luxlover
Banned
Hello to all of you SureFire KL1 bezel (finned style) and/or Arc LSH bezel owners, who have modified them with a Luxeon III emitter. I recently modified both my bezels.
The first mod was the LSH-S bezel, which now has a TW0H Luxeon III emitter in it, along with the regulation board current tweaked to 611mA. I am using the Arc 2AA battery adapter, along with two 2,300mAH NexCell AA NiMH batteries. Right after the mod with the light on, I measured the current draw at the batteries with my digital multimeter, and it was 660mA. I did my first runtime test last night. I placed the light horizontally on a silicone foam pad, and aimed a small Honeywell portable fan at the bezel to keep it cool. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, the light started to rapidly flicker and then it turned off. I turned it back on, at which time it flickered and turned off again. I felt the bezel, and it was a little warmer than warm, but not quite hot. I was surprised at this, since the fan should have pushed the heat away from the bezel, and the excess metal in the long battery tube should have drawn the heat away from the emitter. After the light shut itself off, I checked the batteries with the light off and on. With it turned off, the total voltage of the batteries was 2.20 volts. With it turned on, the total voltage of the batteries was 1.93 volts. O.K, the batteries were very low. But I don't think that the light should have turned off at that level. Why didn't it go into the so called "moon mode", and continue on at a lower output? I returned the batteries to the light after a 10 minute rest. Now it turned on, and continued to run with slowly decreasing output for another 5 hours, at which time I shut it off because the output was no longer "usable." I am guessing that the shutdown was due to the Arc's thermal cutoff circuit, and not the battery voltage deficiency. Any ideas?
The second mod was the KL1 bezel, which now has a TW0J Luxeon III emitter in it, along with the regulation board current tweaked to 700mA. I am using two Dspeck 123 battery tubes, an E1e body, a Z57 tailcap, and the same NiMH batteries as in the LSH mod. The current draw with the light on was 1.32A, twice that of the LSH. I also did a runtime test on this light, with the same setup used on the LSH. It ran for 2 hours and 14 minutes with some reduction in output, before it started flickering. It continued to run and flicker for another 5 hours. I shut it off at that point, because the output was no longer "usable." During the phase before the flickering, the light was just slightly warm to the touch. I attributed this lack of heat buildup to the accumulated metal mass of the bezel and body components. So why did it start flickering after it dropped down in output? Why was it flickering for 5 hours, instead of dropping into "moon mode?" Any ideas?
I was surprised to find that despite the slight difference in Vf of each emitter (~0.25 volt according to the Luxeon AB21 pdf file), and a different current setting, the 17mm reflector used in both lights has made the beam patterns and output levels almost indistinguishable. I love the potential of both bezels. The KL1 has an added advantage, since it can run on 2xAA, 1x123, 2x123, or 3x123 battery configurations. Talk about flexibility!
Any answers from modders would be greatly appreciated.
The first mod was the LSH-S bezel, which now has a TW0H Luxeon III emitter in it, along with the regulation board current tweaked to 611mA. I am using the Arc 2AA battery adapter, along with two 2,300mAH NexCell AA NiMH batteries. Right after the mod with the light on, I measured the current draw at the batteries with my digital multimeter, and it was 660mA. I did my first runtime test last night. I placed the light horizontally on a silicone foam pad, and aimed a small Honeywell portable fan at the bezel to keep it cool. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, the light started to rapidly flicker and then it turned off. I turned it back on, at which time it flickered and turned off again. I felt the bezel, and it was a little warmer than warm, but not quite hot. I was surprised at this, since the fan should have pushed the heat away from the bezel, and the excess metal in the long battery tube should have drawn the heat away from the emitter. After the light shut itself off, I checked the batteries with the light off and on. With it turned off, the total voltage of the batteries was 2.20 volts. With it turned on, the total voltage of the batteries was 1.93 volts. O.K, the batteries were very low. But I don't think that the light should have turned off at that level. Why didn't it go into the so called "moon mode", and continue on at a lower output? I returned the batteries to the light after a 10 minute rest. Now it turned on, and continued to run with slowly decreasing output for another 5 hours, at which time I shut it off because the output was no longer "usable." I am guessing that the shutdown was due to the Arc's thermal cutoff circuit, and not the battery voltage deficiency. Any ideas?
The second mod was the KL1 bezel, which now has a TW0J Luxeon III emitter in it, along with the regulation board current tweaked to 700mA. I am using two Dspeck 123 battery tubes, an E1e body, a Z57 tailcap, and the same NiMH batteries as in the LSH mod. The current draw with the light on was 1.32A, twice that of the LSH. I also did a runtime test on this light, with the same setup used on the LSH. It ran for 2 hours and 14 minutes with some reduction in output, before it started flickering. It continued to run and flicker for another 5 hours. I shut it off at that point, because the output was no longer "usable." During the phase before the flickering, the light was just slightly warm to the touch. I attributed this lack of heat buildup to the accumulated metal mass of the bezel and body components. So why did it start flickering after it dropped down in output? Why was it flickering for 5 hours, instead of dropping into "moon mode?" Any ideas?
I was surprised to find that despite the slight difference in Vf of each emitter (~0.25 volt according to the Luxeon AB21 pdf file), and a different current setting, the 17mm reflector used in both lights has made the beam patterns and output levels almost indistinguishable. I love the potential of both bezels. The KL1 has an added advantage, since it can run on 2xAA, 1x123, 2x123, or 3x123 battery configurations. Talk about flexibility!
Any answers from modders would be greatly appreciated.
