I mean, I know the Mini blasts on high, by the Z8 is nowhere near it. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks, Match! I just don’t have the time to sit through and catalogue all that information. My posted OTF results are from between 10 & 30 seconds after initial “on”. If anyone would care to pay me for my time I’d be happy to duplicate all ANSI standards and techniques but trust me, you couldn’t afford to pay me enough. The minute this stops being fun and informative for me is the minute I stop doing it.
This is just here to give people an idea of what to expect from a given light. Some are as expected, some prove far more and others far less than what was expected. If you want more then you are welcome to gather your own equipment and create your own database.
Hey, Jaffo. TFF lights are hard to judge by eye. Just because the IS gathers all the light regardless if it’s flood or throw, the results will seem more than what you see with your eyes in actual use. This is especially true with FTT lights as there is no real hotspot and all that light is spread out over a larger area and appears to be less than you’d expect.
Holy Cow!! The light I built to benefit Sardion Master's family was clocked this morning at 913 lumens OTF from using an unprotected TrustFire Flame 14500.
Thank’s JohnnyMac, that little information helps a lot to understand your numbers. For the batteries I GUESS they were all freshly charged and of reasonable quality.
I have upgraded the info to a google doc linked to in the original post. More info added and easy to search and/or sort now. Be sure to bookmark the spreadsheet. ;)
Nice work on this Johnny. This is greatly appreciated by all of us. I'm ok with scaru's suggestion above, or I can keep posting new data here...both options are good :)
