USL First Impression

First off, thanks Bill for letting me participate in this ground breaking project.
JS for the perfect ring potted bulb & beautiful battery pack job that you did.
And Wilkey, for the initial development of Aurora, which brought us to this point.

When I first contact Bill following Shane's (Hallis) pointer. I had no idea what to expect of the project. I knew I signup for something great when I saw JimH and CroMagnet signup but didn't have any idea what it is, how many lumens it put out ... Well after many conversation & PM with Bill, he finally agreed to send me one of the prototype for Alpha evaluation.

A week later after continual surveillance of my mailbox stills nothing. Bill apparently was playing triple duty being a father, mother & some new "real" work responsibilities. I contact Bill and within a few days got a Flat Rate USPS Priority mail piece. I couldn't wait to turn the light on, but … My wife isn't a flashaholic yet so this was the perfect opportunity to convert her. So I waited till nightfall. When we got ready for bed I took out the package, removed the safety tape and flipped the switch.

Doh! It didn't turn on. I thought I blew the bulb, got all disappointed and went to sleep.
The next day I called Bill and told him of the issue. Bill, the safety advocate, disconnected the bulb from the sock so that there is NO chance for accidental ON. Comes that night, when we got ready for bed I hooked up the bulb and flip the switch with two of my CFL bed light (120W halogen equivalent) on. The USL just flooded the room with the beautiful warm light.

I just couldn't help but smile, while my wife said "Oh my god! That is BRIGHT! Is that yours honey" I replied "will be", turned off all the lights and went to bed with a big grin.

Every time I turned on the light I was afraid of Bill caution about the newspaper vaporization incident. I finally got enough courage and time to put everything together for a full temperature test, well at least 6 minutes worth. Surprisingly, the light is very safe when left ON continuously for 5.5 minutes. After 5.5 minutes I turned it off with the temperature reading of 108F/90F. The hottest part of the light is in the middle of the reflector head. It's roughly 5F higher than probe #1 reading at all time.

=== Test Equipment ===
- Oven Mitte
- Bel Merit DX460L multimeter
- Fluke 21 multimeter
- Fluke 80TK Temperature Probe
- Fluke 80T-150U Universal Temperature Probe
- Kapton tape
- and ofcourse a pewter USL prototype.

=== Test Conditions ===
- 68F ambient air temperature.
- USL placed standing on it's tail.
- probe #1 located at 1/4" bellow the reflector head
- probe #2 located at 3.0" from the tail where the palm normally grip the light.

Can't wait to see the photons bouncing off the ceiling!

For the time being, any beamshot? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif modamag! I think I'm on Bills list as an evaluator. First thing I'm going to do is burn something! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Larry

[ QUOTE ]
tvodrd said:
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif modamag! I think I'm on Bills list as an evaluator. First thing I'm going to do is burn something! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Larry

[/ QUOTE ]

pssst....phone book. Make a video. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif

Jeff

After all we know about the USL, after all we've heard, I just cannot get over how innocent the thing looks like sitting on your test bench. It looks like any other Maglite. So much so, that it's scary. The Beast looks awesome because it is precisely that - awesome. The USL is really the ULTIMATE stealthlight. I'd better keep mine locked away lest someone accidentally find it and decide to use it as an ordinary light and drops it after being blinded from the reflected beam. *SHUDDER*

Lucky you to get your hands on the proto, and thanks for sharing your results!

Wow! Neat to see an actual scientific objective graph of the temperature vs. time. This dovetails nicely with my own experience of the proto-type. I found that 5 minutes was just about the limit. 5 or under and, no problem. Significantly longer than that, and you get into a VERY hot light.

Interestingly enough, the body of the light will continue to get hot even after you turn off at 5 minutes. Or even 3 minutes. You run it for that amount of time, laughing insanely and joyously at how crazy bright it is; turn off; set it down on a non-flamable surface; and 3 minutes later the body of the lights is WAY hot! Much hotter than it was while you were running.

That's because the reflector and head are cooling and transfering their heat into the body of the light, just like a super hot stone in a sauna. The stone is cooling, yes, but the room is getting hotter. Same deal.

But this light is so fun to use and so bright, that even just a minute of full burn seems so long. It's one of those lights that you can't believe it's even doing it in the first place, so every second it continues to do it lasts longer than a second, and a full minute or two is an rich indulgence and luxury. The USL makes you feel like a photon millionaire. Runtime? HA! Who needs it?

[ QUOTE ]
tvodrd said:
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif modamag! I think I'm on Bills list as an evaluator. First thing I'm going to do is burn something! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Larry

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent results! My congratulations to the entire USL team and espcially to Bill for his tenacity and resourcefulness.

Larry,
The current standard of performance is as follows, courtesy of Aurora /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Wilkey

Man that silver color looks better than I thought. Are they all silver? I am drawing a blank. I thought I chose black but now I am thinking I should have listened to Bill and went with the silver. I don't remember a color choice when I sent paypal.

Can't wait to hear more about the USL and your findings. In the 5.5 minutes of continuous operation, did you notice any decrease in output?

Curtis

tvodrd: I got a 9 month old, I'll start burning stuff when he's 3yrs old so he can take up after his dad /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
js: You're sharp as a razor. My observation is the same the body continually heats up for another couple of minutes after I turned off the switch. This test was conducted w/o the heat-sink/shield. I would think with the HSS installed it would significantly alter the temperature profile.
cue003: the color is pewter. It was really too bright for me to notice any decrease in light output.

I think Bill did pick silver as his default choice. Black and other colors were provided by special request.

First, let me thank Modamag for his testing!

He ask permission to do this test and I thank him for doing it! This gives you a third persons view on the output and experience!

That particular light is Pewter, which is actually my favorite Mag color currently. After that is silver(natural) and then black.

If you want to change the color, you have exactly 5 days to do it.

The bodies will be ordered next Monday, March 21, and then there will be no going back.

The output did not drop noticeably until well after 8 minutes, closer to 9 in my run tests x 3. One run I got nearly 10 minutes until I noticed it.

Jim Sexton (js) is doing runtimes on the 3 field test unit packs and the first pack continued to build run time through his charge/discharge cycles.

I am sure he will post those results when they are available in total.


Bill

modamag - thank you! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif

tvodrd - are you going to try to cooking something as well? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Cue003 - PM me if you want to change colors. It's not too late!

Hmmm...I need to talk with Bill about possibly including a fire extinguisher with every USL! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

[ QUOTE ]
bwaites said:
. . .

The output did not drop noticeably until well after 8 minutes, closer to 9 in my run tests x 3. One run I got nearly 10 minutes until I noticed it.

Jim Sexton (js) is doing runtimes on the 3 field test unit packs and the first pack continued to build run time through his charge/discharge cycles.

I am sure he will post those results when they are available in total.


Bill

[/ QUOTE ]

Bill,

The pack I have tested has not really built up much more runtime (1/2 minute or a little more) but instead has built up better voltage under load curves.

Here are the voltage vs. time results of Pack #1 (first pack after the proto-type) for the latest discharge against the Osram 100W lamp:

Minutes____Voltage

0__________13.70 (!)
1__________12.80
2__________12.76
3__________12.69
4__________12.59
5__________12.47
6__________12.33
7__________12.15
8__________11.87
9__________11.34
9.5________9.90

Now keep in mind that the output didn't noticeably fall until about the 9th minute (or a bit earlier), and keep in mind that this lamp is freakin' SCREAMING BRIGHT at anything around 12 volts or over, and also keep in mind that this useage pattern--a full out continuous burn--is the most punishing on the batteries. If you run 4 minutes and let the light and batteries cool, then run another 4 minutes, and let cool, you can still get about another 3 minutes again before noticeable (and rapid dimming). And if you turn off at this point and wait another couple minutes, you can turn on again and get another 15 seconds before dimming, and you could do this a few times before the pack is really, trully exhausted. However, the most runtime you are going to get, all totalled from a fully charged pack, is 12 minutes. But 12 minutes of 2000+ torch-lumens ( = 3000+ bulb lumens ) is a LOT more than you might think, as I already mentioned, especially coming from a lowly 2D maglite.

I guess I should have made that a bit more clear, but effectively, better voltage is equal to more runtime, right?

Bill

[ QUOTE ]
Codeman said:

Hmmm...I need to talk with Bill about possibly including a fire extinguisher with every USL! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Very soon you will have a list of accessories longer than Surefire has for some lights..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bill: more voltage = MORE LIGHT!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My shirt is covered in dribble!!!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

Now I see why Modamag has a mitten on the bench. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

From Bill's thread I did know that this light will be perfect for camping and Peking roast duck, besides being the ultimate stealthlight...what I did not know is it will get this hot even after it was off! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

With more power, does come more responsibility!

The only problem for me as an urban Flashaholic: where the h.ll do I test/play with this thing? Maybe a "vertical throw Test" up the Empire State Building? This light may actually be too bright for my city.

BTW, this is probably posted somewhere in the vast USL threads but I haven't found it: How do I get extra bulbs; are they even available?

Brightnorm

Bill probably has a stash. One extra bulb included with your USL in addition to the one already mounted inside it.

You can order them, just tell Codeman you want a few more. $5 each IIRC.