Direct Drive Blaster VI

[MR Bulk]

Well, tonight I took this:

out of this (second light from left):

and went from this:

1,657 lux


to this:

2,860 lux


Not bad for a few minutes' work, eh?

 

[hotbeam]

I was party to someone who did the same here and the difference is amazing...!

 

[Mr HG]

I removed my resistors last week.
It went from bright to superbright in a jiffy!

 

[Bullzeyebill]

My Blaster VI came to me from a CPF'er with resistor removed. It is very bright, wide beam. Not as bright as my Blaster II+, but blaster has a smaller beam, it must be one of Wayne's 4000 lux jobs. Overall volume of light out of VI must be 3X that of Blaster II+. Does anyone else notice this comparision with II+ and VI? Bill

 

[Phaserburn]

Mr. Bulk,

what strength resistor was that?

 

[Tweek]

Those are 1 ohm resistors, connected in series, for a total of 2 ohms of resistance. The first color band is the first digit, the second is the second digit, and the third band is the mulitplier. The fourth (if present) band is the tolerance. For an easy interactive graphical aid, check this out. First hit on Google for "resistor color codes". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

EDIT: For being an electronics tech, I sure goofed that up... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Chris

 

[ResQTech]

How much runtime do you think you took off by removing those resistors?

 

[snakebite]

those are in series.

[ QUOTE ]
Tweek said:
Those are 1 ohm resistors, connected in parallel, for a total of 2 ohms of resistance. The first color band is the first digit, the second is the second digit, and the third band is the mulitplier. The fourth (if present) band is the tolerance. For an easy interactive graphical aid, check this out. First hit on Google for "resistor color codes". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


Chris

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[snakebite]

has anyone done a torture test to see how badly a 5 watter will degrade when overdriven?

 

[Floating Spots]

[ QUOTE ]
Tweek said:
Those are 1 ohm resistors, connected in parallel, for a total of 2 ohms of resistance.

[/ QUOTE ]

This should read In Series, but what's a few ohms between friends? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Tweek]

Ouch, good catch! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif I goofed there, yes, it should be series. Sorry, I was running back downstairs, my lithium experiment was beeping at me... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


Chris

 

[keithhr]

When I removed the resistors from my Blaster VI, the difference was amazing. My Blaster II has a brighter hot spot, but doesn't come close to the total output of the Blaster VI.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

I am looking forwad to 3 to D holders for my VI, unresistorized. I think it will run longer than 123's. By the way, if left on for 15 minutes, with 123's, it gets very warm. Settles down after awhile, but when I tested mine with batteries starting at 2.87-2.88 each, I found that I really did not want to run it any longer than 15 min at a time. Bill

 

[Phaserburn]

Has anyone removed a .5 ohm resistor from a Blaster VI? Does it make a difference? There was a post explaining exactly how to remove the resistors step by step, but I can't find it?! Also, should there be a brightness difference when using 6 AA nimh vs. 3 123's, resistored or direct drive? A lot of questions for inquiring minds...

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Phaserburn, go to Search, catagory would be "Elektrolumens" write in "Blaster VI", click on "newer than three months", and search. You will find it. Bill

 

[bucken]

Here's the link...
How To Change Blaster Resistor

 

[Phaserburn]

Many thanks. As for my other questions...?

Also, why are people more concerned about running direct drive with nimh than 123's? They are nominally producing lower voltage, 7.2 vs 9 for the 123's.

 

[FalconFX]

NiMHs are like freeflowing water through a bursted dam...
(or something like that)...

Their low internal resistance means they give the LS as much juice as the LS can suck out and the wires can hold onto... Even at 7.2V under load, they can still deliver 1.5+Amps to the LS direct drive...

 

[keithhr]

Phaserburn, Wayne (Elektrolumens) hasn't gotten involved in answering general questions posed by people here in general.
I'm not sure why but when people makes queries, it's pretty much been left to someone who might know the answer to respond.

 

[Phaserburn]

Thanks for the input; I didn't realize that about NiMHs. That being the case, they should run the LS brighter because they are in effect supplying more current than the 123s. Is that correct?