CMG Speaks Out (and answers questions)

Mr Ted Bear

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 20, 2001
Messages
1,766
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Q: Do you know of CPF
A: Yes, we monitor it... as well as the LED Museum etc

Q: So you know aboput the 2 REACTORS that have failed ?
A: Yes, not the electronics (there are none.. direct wired), and not the LS that failed. The problem is a cold solder joint on the PCB. Originnaly, we were holding the contact in place, and soldering. Because it's a spring contact, it pulls itself away from the board if not soldered just right. We have change the config so it's no longer an issue

Q: What about color? Pictures show very green corona's
A: Unfortunaely, that's what we get from Luxeon. We sort the LS on OUTPUT, versus COLOR. We felt that light output was more important than color.

Q: Plastic head is kinda of "cheap"
A: Price was not the issue, WEIGHT was the primary conccern


Q: When, and what is the ULTRA?
A: "Brightness of an ARC, with shorter run time... regulated like the Infinity, around 20 hours, AA, same compartment as the infiity
due around Aug 1
 
Ted - Thanks for getting the info straight from the horses mouth.

CMG says they sort by brightness, not color. Be curious to see if anyone gets one that isn't pea green. Wonder why they are sorting in the first place. Unless they throw away the low end ones, why would they be doing this. Considering how low priced the Reactor is, I doubt they're throwing any of the LS's away.

I'm still routing for CMG, hoping that they get the issues worked out and produce good products.
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I just got one and it is more yellow than green. It is actually on the white side of yellow.
 
"...not the electronics [/b] (there are none.. direct wired), [/b]"

So this is a Luxeon driven directly on 3 volts?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mr Ted Bear:
Q: Do you know of CPF
A: Yes, we monitor it...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

When I grow up I want to be a FLASHLIGHT REVEIWER! If I had a few samples it would jump start my carrier. Did I mention I love the Infinity? I think CMG is the greatest!

KenB
PS: My e-mail can be found by clicking on "profile".
 
Hmm. With those kind of answers, I wonder why all the market hype about this being the "perfect white light" or whatever the hell they called it. Plus, how are they getting that kind of initial brightness out of 3V?

The Ultra sounds great. ArcFinity in one unit, just like we'd guessed.

Thanks for the Poop, Jeff.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
Hmm. With those kind of answers, I wonder why all the market hype about this being the "perfect white light" or whatever the hell they called it. Plus, how are they getting that kind of initial brightness out of 3V?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know about the "perfect white light" part since I don't know diddly about the Reactor, but by handpicking the Luxeon emitters for lowest Vf and recommending the use of lithiums (didn't I read that somewhere?), you should be able to get decent brightness out of the unit with fresh batteries. However, it's up to Lumileds to do something about those pee-green LEDs of theirs. CMG isn't responsible for that part.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The LED Museum:
However, it's up to Lumileds to do something about those pee-green LEDs of theirs. CMG isn't responsible for that part.
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<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pee green? Pea green? What do you have to do to get green pee?

(Sorry, a little toilet humour. Couldn't resist
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)

Graham
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The LED Museum:
CMG isn't responsible for that part.
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<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, in their marketing blurb (can somebody give me the exact quote from the package, if it is, in fact, still written that way on the package?) they talk about how most LED lights (not even comparing this to incandescents, mind you) are blue-tinged and how this new, unique product will provide the world's first perfectly white light. I say they're still responsible for *THAT* part. Wanting to provide perfectly white light and having the means to do so don't go hand in hand. I don't suppose Lumileds promised their LS units would be "perfectly white," but you never know.
 
I modded a Ray-o-Vac kid's headlamp with a Luxeon Star that is direct driven at 3 volts. I decided that this was probably better given that the unit is plastic and would not sink heat very well.

What I did notice is that the LS/o when driven at 3 volts was much more "pea green" at the corona than it was when driven at the rated voltage or higher. Direct driving this same LS/o at 4.5 volts nearly eliminated the green corona, so I believe that the green hue is something that is normal when driving below the rated voltage. In actual use, I do not find this to be a real problem tho..
 
OK, I found it. Quote from the package:

"The Reactor offers the first truly white LED output."

Yup, THAT I blame on CMG. It just isn't true. There's no magic going on here.
 
When I grow up I want to be a FLASHLIGHT REVEIWER! If I had a few samples it would jump start my carrier.

Ken, I am a Reviewer and they`ve never sent me anything. I had to buy my Infinitys like normal people do.
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I wouldn`t hold your breath....
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
Originally posted by The LED Museum:
[qb] CMG isn't responsible for that part.
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<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, in their marketing blurb (can somebody give me the exact quote from the package, if it is, in fact, still written that way on the package?) they talk about how most LED lights (not even comparing this to incandescents, mind you) are blue-tinged and how this new, unique product will provide the world's first perfectly white light. I say they're still responsible for *THAT* part. Wanting to provide perfectly white light and having the means to do so don't go hand in hand. I don't suppose Lumileds promised their LS units would be "perfectly white," but you never know.[/QB]

On the front of the package, there's "CMG L.E.D. Driven True White Light." On the back under product specifications, theres "L.E.D. color: True White". Then there's the picture comparison with a hazy white circle proclaiming "The Reactor's True White Light" and a hazy blue circle proclaiming "Others Shine a Bluish Light". Also under product specifications, there's "Burn Time: 10 hours peak brightness, over 100+ hours useable light". On the inside cover under Batteries:, it states "2AA alkaline batteries. Use Lithium AA batteries for the brightest output. The use of Lithium batteries will not adversely affect the longevity of the Reactor."

Perhaps the most ironic for myself and Ed is on the back it's stated "....the Reactor will never leave you in the dark again."

It seems Lumileds has let a lot of people down most notably Arc flashlights with their inconsistancy of the LED. However I agree with Darell, don't say it if it ain't so. Also (thanks Jeff for the info), CMG is sure of the failure before examining the lights which tells me they knowingly shipped a product with questionable quality. If they do indeed monitor this forum, it would be nice to hear some sort of explanation and mission statement from a CMG representative. I'm real glad to see them offering an affordable reasonably decent product but the product claims are really rediculous.

Will be interesting to see Jeff's results and comments as well as others.
 
Given that the REACTOR is manufactured in TAIWAN, supplies are tight.

LED museum is in the list, but that probably won't be for another 4-6 weeks.

Hey, when I did the AREC-FINITY thing last month, I was promised a evalueuation light, but last time I call, I wasn't on the list...guess I need a legitimate website
 
Thought I'd mention that Gary, the nice guy at Eppe's Corner, has talked to one of the engineers at CMG about these problems as well. He was told the production on these things came to a halt when the issue was discovered and they're scrambling to fix the prob. Gary assured me that he will not ship any from the defective batch to us that ordered. So there will definitely be another delay on these things, but I'd rather wait for a unit that works for more than an hour
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
OK, I found it. Quote from the package:

"The Reactor offers the first truly white LED output."

Yup, THAT I blame on CMG. It just isn't true. There's no magic going on here.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Relax, Darell. It seems it's tested with alkalines so far, yet lithiums are recommended. I'm wondering if you can substitute 3 N cells for the AA. I've heard the LS greenish color disapears above 3 volts.
 
No, not as of yet. I would assume it must be via my email address listed here and I just checked and replied to your message. Hopefully I didn't delete it earlier in the day amongst the 25 or so spam messages I get thru that account. I also have the hotmail spam filter enabled so also hopefully it didn't think it was spam.

BTW, concerning above post, they're not doing anything the other flashlight companies aren't doing.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Empath:
Relax, Darell. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah... like *that's* gonna happen
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