All Cree MC-E modules the same?

[HansV]

I am looking for a Cree MC-E module to put into a Trustfire 801. Are all these module the same? At deal extreme they have spesified 410lm, and they are selling at ebay rated up to 700lm. I quess 410 is the correct spec?
Is is just to grap the cheepest one?
Is it just plug-n-play to install in the Trustfire 801?

I tried to search for answers on this, but I have to give up and ask. Hopefully thanks for all constructive answers.

 

[gcbryan]

MC-E's are not all the same. It depends of the flux bin just like with the XR-E (q5) that is in there now.

Ultimately it also depends on how hard you drive them. It's also hard to read the specs for a light on DX and know whether it's accurate or not.

You are talking about going from an emitter that is generally driven at 3.6V and 700mA to one that is driven at 3.6V and 2800mA.

The light you have according to DX is driven at 1200 mA which doesn't make a lot of sense but would work and be very bright I would guess. From reading the reviews it sounds like it might not be driven that hard...so who knows what's going on.

Given that you are running this on a single 18650 you would be better off in any case IMO to go for a XP-G if you want more output.

Also, you might want to define what you consider to be plug and play.

 

[HansV]

It don't need to be a direct fit, as long as it is possible to put in. I am capable of doing both electrical and mecanical modifications. So plug-n-play is not nessesary.
All suggestions for other modules that is a better choice than the MC-E is welcome. The MC-E is quite power hungry, and a few watts less will give langer battery life.
I ordered the Trustfire 801 with two 18650 batteries and charger. That should be a good base for modifications. I want something brighter than my friends stock LED lights

 

[gcbryan]

The MC-E is power hungry because it's actually 4 leds.

It's unlikely that the driver (if there is one) in your torch will be able to handle the MC-E so you more than likely would need a new driver. The one 18650 you're burn time would be all that long (if that matters).

That's a small reflector as well so it would be floody (if that matters).

 

[HansV]

I have realized that my first question was stupid, as I found Cree's homepage and specifications for all there parts. I work with electronics and I'm used to reading datasheets as well, just got a little carried away.
I will try the question one more time, a little more specific:
Are these kits a direct repalcement for the 801 parts, and does they also include a driver? It scould, with that input voltage range, modes and memory function.
http://cgi.ebay.com/900-Lumen-CREE-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4149685df7
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21037
Are these modules the same, or do they use different LEDs from the MC-E sseries and different drivers? Is 700lm a bluff?
Should I go for the one from DX? I found a post here with one of the members ddiscribing how he used that in a identical flashlight and seemd to get an amazing result.

What kind of LED and driver can I expect the 300lm Trustfire 801 to have? Is XR-E (q5) the correct? If it is, it makes sense that it produces 300lm at 1200mA according to the datasheet. It is used outside spec, is you point out, but that could possibly be OK if the cooling is good. Life expectancy is't critical either, it won't burn for that many hours.
Is the XP-G R5 the best repacement if I only whant to change the LED? This is specified for max 1500mA, and produces 30% more light with the 350mA. I think I will have a very bright light.

When I read the datasheets to compair the MC-E (M) and the XP-G R5, the output at 1200mA is 389lm for the XP-G R5 and 387lm for the MC-E. That makes them apparently indentical with that drive current. But the MC-E will of cause have the advantage of been able to run more current. Not that I think that is a good idea with my battery, but it is possible to produce maximum light. 700lm should be possible with about 2000mA total current, according to the datasheet.

Looks like I will have to try both and see how they work out. That's part of the fun

Another thing, is it normally possible to adjust the output current from a specific driver circuit, by changing resistors? Or is it fixed?

 

[gcbryan]

I don't know the answers to most of your questions.

If you have the right sized host (body) it does look like those are drop ins with drivers included.

The actual specs are always hard to tell with the Chinese products because they are just not accurate in many cases.

There are lights that say they have drivers and when you receive them they are direct driven. The people writing those product descriptions sometimes don't even know that the terms mean. They're cheap and you can generally get things to work and so it's generally a good deal but yes...you do just have to buy it and try it sometimes.

In case you aren't aware...the MC-E can be individually addressed so all 4 leds can be wired in series, parallel or 2P 2S. Generally you are looking at 700mA for each led so either 1.4A or 2.8A depending on whether it is 2S2P or in series.

I think the drivers are generally fixed but you are probably more knowledgeable than I am on that.

It takes about a month from the time you order until you get something from DealExtreme so order everything you think you will need at once. Sometimes if I can't decide between 2 cheap lights to play around with I'll just order both of them as well as plenty of batteries and any other do it yourself parts I might want to try out.

 

[HansV]

Thanks for the answers. I quess the rest will be learning by doing, but it is always nice to have some inputs at the start to avoid some of the basic starter mistakes.
I will order a XP-G chip and a MC-E module and see how it works. The leftovers can always be used for something else later.
Is it normally easy to swap the LEDs in these assemblies? Are they soldered to the heat sink, glued og just mounted with heat transfer paste?

 

[gcbryan]

Thanks for the answers. I quess the rest will be learning by doing, but it is always nice to have some inputs at the start to avoid some of the basic starter mistakes.
I will order a XP-G chip and a MC-E module and see how it works. The leftovers can always be used for something else later.
Is it normally easy to swap the LEDs in these assemblies? Are they soldered to the heat sink, glued og just mounted with heat transfer paste?

There are always exceptions including some lights (torches) when the whole thing is glued together (bezel, everything) but on DealExtreme most can easily be taken apart.

Regarding the led's most are just in thermal transfer paste and you just have to desolder the wires. I don't have a lot of experience here but I can tell you that even if you order the same thing two months in a row things change so expect anything

I'm mainly interested in dive lights. There is one light W200 that comes with 3 O-rings, 2 O-rings a driver, no driver, an empty PC board, no board at all...you just never know!

So far, everything I have ordered has worked fairly well. The general rule around here seems to be that the smaller lights from DX seem to be more or less as advertised but the larger more expensive ones seem to be less than advertised in many cases.

I think you will have good luck with what you are ordering. A lot of the problem is that Leds specs are just copied from manufacturer highest possible ratings and the drivers just don't deliver the required current. The drivers are cheap and maybe aren't as efficient as you would like but they do generally work.

 

[HansV]

Just as an update, I found this post by jtr1962:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2990597&postcount=303
In the end, there is a comparation test between the XP-E R5 and MC-E LEDs. The XP-E is delivering up to spec, but the MC-E is a little lower. This meens that the XP-E delivers most light for currents up to 1800mA. For higher currents, MC-E will have the highest output.
Nice too know, and not only quess based on the datasheets.
I will modify the module in the flashlight with a XP-E and swap the entire module with a MC-E module from DX to test both.
I still think it's uber cool too be able to produce this amount of light with a flashlight that fits nicely in the pocket
Running on rechargeble batteries is also a big pluss, and I have ordered some proteched cells just to be safe.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

My DX module pulls about 1200mA at 4V, IIRC. You will want to fiddle with the focus of the reflector on the MC-E. I have mine with a dark hole in the middle, but I feel that it uses more light from the LED.

I have also noticed that these drop-in's LEDs are easier to pry off of the pill early on, before the glue has been "burned in"

Have fun!