LED vs. LED

[tnuckels]

So, help me understand what happens if I swap the following SSC LEDs: USWOH for U2SWOI

Excluding the lottery, I think I will probably:

Get more light going from U @ 91-100lm to U2 @ 100-118lm

Keep the same color, SWO

But here's the part I don't quite follow, going from Vf H @ 3.00-3.25 to Vf I @ 3.25-3.50. If a light currently has a LED that takes output from the driver of 3v to fully light it up, but shouldn't exceed 3.25v, it would seem to preclude moving to a LED from the next highest bracket, or is Vf as "flexible" (read: sloppy) as the rankings for flux and color seem to be, and assuming it will work, will the new LED consume more power and thus decrease my runtime?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[spencer]

Depends what driver is in the light. It should work. Going to the higher Vf bin would probably make the LED less efficient. Unless the original has a Vf of something like 3.24 and the replacement has a Vf of something like 3.26 then it will be less efficient. You can buy U2***H LEDs so maybe go with those.

 

[tnuckels]

Thanks Spencer.

I've seen bare emitters like U2SWOH, but I'm actually replacing a star. The stars I'm seeing are now mostly U2SWOI or U2SVOH, and I'm not inclined toward the pink shift of the V offerings. I could buy an emitter, and a star, and then do to old "Stove-Eye-Hot-Potato-Swap" as I've gotten fairly good at it, but I'd actually just prefer a star mounted my the manufacturer in case my technique is less than perfect.

The two lights in question are my Petzl Tikka XP and MYO RXP, if that helps with the driver info bit of the equation.

The RXP is brand new, so I'm just trying to be a little more careful on the front end. I haven't disassembled mine yet to check, but about a month ago a European CPFer did so, and it was packing a U1SWOH. The light just arrived here in the states, so I'm making an assumption (I know, bad idea) that it is still the same emitter/star installed.

The Tikka is about 4yr old, but was upgraded about 1 ½ years ago with an SSC P4. Up to now this has been my "go to" headlamp, and will probably remain so for small jobs around the house, so I figure as easy as it is to swap stars in this light, I might as well do it also.

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