Hiker
Newly Enlightened
Anyone have an idea of how long it runs regulated on the 100lm and on the flood mode?
Black Diamond Storm - review => Waterproof 100 lumens
- Thread starter Szemhazai
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gcbryan
Flashlight Enthusiast
I haven't done any timed tests but it runs in regulation (regardless of mode) only for the first 25% of battery capacity. After that it's unregulated.
Flood mode is only 25 lumens so it should run a long time but regulation depends on battery capacity as mentioned above.
You can get an indication of whether it's still in regulation by looking at the battery indicator light at start up. As long as it is in the green it's still in regulation as well.
robostudent5000
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not to be a thread-derailer or anything, but i would ook at something lighter like a Zebralight or one of the Petzl Tikka's which all weigh right around 3 oz. the Storm weighs like 3.9 oz. i have a PT Eos which is a little lighter than the Storm at 3.7 oz and even that's kind of heavy for running. and the way the tilter is hinged at the bottom levering the headlamp away from the forehead makes it that much more prone to bouncing. as for the HP10/11, 4AA is a lot of weight to have on the back of your head when you're running. i think you would need to wear a bandana or skull cap under the lamp to keep the battery pack from bouncing.
gcbryan
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have the Storm, EOS, H51 and H51f for what it's worth. The hinge on the Storm is better than on the EOS. If you use lithium primaries in the Storm that gets it to about 3.1 oz.
If I was a runner I would probably use the H51f. The H51 has a hotspot and a distinct cutoff going from spill to dark so it's like looking through a tunnel in a way. In that way it's similar to the EOS. I would think that would be distracting for running.
The H51 with a piece of tape over the lens or the H51f are diffused but still have enough throw for running I would think. I use them for hiking in the mountains (among other things).
The advantage IMO of the H51f over the Storm would primarily not be so much the weight but the size. The H51f is not much bigger than a single AA however it is made of metal vs plastic for the Storm. If you use the Storm in flood mode or if you put a piece of tape over the lens (personal choice) you could get it diffused enough to probably not have to use the hinged beam angle adjustment when running.
So if you win the auction try out the Storm before deciding it won't work. The best choice IMO would be the H51f.
If I was a runner I would probably use the H51f. The H51 has a hotspot and a distinct cutoff going from spill to dark so it's like looking through a tunnel in a way. In that way it's similar to the EOS. I would think that would be distracting for running.
The H51 with a piece of tape over the lens or the H51f are diffused but still have enough throw for running I would think. I use them for hiking in the mountains (among other things).
The advantage IMO of the H51f over the Storm would primarily not be so much the weight but the size. The H51f is not much bigger than a single AA however it is made of metal vs plastic for the Storm. If you use the Storm in flood mode or if you put a piece of tape over the lens (personal choice) you could get it diffused enough to probably not have to use the hinged beam angle adjustment when running.
So if you win the auction try out the Storm before deciding it won't work. The best choice IMO would be the H51f.
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WhoDaresWins
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Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the input and experience with this headlamp. I recently got the Black Diamond Storm from REI here in San Diego. I love the light but really want to switch the 2 side led's (the flood ones) with neutral/warm led's. I read this thread over and over and despite all the great advice, I don't know where to begin! I've never modified the led's of a light before and was wondering if anyone had step by step instructions. I'm also willing to send the headlamp to someone to have it modified for a good price. Please let me know of any suggestions or where I can look. Thanks!
The mod that you want to do requires the use of a heat gun and some experience with surface-mount devices (SMD). If you have neither and can't find someone to mod it for you, leave it as-is.
The Storm is not the best headlamp to do your first emitter swap on.
The Storm is not the best headlamp to do your first emitter swap on.
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WhoDaresWins
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YoSeKi,
Thank you for the information. I do have a heat gun, but have no soldering experience. It seems the best option would be to invest in someone else skilled enough for the task. Do you, or anyone else, have a recommendation on who I can ask to have this mod done?
Thanks again!
Thank you for the information. I do have a heat gun, but have no soldering experience. It seems the best option would be to invest in someone else skilled enough for the task. Do you, or anyone else, have a recommendation on who I can ask to have this mod done?
Thanks again!
Already having a heat gun is one less hurdle to you doing it yourself. Try asking around in the Homemade & Modified sub-forum or the Custom & Modified B/S/T sub-forum. You might find someone there who will walk you through it, or at least get you started.
Or... try PMing Chongker and asking him directly. He changed the emitters on a Storm successfully.
As for the actual soldering, as can be seen in this video, reflowing an LED or an SMD is not terribly complicated if you have the right tools. It does take some practice though. But you can get practice by digging up an old circuit board and practicing on the components on that.
Or... try PMing Chongker and asking him directly. He changed the emitters on a Storm successfully.
As for the actual soldering, as can be seen in this video, reflowing an LED or an SMD is not terribly complicated if you have the right tools. It does take some practice though. But you can get practice by digging up an old circuit board and practicing on the components on that.
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WhoDaresWins
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Thank you again for the advice and direction to take. I'll follow your suggestions! The CPF rocks!
fedcas
Newly Enlightened
some info from the mod i've done to my Storm. I think it's a great headlamp, i just wanted it to be slightly more floody... so i swapped the XP-E with an XP-G2:
XP-E (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)
XP-G2 (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)
(you can also check the picture from Szemhazai in the first post, he got similar results swapping with an XP-G since the die size is the same)
but of course the more you get, the more you want
so I have modded the driver as well.
the sense resistors used by the driver are R240 and R620 at the bottom of the board, on the back size:
that's how they work: the left resistor is used for the main led, the side leds use BOTH the resistor in series (so that makes 0,86 ohm)
The stock currents are 400mA for the main LED and 110 mA for the side leds (they are in parallel, so 55mA each)
acoording to what i've measured the driver follows this relation: i = K / R
where K is around 95 (current in mA and R in ohm)
so here's my modded driver
i moved the 0,620 res to the left and sandwiched it together with a 0,330 res i took from another driver. That makes a 0,215 ohm resistor, which gave me 440mA output. I guess 10% more current should be in the safe range for all the components (it's my main headlamp and i need it to be reliable).
XP-G2 @ 440 mA (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)
comparison:
(the difference in the XP-G2 beamshot shape at 400 and 440 mA is due the position of the depth of the led in the optics: at 400 mA i was playing with it and trying to solder the MCPCB a bit more forward, but then when i had finished modding i realized that the position of the MCPCB is fixed by the small "plastic heatsink". I may try swapping the XP-G2 with an XT-E though http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?377397-XP-G2-vs-XT-E )
I have then shorted the two pads on the right side instead of putting the spare 0,240 resistor there (which would have given me 210 mA output) cause i wanted the side leds to have the same output of the spot led [IMPORTANT: i have done that cause i have swapped the two side leds with two xp-g, i haven't found the model of the stock leds but i doubt they can reach over 200mA each safely]
swapping the side leds with XP-Gs makes no sense unless you want to drive them at much higher current than the stock 110mA (55mA each): i couldn't see any difference in the output and i have measured basically the same voltage drop at 110mA so also the efficiency is the same at currents that low.
XP-Gs at 110mA
(1/100s f/2.8 ISO 800)
XP-Gs at 440mA
(1/100s f/2.8 ISO 800)
(the output seems much lower than the spot XP-G2 but that's just because the wall was 2-3 meters far... but the output is comparable, just one is spot and one is flood)
P.S.
the efficiency of the flood mode might be considerably lower than the spot mode because of the two resistors they have cause they are in parallel, i have to measure their voltage drop to see whether it is significant or not.
XP-E (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)
XP-G2 (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)
(you can also check the picture from Szemhazai in the first post, he got similar results swapping with an XP-G since the die size is the same)
but of course the more you get, the more you want
so I have modded the driver as well.the sense resistors used by the driver are R240 and R620 at the bottom of the board, on the back size:
that's how they work: the left resistor is used for the main led, the side leds use BOTH the resistor in series (so that makes 0,86 ohm)
The stock currents are 400mA for the main LED and 110 mA for the side leds (they are in parallel, so 55mA each)
acoording to what i've measured the driver follows this relation: i = K / R
where K is around 95 (current in mA and R in ohm)
so here's my modded driver
i moved the 0,620 res to the left and sandwiched it together with a 0,330 res i took from another driver. That makes a 0,215 ohm resistor, which gave me 440mA output. I guess 10% more current should be in the safe range for all the components (it's my main headlamp and i need it to be reliable).
XP-G2 @ 440 mA (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)
comparison:
(the difference in the XP-G2 beamshot shape at 400 and 440 mA is due the position of the depth of the led in the optics: at 400 mA i was playing with it and trying to solder the MCPCB a bit more forward, but then when i had finished modding i realized that the position of the MCPCB is fixed by the small "plastic heatsink". I may try swapping the XP-G2 with an XT-E though http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?377397-XP-G2-vs-XT-E )
I have then shorted the two pads on the right side instead of putting the spare 0,240 resistor there (which would have given me 210 mA output) cause i wanted the side leds to have the same output of the spot led [IMPORTANT: i have done that cause i have swapped the two side leds with two xp-g, i haven't found the model of the stock leds but i doubt they can reach over 200mA each safely]
swapping the side leds with XP-Gs makes no sense unless you want to drive them at much higher current than the stock 110mA (55mA each): i couldn't see any difference in the output and i have measured basically the same voltage drop at 110mA so also the efficiency is the same at currents that low.
XP-Gs at 110mA
(1/100s f/2.8 ISO 800)
XP-Gs at 440mA
(1/100s f/2.8 ISO 800)
(the output seems much lower than the spot XP-G2 but that's just because the wall was 2-3 meters far... but the output is comparable, just one is spot and one is flood)
P.S.
the efficiency of the flood mode might be considerably lower than the spot mode because of the two resistors they have cause they are in parallel, i have to measure their voltage drop to see whether it is significant or not.
fedcas
Newly Enlightened
i think a 10% more output should be quite safe for the main led, and the much bigger increase in the output of the side leds should be also safe cause i think the driver should be basically in common for the two mode except the sense res and few other components, so i see no way it could be damaged.
But i'll appreciate if more experienced people tell me their opinion, especially cause i want it to be reliable as i said... it's not fun to have a blackout while in the mountains, even less while caving (even though i'm always carrying at least my olight i3s as a backup)
P.S.
i just noticed Szemhazai measured 72 mA for the side leds in the review... that's weird
But i'll appreciate if more experienced people tell me their opinion, especially cause i want it to be reliable as i said... it's not fun to have a blackout while in the mountains, even less while caving
(even though i'm always carrying at least my olight i3s as a backup)P.S.
i just noticed Szemhazai measured 72 mA for the side leds in the review... that's weird
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fedcas
Newly Enlightened
i don't think it's a common led, they have 6 dies, not 3 like most other similar leds: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?363350-Which-led-is-this-black-5x5mm
PunkBuster
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Got it and like it very much, good headlamp for trekking/hiking(especially for it's price) :twothumbs
Charles L.
Enlightened
Agreed, nice headlamp for the money.
This was one of my go to headlamps for caving until I switched to something a little beefier. The only complaint I had was even with care water and moisture would still get in a corrode things. a little cleaning and it would start working again though. Great reveiw!
