Ok, What's going on with my D-Mini?!?

[FlashCrazy]

I bought a D-Mini a couple of months ago. Put in a Battery Station 3.6V protected Li-Ion and turned it on. Looked great, for about 30 seconds. It flickered a couple of times, then went out. I checked the battery voltage...fine. Threw in a different freshly charged battery, nothing. Took off the tail cap and checked for current with an multimeter/ammeter...it showed 2 amps...yikes! Emailed Ricky at Lumapower, he said to send in the failed LED module and he would replace it...which I did. After a month with no word, I emailed him to see if they got it...he said they didn't but he would mail a new module to me anyway. Another month went by, then I finally received the new module. Installed it in the light yesterday...worked great! It was showing 900 mA at the tail. Tonight I tried to use it and it would just blink once and go out. I put in a primary CR123 and it came on. I measured the current, (and the light does come on during this) it's showing 2 amps...what the heck?!? So apparently the blink was the battery's protection circuit kicking in. I really hate to go through the whole process of returning the module again...waiting forever...then have it fail again. Anyone have this happen with their D-Mini?

 

[ginaz]

mine has performed flawlessly. sorry to hear about your troubles, this is one heck of a light.

 

[Alin10123]

2 amps? I dont think the D mini is driven that hard. Not even close. I think more around 550mah is much closer.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

Yep you killed it

 

[StefanFS]

Take off the head, then make sure the driver/led pill is screwed down tight into the batterytube. Turn it on without the head part. There is a reason LP use threadlock on these. To make sure the reflector don't put too much pressure on the led pill, you can tighten it too much and break the pill. I'm not saying that you have overtightened it, just saying it cuold happen.

 

[FlashCrazy]

I did try it before without the head...still pulls 2 amps. Obviously something is shorted inside the LED module, I'm just confused as to why this has happened with two different brand new modules. I used two different meters also, just to make sure I wasn't getting an erroneous reading.I guess I'm just depressed because I couldn't wait to get the D-Mini. It finally arrived and only worked less than a minute. I sent the module for replacement...more waiting! That waiting turned in to TWO months! Then the module finally comes in..WooHoo!! I use it for one evening, then back to the same thing! Weird.

 

[FlashCrazy]

Ok, since I didn't want to go through the hassle and long wait of returning the LED module all over again, I took it out and disassembled it. Couldn't find anything wrong with it, no shorting that I could find with a simple multimeter. I tested it on the bench, still pulling 2 amps from the battery. So...what does any true flashaholic do at this point? MODIFY!!

I removed all of the components from the board and wired it for direct drive. Did some current checks and figured I could get away without using a resistor. It's pulling 1150 mA now, and being direct drive the emitter is getting just about all of that. The Cree is rated for 1000 mA continuous, so I doubt intermittent operation at this current is going to hurt it.

All back together now....talk about bright!! If you think a D-Mini is impressive when the LED gets ~500 mA, you should see this one at ~1000 mA! Now this is the amount of light that the D-Mini's excellent reflector deserves! :wow:

 

[Abumustafa]

Ok, since I didn't want to go through the hassle and long wait of returning the LED module all over again, I took it out and disassembled it. Couldn't find anything wrong with it, no shorting that I could find with a simple multimeter. I tested it on the bench, still pulling 2 amps from the battery. So...what does any true flashaholic do at this point? MODIFY!!

I removed all of the components from the board and wired it for direct drive. Did some current checks and figured I could get away without using a resistor. It's pulling 1150 mA now, and being direct drive the emitter is getting just about all of that. The Cree is rated for 1000 mA continuous, so I doubt intermittent operation at this current is going to hurt it.

All back together now....talk about bright!! If you think a D-Mini is impressive when the LED gets ~500 mA, you should see this one at ~1000 mA! Now this is the amount of light that the D-Mini's excellent reflector deserves! :wow:

Keep us updated Flashy i might consider doin the same to 1 of mine yes i have decided to buy anotha thats how much i love this Mini monster !!!

 

[StefanFS]

What cell are you using for direct drive? 3 or 3.7 Volt? Any heat problems? I seem to recall that the D-Mini is ALMOST on direct drive with 3.7 Volt normally and that the led then gets a bit over 800 mA. Do you have a lux meter to do some readings? This is interesting.
Stefan

 

[9volt]

Return it, the Coast is better

 

[IsaacHayes]

Sounds like perhaps the flashlight body or switch is is shorting out, not the led module.

 

[FlashCrazy]

Ok, since I didn't want to go through the hassle and long wait of returning the LED module all over again, I took it out and disassembled it. Couldn't find anything wrong with it, no shorting that I could find with a simple multimeter. I tested it on the bench, still pulling 2 amps from the battery.

Nope, I tested the LED module on the bench by itself.

 

[FlashCrazy]

Return it, the Coast is better

Thanks DJ, I'm glad you're still happy with the Coast I modded for you! I agree, I still haven't found a light that is better overall than the Coast Hocus Focus with a SSC P4 LED.

 

[FlashCrazy]

What cell are you using for direct drive? 3 or 3.7 Volt? Any heat problems? I seem to recall that the D-Mini is ALMOST on direct drive with 3.7 Volt normally and that the led then gets a bit over 800 mA. Do you have a lux meter to do some readings? This is interesting.
Stefan

3.6V Battery Station 900 mAH RCR123. The cell I used at first was showing 3.95V. I put in a fully charged one after that (about a half hour after being charged) and measured 1400 mA. I may throw in a .25 ohm resistor, or perhaps two in parallel for .125 ohm and see what the current comes down to.

Using the first battery (showing 3.95V at the start), I ran the light for 25 minutes. It was showing 700 mA at that point. No heat issues, warm but not hot. I've done a ton of temp testing of lights with an IR thermometer, and by my calibrated hand I'd say it got to around 105 degrees. I was too lazy to go dig out the thermometer from the shop. :laughing:

 

[StefanFS]

Thanks. This has rekindled my intention to do something with the D-Mini. Maybe not direct drive. Rather another driver that can go past 1 A to get a real stunner. I wish I knew more about electronics, to be able to modify stock drivers on various lights would be fun. One last question: What's the wattage on the resistors you intend to use in your D-Mini?Stefan

 

[FlashCrazy]

Thanks. This has rekindled my intention to do something with the D-Mini. Maybe not direct drive. Rather another driver that can go past 1 A to get a real stunner. I wish I knew more about electronics, to be able to modify stock drivers on various lights would be fun. One last question: What's the wattage on the resistors you intend to use in your D-Mini?Stefan

Actually all I have now are .5 and 1 Ohm resistors....I have them in .5 and 1 watt ratings. I'll probably parallel two of the .5 Ohm ones (.5 watt rating) to give me .25 Ohms...the .5 watt rating would be overkill, but I'd rather the resistors have more power handling capability than they need.

 

[matrixshaman]

Maybe they got confused - actually received your module and then sent you back the same one? Just a thought...

 

[FlashCrazy]

Maybe they got confused - actually received your module and then sent you back the same one? Just a thought...

I was wondering about that too. That's the only explanation that makes sense to me. If the problem mine had was that common, I'm sure there would be other reports of it here.

 

[FlashCrazy]

What cell are you using for direct drive? 3 or 3.7 Volt? Any heat problems? I seem to recall that the D-Mini is ALMOST on direct drive with 3.7 Volt normally and that the led then gets a bit over 800 mA. Do you have a lux meter to do some readings? This is interesting.
Stefan

Lumapower says the light is fully regulated and supplies 550 mA to the emitter. From the runtime graphs (I think ChevroFreak's), it was only regulated with the 3.7V battery, and the 3.0V battery showed a steady declining output curve. Being regulated with the 3.7V battery, I think the LED is going to see a steady 550 mA to the LED, that is as long as Vf in is greater than Vf out. I don't think it would step it up to 800 mA....but then again, I've been wrong before!

 

[StefanFS]

Lumapower says the light is fully regulated and supplies 550 mA to the emitter. From the runtime graphs (I think ChevroFreak's), it was only regulated with the 3.7V battery, and the 3.0V battery showed a steady declining output curve. Being regulated with the 3.7V battery, I think the LED is going to see a steady 550 mA to the LED, that is as long as Vf in is greater than Vf out. I don't think it would step it up to 800 mA....but then again, I've been wrong before!

I read that about mA to the led somewhere...
But the D-Mini outputs over 8000 Lux in total output, seems hard to do that at 550 mA, it must be a lot more. It's up there with the LumaPower M1 with Cree in output numbers, and the M1 supplies 750 mA to the led. As you say regulation is lacking with primary cells, but ok on LiIon. I don't buy it.
Stefan