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Fyrstormer's Evil Labs are proud to present...

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
Fyrstormer's Evil Labs present: Lunasol Centauri

...the LunaSol Centauri. :D

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...no really, it is special, keep scrolling...

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...why yes, I did give my LS27 a GDuP brain transplant. :huh: The new name is a reference to the Centauri solar system, which is comprised of three stars of varying brightness, much like the three brightness levels my LS-C is now equipped with. Now it's not only a flooder and a thrower in one package, but I can also choose how much throw I want to have. The man behind the curtains is Wayne Yamaguchi, who graciously agreed to accept money in exchange for a pair of custom-programmed GDuP drivers, one of which has replaced my LS27's high-mode driver board. Levels are set to 90mA, 300mA, and 1000mA. I tell you what, this thing is cookin' with gas on the brightest setting.

IT'S ALIIIVE!!! :devil:
 
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SFfanman

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Messages
437
Bravo, Bravo! :clap: Did you swap out to cooler Nichias also? Nice work.
 

McGizmo

Flashaholic
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
17,290
Location
Maui
Nice mod! :thumbsup: I think you chose the right power pack for it too. They are too finicky with the PD pack I think.
 

run4jc

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
3,794
Location
Sweet Home Alabama
As my teenage daughter would say, OMG!!:eek:

One of my favorite lights - turned into a uber monster!!

Beautiful - well done! Congratulations!! :grin2::twothumbs:twothumbs
 

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
I've gotten a couple of requests to mod other people's Lunasols, and rather than copying/pasting the same response, I'll address it here:

- I can do this GDuP upgrade on LS27s, now that I know what I'm doing, but I'd need to get more driver boards first. I have one on-hand at the moment, basically as an emergency backup in case the one I'm using bites the big one due to some as-yet-undiscovered flaw or soldering error. If anyone wants this done to their LS27, post here so I can get a feel for how much (if any) demand there is.

- In theory I can also do this GDuP upgrade on LS20s, but I want to mod my LS20 first so if something is slightly different and things go horribly wrong, at least I will not have destroyed someone else's property. I also need to figure out what current levels are appropriate for the LS20, given its reduced heatsink mass, its more efficient emitter, and the lower level of background light coming from its Nichia emitters.

- Replacing emitters is not something I feel comfortable doing on this light. It's one thing to do an emitter swap on a PD-S, which has easily-removable (and replaceable) parts, but the Lunasols' construction is pretty unique and if (when) I were to put a nice big gouge in a reflector, I wouldn't be able to replace it. I've asked the modding heavyweights around here about working on Lunasols and they've all said it's just too hard and they don't do that work anymore, which pretty much means it's impossible to do at my skill level.
 

McGizmo

Flashaholic
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
17,290
Location
Maui
Ah, so you did build the 4-speed Lunasol you mused about months ago. :devil: Never did hear anything back about that one. :sssh: Well, thanks for the idea. :D

Actually I did LunaSol 27 with GDuP proto back when the LunaSol 27 was in "production" but never went further due to the availability of the GDuP and the consideration that the PD pak made the selection and certainty of Cree level problematic. At the time I wished I had one of the original Clickie paks I had done for the "x2" lights on hand to see how much better it eould presumably behave but I had let them all go...

I did do a LS20 last year with a 3S converter driving the Dragon and this time I had the clickie pak so I could see how the UI worked and behaved. It works. At the time, the LunaSol series was already "history" and I felt that posting the mod would only open a can of worms for me so put the light on the shelf and moved on... :eek:
 
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