Terralux MiniStar2 Extreme - delivering proper voltage?

[NightShift]

So I purchased this MiniMag 2AA upgrade (http://ledsupply.com/docs/TLE-5EX.pdf) and my plan was to rip the LED off the driver and replace it with a royal blue K2 as a 'cool x-mas present' someone wanted.

Now first off the "ministar2 extreme" was advertised and pictured with a K2 LED, but it came with a Cree instead :thinking:

Anyway, I believe I measured 2.1 volts at the Cree LED before ripping it off. Looking at the Cree datasheet, it should be getting 3.3-3.7v though :shrug:

I went ahead and replaced the Cree with the K2. (K2 royal blue takes 3.42v typ.) And i'm still measuring 2.1 volts to the LED.

Is this thing driving the LED correctly? Cuz 2xAA = at least 3V. Or does something odd happen when taking measurements directly off the LED?

 

[HarryN]

That is a nice mod idea - I saw a royal blue light up - sort of made a "black light" glow effect. Is that what you were after?

Most drivers are more current control oriented, although I am not sure about that particular one.

Measurements can be tricky on LED drivers, as the power is often delivered in pulses. Unless your meter is fast enough to catch the pulse peak, it will read a sort of average of "0" and "peak voltage".

 

[NightShift]

Harry, yeh it actually turned out really cool. The maglite body color itself I bought is a deep "royal blue" color and the royal blue LED conversion worked perfeclty and produces a really bright blue beam.

I figured the voltage may be pulsed - i'll try an analog meter on it for kicks.

I wasn't after the black light effect (it is a plus though) - I just like the color blue and I love LEDs so a few years ago I did a royal blue SE emitter in a 3D Mag with the stock reflector and everyone thinks it's 'neat', so as a gift I did a royal blue K2 in a minimag and it's pretty much the same brightness as the 3D mag which is impressive, I think.