Fenix E01 unpotted & driver efficiency data

[Moat]

Re: Fenix E01 opened up & Driver data

Also I'm noticing that the driver seems to have the same components as the E0 but I can't confirm this since I don't have one in front of me and the search function is disabled. Can you point out any differences?

FWIW - I just looked at one of my E0's -

Switcher IC is marked 3036 (vs. Chimo's E01's 3033)

Diode looks the same - marked SJ

Resistor is numbered 120, and measured 13.1 Ohm (in circuit... so not sure what that's worth).

No markings on Cap.

Great pics, Chimo. :thumbsup:

25mA seems like a good choice of drive level (compromise between efficiency/longevity/output). The same as what I measured on a stock E0, IIRC.

 

[chimo]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Thanks guys.

Moat, that's good info. Looks like the last digit is part of the date code of the IC.

Paul

 

[ViReN]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Great Work Chimo :thumbsup:

 

[greenLED]

Re: Fenix E01 opened up & Driver data

Other data:
Resistor in series w/ LED is: 1% 2ohm
Drive current: 25.22mA

Could one tweak that resistor à la Zetex, increase the current, and use the circuit for a Lux mod of some sort?

 

[chimo]

Re: Fenix E01 opened up & Driver data

Could one tweak that resistor à la Zetex, increase the current, and use the circuit for a Lux mod of some sort?

Mig, I haven't had the time to do any more analysis yet. Instead of toiling in the shop, my wife and I went on a nice bike ride today (~65-70km). Hopefully, I'll have more time next weekend.

Seeing how the E0 mentioned above had a different value set resistor, it may be possible to get a little more range out of these converters, however, I would not get my hopes up for Lux level currents.

Paul

 

[Curious_character]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

A current regulator (which I'm sure this regulator is) generally has a resistor in series with the LED to sense the current. The regulator keeps the resistor, and therefore also the LED, current constant by forcing the voltage across the resistor to be constant. So everything else being equal, the current is inversely proportional to the resistor value and you can change the current over some range by changing the resistor value. There are, of course, a number of factors which impose a limit on how high you can raise the current without causing a problem. Besides the limitations of the LED itself, increased current causes some of the electronic components to dissipate more power and potentially overheat, and at some point the inductor core could saturate which causes a dramatic change in regulator circuit operation.

c_c

 

[lightemittingdiode]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Nice work!

What led would you recommend in green color to swap out?
Tx.

 

[chimo]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Nice work!

What led would you recommend in green color to swap out?
Tx.

The only recommendation I would have for you it that it's hard to go wrong with Nichias. You may want to start a new thread in the LED section with that question to get recommendations.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Although I don't fully understand all the techy-talk stuff, this is some really slick stuff. Thanks for posting this. I guess it won't be too long now before we see the first LED replacement in one of these.

 

[greenLED]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

:thanks: Paul!

 

[e2x2e]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Great pictures. I was going to ask about how the LED was sealed against water, and then I scrolled down one more picture and you answered my question. Nice job reading my mind:tinfoilI actually used the tinfoil hat!!).

Now...put a red LED in there and I'll pay hundreds. Well, I'm just joking about that...kinda

 

[koala]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Hey so I assumed that you figured out the boost chip ?

Thanks guys.

Moat, that's good info. Looks like the last digit is part of the date code of the IC.

Paul

 

[chimo]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Hey so I assumed that you figured out the boost chip ?

I'm still on the road. I'll be back home tomorrow evening but my wife has my weekend lined up for me.

 

[chimo]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

I found a little time and did some more testing on the E01 head. I ran a voltage in sweep from 2V down to 0.2V.

Test configuration (for the Fenix Data)
I used a 1% 0.05 ohm resistor in series with the LED to measure current.
Vout was measured across the LED and the 0.05 ohm resistor.
Vin was measured going into the driver board.
Previously measured ArcAAA data was used.

Keep in mind that the sample size is 1.

Here is an Efficiency comparison of the Fenix E01 and ArcAAA.

Power In/Out comparison

Current In/Out comparison

 

[paulr]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Wow, that Arc AAA is doing a lot worse than tests of a few years ago. Is the circuit different?

 

[chimo]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Wow, that Arc AAA is doing a lot worse than tests of a few years ago. Is the circuit different?

This was one of the new heads (current version) that I unpotted. (Also note my comment on sample size above.)

 

[jirik_cz]

Re: Fenix E01 unpotted & driver data

Great job!

 

[chimo]

Thanks for the kind words.

One more comment on the circuit. Unless the switcher chip uses an internal current sensing scheme, this light does use a constant-voltage (CV) regulation scheme and not constant-current (CC).

Why? The 2 ohm resistor in series with the LED does not provide feedback to the switcher chip. If the cct is CV, then that would add a lot of work for Fenix if they wanted to try to keep the output within a certain range. This method would work OK as long as the GS LEDs were fairly close for voltage binning.

 

[ViReN]

Thanks for the kind words.

One more comment on the circuit. Unless the switcher chip uses an internal current sensing scheme, this light does use a constant-voltage (CV) regulation scheme and not constant-current (CC).

Why? The 2 ohm resistor in series with the LED does not provide feedback to the switcher chip. If the cct is CV, then that would add a lot of work for Fenix if they wanted to try to keep the output within a certain range. This method would work OK as long as the GS LEDs were fairly close for voltage binning.

Great info Paul. Even with the single sample size, the CV seems to work well. I think, if we have more sample size (of GS LED and / or driver) to verify how well across the range would be great.

One question, if you have other Nichia LED's (like Nichia DS/CS or Cree R2/Q5), would it be a good idea to do tests for other LED's with E01 drive circuit?

 

[chimo]

One question, if you have other Nichia LED's (like Nichia DS/CS or Cree R2/Q5), would it be a good idea to do tests for other LED's with E01 drive circuit?

You read my mind. I was thinking about trying a DS LED to check the current.