These are good points - as is the issue of variability of manufacturer warranty support. On that earlier point, my goal was simply to point out that manufacturer warranties are null and void by modding - if that matters to the end user. As always, I leave it up to the consumer to decide what features of a light matter to them (which is why I generally don't "recommend" lights here, or provide a value ranking scheme).
As for the latter point, in the interest of being balanced I've amended my two comments in the review as follows:
(italics showing the addition)
"Long-term reliability of any modded light is unknown, but it stands to reason the modifications for maximum performance here could shorten component life span (especially on the dedomed version).
That said, Vinh also shores up a number of circuit components during his mods, which may increase overall useable lifespan of the light. Of course, modding voids all manufacturer warranties,
but I understand that Vinh stands behind his products."
and
"So what is the downside to doing this? Well, modding obviously voids all manufacturer warranties, and tweaking all the components may shorten their lifespans
(although by the same token, Vinh also upgrades internal components, and corrects potential stock issues). ... That said, in my experience the vast majority of LED flashlight failures are due to circuit components, not emitters
- and I understand that Vinh stands behind his mods."
:wave:
Yes, this is very good point as well - and I agree in principle. If you have an LED rated with a lifetime in the tens of thousands of hours (as most of them are), a slight reduction in that lifespan is immaterial.
However, I would point out that that lifespan is only an estimate, based on a much lower testing requirement by the TM-21 standard. I am not sure off-hand for this emitter, but I believe it is generally only a few thousand hours (at a relatively low current) that actually gets measured by the manufacturers for each new model. Still, I agree it is likely to be immaterial - other circuit components will likely fail long before the emitter does.
But I also need to consider in my assessment that the relative risk of dedoming is largely a giant unknown (i.e., it could have a much greater impact on emitter degredation). As such - much like warranty comments - I feel I would be remiss if I didn't at least draw the end users attention to this matter, so that they can make their own assessment of the relative risks.
That said, my "gut impression" is that if a dedomed emitter functions stably for the first few hours of continuous use, it is probably not going to be an issue in the regular lifetime of the product. To use a parallel, this is why (in my younger days)
I used to "burn in" all my over-clocked computer equipment with several hours of hard-core torture testing with limited cooling. If the parts didn't experience errors under those conditions, they were likely to be fine for the estimate lifetime of regular use at the elevate clock speeds/timings.
Just to be clear - I don't take any of the community comments above as challenging in any way - I think it was fair to raise them. I don't mean to be overly verbose, but it is just that this is my first review of a commercially modded light, and I want to make sure everyone can see my reasoning and understand where I am coming from. All points of view are welcomed here. :wave:
