Tell me about the AW soft start switch on LEDs

[Owen]

Saw this on Lighthound today.
I also just got a new C2L-HA and Malkoff M60WF that I've been comparing to the M60WLF.
If the switch does 30-60-100% for the Malkoff, I'd love to have it. Basically a WF, WLF, and fictional WLLF all in one.
Will it work, and if so, how does it work? Certain types of drivers it will and won't work with, etc?
Thanks.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

Doubt it will work with the Malkoff.

Mine seems to work with multi-emitter set-ups and LEDs with a high Vf.

It works with my Osram M3, probably due to the high Vf.

It is the only single LED light that it works with.

Don't know if that helps much but thats my experiance.

 

[brighterisbetter]

As per donn:

More good news about this stellar product!

I tried it on an LED light; a 2-cell, 6V light running a Malkoff drop-in.

It works just fine! It soft-starts the LED the same as an incan, and all the functions perform; 3 brightness levels and the flashing.

:twothumbs

 

[DaFABRICATA]

Guess I'm wrong...

 

[Owen]

Thanks guys. I'm curious about how long the soft-start part lasts, and whether the percentages of output per stage stay roughly the same with a Malkoff as with an incan(is it "smart"?).

edit: ok, I found the original thread, and am reading up on it

and lack of momentary kills the deal

 

[Owen]

Went with a McC2S kit w/60 ohm resistor instead. If I figure it right it should give ~140mA on 2 Li-ions, which is just over half the M60WLF's current draw of 270mA(which is, respectively, about half the M60WF's current draw ~550mA).
So with the M60F I should have something in the neighborhood of a 30% low.
Good enough.

 

[Owen]

Wasn't satisfied with some of the idiosyncrasies of the McC2S, and sold it.
Today I got the AW soft-start, and put it in the Z41-HA I'd stripped for the other switch. Installed that on a C2L-HA with a Malkoff M60WLF, and it works great. Makes a buzzing noise, especially on low and medium, but I can only hear it if the light is close to my ear.
The current draw is normally 270mA.
With the switch it is:
Low 100mA
Med 180mA
High 280mA
A little higher on the Low and Medium than I expected, since 30% and 60% would be 81 and 162mA, respectively.
I'd rather have something like 20 and 40% for those modes, but can't complain. The difference in output is more noticeable on an incan, like the switch was designed for.
Also tried it on a SF/Leef "M4" with a LF HO-M3T on 2x18650. I had the impression that it just wasn't quite as bright on high as with a stock Z41, so I just checked everything on the incan as well.
Current draw is normally 1.95A
With the switch it is:
Low 750mA
Med 1.2A
High 1.75A
Wonder what's going on there?

Anyway, I really like the fact that the modes go in order of output, that the strobe is available but "hidden" so it doesn't interfere with normal use, and that it's just a pushbutton(I was expecting a reverse clickie after reading there was no momentary).
I was ready to find something that I didn't like about the switch, and even composed a FS thread ahead of time so I could immediately sell it in that case, but this is a keeper for me.
The low mode will see a lot of use, and the memory feature is very convenient.

 

[nfetterly]

I bought 3 of them - most of them running on bulbs. It will not work on single cell LEDs - Malkoff P7 (1.5 - 4.5V), M30. As mentioned earlier in thread it only work on multi-cell setups.

Nice thing is - it takes the cheaper "twisty" and turns it into a push (not really clicky). On bulbs the "soft start" is really nice as weell.

Neale

 

[Al Combs]

Also tried it on a SF/Leef "M4" with a LF HO-M3T on 2x18650. I had the impression that it just wasn't quite as bright on high as with a stock Z41, so I just checked everything on the incan as well.
Current draw is normally 1.95A
With the switch it is:
Low 750mA
Med 1.2A
High 1.75A
Wonder what's going on there?

Considering that 1.75 amps at 8.4 volts is optimistically only 14 .7 watts and it's advertised to handle 75 watts, maybe you should ask Lighthound if you have a problem.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Are you testing current draw with the HO-M3T with freshly charged cells? That initial current draw only last a few seconds and drops off occurs pretty quickly. I have not noticed any real difference using bounce with lightmeter comparing AW's switch and standard stock SF switch. No difference using LED lights. I use the AW switch with the MN60 and three 18500's, pretty awesome, and I use the other two levels for light dury work.

Bill