PhotonsExciteMe
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2007
- Messages
- 1
First, I'm new to flashlight obsession and I hope I'm not stepping on any toes asking questions that have already been answered many times, but I've searched both the candlepowerforum and google to no avail. I'm looking for a comprehensive guide on what every modder should know. Does anyone have a link to one? Short of finding that perfect guide, however, I have some specific questions that I would be most greatful if someone could answer.
I just purchased a Golston 7W LED torch (specifically, the "7w Super Bright Waterproof USA", "power 3.6vx2 charge battery" version from Dae with the DSD charger and some LIR123A, 3.6V 800mAh cells,) after having read the entire 17 page thread on it. I'm quite impressed with its beam; however, I would like to add current regulation, and I have a few concerns:
1) sandwhiches: I would like to simply buy and drop in a sandwich and be done with it, but I don't know what exactly I need to get. Are the sandwiches all the same standard size(they appear to be from the pics)? The bare aluminum piece that the star sits on, is it the heatsink or is it the top of the "can"? Do I take the whole piece (can and all) out of the flashlight tube and pop in a whole new one? Do the "sammiches" from the sandwich shoppe come inside of a can, or do people generally remove their old sammich from the can and put in a new one? As you can see, I'm a little confused about the terminology and components which reside between the cells and the optics. Could someone break it down for me please?
2) wasted energy: I understand that the diodes themselves get pretty hot and that's why most LED torches are heatsinked well, but the "Golston" seems to run quite hot and I was wondering if the fact that my version uses a stronger resister (~3.8 ohm) compared to the original 1 ohm resister creates a lot of wasted energy in the form of heat from the resister. Would this effect be a significant drain on the batteries? If so, would a downboy (or similar converter), also waste this much energy in the form of heat during the process of kicking down the voltage from a potentially > 8V source (when freshly charged)? If this is the case, then would I be correct in assuming it would be more efficient to use a lower voltage power source (but with a high capacity still of course)? (I was hoping this wasn't the case, because I prefer not to have to bore out the tube to fit protected 18650s. I think the regulated runtime on my LIR123As will be fine for me; I just don't want to use them if they're causing energy to be wasted as heat.)
3) give me photons: Which white LED (appropriate for a Golston sized torch of course) currently puts out the highest lumens/watt, and a what wattage would the additional lumens/watt start to decrease drastically? To be clear, I guess I'm interested in a graph of wattage versus lumens rather than just the average value of lumens/watt, since even though the average value may be highest on LED A, the maximum lumen value may be higher on LED B. Are there any graphs like these available? I'd rather have a higher maximum lumen output than a higher average lumens/watt value. In other words, my goal in regulation is not to get max runtime, but rather to get max lumens at a steady level, even if that level doesn't last very long. Also, not to concerned about tint, as long as it's not horrible.
Well, I think that's it. Thank you very much for your time!
I just purchased a Golston 7W LED torch (specifically, the "7w Super Bright Waterproof USA", "power 3.6vx2 charge battery" version from Dae with the DSD charger and some LIR123A, 3.6V 800mAh cells,) after having read the entire 17 page thread on it. I'm quite impressed with its beam; however, I would like to add current regulation, and I have a few concerns:
1) sandwhiches: I would like to simply buy and drop in a sandwich and be done with it, but I don't know what exactly I need to get. Are the sandwiches all the same standard size(they appear to be from the pics)? The bare aluminum piece that the star sits on, is it the heatsink or is it the top of the "can"? Do I take the whole piece (can and all) out of the flashlight tube and pop in a whole new one? Do the "sammiches" from the sandwich shoppe come inside of a can, or do people generally remove their old sammich from the can and put in a new one? As you can see, I'm a little confused about the terminology and components which reside between the cells and the optics. Could someone break it down for me please?
2) wasted energy: I understand that the diodes themselves get pretty hot and that's why most LED torches are heatsinked well, but the "Golston" seems to run quite hot and I was wondering if the fact that my version uses a stronger resister (~3.8 ohm) compared to the original 1 ohm resister creates a lot of wasted energy in the form of heat from the resister. Would this effect be a significant drain on the batteries? If so, would a downboy (or similar converter), also waste this much energy in the form of heat during the process of kicking down the voltage from a potentially > 8V source (when freshly charged)? If this is the case, then would I be correct in assuming it would be more efficient to use a lower voltage power source (but with a high capacity still of course)? (I was hoping this wasn't the case, because I prefer not to have to bore out the tube to fit protected 18650s. I think the regulated runtime on my LIR123As will be fine for me; I just don't want to use them if they're causing energy to be wasted as heat.)
3) give me photons: Which white LED (appropriate for a Golston sized torch of course) currently puts out the highest lumens/watt, and a what wattage would the additional lumens/watt start to decrease drastically? To be clear, I guess I'm interested in a graph of wattage versus lumens rather than just the average value of lumens/watt, since even though the average value may be highest on LED A, the maximum lumen value may be higher on LED B. Are there any graphs like these available? I'd rather have a higher maximum lumen output than a higher average lumens/watt value. In other words, my goal in regulation is not to get max runtime, but rather to get max lumens at a steady level, even if that level doesn't last very long. Also, not to concerned about tint, as long as it's not horrible.
Well, I think that's it. Thank you very much for your time!
