New XM-L driver on DX, anyone getting one?

[PapaLumen]

Just noticed it today - sku 57779. Wonder if its any good, claims to be 3A.

[alpg88]

Your search "sku 57779" did not match any products。

[hellokitty[hk]]

It's huge...22x22x14, but I guess it's meant to be used in bigger lights.

[eprom]

I have ordered 5 to test.

[ma_sha1]

Let us know if this would work on 12V driving 3 XMLs & if it really gets 3 AMP.

This would be better than the old P7 drivers that has 5 modes.

looks beefy & fits mag C. I looks similar to Der Wichtel driver but cost 5 times less. Hope this works out!

[Kokopelli]

I have had one from KD, maybe not the same board but specs were similar. 22mm diameter fits well into a TrustFire TR1200 drop-in, those sold on DX with 52mm reflectors. It makes a good mid range thrower (nothing sniper style but does really illuminate far) with an XML emitter.

[Aepoc]

I'm very interested! Please keep us posted eprom!

Let us know if this would work on 12V driving 3 XMLs & if it really gets 3 AMP.

This would be better than the old P7 drivers that has 5 modes.

looks beefy & fits mag C. I looks similar to Der Wichtel driver but cost 5 times less. Hope this works out!

[Essexman]

I have ordered 5 to test.

Thanks for doing this, and thanks for all the testing you have done before. The results you have shared with us are very useful.

[PapaLumen]

I have ordered 5 to test.

Great, very interested to see how they fare.

Yeh, quite large, im thinking of using in a mag.

[eyeeatingfish]

I have ordered 5 to test.

Any update?

[Mattaus]

I've got these drivers running off a 12V 105Ah DC Battery as per this post. The driver was not used in the build at the start of the thread. Towards the end I have a photo of a larger set of lights. I used the new driver in those.

No idea on actual power out but they are definitely brighter than driver used in the small light at the start of the thread (2.4A). They ran well, did not get hot that I could notice. The modes are stupid though. I just want low and high - strobe on the finished flood lights is ridiculous lol.

[recycledelectrons]

Your search "sku 57779" did not match any products。

But, searching for "57779" will return exactly one result.

[kenwood96]

Looking at efficiency, may be 3 makes more sense...

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk

[Foxx510]

Since there has been some buggy drivers burning leds, is it possible to load test these on an incan globe first to test current and stability before hooking it up to a led?

[VegasF6]

I tested mine with power resistors, but it's still no guarantee.

[cmacclel]

I tested mine with power resistors, but it's still no guarantee.

Has anyone tried the new buck/boost 18v driver up on kai? I have a couple on the way.

Mac

[moderator007]

Hi Mac,
I would be interested in how the 3-mode driver turns out. When you get them could you possibly post up some findings.

[bshanahan14rulz]

I tested mine with power resistors, but it's still no guarantee.

In the laser hobby, we use power rectifiers to drop the voltage, and a low ohm accurate power resistor to measure voltage drop across and calculate current. Diodes are great at simulating diodes ;-)

Also, VegasF6, thought I recognized you from somewhere else too... :-P

[Techjunkie]

In regard to KD sku S020121 overheating, I am advised that potting the driver will allow it to overcome. I'll try the fujik silicone glue first, as I'd like to be able to chip it out of the light if it need be. If that doesn't cut it, I might move on to potting it in an aluminum sheet sleeve with a mixture of epoxy and aluminum oxide. I just don't want to cement it permanently into the light, and getting the sleeve to exactly the right diameter will be a challenge. I'll report back with findings afterward, but it will be a few weeks at the least.

[simplec6]

Which one is that mac?

[moderator007]

Which one is that mac?

KD 3-mode # S020121
KD 5-mode # S020077
I hope he is getting the three mode version. I would like to know how much current to the leds for each mode.

[simplec6]

The KD 3-mode S020121 lists the following specs (it is pretty pricy at 14.99):
This circuit comes with low voltage protection at 5.7V, so please use two or more li-ion for best result.
Input Voltage: 3-18V (recommend use of 2-4pcs 4.2V 18650 or 4-6pcs 3V CR123A)
Output current (single LED): 5A
Output current (3 or 4 XM-L LED wired in serial): 3A
Modes: Low - Medium -- Height


I'd be very interested in the current output in both configurations (buck and boost). This will be great if it does the advertised 5amps.

[Foxx510]

I started testing this DX 57779 driver a few days ago. It works well, but has a couple of issues. It runs really hot at 12v running a single MT-G, almost too hot to touch. It also wipes out FM radio reception in the near vicinity.

[Techjunkie]

Has anyone tried the new buck/boost 18v driver up on kai? I have a couple on the way.

Mac

The KD 3-mode S020121 lists the following specs (it is pretty pricy at 14.99):
This circuit comes with low voltage protection at 5.7V, so please use two or more li-ion for best result.
Input Voltage: 3-18V (recommend use of 2-4pcs 4.2V 18650 or 4-6pcs 3V CR123A)
Output current (single LED): 5A
Output current (3 or 4 XM-L LED wired in serial): 3A
Modes: Low - Medium -- Height


I'd be very interested in the current output in both configurations (buck and boost). This will be great if it does the advertised 5amps.

I've got one of KD sku S020121 on the way to replace DX 57779 in my bike light (3*MCE driven by 4*3.0V LiFePO4 D-cells). The DX driver has been rock solid and I thought that on a bike, strobe mode might have been desirable, but I find myself being annoyed when I have to cycle passed it. Also, there's no low V warning and the mode memory on that one is the worst kind, where it always goes to the next mode at next power on instead of the last mode. (It'd have been better if it always started on high or low - then I'd only see strobe if I wanted to.)

I'll give the KD one a shot and see if it pleases me more than the DX. I'm expecting less runtime, 'cause it'll increase in current drain as Vbatt drops below Vf, whereas the DX driver has no boost, so draw (and brightness) decreases as Vbatt drops below Vf.

[Garfi99]

The KD 3-mode S020121 lists

Hi,

I testet this driver in a SkyRay818.
First it seems to be a really nice driver. It really pushes nearly 3A to the XMLs.
In my lamp it works with 2 or 3 18650. If you use only 2 batteries it took 4.5A from the batteries.

But:
The driver is getting hot really fast. I found no special part on the driver which is getting hot especcially. The whole driver seems to warm up.
So the driver is going to reduce its power an the current to the leds will be reduced to nearly the half.

So you have to cool this driver.
Up to now I found no realley good way to do this in my SkyRay.
I filled up the space between the 2 pcp with conductive paste and tried to get a good contact to the case.
But this does not work really good.

If you find a way to cool the driver it might be really good.
But without this, it will reduce its power after 30seconds.

Nice evening.

[Techjunkie]

Hi,

I testet this driver in a SkyRay818.
First it seems to be a really nice driver. It really pushes nearly 3A to the XMLs.
In my lamp it works with 2 or 3 18650. If you use only 2 batteries it took 4.5A from the batteries.

But:
The driver is getting hot really fast. I found no special part on the driver which is getting hot especcially. The whole driver seems to warm up.
So the driver is going to reduce its power an the current to the leds will be reduced to nearly the half.

So you have to cool this driver.
Up to now I found no realley good way to do this in my SkyRay.
I filled up the space between the 2 pcp with conductive paste and tried to get a good contact to the case.
But this does not work really good.

If you find a way to cool the driver it might be really good.
But without this, it will reduce its power after 30seconds.

Nice evening.

Was just about to post with the exact same findings. I replaced the DX sku 57779 driver in my bike light with KD sku S020121 tonight and I have to say, I'm thoroughly unimpressed with the KD driver. I'm using a 12V LiFePO4 pack that at worst sags to 9V under load. To push the 2.5A to 3 MC-E in my light (as measured by clamp meter between driver and LEDS), the driver only has to maintain 10.2V to the LEDs. That's not asking the driver to do much at all. Nonetheless, after less than a minute of holding the leads at the tailcap, I can see the power consumption slowly fall from 3A to ~1.5A, and the light is visibly dimmer than another 3x MCE light that I have for side by side comparison.

At least the DX, buck only driver would maintain current as high as the pack would allow for the entire discharge, which is more than I can say for this driver, which is throttling back to less than what direct drive would provide. It would be far better if it could just switch into a bypass / direct drive mode when pack voltage is below Vf at the target current and the driver is overheating. The only good that's come from this is I now have 4 hours of runtime on high, but the medium mode would have provided at least that anyway.

I'd like to think that with my light being air-cooled by the ride and heatsunk directly to the handlebars, and the gummy heatsink sponge things conducting heat from the driver to the host, that driver might be kept cool enough to not have to throttle back as long as my bike is moving, but the truth is, I'm just being too lazy to switch the drivers again and the mode memory on the DX driver is a bit of an annoyance. If I switch back at all, it will be because I'll want the strobe mode back as a safety feature.

Long story short - the KD driver's specs are too ambitious, at least for 3 LEDs. It's only pushing 2.5A and short of being liquid cooled, can only do that for about a minute.