Once thought to be dead, the Mule is now revived!

[kaichu dento]

I turned my Mule on as a room light for a bit last night, and forgot all about it - then with a couple flashes it reminded me. Very, very hot and the first time I've ever had a light so hot I couldn't hold onto it - all the way down to the tailcap too!

Complacency due to never turning lights on high much in the first place, let alone doing so, then leaving them on unattended led to this mishap.

 

[souptree]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

Which Mule?

 

[luke_28]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

What kind of battery were you using ?

 

[Obijuan Kenobe]

Yes...what mule...and what battery?

I have left a 2.8A mule sst50 on high till the cell was dead...hot but no damage.

obi

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

McGizmo that I bought a few months back from the MarketPlace. The orange AW IMR 16340 cell was reading 3.64 when I pulled it out and seems to be just fine, as it's now in my Haiku with a full charge again.

 

[easilyled]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

McGizmo that I bought a few months back from the MarketPlace. The orange AW IMR 16340 cell was reading 3.64 when I pulled it out and seems to be just fine, as it's now in my Haiku with a full charge again.

Older generation PD-Mule or newer generation 3S-series Aleph-Mule? If newer generation, which L.E?

 

[fyrstormer]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

What emitter does it have and what was the highest power setting? I find it hard to believe a Mule using the Nichia emitter could get hot enough to damage itself, not with its reduced power usage.

 

[jumpstat]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

Bummer, send it back to Don, Probably a damaged LE, since the battery is fuctioning ok.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

It's a 3-speed w/Flupic engine and I'm not sure which emitter it is. Just tried finding the thread I bought it from, but no luck so far.

I'll try to call Don tomorrow and see about sending it back to him for surgery.

 

[easilyled]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

It's a 3-speed w/Flupic engine and I'm not sure which emitter it is. Just tried finding the thread I bought it from, but no luck so far.

I'll try to call Don tomorrow and see about sending it back to him for surgery.

I take it that its not Don's original L.E then as they are not Flupic converters.

 

[Obijuan Kenobe]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

If it is a FluPIC engine, you'll need someone else to fix it. Don very likely won't work on someone else's light engine. He's not really into modding his own lights, much less the work of others.

On the other hand, you can very easily order a new light engine from Don, and that will run around 130USD plus or minus something. That you could do with a simple ordering email the same as with a light. Just put 'LE only' in your subject, and order away (specifying 3V or 6V, LED, etc.).

The highest possible drive current is 3A on a FluPIC I believe, so if you were running a full power FluPIC on an LED like an SST50, XML, or maybe even running 1.4A on a XPG, overheating is easily possible when left on. If the person who built then engine did not introduce an extra heat sink, then for sure HIGH was only meant for burst and not for long run times.

I speak from experience as I have gathered and had modded several FluPICs, and these light engines when running in the full range can really burn. Without extra precautions in terms of use habits and/or extra heatsinking, a FluPIC has more than enough drive current to burn an LED on extend runs.

obi

 

[easilyled]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

My thoughts exactly Obi. Well summed up.

There have also been some Flupic/SSC-P7 L.Es that have been made by some modders for the purposes of using in Mules.

These too run the risk of overheating if left on burst mode, especially if the L.E was a bi-flupic engine.

darkzero made some of these for me (and other users) and they consist of doubling up the flupic processors, which results in them being capable of delivering over 2.4A in burst mode

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

Sounds like a good possibility then, considering how well lit the whole room was from just the Mule.

Do you guys think it's likely that the whole pill is junk then, or possibly just the emitter? :thinking:

 

[Obijuan Kenobe]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

My thoughts exactly Obi. Well summed up.

There have also been some Flupic/SSC-P7 L.Es that have been made by some modders for the purposes of using in Mules.

These too run the risk of overheating if left on burst mode, especially if the L.E was a bi-flupic engine.

darkzero made some of these for me (and other users) and they consist of doubling up the flupic processors, which results in them being capable of delivering over 2.4A in burst mode

Wow, DatiLED recently upgraded a couple of mine to i believe 2.8A or 3A. Does this mean they are likely tri-flupics?? I'll have to find out. It just sounds cool!

obi

 

[easilyled]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

Wow, DatiLED recently upgraded a couple of mine to i believe 2.8A or 3A. Does this mean they are likely tri-flupics?? I'll have to find out. It just sounds cool!

obi

I suppose it must do. I think that a single flupic processor produces about 1.2A on burst.
It does also depend on battery type with the bi-flupics.
For instance an 18650 IMR will suck up a lot more current on the burst mode than a 16340 li-ion.

 

[McGizmo]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

Hi Kaichu,
I too was waiting for more info on what was under the hood before making any comment. Is the light an aluminum Aleph Mule or a titanium Mule? With a hot LE the aluminum might handle more current than the titanium in regards to the health of the LED but if left free standing in either metal, consideration must be given to the drive level; not a lot of mass or surface area to dissipate heat in in abundant amount. I have no experience with high powered LE's in these lights or R123 for that matter but I have seen and experienced significant if not excessive heat in lower powered systems. From some thermal tests a number of years back I recall CR123 cells generating a lot of heat on their own as they reached the end of their power and kept trying to drive the LED. I would assume that the R123 cells as well could generate heat when tasked significantly?

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

All I can remember about the specs of it at this point are that it was nickel plated (EN?) and had a Flupic driver. I couldn't say whether the battery was heating things up on it's own or if it was just hot as a result of being inside the oven the light became!

The best I can take from this is to not become complacent about leaving lights on for extended periods when on high settings. I've become fairly conscious lately of my Haiku tending towards getting pretty hot while searching for parts and should have taken that caution to heart regarding it's smaller brethren.

 

[scout24]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

Kaichu Dento- I feel your pain losing the services of your Mule, but can speak from repeated personal experience regarding the Haiku on high level- My EDC Haiku xpg has been run from fresh cell turn on until it shut down on both primaries and RCR 123's many times, sometimes back-to-back... No cooling breeze, no holding it to dissipate heat. Maybe not recommended by Don, but I'm guessing there is some headroom in it's thermal limits. That, and it speaks to Don's wisdom in building working tools, not hot rods. I've had a few custom LE's built, but mainly for a lower low, not a higher high level.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

If nothing else it's a lesson in what can happen with Flupic's!

 

[fyrstormer]

Re: My Mule is now dead.

I never much liked fluPIC drivers. Anyway, you can test the emitter by using a couple bits of wire to directly connect the emitter to a 3V CR123 battery. If the emitter works, it's the driver that's dead.