impressions of the inretech aa adapter

[dangee]

my anticipated aa adapter came in the mail a couple of days ago and quickly opened the well packaged box to install the bulb. i used the partially drained alkalines (load tested @ 1.22v)to power it up that were residing in my minimag. my first impression was, well it lit up. i then placed new alkalines (duracell load tested @1.59v and 1.52v)in the mag and my next impression was, well it lit up. i have read all the post within this forum and had a good idea of what i was buying, but to say the least i was dissapointed with the brightness. about the same as my arc aaa le with about the same runtimes but using "2 aa". after more evaluation of the product this is what i found: the collimators diameter that replaces the reflector is to small to engage the o ring in the outer most screw on head making it no longer water resistant at all. if unscrewing the head that turns the mag on and off more than just a 1/4 turn the collimator rattles. the collimator has a substantial "nub" on the edge that needs to be filed down and is quite visable even after doing so. it looks like this was some sort of parting piece when they were cast. the collimator also has a sharp edge that contacts the luxeon star base that shuts off the light when screwed down. i noticed this groved area of the base around the bulb quickly after repeated cycles of off and on. (i did not forcefully screw this down, just enough to turn off the light). while all the led is, is a luxeon bulb soldered to a base with roughly coated epoxy around it, the led itself appears to be ok but the fit and finish is marginal. as this was a evaluation adapter for me to possibly purchase a quantity of them i can not recommened it for the above reasons. i would not use it for more than anything other than maybe lighting up a tent so i decided to open up the luxeon to see what there made of. after prying off the lens and applying 5.5 volts of power at my test bench there was a intense (ouch factor) blue light emmitted from the led. i will have to take a digital macro shot of it to post to really get an idea of there potential.

image above is stock arc aaa le

below is an ex luxeon from inretech adapter. another 20 dollar ouch factor!

 

[Slick]

Damn dude, that thing musta really pissed you off to decapitate it so quickly...

In any event,, thanks for sharing the results of your experiments.

 

[GADGETOMETRY]

hi guys,

i ordered 5 and got 3 bad one that were about as bright as a arc aaa.

ive heard some good things about this product.

i was told to return them for new ones.

the 2 good ones were ok but not as bright as a pill.

will repost results after the new ones arrive.

aloha

 

[Owen]

Originally posted by dangee:
...as this was a evaluation adapter for me to possibly purchase a quantity of them i can not recommened it for the above reasons.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I ordered one Friday night, for the same reason. To try out before buying some as gifts. Hope what I'm reading here will not be typical

 

[BuddTX]

Dangee,

Sorry for your problems.

I too had lots of problems, but I was trying to mount them in a Brinkmann Legend AA. All my problems went away when putting it into my mini-mag. It was an older mini-mag, if that matters any.

While not my brightest Luxeon by far, the InReTECH was much brighter and more useable than the standard bulb that comes with a mini-mag.

I also would think that something was seriously wrong if the InReTECH was about the same brightness as my ARC 3.1 LE AAA. With all due restpect to Peter and ARC, (the ARC AAA is one of my favorite lights, and the only light that I carry with me all the time!), my InReTECH is way brighter than my ARC AAA. Something must be wrong.

I would bet very much that Inretech will do whatever it takes to make it right for you.

 

[INRETECH]

With any product, there are always low performance units - we will replace/refund any unit that does not meet the expectations of the customer

Mike
www.inretech.com

 

[txwest]

I got my Intertech AA adapter late last week. I wasn't too impressed when I first installed it. Then while I was playing with it, I dropped in 3 N batteries. It got pretty bright, but I only left it a few seconds. Then when I went back to the 2 lithums, it seemed much brighter. It's not as bright as my LGI, LI, or ARC LS, but I am very pleased with it. Seems a little green when compareing it to others, but when used by its self, it's not noticeable. TX

 

[ChrisA]

TX - do you think that using 3N-cells kind of helped the luxeon to perform better ? that would be a nice and easy way to brighten those things !

chris

 

[B@rt]

Very nice pics dangee!

(expensive, but informative...

)

About txwest's experience, could this be tributed to "zapping" them? (not sure where I read about zapping, but it had something to do with curing Luxeons by giving them an "overdose"

)

 

[ChrisA]

please tell me more about that zapping-stuff. i have ordered a few of those inretech drop-ins and i'm getting a bit 'nervous'...

chris

 

[B@rt]

Originally posted by InTheDark:
I wonder if it's possible to overdrive a luxeon and degrade the phosphor until the pea green tint disappears. I noticed that one of of the LS's that I had, it originally came with a green tint, and but after I killed it and after using silvirons techinique of zapping it with 6 volts, it came back life with a nice bluish white color. I've been driving it near spec for a while, and it seems to be fine.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">From this thread : LW4000 becoming more blue?

This is all I could find about it...

 

[ChrisA]

silvirons technique ? sounds promising ;-) thank you bart. does anybody know the original post ? i expect the inretech adapters to be approximately as bright as an arc ls running from a single AA... is that too far off ?

chris

 

[BuddTX]

Originally posted by txwest:
I got my Intertech AA adapter late last week. I wasn't too impressed when I first installed it. Then while I was playing with it, I dropped in 3 N batteries. It got pretty bright, but I only left it a few seconds. Then when I went back to the 2 lithums, it seemed much brighter. It's not as bright as my LGI, LI, or ARC LS, but I am very pleased with it. Seems a little green when compareing it to others, but when used by its self, it's not noticeable. TX

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Txwest - That was my opinion, and that was how I reviewed it also, and I thought I was pretty clear on it's brightness level.

I like it because it's brightness and color is MUCH MUCH better than the regular bulb in a mini-max or even a Nextstar bulb. And the light can last for a much longer than the batteries in light with a regular incandesent bulb.

It's not going to replace my Lambda Illuminator or my LGI, but it will be given out as gifts.

 

[dangee]

see my post here: candlepower forum

 

[shipinretech]

One corallary to what Mike said. We will not replace/refund units that have been disassembled. We will also not replace units that you have shot, stabbed, hit with a hammer, exposed to lightning, or left in the hands of a crabby two-year old. One of the reasons we coat the units with resin is to reduce damage. Another is to note when people have been exuberant with their explorations of the applications of our product.

This is a matter of reasonable use. The above photos of dissected product do not constitute what we consider to be reasonable consumer use. Operating disassembled LEDs using excessive voltage and no heatsinking to the point of destructive failure is not reasonable use. It is a moderately interesting test that has been mostly reproduced elsewhere on these pages, but it cannot be considered to be anything but a subjective view. If you would like to reproduce those tests by cracking open a grain of wheat bulb and testing it with excessive voltage, please do. Let us know what MAG Instruments has to say about giving you money back on the bulbs you have tested.

 

[Mr. Blue]

how did you modify the Arc???

 

[Al]

Got my Inretech AA White recently. It was what I expected from an unregulated LS on 2 AA's (fresh batteries only) ... comparable to an ARC AAA except for color. I mounted it in a Brinkman Legend AA (tailcap sw.) to avoid twisting the connect wires that might result from the "twist on/off" design of Mag AA. There are no anchor pins on the Inretech such as in Opalec's design to prevent this.

IMHO: got another LS to play with, but Opalec or other similar regulated LED's are the way to go for serious use.

 

[Slick]

Originally posted by Al:
[QB]Got my Inretech AA White recently. It was what I expected from an unregulated LS on 2 AA's (fresh batteries only) ... comparable to an ARC AAA except for color. I mounted it in a Brinkman Legend AA (tailcap sw.) to avoid twisting the connect wires that might result from the "twist on/off" design of Mag AA.[QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">As bright as an ARC AAA??? No offence to the ARC, but that's not what I'd expect from a Luxeon... I've built a direct-drive luxeon into Brink 2AA light and and it is still easily brighter that a Lightwave 3000 or INOVA X5.

If this fit into the Brink 2AA, then it should fit the Brink 3AA, although that would certainly void any warrantee (if there is one) from Inretech.

While I absolutely agree with Inretech's policy of not accepting returns on items that have been "fooled with", I'm thinking that maybe they need to test their products better to ensure uniformity..

It sounds like they are not using a light meter to sort and grade their Luxeons prior to building product from them. I'm just a small-time modder and I have found that doing this is essential even for my level of sales.

This grading becomes even more important when building a mod that is underdriven, whereas the differences are not as apparent in overdriven applications.

 

[dangee]

Originally posted by shipinretech:
One corallary to what Mike said. We will not replace/refund units that have been disassembled. We will also not replace units that you have shot, stabbed, hit with a hammer, exposed to lightning, or left in the hands of a crabby two-year old. One of the reasons we coat the units with resin is to reduce damage. Another is to note when people have been exuberant with their explorations of the applications of our product.


This is a matter of reasonable use. The above photos of dissected product do not constitute what we consider to be reasonable consumer use. Operating disassembled LEDs using excessive voltage and no heatsinking to the point of destructive failure is not reasonable use. It is a moderately interesting test that has been mostly reproduced elsewhere on these pages, but it cannot be considered to be anything but a subjective view. If you would like to reproduce those tests by cracking open a grain of wheat bulb and testing it with excessive voltage, please do. Let us know what MAG Instruments has to say about giving you money back on the bulbs you have tested.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">my test was just that, an subjective view. as an electrical planning engineer i disect every thing from luxeon's to binary logic pinouts. in this case i was trying to determine the oscilloscopic pattern in the osium "base metal"
i would never ask for a refund after this test.

 

[Al]

Originally posted by Al:
Got my Inretech AA White recently. It was what I expected from an unregulated LS on 2 AA's (fresh batteries only) ... comparable to an ARC AAA except for color. I mounted it in a Brinkman Legend AA (tailcap sw.) to avoid twisting the connect wires that might result from the "twist on/off" design of Mag AA. There are no anchor pins on the Inretech such as in Opalec's design to prevent this.

IMHO: got another LS to play with, but Opalec or other similar regulated LED's are the way to go for serious use.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">11/2/2002: Installed 2 N-cells & 1 AAA in the brinkman ... now brighter than previous LS mods I have. Not worried about the battery mix - same type, same voltage. Don't care about the runtime, should be a few hours total at least, and not worried about the LS - intermittant use and metal light.