Help with LE Identification

[Scottiver]

I was hoping one of you McGizmo gurus could help me identify the LE or converter on a used Aleph II that I recently aquired. It came with a two battery tube but seems to also work fine with one battery and I just want to make sure it's OK to use both configurations.
I've included a drawing of what the converter looks like from the back where the positive end of the battery would make contact.
The letters REVO1 i'm pretty sure are correct.
But the BBM1 could be DBM1 or DDM1 or DDMl or I'm just not sure. The letters are very tiny and the D's or B's are especially difficult to read. If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate the help. Thanks

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

DownBoy perhaps? EDIT: Or BadBoy.... Hmmmm.

Check out old links at the sandwiche shoppe, they might help.

 

[jch79]

The VC is actually YC - for Yamaguchi Consulting.

The Rev01 is Revision 01.

If it works with one battery, it's probably not a Downboy. My guess would be Badboy. What the M1 or MI or ML is... you got me on that one! :shrug:

john

 

[Kiessling]

:shrug:
Take a pic and post it in the Shoppe forum or here.
Sorry, no clue.
bernie

 

[Scottiver]

The VC is actually YC - for Yamaguchi Consulting.

The Rev01 is Revision 01.

If it works with one battery, it's probably not a Downboy. My guess would be Badboy. What the M1 or MI or ML is... you got me on that one! :shrug:

john

On closer inspection with a fairly strong magnifying glass I can see that it is YC and not VC. And now I think it's Nl not Ml but still can't tell if it's BB, DB or what. Thanks.

 

[jch79]

It could be BBNG - meaning a Badboy NexGen, however a G usually doesn't look like an l or i or 1... :shrug:

I agree with Bernie - try and snap a pic a post it here or at the Shoppe - best way to know what you've got.

 

[jch79]

I found this image online of a BBNG:

http://www.hidekix.net/flash/images/Modification/Module/Nexgen500mA+LuxIII/Nexgen500mA+LuxIII_7.jpg

john

 

[Scottiver]

:shrug:
Take a pic and post it in the Shoppe forum or here.
Sorry, no clue.
bernie

I tried taking a picture but it didn't come out very good because the letters are so small. That's why I drew the picture. I can't believe I stumped the great Bernie. Thanks anyway.

 

[Scottiver]

It could be BBNG - meaning a Badboy NexGen, however a G usually doesn't look like an l or i or 1... :shrug:

I agree with Bernie - try and snap a pic a post it here or at the Shoppe - best way to know what you've got.

I think you may have solved it. It could very well be a G because it's kind of covered with epoxy or something and is very hard to make out. Your picture looks EXACTLY like mine. Excellent detective work! Thank you!
Now, does anyone know if it's OK or not to use this in either a one or two battery configuration?
Here is the picture that Jch79 found:

 

[jch79]

I'm glad it helped.

For two batteries, it should be a Downboy. The BB Nexgen can only take 6 volts (AFAIK), which, given that two CR123A batteries would pop out at 7.2 volts, you're not lookin' good. However, a good way to get around it is to use 17670 rechargeable batteries, which give you a longer runtime, and still come off the charger at 4.2 volts.

Here's the Shoppe's converter page. Click on a Nexgen (or any other converter) to see its specs.

Hope it helps, and someone correct me if I'm wrong above. 🙂

john

 

[Scottiver]

The guy I bought the light from says he used a 17650 Li-ion and thought that 2x cr123's would be OK. I have tried it with two brand new Energiser 123's and it worked great but if it's right on the edge of acceptability then I certainly don't want to fry the poor thing. I sure liked the beam and brightness on two 123's though.
Oh, and jch your link to the Shoppe didn't work. I went to the site and couldn't find any converter charts anywhere. Thanks again.

 

[jch79]

I fixed the link... thanks! Just to clarify, the battery is 17670, not 17650 🙂

The converter chart is on the top of the page that I linked to above, and gives a rough overview of which converter you should use, however it's not as accurate as one would like it to be - you should click on each converter to better understand what it can and can't do.

As far as being able to take batteries... :shrug: maybe it can work, but apparently it's not recommended!

Good luck,
john

 

[Scottiver]

John,thanks for the update. Maybe i'll try out a 17670 and see how it works. Also, do you know if a R123 or RCR123 would run a little "hotter" than cr123 in a one battery tube? More volts, brighter light. I'd like to switch between one and two battery tube lenghts just to play Lego a little bit. This will be my first foray into rechargeable lithiums, so far i've been a little intimidated by all the different types, sizes and comatability issues. This is my last question I swear.
Thanks

 

[Bob_G]

No, 2x123 is not okay. The NG is basically designed to run a single CR123 primary. Depending on the Vf of the LED you can also run it on one Li-Ion. To properly answer the question you need to know what voltage bin the LED is and what current the converter is set at.

Simple answer without knowing that is that if it's a "K' bin, you're okay with a single Li-Ion, if it's a "J" bin you'd want to have a 750mA converter to be comfortable, but I'm sure people run Li-Ions on less (Vf goes up with drive current.) If it's an "H" bin you'd be living dangerously with a Li-Ion, but if it was at 1000mA that would help. An NG500 H bin would be the worst case scenario.

 

[Scottiver]

I have no idea what the bin of the bulb is or what the what the converter is set at. It's probably not too low since i've already run it with 2x 123's and it didn't blow (thank god). So are you saying it might be sketchy with a 17670 or the RCR123 or both?

 

[jch79]

From all of my runtime and lux tests, I've found that R123's are generally about 4-5% higher in lux - definitely nothing the human eye is capable of noticing.

Please note that YMMV compared to my tests, as I have not tested a light with a Nexgen converter. 🙂

john

 

[Bob_G]

Back when Alephs were current, there was a lot of discussion of Li-Ions with the NG converter, and they were used together a lot, so you're probably safe. The previous owner ran it on a 17670 he says.

The NG is a boost only driver. When you run it on a Li-Ion you're basically direct driving the LED because the voltage from the battery is higher than it needs to be to be boosted by the driver. So you're also overdriving the driver and it can only take so much of that.

The 17670 would be harder on everything because it would run in "overdrive" longer. Realistically, the 17670 has about 4 times the capacity of AW's old RCR123 cells. Not sure about the new, high current ones, or which ones you've got. Whatever you've got, the 17670 is going to have at least 3 times the actual capacity more or less.

A really simple way to look at it is don't worry, just run it on a single cell, whatever that may be. Or the safe and simple view - just run it on a single primary, then you know you're good. If you could find out from the previous owner what the bin and current setting was, that would help you make an accurate decision.

Me personally, assuming it's a Luxeon LuxIII, I'd just run the Li-Ion and not worry.

 

[Scottiver]

Thanks guys. I don't at present own any rechargable Li-ions but am thinking of ordering some. I've got some research to do for sure, not just for this light but for my other lights as well. I appreciate all the help you've given me, thanks!