Petzel Tikka Plus Mod
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tnuckels
Enlightened
I've been wanting to do this for some time, but waiting for availability of either Nichia DS or GS-K1 LEDs before I proceed. Someone please chime in here and tell me if the K1s are a bad idea here and why.
I've taken the Tikka Plus apart to the point where things need to be de-soldered to go any further, and then put it back together and back on my wife's nightstand before she noticed it missing. Except that the wider angle LEDs might not be as bright, I was thinking how cool it'd be to put 50degree LEDs in the two outboard positions for better peripheral flood and brighter 15degree LEDs in the remaining two middle positions for brighter, longer throw.
Anyone know what's in the Tikka's currently?
I've taken the Tikka Plus apart to the point where things need to be de-soldered to go any further, and then put it back together and back on my wife's nightstand before she noticed it missing. Except that the wider angle LEDs might not be as bright, I was thinking how cool it'd be to put 50degree LEDs in the two outboard positions for better peripheral flood and brighter 15degree LEDs in the remaining two middle positions for brighter, longer throw.
Anyone know what's in the Tikka's currently?
I have a Tikkina, and I would guess it uses the NSPW500CSes.
It has the same beam type - blue hotspot, brown edges.
Toshi
tnuckels
Enlightened
When I went to buy my Tikka I found instead the Tikka Plus was now available. That was several years ago, so I'm not sure the Nichia CS was even available on my older headlamp.
Regarding the GS-K1, will it draw 3x the power, depleting the battery 3x as fast, because it uses a 3die LED?
Regarding the GS-K1, will it draw 3x the power, depleting the battery 3x as fast, because it uses a 3die LED?
Valolammas
Enlightened
I remember seeing advertisements several months ago (hmm, maybe it was over a year ago) that they were "+30% brighter" or something when they switched to Nichia CS LEDs. You can still find them with those "New! +whatever% brighter!" stickers. And without, too, so beware, as they look exactly the same as before. I have no idea what they had in them before, but to sum this up, I'm pretty sure the newer ones use Nichia CSs.
I don't know about the Tikka Plus, but my Tikka is unregulated.
It only has a resistor in series with the LEDs. So, for a Tikka, if you replaced the LEDs with NSPW500GS-K1s, the internal resistance of the new LEDs would be lower, so it would draw more current.
This would be bad, because it would probably exceed the power rating of the stock resistors. So, you'd probably need to recalculate the value of the resistor(s) and replace it.
Toshi
PWM != regulated.
If you have a simple circuit powers the LED at fixed duty cycles, such as 100%, 50%, and 25% and the PWM frequency is low enough, then you will see flicker, but the light is not regulated.
Toshi
tnuckels
Enlightened
Yes, I remember the "brighter" packaging when I bought a Plus for a friend who does woodworking in a dingily lit shop sometime last year. I was sorely tempted to give away the older light instead, but my pesky conscience piped up and intervened.
Thanks Toshi … it would seem that the BS specs have gone missing off Nichia's website http://www.nichia.com/product/led-lamp-phi5.html, though IIRC they were still listed there not too long ago. So, is your older Tikka direct drive off the batteries where the resistance of the circuit the LEDs are on is equal to the sum of the single resistor + the resistance of the 3 LEDs? Why would the K1 have less resistance, and would this be the case with the DS as well? What I've read has led me to believe the DS is an easy, no-thought-involved swap for the BS or CS. Is that your understanding as well?
It would appear that my older BS series Tikka+ also uses PWM to achieve the dimmer output levels, though I'd never noticed this before. On medium or low rapid movement shows a strobe or tracer pattern. I retired a nearly new Fenix L0D-CE because I couldn't stand the flicker, so Petzl must be using a higher rate or something. I also thought PWM was just a method of producing a visibly lower output level and not necessarily equivalent with regulation.
Sorry for all the questions. I am attempting to educate myself with the equivalent of an "electronics for dummies" book, but its slow going. I now see the source of my confusion at Nichia's website http://www.nichia.com/product/led-lamp-phi5.html, as I was taking 20*3 to mean 20x3, which equals 60, when it really meant "asterisk #3", scroll down to the bottom of the page to see what footnote 3 is about, you blockhead. I kept equating 3 die LED ~ more light ~ 3x the power needed … well, you can see how one might mistake it … I hope.
The Nichia store still lists the BS for sale at 9200@20mA, while the CS is 18000@20mA. Not knowing the rank (Q, R, S, T, etc.) of what I have in the Tikka currently, or the rank of what I'd be purchasing, there's no way to be sure that dropping a CS in would double light's brightness, what with all the ranges in output and overlapping between bins going on. I'm almost sure the CS would be brighter, but it's a fair bit of work for an unknown bump in result, while I'm certain using the DS or K1 would be "a party", if feasible.
If you look at the *3 footnote, it says "Peak wavelength measurement allowance is +-3mm." Why would Nichia put a footnote about the wavelength of the emitted light as a footnote in the current consumption data?
If the NSPW500GS-K1 has three die in parallel, it will most likely have lower resistance. The four- and five-die 5mms I've seen have lower resistance, so I would expect the same from a three-die.
The DS is single-die, so it's probably similar to the CS, and therefore a straight swap.
Toshi
Last edited:
TGr
Newly Enlightened
Here is my mod of tikka plus.
My tikka+ is first edition (2004) and when I saw news on petzl web page "tikka+ is now 80% brighter " I decide to make mod.
(news : [FONT="]http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesNews?News=125 )[/FONT]
Various information (including candlepower forums stated : diodes 14K mcd are replaced with 26K mcd).
I am not so qualified in field of electronic so I simple take some no-name leds from flee market (marked as "40000 mcd, angle 25-30, 3,4V max 3.8V, 20mA" and make mod without thinking about finesses.
Since mod i make three all-night-long walks (8 to 12h) without any problem and with first set AAAs. Tikka is now brighter, even lowest power setting is good for fast moving on trail.
Mod and some beam comparison : http://tabla.mtb.si/gallery/album2202
My tikka+ is first edition (2004) and when I saw news on petzl web page "tikka+ is now 80% brighter " I decide to make mod.
(news : [FONT="]http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesNews?News=125 )[/FONT]
Various information (including candlepower forums stated : diodes 14K mcd are replaced with 26K mcd).
I am not so qualified in field of electronic so I simple take some no-name leds from flee market (marked as "40000 mcd, angle 25-30, 3,4V max 3.8V, 20mA" and make mod without thinking about finesses.
Since mod i make three all-night-long walks (8 to 12h) without any problem and with first set AAAs. Tikka is now brighter, even lowest power setting is good for fast moving on trail.
Mod and some beam comparison : http://tabla.mtb.si/gallery/album2202
