PR-base SMJLED

[cratz2]

I've had my PR_Base SMJLED for a bit over a week now and have formed some VERY favorable impressions.

First of all, used with alkaline cells, it is quite a bit brighter than the bipin SMJLED on Lithiums. At least it is to my eyes. Honestly, I wasn't prepared for it to be quite this bright. We're in older Luxeon territory here, folks!

For outdoor use in fairly untamed land (ie, trees EVERYWHERE... we're not talking cleared paths) one of my favorite lights has been a cheapie $.94 Walmart plastic 2AA, PR-base light with a faceted reflector. I sputtered the reflector and used my best Sino Union PR-base 'bulb' in it. Sputtering the reflector basically yields a larger hotspot, but less throw. I've really got a lot of mileage out of this setup as it gave good performance, usable brightness and incredible runtime... I'd guess in the neighborhood of 40 hours on a pair of alkaline cells to 50% brightness. The SMJLED is basically the same thing, but on crack! Probably three time as bright and still about 18 hours runtime to 50% brightness and probably a VERY long tail after that. Throw probably doubled. This will probably be my new go to outdoor light when I don't need U-bin Magmod brightness.

In the Mag reflector, it throws a very tight beam. In my opinion, probably a bit too tight for my tastes but no doubt, almost all CPFers will like it. Basically it is just about the same brightness/lumens as the a Mag Xenon bulb, but will last MUCH longer before the bulb needs replaced and will last about 100 hours on a pair of D cells with a VERY long dimmer 'moon mode' level of output afterwards. Everybody wins!

Lastly, we have the Garrity 2D light which was recently reviewed as the BuiltWell 2D by Craig at ledmuseum.org. I took some comparison shots. In this particular host which does not have a focusing ability, the SMJLED yielded a MUCH nicer beam. I'd say that the Sino Union bulb in this host is all but unusable. It looks decent in the beamshot, but in reality, there is too much dark area (donut hole) in the beam to satisfy CPF users.

Here are some current measurements I read. For AA sized cells, the walmart cheapie host was used. For C and D cells, unmodified Maglites were used. In both situations, the switch was still present in the circuit so some resistance is introduced there.

140mA... PR SMJLED on 2AA Alkaline cells
140mA... PR SMJLED on 2AA NiMH cells
230mA... PR SMJLED on 2AA Lithium cells
180mA... PR SMJLED on 2C Alkaline cells
180mA... PR SMJLED on 2D Alkaline cells
160mA... Bipin SMJLED on 2 Lithium cells
90Ma... Sino Union on 2AA Alkaline cells
110Ma... Sino Union on 2D Alkaline cells

 

[cratz2]

Now, some beamshots. In each of the comparison shots, the same camera settings distances are used, but you can really compare the Mag results to the Walmart cheapie results to the Garrity results as they were at different distances.

SMJLED then Sino Union LED in the Walmart Cheapie

SMJLED then Sino Union LED in a 2D Maglite

SMJLED in 2D Maglite with a sputtered reflector Notice the considerably bigger hotspot.

Sino Union LED vs SMJLED in the Garrity Host

Xenon incandescent bulb vs SMJLED in Garrity Host (Hotspots looks similarly bright, but the SMJLED spillbeam certainly looks brighter to my eyes... not entirely sure how that is possible.)

SMJLED (on the left) in Mag vs a UW0K Lux III on an nFlex board on the third setting.

 

[fieldops]

Great job, cratz. Thanks!
I may recommend this option when I teach "sheltering in place". Many were thinking about getting those "shakelights". I never liked them. I say forget em'. Just relace your 2D bulb and presto......you have a light with long duration runtime for emergencies. This will help spread the word among non-flashaholic types as well. One piece and you have a better light.

 

[cratz2]

Honestly though, the Sino Union bulbs work very nicely in the Mag reflector. I have 2D with a sputtered reflector and the SMJLED bulb installed and I have a 2D with a smooth reflector and the Sino Union bulb installed. Since the Sino Union pulls quite a bit less current, I'd imagine 2 D cells would last considerably longer with the Sino Unions than the SMJLEDs. SMJLEDs are certainly brighter and a most definately a better general purpose option, for long power outages or any sort of survival application, I'd probably just stick with the Sino Unions.

Having said that, I doubt my Sino Unions will be seeing much actual use while the SMJLED is a VERY sweet and economical options right now.

 

[tony22r]

What are some good places to buy SMJLEDs ?

Is there a big difference between these 2 ? ...

$11 - Sandwich Shoppe 2-Cell PR Bulb [SS_PR2Cell]
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_52_82&products_id=853

$6.99 - ArcMania Super MJ LED PR-Base Bulb SMJLED [AMSMJLEDPR]
http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1768


I've gotten some nice ideas for PR2 Hosts at..

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=121573&page=4