INRETECH
Flashlight Enthusiast
We are now prescreening our parts to insure low forward voltage; hopefully - this will remove the "luck of the draw" from the equation
CMG reactor vs. Inretech 2AA LS adapter
- Thread starter Tim_K
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doubleganger
Enlightened
so..... what are your plans for the high vf leds?
StoneDog
Flashlight Enthusiast
hmmm... If the LS's are being prescreened now... I might need to order another InRetech adapter (or three).
Jon
Jon
ramptapult
Newly Enlightened
Just went to check my assortment of 2aa LS drop ins/mods. I have 2 bb500, 1 mm 400, 2 inretech white and a lambda.
My brightest is the bb400, (i must have a great 400). The two afore mentioned 500's are second and third brightest but still very white. Fourth brightest is my puke green lambda. Fourth and fifth brightest are my puke green inretechs. One of the inretechs is slightly brighter than the other but both seem to be pretty green.
Whats strange is that I bought the lambda used off of CPF's b/s/t so I had an inkling I was buying someone elses "undesirables"
By no means is this a slight towards Inretech, I also have two of their Cyan and two of their Red/Orange, which I am extremely happy with. Their service is outstanding, craftmanship looks uncompromised and Mike was very helpful. Assembly couldnt be any easier. I am pleased to see that they are now prescreening quality/brightness before shipping. I think an email is headed towards Hillsboro very soon.
Ultimately, after reading all the above posts, and from my experiences,
it tells me that it is just luck of the draw on the quality of the luxeons during their infancy.
Oh yeah my reactor is puke green(seems like a commmon complaint) as well, albeit brighter/lighter puke green on lithiums. Soooo, if I had to pick between the two, definitely the Inretech.
Or better yet, GOOD LUCK
My brightest is the bb400, (i must have a great 400). The two afore mentioned 500's are second and third brightest but still very white. Fourth brightest is my puke green lambda. Fourth and fifth brightest are my puke green inretechs. One of the inretechs is slightly brighter than the other but both seem to be pretty green.
Whats strange is that I bought the lambda used off of CPF's b/s/t so I had an inkling I was buying someone elses "undesirables"
By no means is this a slight towards Inretech, I also have two of their Cyan and two of their Red/Orange, which I am extremely happy with. Their service is outstanding, craftmanship looks uncompromised and Mike was very helpful. Assembly couldnt be any easier. I am pleased to see that they are now prescreening quality/brightness before shipping. I think an email is headed towards Hillsboro very soon.
Ultimately, after reading all the above posts, and from my experiences,
it tells me that it is just luck of the draw on the quality of the luxeons during their infancy.
Oh yeah my reactor is puke green(seems like a commmon complaint) as well, albeit brighter/lighter puke green on lithiums. Soooo, if I had to pick between the two, definitely the Inretech.
Or better yet, GOOD LUCK
BuddTX
Flashlight Enthusiast
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Patrick and Mike,
2 things:
1. I am "electronicly challanged", so please explain what "low forward voltage" means.
Are you screening for color and brightness output too?
This could be a big selling point!
The_LED_Museum
*Retired*
Ahhh another Seattleite!
My first Reactor has that characteristic "rotten dog urine green" color to its beam, rivalled only by a Double Barrel 4x AA homebrew that has a very similar beam coloration.
Newer Reactors (both the 2x and 3x AA versions) do not have this "pee green" coloration, and neither does my InReTECH or any of the CPF mods I've seen, though this could be just plain dumb luck.
My first Reactor has that characteristic "rotten dog urine green" color to its beam, rivalled only by a Double Barrel 4x AA homebrew that has a very similar beam coloration.
Newer Reactors (both the 2x and 3x AA versions) do not have this "pee green" coloration, and neither does my InReTECH or any of the CPF mods I've seen, though this could be just plain dumb luck.
ramptapult
Newly Enlightened
LED, either that or a low CPF number. By the way welcome back! I just got my Reactor 3 from Brightguy today. Three new Ray o vac max' later and poof ....... Lotsa green, my knees about buckled. I have an early cmg that is the pukiest green of all my Luxeon based lights. So green that it doesnt warrant pricey lithiums. (I do it anyway) So I had hight hopes for the Reactor 3. Now those are frustrations cause I cant even use lithiums in the Reactor 3. hmmmm
I also got a Streamlight 3N, Key-mate, Septor, Cuffmate and a Princeton Tec Eclipse from Brightguy and as usual no problems, prompt as ever. On first appearance I seem to like all of these lights for one nuance or another, just not the CMG.
Im always on the lookout for that LED wheelchair.
Cheers,
Scott
I also got a Streamlight 3N, Key-mate, Septor, Cuffmate and a Princeton Tec Eclipse from Brightguy and as usual no problems, prompt as ever. On first appearance I seem to like all of these lights for one nuance or another, just not the CMG.
Im always on the lookout for that LED wheelchair.
Cheers,
Scott
INRETECH
Flashlight Enthusiast
Craig posted
"My first Reactor has that characteristic "rotten dog urine green" color to its beam, rivalled only by a Double Barrel 4x AA homebrew that has a very similar beam coloration"
Craig - stop shining the light on your hair !
"My first Reactor has that characteristic "rotten dog urine green" color to its beam, rivalled only by a Double Barrel 4x AA homebrew that has a very similar beam coloration"
Craig - stop shining the light on your hair !
ramptapult, Lambda sell *second* at lower price. You should check your source if it's second or not.
I have 6 LS (and few more coming) from Lambda and 4 of them is *pure white - no green and no blue* and 2 was a little green but bright and that was told before I purchased it. I never received any LS that arrived unexpectedly green. I hate to receive a LS and turned out not as expected. Lambda have never let me down so far
Alan
I have 6 LS (and few more coming) from Lambda and 4 of them is *pure white - no green and no blue* and 2 was a little green but bright and that was told before I purchased it. I never received any LS that arrived unexpectedly green. I hate to receive a LS and turned out not as expected. Lambda have never let me down so far
Alan
INRETECH
Flashlight Enthusiast
We did get a bunch of "puke greens" and I am sorry, please contact us and we will replace it
arioch
Enlightened
I wonder why companies like Inretech and CMG don't test fire their LS lights and adapters before shipping, or possibly test fire the LS's for significant color variations before installing them in the lights and adapters?
This would save customers the hassle of having to deal with "puke green" lights, and the companies the hassle of dealing with dissatisfied customers and returns and exchanges.
I realize this might push up the unit prices of the items, but it might alleviate some of the unhappiness experienced by cpf members buying these things. It might also convince potential customers like myself to shell out their hard earned cash to purchase these lights if there isn't the "hit or miss" feeling hanging over their heads.
Examples might be Mr. Bulk's offerings... I rarely if ever hear any complaints of "puke green" LS's with his lights. As a result, his lights usually sell out, and forthcoming lights are eagerly anticipated. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Just seems like a good business practice to ensure the quality of your product before putting it out to market. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
This would save customers the hassle of having to deal with "puke green" lights, and the companies the hassle of dealing with dissatisfied customers and returns and exchanges.
I realize this might push up the unit prices of the items, but it might alleviate some of the unhappiness experienced by cpf members buying these things. It might also convince potential customers like myself to shell out their hard earned cash to purchase these lights if there isn't the "hit or miss" feeling hanging over their heads.
Examples might be Mr. Bulk's offerings... I rarely if ever hear any complaints of "puke green" LS's with his lights. As a result, his lights usually sell out, and forthcoming lights are eagerly anticipated. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Just seems like a good business practice to ensure the quality of your product before putting it out to market. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
shipinretech
Enlightened
BuddTX,
I think the forward voltage is the voltage of peak current drain, the voltage at which the LED will shine brightest. Alkaline AA batteries are rated for 1.5v, two of them run through a flashlight should run a combined voltage of slightly less than 3.0v. If we get a batch that runs at 3.4v, our light looks bad even if the LED would be perfectly acceptable in another application.
Another problem which appears to be diminishing is imperfect application of phosphor, understandable when the proper amount of phosphor is probably measured in fractions of a microliter. As with any semiconductor process, as time goes by yields go up and we can expect the 1W Luxeon to continue to improve in quality and hopefully price. I am less adamantly sure that the White 5W Luxeon part will be able to accomplish the same durability that we expect from the 1W parts in the same package because of the thermal transfer issues. Porting heat out of small packages is a bear. It may not be until the diode technology makes another doubling in efficiency before we are able to get the luminous intensity we get from the 5W parts to durably work in the same size package. Probably somebody who has signed a very serious Non-Disclosure Agreement has seen such a device in the lab, but I would not expect to see parts like this available before this fall. When such parts become available, they may be lower voltage than the 5W parts but I do not expect them to be in the same sweet spot that the 1W Luxeons fill.
Based on the industry information that is publicly available I do not expect to see parts in the same luminous intensity range as the 5W Luxeon that will work in a direct drive 2xAA flashlight before 2005. I would like nothing better than to be proven wrong and be able to produce a 2xAA flashlight that would blow away the brighter incandescants in the next 12 months.
Until then, we're getting great parts in and selling one of the best adapters anywhere for an inspection or emergency role flashlight.
I think the forward voltage is the voltage of peak current drain, the voltage at which the LED will shine brightest. Alkaline AA batteries are rated for 1.5v, two of them run through a flashlight should run a combined voltage of slightly less than 3.0v. If we get a batch that runs at 3.4v, our light looks bad even if the LED would be perfectly acceptable in another application.
Another problem which appears to be diminishing is imperfect application of phosphor, understandable when the proper amount of phosphor is probably measured in fractions of a microliter. As with any semiconductor process, as time goes by yields go up and we can expect the 1W Luxeon to continue to improve in quality and hopefully price. I am less adamantly sure that the White 5W Luxeon part will be able to accomplish the same durability that we expect from the 1W parts in the same package because of the thermal transfer issues. Porting heat out of small packages is a bear. It may not be until the diode technology makes another doubling in efficiency before we are able to get the luminous intensity we get from the 5W parts to durably work in the same size package. Probably somebody who has signed a very serious Non-Disclosure Agreement has seen such a device in the lab, but I would not expect to see parts like this available before this fall. When such parts become available, they may be lower voltage than the 5W parts but I do not expect them to be in the same sweet spot that the 1W Luxeons fill.
Based on the industry information that is publicly available I do not expect to see parts in the same luminous intensity range as the 5W Luxeon that will work in a direct drive 2xAA flashlight before 2005. I would like nothing better than to be proven wrong and be able to produce a 2xAA flashlight that would blow away the brighter incandescants in the next 12 months.
Until then, we're getting great parts in and selling one of the best adapters anywhere for an inspection or emergency role flashlight.
