mini-review Inretech Super6 6 Luxeon Star LED 3 D Mag replacement

(The review catagory was there, but then dissapeared again, so I will post this here!)

Some days, there are no lights in the mail. Some days, I get 4 (LIKE YESTERDAY!) (Danger Will Robinson, Flashlight overload!)

My Inova replacement was delivered, as well as a very small package from Inretech, containing a Super6, a 2AA drop in LS for a mini mag, and a RED drop in replacement for my mini-mag. (The two drop in's were nice, I will review them later)

I first became interested in this light, when Craig posted his review on the LED Museum (Thanks Craig for another GREAT review!):

http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/super6.htm
Here is Inretech's web site:
http://www.inretech.com/

I like flashlights that fit in the palm of my hand, or in my pocket. "Big lights" don't inpress me as they once did. Show me light output, not a big huge pipe.

Ever since Flood Allison, last spring, when the Hospital that I work at had a horrible flood, and we were without power totally for three days, and did not get power restored totally for 13 days, and I was dissapointed with my "big lights" that I thought were as bright as one could buy.

Well when I first saw the Inretech Super6 drop in module for my Mag 3-D, I was interested, but questioned whether I would want to start using my, beautiful, but clunky and big, Mag 3D again.

Well, after installing the Super6 in my Mag, I have one answer:

YES, YEA BABY, THIS IS SOOOO COOL, WHAT A USEFUL LIGHT, WOW! (Do football touchdown pass dance now!!!)

Let me jump right to the light output:

Don't think of this as a "FLASHLIGHT", think of this light as a handheld "DIRECTIONAL LANTERN". Absolutely NO BEAM. There is no hot spot, no center, no weak outer ring, just PURE, EVEN, VERY WHITE, LIGHT!

You can just hold the light at your waist, or wherever, and see EVERYTHING in front of you. With your head facing the same direction as the light, your entire field of vision is lit up. No need to spotlight anything, no need to move the light, or re-position it. I moved my eyes as far up, down, left and right, without moving my head, in a totally dark room, and there was no darkness to be found!

A totally unique and welcome different type of light.

For a disaster, or a group working in the darkness, it's almost like a battery operated drop light, (but whiter!)

Well, I mentioned color, and the color is that bright, very white, almost flourescent color light, that you expect from an LED, not a yellow as a traditional incandecent drop light would give. And don't worry about that "puke green" color from the Luxeon Star's. No hint of green at all.

I e-mailed Mike Boyd of Inretech, and was a little concerned about the installation. "I am not too good at soldering", I told him. I was a little concerned about the skill level needed to install this behemoth 6 LS replacement. He replied, "it will take you longer to open up the box, than it will to install it". He was right. Even with no instructions, it took me under a minute to take apart my 3D mag, and install this drop in replacement.

I am not even going to go through the effort to describe how to install it. It is about as easy as changing the bulb on a MAG, but you just don't have to replace the locking collar. (BTY, there is NO SOLDERING!)

Now I put this light, turned on, on the back of my pickup truck, along with my Streamlight 4AA, 7LED light, and walked across my Cul-de-sack, to see how it looked "from afar". From about 200 feet away, the Streamlight looked much brighter, and after thinking about it for a second, I understood why. The 7 Nichia LED's on the Streamlight are "Directional", whereas the 6 Luxeon Stars on the Inretech are truely non-directional. Light gets dispursed very evenly in all directions.

There are so many times where I wanted a portable flashlight to work like this.

Now the only thing, is to get some kind of anti-roll device for the mag, and possibly a way to hang it from a high point above, but I am sure that there must be lots of add ons for the best selling flashlight to take care of those features.

Inretech does not seem to be a hobbiest company. They appear to me to be in business to make lights commercially, so availability should not be a problem. I like how Craig reviews Hobbiest "mod's" different from commercially available lights.

The price is 125.000 for just the drop in, or 140.00 for a complete light.



The 6 black boxed "resistors" (I think that is what they are) are much less obtrousive than the above picture posted on Craig's site. That must be a prototype. Mine looks like they are flush mounted with the green circuit board, and look much more professionaly finished.

I am pretty sure that Mike told me that this unit is direct drive, but I will confirm that. (I might have gotten it confused with the LS mini-mag drop in).

My only complaint, is that, when looking at the circuit board, with the light off, there seems to be an empty space, right in the center of the board, just silently screaming for just one more LED . . .

EDIT - Mike just e-mailed me, and, while I was being (semi) humorous about the 7th LED in the center, he said that he did consider putting a 7th LS LED in the unit, but he said that "it didn't route as well".

After all, if someone came out with a 137 LS LED emmiter, SOMEBODY would want a 140 LED version! (AND WHY NOT!)

I was just thinking of ordering the 2AA White and Red adapters. Interested in hearing your review on those.

I just looked at an old e-mail.

Mike says all of his lights are direct drive.

Then, what are the little black boxes then?

Questions:

1.) What is the difference between these luxeon stars and the one used in the ARC LS?

2.) Since LED Museum indicates it is underdriven would there be any problem with using a 4D instead?

3.) Is this the only flashlight manufacturer that claims "Super High Power
Worlds Brightest LED Flashlight"?

In the prototype that Craig has, the "little black boxes" were 2w resistors; and they were not the right value - so I had to "double stack them"

My supplier had only 2w parts in stock, but since then - I have replaced them with smaller correct value 1w parts.

You could run a 4D if you ran NiCads, since they have a slightly lower voltage

If you wish to try other battery combinations, and have a current meter handy - just make sure that the total current is under 2A

Originally posted by Icebreak:
Questions:

1.) What is the difference between these luxeon stars and the one used in the ARC LS?

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">These LS LED's do not have any "domes" that shape and reflect the light.

I see. Thanks.

Thank you for the information. This is much cheaper than blowing a half-dozen LS!

The Super6 is designed for 3D cells as the power source. I think people focussed on making things brighter are considering that for a few more dollars, they can get something much brighter. The problem is that the LEDs react quite similarly to incandescants in that overpowering results in burnout. You could apply 160 Volts AC to a 75 Watt light in hopes of getting 100 Watts of light, but you shouldn't expect the bulb to last very long or save you money on power.

Budd, thanks for your review. One of the things we wanted with this light and our other products was to provide something valuable to emergency workers and servicemen. I hope you don't get hit with another flood. However, since you live in Texas, the next time you do get hit please let us know how our products do. Oregon is about due for a bad winter, and I'll share our experiences here.

Originally posted by INRETECH:
In the prototype that Craig has, the "little black boxes" were 2w resistors; and they were not the right value - so I had to "double stack them"

My supplier had only 2w parts in stock, but since then - I have replaced them with smaller correct value 1w parts.

You could run a 4D if you ran NiCads, since they have a slightly lower voltage

If you wish to try other battery combinations, and have a current meter handy - just make sure that the total current is under 2A

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You might want to reconsider as to whether you would use Nicads. Although the voltage is less, they have much less internal resistance. The only flashlights I've sold and burned up were those that used rechargables. After a while, I realized what's going on. The internal resistance of alkaline batteries restricts the amount of current, so even using 3 'D' cells, I can direct drive a Luxeon Star. But even with 3 'C' cells at 3.6 with rechargables, the emitter burns up!

At least, you should do a test and see what the current is with 4 'D' cell NiCads first ?

My 2 cents worth.

Wayne J.

Understood. No need to put a 454 in a new Porshe. As a rookie, what I truly understand are beamshot comparisons. I bought a Lightwave 4000 because they showed someone using it to work on a jet turbine on a Navy ship. I was disappointed greatly and sent it back. I'm sure some people like it just fine though.

I visited your site. The AA mods look good too.
Apparently you are doing some very fine work. I hope your endeavor is prosperous for you.

I have one of these 6-LED adapters on the way, getting psyched!!! The 3-D maglite is eagerly awaiting its brain transplant, and a new life as a "Super 6".

I thought about the "empty space" in the center as well, just like they say about Jello, there is always room for more

/ed brown in NH

About how far does the flood light of the Ss. reach out in front of you at night? 20ft 30Ft etc.

Shipinretech, I was wondering if a lantern type housing was being considered. As was stated before the Mag-Lite is really hard to position when you need both hands. Especially with the unidirectional output of the lamp module, a rectangular housing seems to make sense.

Of course we all realise the economic restraints that small businesses have.

Runtime?!

quote from Craig's site :
Battery life is estimated at approximately 2 hours.
This flashlight was designed exclusively for brightness, not long battery life.

Using brand new Radio Shack alkaline D cells, the flashlight consumes 1.020 amps.

full review here

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by Eric S:
About how far does the flood light of the Ss. reach out in front of you at night? 20ft 30Ft etc.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">As there is no BEAM, the light just gets thinner, the further out it goes.

In my "great room" (living room and dining room), with all the lights turned off, I can place the light at one end, just about the entire room is lite up.

It is hard to say however, the question is very similar to how far does the light of a naked 60 watt bulb extend? Well, if you were in a huge Gym, that one 60 watt bulb would give you enough light to see and make your way around, no matter where you were in the Gym.

BuddTX,
do u think it's possible to 'tighten' the beam by placing a magnifier. those kind that u find in organizers that look like a huge fingerprint

Wolfen,

I don't think a lantern in the cards for this month. We have been talking about it, but it is item #4 or 5 on our agenda. If you are willing to be quick and dirty, I would get a used camera tripod, some rubber non-slip rug backing, and some zip ties. Wrap the flashlight in the rubber backing then zip tie it to camera mount. It would be a little awkward, but it would give you better height, stability, and directional capability than a stand alone lantern. If you were really intrepid, you might be able to do this with the camera attached.

earwax,
That is item #2.

Wayne,

As I recall, many of your lights are direct drive without resistors. So the only thing that will limit the current is the internal resistance of the batteries, and as you noted, rechargeable batteries have a low internal resistance and can pop devices where the nominally higher voltage alkalines are fine.

If the Super6 still uses current limiting resistors, then it should have some ability to tolerate the use of rechargeables. InReTech could also build a variant board which uses different resistors to work better with rechargeable batteries.

-Jon