Photon Fusion

JollyRoger

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 21, 2001
Messages
875
Location
Berkeley, CA
I'm not sure if this is old news to some of you, but I just got this email from Brian at Photonlight regarding their new Fusion light. The brightness is regulated just like the ARC's! It seems to be very bright, too...and economical.

--- Bryan Avery <[email protected]> wrote:
> Roger,
> Thanks for your email. Here are the estimates I
> was given.
>
> In full bright mode, with standard alkaline
> batteries, the Fusion should run
> about 6 hours. In medium bright mode, the battery
> life should be around 12
> hours. In the other modes (low bright and the
> different strobe modes) the
> battery life ranges from 2-7 days. Please keep in
> mind, that because of the
> regulated power supply, these figures reflect how
> long you will get full
> light output. The Fusion will stay at constant
> brightness until the
> batteries are nearly dead instead of fading slowly
> over the entire life of
> the batteries. Also, lithium batteries should give
> a longer life.
>
> As for brightness, I can't give you any comparisons,
> but in the high bright
> setting the Fusion is VERY bright.
>
> Regards,
> Bryan Avery
 
BTW, anyone know if the Photon III is regulated? Aren't the Fusion and III supposed to share the same electronics? Maybe they just added the regulated supply to the Fusion...
 
Thanks for posting that for us all, and Welcome Aboard!
grin.gif



As far as I know, the Photon 3 is not regulated, it has the same brightness and burn time (in full power mode) as the P2. I`ve heard it shares the same control chip with the Fusion too, but from the response you posted up there, they`ve obviously included a regulator circuit too. Probably the P3 is too small for a regulator as well as that little chip.
I just hope the Fusion isn`t quite as annoying to use as the P3 (I have a love/hate thing with the P3, I want to like it but it won`t let me
rolleyes.gif
) cos it looks like quite a nice light- if a little pricey.

Any ideas when they`re finally going to be released?

tongue.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:

Any ideas when they`re finally going to be released?
tongue.gif
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It can't be too long now... rumour has it a certain "museum" is to be testing one shortly.
blush.gif


It isn't a keeper - it will end up in area code (602) wherever the heck *that* is - before flying off once more to be with its creator. :-/

But maybe I can detour it to Green Bay for a short visit.
wink.gif
 
Hmm. What's in 602 Craig? A lot of our contractors are in the 602 (Phoenix metro) area code.

Roger- I am going to paste your questions you sent me in email so other people can see my silly response (and maybe answer other peoples questions too).

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Some questions:

I recently posted a message regarding Photonlight's
Fusion flashlight. It seems that the power supply is
regulated (just like the ARC's???). What is your take
on overdriving the LED's on the maximum setting (which
is, apparently, what the Fusion does). They claim
there is no harm (or very little that it cannot be
noticed) done to the led's...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Not all regulators are created equal and neither are all "overdriven" LEDs bad. Overdriving an LED increases it's heat output, if not properly heatsinked, the LED's 11 year life could be reduced.

If properly heatsinked, the flashlight will be brighter than a regualry driven LED and still be just as reliable.

A definate downside to overdriving though is that the efficiency of the LED is reduced even with good heatsinking.

A general indicator of an overdriven 5mm type LED is the output becomes even more bluish.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Would it be possible to modify the ARC and add another
led (fit it in there right next to the existing one)
to make it brighter? How would this affect the
circuitry? I'd like to experiment with mine...would
this make it twice as bright while halving the battery
life? (2 hours in sun mode is still great for me)...or
is there just not enough juice in a little AAA to
handle two led's and the step up in voltage that your
circuitry does...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We tried it with 3, 3mm s-rank Nichias. The beam of the 3mm types is not very smooth and wasn't any brighter. I imagine 2, 5mm types would be slightly brighter than the single 5mm that we use since you would be taking the same wattage of the inverter and spreading it out over twice the LED. Each LED would be less overdriven and therefore more efficient, more efficiency means more light output for the same wattage.

Why don't we do it? Because the increase in light output is negligable compare to the increased cost and complexity that it takes to achieve.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
OK, enough questions for you! Sorry...this topic is
just very interesting and you seem to be very
knowledgable.

BTW, where are you located? I'm in the Bay Area, CA.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mesa, AZ.

Thanks!

Peter Gransee
 
hey peter,
do u think u can make a regulater that can fit inside the P2 so that we can runt it off one 2032 and have constance White output for lets say, 5hrs???
I know that the P2 don't have much space, well maybe this could be an idea for a new arclight after u are done with your arcLS.
Linfeng
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gransee:
Hmm. What's in 602 Craig? A lot of our contractors are in the 602 (Phoenix metro) area code.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, since the cat's out of the bag (the Fusion arrived a few moments ago!), it will be making a side trip to Doug at Equipped To Survive. But I'll try to sneak it off to Brock as well; as I'm sure he's itching to get a look at one.
smile.gif


From what I can tell, during the few minutes I've had it, the controller has been greatly refined. Although similar to the one in the P3, it is easier to use and doesn't require some of the extra steps.

Also, the Auto-Off mode starts off with a slow fade-to-white (about 1 second to reach its apex), rather than that annoying strobe.
smile.gif

When the timer runs out, the light dims to about half brightness for a second or two, then goes out.

The various microcontroller functions are on one button, and the "high" mode has been moved to its own button, eliminating the confusion between "auto off" and "high", and also allowing "high" to be used hands-free.

I'll be doing some more work on it today, along with getting some pictures posted.

Also, I am now equipped to do a full series of battery life tests on the Photon 3, so a run-time can be figured out individually for each of its modes.

Mom's flying out of Alaska tomorrow, so don't expect to see a lot of WORK out of me until Monday.
wink.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
ohhhh Craig a detour would be very nice. What does it run on?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Find out for yourself: http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/fusion.htm

grin.gif


(EDIT: I just discovered the head of the Fusion can be removed and reinstalled on the end of the battery box to make using it like a regular flashlight easier. Pictures and more detail now posted on the site.)
 
Speaking of this light, I saw this interesting picture, on a certain web site:

fusion13.jpg


Notice the caption "The Fusion screwed onto an ordinary head."? Ordinary? Reminds me of my face after 3 days of not shaving (oh the curse of testosterone
wink.gif
!). Screwed? Gosh... that must have been painfull
wink.gif
! Hehe.

Doug
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Doug:
Speaking of this light, I saw this interesting picture, on a certain web site:

[image]

Notice the caption "The Fusion screwed onto an ordinary head."? Ordinary? Reminds me of my face after 3 days of not shaving (oh the curse of testosterone
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

hmmm... wonder who's ugly mug that is...
shocked.gif

Shaving... sheesh, who has time for that?
I just wait till it's long enough to mow with the dog clippers, and be done with it for another week or two.
grin.gif


It's 1am, and I'm still at it.

Found & tested the "Smash Protection" feature, but it turns out it's actually of limited value because of an *apparent* bug in the firmware. The appropriate person has been notified of this.

Still looking for the battery power gauge that's supposed to be hidden in there like an 'easter egg' in an old video game.
smile.gif


For having a 'replaceable' lens, it's sure on there good... I'm sure I'll break it just trying to remove it. Note to people along the chain who might see this particular sample: DON'T.

Sample also appears to lack "O" rings, so fellow reviewers if you'll please keep it away from sinks, tubs, and fishtanks, the light will stay happy.
Production models will come with them (it says so right on the Photon website) and as such it should be moderately water resistant.

Well, crap... mum's flying in later this morning, the house is still a mess, and the pets are hungry and waiting for me to feed them... so I'd better call it quits for the night.
 
The Fusion went for its first "real world" test today, as I used it to repair & reconnect a neighbor's ailing video system.

The ambient light was high (sun coming in through her window) and I was working in the shadow of the big TV, so I had to set the Fusion to "power pig" mode to really see what I was doing inside there.

Any of the lower modes would have worked fine had I waited until evening to do this, but o well.

It worked fine, and I could see all of the little colorful wires & resistors in there.
White light is the only way to go for this kind of job.

The headband allowed for true hands-free use, as I expected it would.
 
Top