Has Solarforce changed their Low Voltage R2 driver?

[offroad]

I have a couple of Solarforce .8-4.2v 3-mode R2 drop-ins and the last one I received didn't seem quite as bright as the others. When I tested the draw at the tail cap here is what I found:
All tests were ran with fully charged 2x Eneloops but not just off the charger.

Old R2
High - 1.25a
Med - .56a
Low - .17a

New R2
High - .75a
Med - .35
Low - .11

I sent the new drop-in back, and here is the replacement:

Replace
High - .83a
Med - .36a
Low - .11a

I wonder if they have changed the low voltage driver on these modules or if there is just a large variation?
The new ones are still nice drop-ins for the money but not quite as bright as my originals .

My Nailbender XP-G R4 low voltage module on the other hand, really hits a pair of AA's hard:

Nailbender
High - 4.08a
Med - 1.78a
Low - .36a

High is for short uses (fried a stock SF tailcap during run test), med is nearly as bright. Overall output is way more than the SF R2, throws close to the same and huge floody hotspot.

Thoughts?

 

[march.brown]

I have a couple of Solarforce .8-4.2v 3-mode R2 drop-ins and the last one I received didn't seem quite as bright as the others. When I tested the draw at the tail cap here is what I found:
All tests were ran with fully charged 2x Eneloops but not just off the charger.

Old R2
High - 1.25a
Med - .56a
Low - .17a

New R2
High - .75a
Med - .35
Low - .11

I sent the new drop-in back, and here is the replacement:

Replace
High - .83a
Med - .36a
Low - .11a

I wonder if they have changed the low voltage driver on these modules or if there is just a large variation?
The new ones are still nice drop-ins for the money but not quite as bright as my originals .

My Nailbender XP-G R4 low voltage module on the other hand, really hits a pair of AA's hard:

Nailbender
High - 4.08a
Med - 1.78a
Low - .36a

High is for short uses (fried a stock SF tailcap during run test), med is nearly as bright. Overall output is way more than the SF R2, throws close to the same and huge floody hotspot.

Thoughts?

Just checked my two Solarforce three modes (0.8V to 4.2V) and they are different so it seems to be the luck of the draw.

First one is ....... 1.7A , 0.67A , 0.15A. Battery (18650) 4.1V.
Second one is ... 1.28A , 0.48A , 0.1A. Battery (18650) 4.1V.

I didn't realise that one was slightly brighter than the other till now.

My single modes are 1.25A. Battery (18650) 4.15V.

Well now I know which of my Solarforce dropins is best , though I doubt whether I'll be able to get another like it ... They are still the best value for money dropins.

p.s. Should the plural of "dropin" be "dropsin" or "dropins" ?
.

 

[Kestrel]

p.s. Should the plural of "dropin" be "dropsin" or "dropins" ?

Drop on, drop in, drop out, LOL.

 

[offroad]

First one is ....... 1.7A , 0.67A , 0.15A. Battery (18650) 4.1V.
Second one is ... 1.28A , 0.48A , 0.1A. Battery (18650) 4.1V.

My single modes are 1.25A. Battery (18650) 4.15V.

Thanks for checking yours, I expected variation but 1.7A (your best) to .75A (the one I returned) is very large indeed. Wish I could buy several more and have them all draw 1.7A on high.

Hard to believe there is that much variation in the drivers if they are using the same components.

 

[march.brown]

Thanks for checking yours, I expected variation but 1.7A (your best) to .75A (the one I returned) is very large indeed. Wish I could buy several more and have them all draw 1.7A on high.

Hard to believe there is that much variation in the drivers if they are using the same components.

If you can find a source that sells the 1.7A ones , I'll buy another one or maybe two.
.

 

[old4570]

Not just driver ....

LED - DRIVER - Battery combo .... determine output ..
You could have a Dodge'y emitter .... a bad driver or lousy batteries ....
The trick is to work out which ...

I had a pill that did 700mA on High , after swapping in a Direct drive on high driver , it was all the way up to 800mA .. Not the driver ! [ in that case ] , but the emitter itself ... :sigh:

 

[offroad]

LED - DRIVER - Battery combo .... determine output ..

In my original test the listed draws for all three SF modules and the Nailbender were using the same set of eneloops and the same host. I can swap hosts and use any of my eneloops and duraloops and get the same results.

I'm sure its a driver or emitter problem, to bad they aren't more consistent as a module.