Price per Lumen

[mayo]

Thought it would be fun to start a thread about price per lumen. With all the advances lately, it ought to be interesting. No real rules here. Stick to led flashlights, mods and production. I doubt I can keep the first post edited so just keep scrolling.

Not looking to start any fights so keep it clean.

I'll start.
Free.Light Spartanian LED Flashlight with Edision Edixeon LED 130 lumens for $39.95 comes to about 30 cents per lumen.


On a side note here's a flashlight video from Mad TV(caution: sexual references)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz3SBY8zj8w&eurl=

 

[paulr]

I'll go for the basic Fauxton, 8 lumens or so for 47 cents in small quantity, a lot less if you buy in bulk, so around 6 cents per lumen.

 

[EngrPaul]

I need somebody to measure the lumens of my mods. Or should I just call them 2X the luxeon version and call it even?

 

[Curious_character]

I need somebody to measure the lumens of my mods. Or should I just call them 2X the luxeon version and call it even?

2:1 would be a good working number, but not a terribly accurate one for a given light.

So far I've modded 4 lights with SSC P4 emitters using your general method, a P1, LP0 SE, Vinet, and Nuwai X-3. Mods were done using emitters from the same batch, all adjacent on the tape. The lumen increase factor varies from 1.58 to 2.81. I wasn't rigorous in using batteries in exactly the same state for the before and after tests, so that in itself causes a fair amount of variation. But there are other factors, too. One is the focus -- I've found that on some flashlights -- the MiniMag 2AA and 3AA LED are examples -- the lumen output changes considerably with focus. I don't think it's my measurement box because other lights don't. What seems to happen in the MiniMags is that the LED ends up positioned beyond the end of the lens when you unscrew the head to get the sharpest focus, and the lumen level decreases from there. Since I've modified the focus in some of the modded lights, that might explain some of the variation. Of course, there's emitter-to-emitter variation both for the original LED and the replacement, and that probably accounts for most of the rest of the difference.

c_c

 

[2xTrinity]

I'll go for the basic Fauxton, 8 lumens or so for 47 cents in small quantity, a lot less if you buy in bulk, so around 6 cents per lumen.

I must agree that $10 worth of Fauxtons I bought from Dealextreme get used more often than any of my other lights as they are always on-hand on my keychain. I actually upgraded several of them to Jeled 5mm LEDs which are more efficient and don't have a purple cast to them. Total cost still under a buck.

2:1 would be a good working number, but not a terribly accurate one for a given light.

So far I've modded 4 lights with SSC P4 emitters using your general method, a P1, LP0 SE, Vinet, and Nuwai X-3. Mods were done using emitters from the same batch, all adjacent on the tape. The lumen increase factor varies from 1.58 to 2.81. I wasn't rigorous in using batteries in exactly the same state for the before and after tests, so that in itself causes a fair amount of variation. But there are other factors, too. One is the focus -- I've found that on some flashlights -- the MiniMag 2AA and 3AA LED are examples -- the lumen output changes considerably with focus. I don't think it's my measurement box because other lights don't. What seems to happen in the MiniMags is that the LED ends up positioned beyond the end of the lens when you unscrew the head to get the sharpest focus, and the lumen level decreases from there. Since I've modified the focus in some of the modded lights, that might explain some of the variation. Of course, there's emitter-to-emitter variation both for the original LED and the replacement, and that probably accounts for most of the rest of the difference.

c_c

What kind of improvements did you get upgrading the Vinet? I just received one of those from Dealextreme and really like the form factor. I've been trying to figure out how to best get a Cree in there. The LED in there stock is pretty inefficient, but I like the idea of a direct drive 1A cree light. It also seems to be a hard direct-drive flashlight, which means For one, I'd like to know the best way to open it up -- I cut my fingers on the knurling trying to unscrew the head, also, did it require significant adjustment of the focus compared to the stock LED?

 

[65535]

For me the free.light was free lumens, but my U2 is (X-Binned) ~150 lumens so just under $2.00 a lumen, hmm where can I file a tax return...

 

[cutlerylover]

Brinkmann maxfire LX...roughly 60 lumens or more costing @ $20....so that comes in at $3 a lumen....

Now, lets see...How about a Minimag 2AA with nite-Ize 3LED upgrade...you can buy a 2AA minimag most places for $10...and the LED upgrade on average sells for about $7...and the upgrade from what I read maxes out somewhere @ 25 lumens...so that would come to...$1.47 a lumen...Not bad...

If you used a Terralux Ministar2 fro an upgrade (which can be had for $14.95) even with the price of a new 2AA minimag you would be pumping out a full 50 lumens for $2.00 a lumen...

 

[Curious_character]

What kind of improvements did you get upgrading the Vinet? I just received one of those from Dealextreme and really like the form factor. I've been trying to figure out how to best get a Cree in there. The LED in there stock is pretty inefficient, but I like the idea of a direct drive 1A cree light. It also seems to be a hard direct-drive flashlight, which means For one, I'd like to know the best way to open it up -- I cut my fingers on the knurling trying to unscrew the head, also, did it require significant adjustment of the focus compared to the stock LED?

You get it apart by unscrewing the bezel which gives you access to the reflector. The reflector is held in only by friction between its center hole and the outside of the emitter plastic. It's difficult to get under it to pry from the top, so I took EngrPaul's suggestion of pressing on the inside of one side or the other with a finger covered with some optical cloth. Once you get the reflector out, the mod is simple. I used a 0.030" copper slug under the SSC P4 emitter. I did sand the reflector down a little, but don't think it was enough to really make much difference. The total light output increased by a factor of 1.89 and the lux at one meter increased by 1.80. So the focus is nearly as good as it was before the mod. It was a very nice, really bright light before the mod. Now it's a very, very nice, really, really bright light.

The center of the beam is just a little greenish, something I see on my modded L0P SE also. It's not enough to notice except on a white wall.

c_c

 

[LEDcandle]

Oops, din see the first post only for LED lights... out for now...

 

[fineday]

C-LE is about 60~80 lumens and costs CNY 168 or about $24.
so...about 0.3~0.4 dollar per lumen? Seems not bad.

 

[grapplex]

...

 

[cannesahs]

Free.Light Spartanian LED Flashlight with Edision Edixeon LED 130 lumens for $39.95 comes to about .30 cents per lumen.

Errr... Maybe '30 cents' or '.30 dollars', but not '.30 cents'? That would be hundred times too cheap?

 

[fire-stick]

What about that flashlight that my X-girlfriend stole from me, that's $0/lumen!

 

[fishx65]

My best lumen to dollar purchase so far has either been the Dorcy 3D Lux($5.00) or the Taskforce 3AA Lux($2.50).

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Why not other lights besides led?

SF M6- $300 500 lumens $1.66 per lumen.

Mac's Torch 4000 lumens. $300ish 13 cents per lumen,

 

[MattK]

A big cheap HID lantern would win hands down in $/L (Sam's/Amondo 3200L $130 = .04). That would spoil the fun - the replies here have been very creative.

 

[SunStar]

What kind of math are some of you using??:huh:

M6 ($300 / 500 lumens) = $0.60 / lumen;
Macs Torch ($300 / 4000 lumens) = $0.07 / lumen.

 

[65535]

A few people have been doing poor math,

Brinkmann maxfire LX...roughly 60 lumens or more costing @ $20....so that comes in at $3 a lumen....

Now, lets see...How about a Minimag 2AA with nite-Ize 3LED upgrade...you can buy a 2AA minimag most places for $10...and the LED upgrade on average sells for about $7...and the upgrade from what I read maxes out somewhere @ 25 lumens...so that would come to...$1.47 a lumen...Not bad...

If you used a Terralux Ministar2 fro an upgrade (which can be had for $14.95) even with the price of a new 2AA minimag you would be pumping out a full 50 lumens for $2.00 a lumen...

for people you need to take the cost of the light and divide it by the lumens, dollars/lumen.

 

[carbine15]

Brinkmann maxfire LX...roughly 60 lumens or more costing @ $20....so that comes in at $3 a lumen....

Lets see... $20 per 60 lumens
that's 10 for 30 lumens
$1 for 3 lumens
that's one lumen per 33.33333 cents.

If you used a Terralux Ministar2 fro an upgrade (which can be had for $14.95) even with the price of a new 2AA minimag you would be pumping out a full 50 lumens for $2.00 a lumen...

$2 / lumen at $14.95 would be roughly 30 lumens.. not 50.
$15 for 50 lumens = $3 for 10 lumens or 30 cents per lumen.

Why not other lights besides led?

SF M6- $300 500 lumens $1.66 per lumen.

Mac's Torch 4000 lumens. $300ish 13 cents per lumen,

$300 for 500 lumens
$3 for 5 lumens = 60cents per lumen.

$300 for 4000 =
$3 for 40 lumens = 13.333 lumens per dollar or 7.5 cents per lumen.

I went to public school too man.

 

[cutlerylover]

lol, sorry Carbine15...I posted all that at 1:27am...and I was pretty tired, my mistake...

:wow::lolsign: