McGizmo Haiku Beam Pattern

To start, I love my Haiku 3S HCRI and it hasn't left my side at all since I picked it up Monday. Truly is a work of art and the F&F is beyond the several dozen lights I have.

With that out of the way, a few things irk me and I'd like to see if they're "normal".

1. Emitter slightly off center. It's not really bad and Don notes there is no provision for a perfectly centered emitter. That's ok and you don't notice it in normal use though I bring it up only because of the next two points.



2. This is a "paper plate beamshot" from a few inches away. There is a funny looking off center black hole. Again you'll only notice when you're about 7 inches or less from the projection surface. I'm thinking that the black hole is "normal" but it's off center because the emitter is. Kind of neat, actually :naughty:



3. Multi-tiered ring. You'll see the center hotspot, then the first fill, a black ring, then the rest of the fill. Is this normal? This characteristic is definitely noticable in normal use whether one foot or a dozen feet away.




Thanks for looking!

yea mine also has the dark ring and the donut hole in the center so id say its normal

Shooter21 said:

yea mine also has the dark ring and the donut hole in the center so id say its normal

Click to expand...

Okay cool. Based on anecdotal comments I was expecting super creamy transition from spot to flood and that's it.

Do you also have that funky black hole when up close?

EDIT: do you have a clue where in the optic that dark ring is derived?

___________
Posted from my phone.

Yes to #3 for mine, but #1 and #2 are much different in that my emitter is close to, if not perfect and the donut on mine doesn't show up until right at about 4". Personally I wouldn't be so happy with that setup, but probably the only option open to you is to have someone move the emitter and adjust the focus.

I had one light with a bad donut that went away after I had the reflector/emitter distancing adjusted.

Hmmm would this mean just unscrewing the LE and gently nudging the emitter or am I naive?


___________
Posted from my phone.

I have the XP-G so I don't know if it's different for the Nichia....

My emitter is very slightly off center, maybe a hair's thickness of gap on two sides of the the little square the die is on. I really can't see any effect from this in any situation, regardless of the light's target. The rings are pretty much the same for me, and only noticeable on a white wall. The donut hole does not show up for me at any distance at all. Is that particular to the Nichia perhaps? We'll need more data points to know for sure. Guys????

Ualnosaj said:

Hmmm would this mean just unscrewing the LE and gently nudging the emitter or am I naive?


___________
Posted from my phone.

Click to expand...

You can't nudge the emitter. It is bonded to the MCPCB. If you want to center the emitter you can take the window off the front of the head and remove the O-ring seal beneath it. At that point you can carefully push on the edge of the reflector to have it move at the bottom where it seats around the emitter. The reflector has one O-ring around its center section which provides for an interference fit within the head and then a small o-ring in the cup at its base which serves as a cushion and isolated contact with the MCPCB. If you remove the LE you need to be sure that this O-ring is in place before reinstalling the LE.

I believe you should see the donut hole in the beam disappear before the light is 7" off the surface. This makes me think that your reflector may be lifted off the MCPCB surface; perhaps a result of a fall you mentioned in an e-mail to me.

Thanks for replying here!

That sounds like a lot of work for naught (unless selling it). I don't see that hole in "real life" so that's ok. The bigger question was the darker ring in the beam pattern if that's normal and it appears so.

FYI the hole completely disappears at about 7-8" away from the projection surface for me.

I don't own a Haiku (have 4 nice McGizmo's though), but I could imagine the rings are from the metal bezel area reflections, rather any interaction between reflector and an off center LED. You see this emerge from a number of heads made from shiny Ti.

obi

I too have the xp-g version, and yes the led is off center, however the beam pattern does have faint rings and can only be seen at white walls, in actual appalications cant really see it though, none the less, my oldie pds with ssc led has the smootest and creamiest beam pattern.

In a nut sheel i love my haiku as is.........

Thanks for all the replies folks... and from all over the world!

I'm happy with this $450 hunk of Ti and it won't be leaving my hands anytime soon. Now if it was XML T4 or T5, maybe but until then... it's time to liquidate most of the other lights which should free up $$ for at least a Mule, Sundrop and then some

If you can't look straight down the "barrel" of the reflector and see a continuous reflection of the yellow phosphor coating, then the emitter isn't focused properly. Any gaps where the reflection shows a color other than yellow will produce beam artifacts when the light is on.

That's an interesting test.

Well I have a HCRI Mule coming so this will be on the back burner for a little while. Can't see a reason to get a Sundrop yet.


___________
Posted from my phone.

For me, the Sundrop is the sweet spot between my Mule and Haiku. Just enough concentration of the beam to delineate the edges, and still have wide, even spill for up close work. I like all three equally, just for different uses...