LuxIII from 2 cells

[InitialImage]

What is everyone using to boost a luxIII from 2 cells? I have a couple of Mag2c's laying around and I'd like to convert them to LuxIII's, but I want to keep them using 2 c cells. How many different options are out there?

Thanks

 

[Justintoxicated]

Not much if you want to drvie it at 1 amp, A MM 700 or 800 would probably work but drop it out of regulation quickly..
3x123 and DB 1000 would probably work way better

 

[pedalinbob]

it depends on how hard you want to drive them.

i have used micropucks at about 350ma--and it worked VERY well. i guess this is underdriving them, but with a fraen optic, they still kick out over 600 lux, and runtime is wonderful. the price is definitely right.

NIIIIICE!

as justintoxicated states, you have some good choices for overdriving.

Bob

 

[IsaacHayes]

you could run a bb600 or dual micropucks in parallel. That's about the most practical for highoutput on 2 cells I can think of..

 

[InitialImage]

I'm trying to keep cost down(don't want to stack two Micropucks) and I'm not worried about overdriving them. I may have a Micropuck laying around. Here is something else I'm wondering. This may be hard to give me a definitive answer to the following question with bin ratings differing, but with all things being equal, how would a 1watt powered by a Micropuck compare to a Micropuck powering a 3watt?

Even underdriven, would the luxIII still out shine the 1watt? How would runtimes compare?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[HarryN]

As far as I can tell, the 3 LED watt die are premium selected versions of the 1 watt die. The 3 watt is then packaged in a slightly higher performance package for the extra power (electical and heat).

So, if you are not too worried about LED lifetime, then you could drive either one at 1 or 3 watts with similar binning and get very similar results.

Before anyone gets too excited about the wide swath I have cut through by generalizing, this group is the audiphiles of lighting. If you like flashlights the same way the audo guys like sound, then buy the best. (the cost difference is really not that large, especially after you feed some batteries to it.)

As far as lifetime, these are Luxeons - they are tested so hard and long that the requirements put on by pretty much any EDC flashlight is almost nothing. That is not the case for many of the LEDs on the market, esp. the 1 watt attempts by (others)

In 5 years, your light is more likely to be technically obsolete (or lost) by the latest Luxeon, than to have dimmed appreciably from over power and over use.

My suggestion is - if you really are taking the time to think about the question - buy the better LED - the difference is only maybe $ 10 through Future.

 

[IsaacHayes]

The luxIII should outshine the 1w, since they typically have a lower Vf and higher bin flux, unless you find a premium 1w. Plus they all are pretty much nice color. Get a LuxIII with a J bin Vf and you'd have a bright light off of only 350ma.