fyrstormer
Banned
You may be familiar with the LunaSol lights from McGizmo:
The last (or latest
) of the Piston-Drive series, the LunaSols' 2-in-1 beams are extremely useful since they can provide close-up floodlight as well as a decent amount of throw. But their original drivers, and the design constraints imposed by the Piston-Drive design, limit the LunaSols to a single brightness setting for each of their emitters. The Centauri mod changes that.
The Centauri mod replaces the original high-power driver board with a custom-programmed 3-speed GDuP driver, allowing modified LunaSols (outfitted with a C-Pak from McGizmo) to have low, medium, and high throw settings in addition to the low flood setting. The throw settings are accessed by leaving the head tightened all the way and blinking the light quickly from one setting to the next using the tail switch. The flood setting is accessed by loosening the head slightly. You can switch between throw and flood while the light is on or off, it makes no difference to the electronics.
Modified LS27s will be fitted with drivers programmed for 90/300/1000mA; modified LS20s will be fitted with drivers programmed for 68/225/750mA, as a compromise between their more efficient emitters and their smaller thermal mass. The highest brightness settings will make the lights noticeably warm during sustained use, but that's all; in my testing, there was no indication that the extra heat would have any long-term effects on the lights.
I recommend having a C-Pak you can dedicate to use with your LunaSol Centauri. Based on my testing as well as Don's testing on a similar setup a couple years ago, trying to hold the PD button perfectly in-place to keep from accidentally blinking the light and triggering a mode-change isn't very practical; however, opinions differ on this somewhat and at least one person who's gotten the Centauri mod thinks it works just fine with a PD Pak. If you're interested in this mod but you don't have a C-Pak yet, Don still had a few available for sale the last time I checked with him. If you think you'll want to use a C-Pak, please make sure you already have one or that you can get one from Don before signing up for this mod, because I don't have any spares I can sell. Here is a link to his C-Pak sales thread, for reference: McGizmo C-Paks
This mod costs $86 including parts, labor, and insured shipping to the USA. If you live outside the USA and you're interested in this mod, please let me know so I can give you a cost estimate that includes insured shipping to your country. I'd prefer to perform this mod in batches, assuming there is enough interest to justify it, because that means I can minimize both the number of parts orders I have to make and the number of parts I have to order ahead-of-time. To that end, I'm going to let this float for a week before doing anything else with it, and if you'd like to have your LunaSol modded, please post a reply including the model, so I can order the appropriate numbers of each driver.
- - -
FAQ:
Is this mod reversible? Yes, but it will require someone with reasonable soldering skills to re-attach the original high-power driver.
Do I get the original driver back? Yes, unless you tell me you don't want it back, in which case it will be labelled according to its origin and put into a pillbox for safekeeping. I can't guarantee, however, that I'll manage to keep track of them forever, so if you think you might want the original driver someday, don't ask me to hang onto it for you.
I have a first-run LS20; can I get the Centauri mod? Yes. First-run LS20s have a high-power driver that can't handle Li-Ion batteries, but the low-power driver can handle Li-Ions. So, since this mod replaces the original high-power driver, it makes an excellent upgrade path for first-run LS20s.
What kinds of batteries are supported by the GDuP driver? 3V-4.2V (R)CR123s; RCR123s should have protection circuits, because the driver doesn't have a built-in low-voltage cutoff.
I really really like my PD Pak; are you sure it won't work? As previously stated, at least one person likes using it with a PD Pak, and that's fine of course, but my personal preference is to use a C-Pak. The main difference in functionality between the PD Pak and the C-Pak is: with the PD Pak, you have easy access to both floodlight and spotlight modes, but if your thumb slips the spotlight may change brightness unintentionally; whereas, with the C-Pak, there's no concern about unintentional brightness changes, but to switch between floodlight and spotlight you have to twist the head. This can be done with a single hand easily enough, so it's not the inconvenience it might sound like at first -- I actually hold the light backwards in my hand and turn the Pak instead of the head, because the clip gives me better grip. It's your call whether you want to use a PD Pak or a C-Pak, and again, I prefer the C-Pak, but if you want to use a PD Pak anyway I'll still be happy to mod your light.
What if I like twisty lights? Would this mod work for me? Yes, this mod works fine as a twisty light. In a twisty setup, the UI would work like so: tighten the head a little to turn-on the floodlight, then tighten more to turn on the spotlight, then loosen and re-tighten within 2 seconds to switch to the next brightness level. For the minimum possible size, a Twisty Pak could even be used; if someone with a LunaSol as well as an original McLux3-T wants to try marrying them up together, I'd be happy to mod their LunaSol head for them -- and take pictures of the resulting masterpiece.
How do the new brightness levels compare to the originals? Per Don's original specs in the LunaSol expo thread (click here), the LS27's original high-power driver outputs 425mA and the LS20's outputs 400mA. The new drivers only exceed these settings on their highest settings, the LSC27 by 235% and the LSC20 by a more conservative 188%. Aside from the difference in thermal mass between the two lights, the reasons for going with a full amp on the LSC27 are: 1) Cree XR-E emitters are a well-known quantity at this point and have been pushed this hard many, many times before; 2) The XR-E's integrated optic + the XR17 reflector are much better optimized for throw than the LS20's Golden Dragon + McR12 reflector are; and 3) it's really nice to have a thrower when you need one, especially when you can just bump it back down a notch for long, cool operation during normal use.
Why is the lowest brightness so high? The stock GDuP's low setting is 10mA! Well, I tested a stock GDuP driver to start with, and I discovered that not only was the middle setting (180mA) just barely bright enough to overpower the floodlight, but the low setting got completely lost in the floodlight. So I compressed the brightness range upwards to make sure that all three of the high-power brightness settings would be brighter than the floodlight. I can't guarantee that everyone will be perfectly happy with the brightness settings I've chosen, but I can guarantee that I'm perfectly happy with them.
The last (or latest
) of the Piston-Drive series, the LunaSols' 2-in-1 beams are extremely useful since they can provide close-up floodlight as well as a decent amount of throw. But their original drivers, and the design constraints imposed by the Piston-Drive design, limit the LunaSols to a single brightness setting for each of their emitters. The Centauri mod changes that.The Centauri mod replaces the original high-power driver board with a custom-programmed 3-speed GDuP driver, allowing modified LunaSols (outfitted with a C-Pak from McGizmo) to have low, medium, and high throw settings in addition to the low flood setting. The throw settings are accessed by leaving the head tightened all the way and blinking the light quickly from one setting to the next using the tail switch. The flood setting is accessed by loosening the head slightly. You can switch between throw and flood while the light is on or off, it makes no difference to the electronics.
Modified LS27s will be fitted with drivers programmed for 90/300/1000mA; modified LS20s will be fitted with drivers programmed for 68/225/750mA, as a compromise between their more efficient emitters and their smaller thermal mass. The highest brightness settings will make the lights noticeably warm during sustained use, but that's all; in my testing, there was no indication that the extra heat would have any long-term effects on the lights.
I recommend having a C-Pak you can dedicate to use with your LunaSol Centauri. Based on my testing as well as Don's testing on a similar setup a couple years ago, trying to hold the PD button perfectly in-place to keep from accidentally blinking the light and triggering a mode-change isn't very practical; however, opinions differ on this somewhat and at least one person who's gotten the Centauri mod thinks it works just fine with a PD Pak. If you're interested in this mod but you don't have a C-Pak yet, Don still had a few available for sale the last time I checked with him. If you think you'll want to use a C-Pak, please make sure you already have one or that you can get one from Don before signing up for this mod, because I don't have any spares I can sell. Here is a link to his C-Pak sales thread, for reference: McGizmo C-Paks
This mod costs $86 including parts, labor, and insured shipping to the USA. If you live outside the USA and you're interested in this mod, please let me know so I can give you a cost estimate that includes insured shipping to your country. I'd prefer to perform this mod in batches, assuming there is enough interest to justify it, because that means I can minimize both the number of parts orders I have to make and the number of parts I have to order ahead-of-time. To that end, I'm going to let this float for a week before doing anything else with it, and if you'd like to have your LunaSol modded, please post a reply including the model, so I can order the appropriate numbers of each driver.
- - -
FAQ:
Is this mod reversible? Yes, but it will require someone with reasonable soldering skills to re-attach the original high-power driver.
Do I get the original driver back? Yes, unless you tell me you don't want it back, in which case it will be labelled according to its origin and put into a pillbox for safekeeping. I can't guarantee, however, that I'll manage to keep track of them forever, so if you think you might want the original driver someday, don't ask me to hang onto it for you.
I have a first-run LS20; can I get the Centauri mod? Yes. First-run LS20s have a high-power driver that can't handle Li-Ion batteries, but the low-power driver can handle Li-Ions. So, since this mod replaces the original high-power driver, it makes an excellent upgrade path for first-run LS20s.
What kinds of batteries are supported by the GDuP driver? 3V-4.2V (R)CR123s; RCR123s should have protection circuits, because the driver doesn't have a built-in low-voltage cutoff.
I really really like my PD Pak; are you sure it won't work? As previously stated, at least one person likes using it with a PD Pak, and that's fine of course, but my personal preference is to use a C-Pak. The main difference in functionality between the PD Pak and the C-Pak is: with the PD Pak, you have easy access to both floodlight and spotlight modes, but if your thumb slips the spotlight may change brightness unintentionally; whereas, with the C-Pak, there's no concern about unintentional brightness changes, but to switch between floodlight and spotlight you have to twist the head. This can be done with a single hand easily enough, so it's not the inconvenience it might sound like at first -- I actually hold the light backwards in my hand and turn the Pak instead of the head, because the clip gives me better grip. It's your call whether you want to use a PD Pak or a C-Pak, and again, I prefer the C-Pak, but if you want to use a PD Pak anyway I'll still be happy to mod your light.
What if I like twisty lights? Would this mod work for me? Yes, this mod works fine as a twisty light. In a twisty setup, the UI would work like so: tighten the head a little to turn-on the floodlight, then tighten more to turn on the spotlight, then loosen and re-tighten within 2 seconds to switch to the next brightness level. For the minimum possible size, a Twisty Pak could even be used; if someone with a LunaSol as well as an original McLux3-T wants to try marrying them up together, I'd be happy to mod their LunaSol head for them -- and take pictures of the resulting masterpiece.
How do the new brightness levels compare to the originals? Per Don's original specs in the LunaSol expo thread (click here), the LS27's original high-power driver outputs 425mA and the LS20's outputs 400mA. The new drivers only exceed these settings on their highest settings, the LSC27 by 235% and the LSC20 by a more conservative 188%. Aside from the difference in thermal mass between the two lights, the reasons for going with a full amp on the LSC27 are: 1) Cree XR-E emitters are a well-known quantity at this point and have been pushed this hard many, many times before; 2) The XR-E's integrated optic + the XR17 reflector are much better optimized for throw than the LS20's Golden Dragon + McR12 reflector are; and 3) it's really nice to have a thrower when you need one, especially when you can just bump it back down a notch for long, cool operation during normal use.
Why is the lowest brightness so high? The stock GDuP's low setting is 10mA! Well, I tested a stock GDuP driver to start with, and I discovered that not only was the middle setting (180mA) just barely bright enough to overpower the floodlight, but the low setting got completely lost in the floodlight. So I compressed the brightness range upwards to make sure that all three of the high-power brightness settings would be brighter than the floodlight. I can't guarantee that everyone will be perfectly happy with the brightness settings I've chosen, but I can guarantee that I'm perfectly happy with them.
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