Space Needle II 2nds...

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MR Bulk

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Thinking Mag 2Cs only came in black, imagine my surprise when I walked into Home Depot and stumbled onto a rack full of Mag 2Cs in purple and pewter!

So anyway I bought some pewters (and purples!) and set about putting together the next small run of Space Needle II mods. Here are the first two I made this weekend, next to a standard black:

fc4d804c.jpg



But to my dismay the light output from these first two also came out -- green! The HDs initially tested out bright and seemingly white on the strip, but when I actually installed them into the new Mag bodies they both had that greenish cast. It is not noticeable when you first fire them up by themselves, but when I brought out my own Space Needle II for comparison, you can see the difference in beam colors:

fc4d804f.jpg



Of course they are still nice and bright with the now-familiar ungodly throwing distance when focused down to a tight beam, and outside shining them around in the trees and bushes they are clearly whiter than any incandescent. Also these Mags are constructed in such a way, with internal dimensions and machining so different from the "old" style of Mag 2Cs, that I had to fabricate completely new and different heatsinks.

I first made one with a post to ensure that the reflector would still travel below the bottom of the HD's base to provide full focusing range. But after putting it together and calipering the distances I discovered that due to different positional relationships because of the new setup, a post was not needed at all. A flat heatsink will allow the reflector to screw down just far enough to place the Luxeon in the optimal focusing plane:

fc4d804b.jpg



But the main issue here again, is that I'm afraid all the Luxeons I now have will produce this color temperature when assembled, so my question to those here on the Forum is -- should I sell these as "seconds" (at a reduced price of course) or just stop altogether and start up later, when I am able to get some whiter 5W HD Luxeons?
 
Re: Space Needle

Mr. Bulk,
I might not eligible to say anything regarding this thread because I have not purchased anything from you for a long time, but considering that I have all three ( that is what i think) of your LGI products, please hear my humble suggestion.
You are already well known for your great products and how high the quality of your lights were. Why would you make a run containing the greenies? It is true that people should differentiate these greenie from the great ones as second but for people that are less in knowledge about your product might jump to conclusion "what so good about SN2, all greens, etc, etc"
Therefore, i think it is best for you to keep these luxeons and waited for the white and better ones to make another runs.
Cheers

Btw, these luxeons can also serves as other purposes like as the victims of your mad scientist projects /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif or others project. You can sell them to fellow CPF too. I certainly would like one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
ps, please don't take any hard feeling as none was intended.
 
Re: Space Needle

Charlie, personally, I'd wait myself for whiter Luxeons, but I'm sure if you decided to sell these greener guys, they'll get chewed up by the next day of your sales post...
 
Re: Space Needle

I too would prefer the whiter Luxeons, and yes, I would love a pewter or purple SN II to go with the black SN I. (Sending an e-mail requesting to be put on the list.)

-Peter
 
Re: Space Needle

Hi Guys,

Your thoughts and comments are appreciated, and provide me additional perspective from which to view this situation. Thanks.

But I really don't know when, if ever (meaning within a reasonable time frame), I will be able to get more bright 5W HDs. Even Future's own site shows they are sold out, with only SEs in stock. And we already all know that SE's just do not output as well with the Mag reflectors. I'll put (food) money on it...
 
Re: Space Needle

I say go ahead and sell them... there's a lot of color-blind people out there and others who don't give a darn what color it is as long as it's well built and bright. You could have two versions, calling them, say, 'Standard' and 'Ultra'.
 
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[ QUOTE ]

Mr Bulk said:

But the main issue here again, is that I'm afraid all the Luxeons I now have will produce this color temperature when assembled, so my question to those here on the Forum is -- should I sell these as "seconds" (at a reduced price of course) or just stop altogether and start up later, when I am able to get some whiter 5W HD Luxeons?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ummmm ... what kind of reduced price are we talking about here? I thought the brightness was pretty kickin' on the "seconds". Are they being run on 2C cells or 3CR123 cells? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I don't know if they have to be called "seconds", but yeah I think the price should be reduced a little, and of course the color has to be described when you offer the lights for sale.
 
With the whiter Luxeons I've been selling all of these I could make at $120. For the "seconds", I guess $80 shipped would have to do.

I'm finally using a new-style rattle-free battery carrier (thanks, lemlux!) that is semi-permanent (to get it out you'd need a pair of needlenose pliers and a firm tug) and remains in the light when you tip out the three CR123 lithium batteries. Speaking of batteries, I am including three fresh lithiums in each light.

Anyway if we get more interested responses I will start up a thread in Buy/Sell...
 
If you don't mind my asking, what's the circuit in these lights? If there's no regulator, how are you dropping the 9 volts from the batteries to 3.5-4 volts (?) for the LED?
Thanks.
 
Btw, you could probably charge a bit more than $80 (e.g. $100) for the "seconds". How much rework would it take to replace the LED with a whiter one sometime after those become available?
 
PaulR,

These lights are directdrive, meaning no stepdown circuitry is used. Vf of the 5W Luxeon is rated at 6.84 typical and 8.31 max, and these Space Needles are fed slightly more than that at 9V.

Interesting idea about "retrofitting" them with whiter Luxeons at some point in the future. Maybe I could offer this, if and when I get more emitters. Maybe a cost-plus-return-shipping kind of deal...Thanks.
 
I know I would prefer waiting to get the whiter LED, but this future swapping sounds interesting... how much do you think we would be looking at?
A purple one would awesome :>
My Trilight is silver. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Charlie,

You know I'm in no hurry. I'll wait for the white Luxeon HDs. Non-black is ok. I like the Pewter color and would take silver or blue as well. I would not be interested in a LED swap at a later time.

Regards,
Wilkey
 
Mr. Bulk:

I'm pleased and flattered that you're happy with the larger diameter hose 320 to 350 degree section approach I suggested. I really like it in my nexneedle, etc.
 
Hey Charlie, I think selling the greenies would be fine. If by some chance you decide not sell the completed units. I am sure they are people on this forum that would love to buy the bare emitters from you. I am interested in buying a heat sink and emitter so I can experiment with a 5 or 6C mag. I seem to remember that Elektrolumens runs is 5D 5W with no resister. I have not measured the resistance difference between the C and D cells but I am sure that the resistance is less if not the same.
 
Charlie, what is the bin code rating of this batch so we can get an idea the lumen output, are these the same w bin as the last ones?
 

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