buying a luxeon, R2L or 3w???
- Thread starter oldeng95
- Start date
kakster
Flashlight Enthusiast
There is plenty of healthy debate as to which is brightest, with the 3 watters seeming to gain more favour. The 3 watt part is designed to take higher currents, and it also generates more heat (LOTS of heat) so you will need to decide how much heat your host light will be able to handle.
The 1 watt luxeon needs roughly 3.7v, the 3 watters about 4v, so to run off 3 volts, youll need something like the BadBoy, which is a boost regulator. To run off 6 volts, you want a DownBoy stepdown regulator. Both of these can be found on the "Convertor boards" section at anlighten.
The 1 watt luxeon needs roughly 3.7v, the 3 watters about 4v, so to run off 3 volts, youll need something like the BadBoy, which is a boost regulator. To run off 6 volts, you want a DownBoy stepdown regulator. Both of these can be found on the "Convertor boards" section at anlighten.
oldeng95,
With the current wave of luxeons that we've seen lately, I think they're all good. I would suggest that you concentrate more on color than brightness.
Unless you're really gonna drive the hell out of the luxeon by direct driving or something, it's likely that you won't be able to SEE a difference in brightness among the Q and R flux 1W's and the S and T flux 3W's.
I just finished two KL4 mods. Both with DownBoy 700's. One with a Q3J and the other with a TWAK. I can't tell the difference in brightness between the two. The most prominent difference between the two is the color. The Q3J is on the warmer side of white and the TWAK is on the cooler side of white.
I'd concentrate on color.
With the current wave of luxeons that we've seen lately, I think they're all good. I would suggest that you concentrate more on color than brightness.
Unless you're really gonna drive the hell out of the luxeon by direct driving or something, it's likely that you won't be able to SEE a difference in brightness among the Q and R flux 1W's and the S and T flux 3W's.
I just finished two KL4 mods. Both with DownBoy 700's. One with a Q3J and the other with a TWAK. I can't tell the difference in brightness between the two. The most prominent difference between the two is the color. The Q3J is on the warmer side of white and the TWAK is on the cooler side of white.
I'd concentrate on color.
vcal
Flashlight Enthusiast
One great thing about the 3 Watt Luxeon is that you're not really overdriving the emitter by using 3 rechargeable cells either. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Such as: 3 x 2/3 AA Nimh (3.6v total), taking the place of 2 x standard 1.5v AAs.
The 3 smaller NcD/NiMH cells will shove about 650-700mA into the Luxeon. -The only drawback would be short runtime. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Such as: 3 x 2/3 AA Nimh (3.6v total), taking the place of 2 x standard 1.5v AAs.
The 3 smaller NcD/NiMH cells will shove about 650-700mA into the Luxeon. -The only drawback would be short runtime. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
LEDmodMan
Flashaholic*
Elektrolumens has the TWAK 3w EMITTERS for $12, and also has various 3w stars for $13 (I think even some of those have been T binned). I would recommend these over the R2Ls at the shoppe, as they're a better color (IMHO) and slightly less expensive. A plus on the part of the 3W is that they're certified legal to drive the heck out of!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Several people (myself included) have already run the TWAK emitters on 3D cells direct drive with no ill effects seen as of yet (dang bright!!!) as long as they're heatsinked properly. I believe someone has even run them on 4C cells DD, but I can't remember how accurate that is.
Several people (myself included) have already run the TWAK emitters on 3D cells direct drive with no ill effects seen as of yet (dang bright!!!) as long as they're heatsinked properly. I believe someone has even run them on 4C cells DD, but I can't remember how accurate that is.
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oldeng95,
I've got to go with LEDmodMan on one point. The R2H's that I've seen have left something to be desired in both color and brightness. The R2L's have been hit and miss. All of the R2K's that I've gotten my hands on were really nice. If you can't get an R2K, get a Q3J. The Q3J's have been VERY WHITE and BRIGHT. On the warmer side of white, as compared to the TWAK's, but not yellow or green.
So far I've also had experience with the SX1K's and TWAK's. The SX1K's have also been on the warm side. Nice white center spot, but maybe a LITTLE green surrounding the hotspot. The TWAK's have been on the cooler side. Very nice and evenly colored beam, but closer to blue than yellow.
Both the Q3J and TWAK are a couple of the best bins I've used. Both are bright and white. The Q's lean toward the warmer side and the TWAK's lean toward the cooler side. Like I said before, it's a matter of color preference.
I've got to go with LEDmodMan on one point. The R2H's that I've seen have left something to be desired in both color and brightness. The R2L's have been hit and miss. All of the R2K's that I've gotten my hands on were really nice. If you can't get an R2K, get a Q3J. The Q3J's have been VERY WHITE and BRIGHT. On the warmer side of white, as compared to the TWAK's, but not yellow or green.
So far I've also had experience with the SX1K's and TWAK's. The SX1K's have also been on the warm side. Nice white center spot, but maybe a LITTLE green surrounding the hotspot. The TWAK's have been on the cooler side. Very nice and evenly colored beam, but closer to blue than yellow.
Both the Q3J and TWAK are a couple of the best bins I've used. Both are bright and white. The Q's lean toward the warmer side and the TWAK's lean toward the cooler side. Like I said before, it's a matter of color preference.
oldeng95,
The BB500 is a boost only circuit. The Vin HAS to be less than the Vf of the luxeon you're using, so running at 6vdc will probably cause something to smoke. With a 1W or 3W that is. If you want to run it with 6V, I believe that you'll need to go with a 5W luxeon.
If you want to go from an E1e body to an E2e body, maybe you should consider using a wizard circuit. It's a buck/boost. I'm just not sure of how you'd wire it up. I haven't seen a wizard in a while and I don't know if they have components on both sides. If they do, using an ecan may be rather difficult, assuming that you will be using an ecan.
The BB500 is a boost only circuit. The Vin HAS to be less than the Vf of the luxeon you're using, so running at 6vdc will probably cause something to smoke. With a 1W or 3W that is. If you want to run it with 6V, I believe that you'll need to go with a 5W luxeon.
If you want to go from an E1e body to an E2e body, maybe you should consider using a wizard circuit. It's a buck/boost. I'm just not sure of how you'd wire it up. I haven't seen a wizard in a while and I don't know if they have components on both sides. If they do, using an ecan may be rather difficult, assuming that you will be using an ecan.
