wquiles
Flashaholic
I have been fortunate enough to receive for evaluation one of the prototypes that George (CPF handle "georges80") resently designed. I will get into more details below, but this new converter ROCKS !!!
I have used the Fatman, the original nFlex, and the D2DIM, so I am not "new" to converters from George. This new converter, like the nFlex, is a buck CC (Constant Current) converter, meaning it needs a higher voltage than the vf (or sums of vf's) plus some operating margin, to stay in regulation. Two things set this version apart - the size, and the new menu/features.
To test the driver I used my trusty LightBox, which was designed to allow for quick driver changes, as shown here:
In this setup I use a large, solid CPU heatsink with a fan to keep the LED cool, regardless of drive level or duration. For this test I selected a VY0T Luxeon 5W LED as the guinnea pig:
George sent wiring instructions, which I printed "a little" bit oversize to review on my bench:
Here on the left is the new round nFlex (about 1.0" dia) next to the D2DIM (0.84" dia):
Here I got everything ready for the test:
When George said that his nFlex is sent set to 350mA drive level, George is not kidding!!!:
Here is the LED in "action":
These are hard to read, but note how the converter uses more current at 8.4V (0.94A) input than at 12V (0.65A), like a CC driver should:
I was able to navigate through the menu and played with most options. I changed the drive level from 350mA to 1000mA and also changed the low-voltage battery warning point (new feature) to 08.4 and later to 07.0 volts. I tested both with my calibrated HP bench supply and this feature and the built-in hysteresis (also a new feature - prevents oscillation when the battery is depleted) included in this software/firmware works fantastic !!!
I also tested for fit/size and it does comfortably fits inside a "C" Mag (last photo looks like a cool "bug"):
I think George has a hell of a winner here which should sell better than the regular nFlex since now it is usable in both D and C Mag hosts.
Thanks much to George for the opportunity to play with the round nFlex
Will
I have used the Fatman, the original nFlex, and the D2DIM, so I am not "new" to converters from George. This new converter, like the nFlex, is a buck CC (Constant Current) converter, meaning it needs a higher voltage than the vf (or sums of vf's) plus some operating margin, to stay in regulation. Two things set this version apart - the size, and the new menu/features.
To test the driver I used my trusty LightBox, which was designed to allow for quick driver changes, as shown here:
In this setup I use a large, solid CPU heatsink with a fan to keep the LED cool, regardless of drive level or duration. For this test I selected a VY0T Luxeon 5W LED as the guinnea pig:
George sent wiring instructions, which I printed "a little" bit oversize to review on my bench:
Here on the left is the new round nFlex (about 1.0" dia) next to the D2DIM (0.84" dia):
Here I got everything ready for the test:
When George said that his nFlex is sent set to 350mA drive level, George is not kidding!!!:
Here is the LED in "action":
These are hard to read, but note how the converter uses more current at 8.4V (0.94A) input than at 12V (0.65A), like a CC driver should:
I was able to navigate through the menu and played with most options. I changed the drive level from 350mA to 1000mA and also changed the low-voltage battery warning point (new feature) to 08.4 and later to 07.0 volts. I tested both with my calibrated HP bench supply and this feature and the built-in hysteresis (also a new feature - prevents oscillation when the battery is depleted) included in this software/firmware works fantastic !!!
I also tested for fit/size and it does comfortably fits inside a "C" Mag (last photo looks like a cool "bug"):
I think George has a hell of a winner here which should sell better than the regular nFlex since now it is usable in both D and C Mag hosts.
Thanks much to George for the opportunity to play with the round nFlex
Will
Last edited: