5mm LEDs - Any love left?

[iamlucky13]

I now have a Yuji E01!

Well, almost anyways. The Sunwayman R01A is unpotted, and I just finished the swap. This mod is moderately challenging, due to the need for soldering and the tiny size of everything.

I would not rate the R01A in general as quite as nice of a light as its Fenix counterpart, but it doesn't matter. It's got a Yuji in it.

My only regret is I picked one of my remaining emitters at random, instead of testing all of them to see which one I like best. This one is floodier (a bit too floody for my taste) and ever so slightly less smooth compared to the emitter I put in my Inova Microlight.

I'll put up a before and after photo later. I also have a couple in-process photos in case anyone else is interested in modding this light.

 

[iamlucky13]

I just found a mini mag 2AAA clone lying around.
....
When I showed the before and after on the Yuji modded minimag clone to my son (who also loves flashlights), he questioned right away that he thought I put an LED in there. When I said that I did but it is a special Yuji LED, he said that it looks the same color as the incandescent bulb that was in there. Even to the untrained eye, Yugi's tint and CRI is super close to incandescent.

Nice. I'm impressed it works as well as you say on direct drive. I actually took a look at the flashlight display at Home Depot last time I was there to see if the Dorcy was still around, based on your recommendation. No dice.

 

[iamlucky13]

A 3-way comparison for the Sunwayman of before, after, and the Fenix E01, which is a surprising amount different from the Sunwayman with the same basic type of emitter. Look at those obnoxious side lobes from the tip internal reflections on the stock R01A emitter!

My RAW converter is measuring a lower color temperature than specified for the Yuji. I'm not sure if I happened to get an outlier, or if it's simply that even dedicated photography tools don't measure color temperature very precisely.

The two Nichia GS shots are edited to a 5200K (Nikon in-camera daylight) white balance. The Yuji mod is shown at 4000K because this is much closer to how it looks to me. Our adaptive eyes perceive things differently than the absolute nature of the camera sometimes renders them.

Tailcap current is about 60mA on a full alkaline battery. With a half-discharged battery (1.35V), it looks like about 80mA, but I had a couple weird, high measurements (up to 160 mA) I couldn't make sense of.

LED current is 23 mA on either battery, so it looks like the regulation is pretty good.

All 3 photos at F/5, 1/160s, ISO 200

 

[gurdygurds]

That's awesome. Hell of a difference. Enjoy it!

A 3-way comparison for the Sunwayman of before, after, and the Fenix E01, which is a surprising amount different from the Sunwayman with the same basic type of emitter. Look at those obnoxious side lobes from the tip internal reflections on the stock R01A emitter!

My RAW converter is measuring a lower color temperature than specified for the Yuji. I'm not sure if I happened to get an outlier, or if it's simply that even dedicated photography tools don't measure color temperature very precisely.

The two Nichia GS shots are edited to a 5200K (Nikon in-camera daylight) white balance. The Yuji mod is shown at 4000K because this is much closer to how it looks to me. Our adaptive eyes perceive things differently than the absolute nature of the camera sometimes renders them.

Tailcap current is about 60mA on a full alkaline battery. With a half-discharged battery (1.35V), it looks like about 80mA, but I had a couple weird, high measurements (up to 160 mA) I couldn't make sense of.

LED current is 23 mA on either battery, so it looks like the regulation is pretty good.

All 3 photos at F/5, 1/160s, ISO 200

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Are 5mm led`s any more efficient than they were 10 years ago, I remember the 5mm led`s use to pull around 20ma, If they are how many ma for the same lumen.

John.

 

[LeanBurn]

That looks awesome gurdygurds !!

Sunwayman R01A = unobtainium here in Canada, well for a reasonable price anyway.

Are there any other 1AAA regulated candidates housing a 5mm Nichia that could work with the Yuji I really want to put one in a 1AAA format.


Regarding the direct drive, I had been using 2xAAA "used" alkalines to power the Dorcy Pen and the modded Mag-Lite clone. I tried a fresh set of Amaloops and the light output dropped to 75-80% that of the unfresh alkalines. There were no issues and the LEDs are still performing perfectly, I just found that particularly interesting.

I wonder what kinds of run-times you would get with the R01A due to its regulation. Would it be the same as the Nichia it replaced? I should do a run time with 2AAA alkalines vs 2AAA Amaloops and see what I can get and compare with the R01A.

 

[iamlucky13]

Are there any other 1AAA regulated candidates housing a 5mm Nichia that could work with the Yuji I really want to put one in a 1AAA format.

I got mine from GoingGear. I don't know if they ship to Canada or not.

The Nitecore T0 might be unpotted, but I haven't been able to confirm that.

I wonder what kinds of run-times you would get with the R01A due to its regulation. Would it be the same as the Nichia it replaced? I should do a run time with 2AAA alkalines vs 2AAA Amaloops and see what I can get and compare with the R01A.

Tailcap currents were similar before and after, so I expect the runtimes should be close to equivalent.

I don't have time at the moment to do a runtime test, but I did find somebody else who tested one as running 7 hours with an Eneloop:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ct-Review-Sunwayman-R01A&p=3779922&viewfull=1

Are 5mm led`s any more efficient than they were 10 years ago, I remember the 5mm led`s use to pull around 20ma, If they are how many ma for the same lumen.

20mA is still the normal rating level for most 5mm LED's, but Yuji says theirs can handle at least 30mA. Nichia makes also makes a more powerful version of their GS actually rated at 140mA.

I don't know about efficiency. I wondered that myself recently, but most 5mm datasheets seem to give only center beam candela, not lumens, which is not enough data to compare.

 

[Hondo]

When Nichia came out with the CS 5mm LED in around 2005, it was a huge leap in output at the same power level, at least 100% increase. Their DS and GS series since then pushed that incrementally higher, but not with the giant leap the CS achieved. Other makers like Cree and Yuji seem to be keeping up with the level of efficiency of the latest Nichia offerings.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

I remember seeing some huge 10-20mm red led`s super sized version of an 5mm led, I would have loved to see a flashlight based on white version of those just for the freaky look value.

John.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I remember seeing some huge 10-20mm red led`s super sized version of an 5mm led, I would have loved to see a flashlight based on white version of those just for the freaky look value.

John.

You can get 10mm LED based flashlights, Rayovac makes a 2AA LED light for $2 (or less) that comes with batteries that has a PR base drop in and you can transplant it in other lights but beware it won't work great in just any light (focus issues).

 

[iamlucky13]

For anyone interested, I created a guide for doing an emitter swap in the Sunwayman R01A. Some of the information might be helpful for other 5mm-based lights.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...0-Sunwayman-R01A-Emitter-Swap-(with-pictures)

 

[zs&tas]

:shrug: just picked up another cheap x5 as new 2003 . its my 5th ? There all different and i like them all .

 

[snakebite]

its been a while.
any fade to report?

The hideous blue nightlight I mentioned above has now gone under the soldering iron. I disconnected one leg and measured 13 mA before the mod, so the power level looks appropriate for the Yuji.

The bad tint had long bothered me, but I hadn't presumed just how bad it was until I used my camera to try to figure out the color temperature and found it so blue dominant that I couldn't get a consistent measurement. The Yuji is also brighter.

Two pictures are worth two thousand words:

 

[FRITZHID]

i swapped out 2 in a nightlight and one in my fridge ice/water dispenser that run 24/7 for over 2 yrs now and no notable fade or tint shift at 20mA on the nightlight and 25mA on the fridge (tho the fridge LED is slightly warm to the touch whereas the nightlight LEDs are not.).

 

[iamlucky13]

its been a while.
any fade to report?

Not that I can discern. It's still working just fine. Mine is a motion sensor nightlight, though, so it's only on a few minutes each day. FritzHID's experience is the more telling one.