The A2 opened my eyes on incandescents

[lyrrag]

I started this hobby about 4 months ago and my collection is 40+ lights and growing. I recently bought an A2 for a good deal on B/S/T and the color rendition, the beam pattern, and the throw for 50 Lumens blew me away. I didn't get any incans before this and was hesitant because of the bulb replacement thing. Now my opinion has changed since and bulb changing or no feel it's worth the effort.

So now I am looking for another Incan and probably will build a modded M@g or something. But does an unregulated incan loose brightness very quickly, and does the AW soft start setup provide regulation like the A2? Do other manufacturers make regulated incans?

 

[da.gee]

No other regulated incans. The A2 is unique in that respect.

For fun you may want to look at different lamp assemblies for the A2. I think Lumens Factory just came out with one. They are no longer made but you can try a WTB on the Strion kit from fivemega or do a search and see if you might be interested in finding one. This makes the A2 a real powerhouse.

Additionally, for incans, there are some fantastic lamp assemblies for the SF E-series lights. Not great runtime usually but a lot of light can be had in a very small package with rechargeable options.

I can't answer any questions on modded Mags. Good luck!

 

[MacTech]

The A2 is a truly great light, I've been EDC'ing mine ever since I got it, almost two years ago, I'm still on the original incan bulb, and I use the light every day, mostly on LED (I have the 2 White/1 Red Aviatrix ring fitted), but I do fire up the Incan at least once a day (I use it to check backlighting issues on iBooks)

Many "Flavor of the month" LED lights have passed through my hands, some I've kept, some I've returned, but the A2 is always at my side, I don't see that changing anytime soon

 

[2xTrinity]

So now I am looking for another Incan and probably will build a modded M@g or something. But does an unregulated incan loose brightness very quickly, and does the AW soft start setup provide regulation like the A2? Do other manufacturers make regulated incans?

Brightness will essentially follow the discharge curve of the cells you are using. If you run high quality LiIon or NiMH cells, output will drop somewhat in the first couple minutes, but then stay constant after that for almost the entire runtime, until they need to be changed.

AW's multilevel soft starter does not provide regulation. It's a soft starter that also has a lot of low-resistance mods included in it -- including replaced switch, and bulb-socket. It's also smaller so it makes more room in the battery compartment for longer cells like the AW C Cells. AW will soon be coming out with a regulated hotdriver for the D-Maglites, but it won't be multilevel.

The advantage of regulation has more to do with the fact that you can run your incan right up to the limit of what the bulb can tolerate, so color temp is higher (whiter). Even simple softstart will help in this respect. With DD you have to plan some "headroom" so the bulb can survive the first minute or two on freshly charged cells without flashing. With regulation you're also free to use different battery combinations, and not bound to a particular voltage.

If you were to go for a modded mag, I'd pick one of the following configurations:

1) 2C 5761 -- 2xAW C Cells. AW Hotdriver (recommended). Runtime: 25/50/100 minutes
2) 2D 5761 -- 2xKaidomain D Cells. AW Hotdriver (required). Runtime: 45/90/180 minutes
3) 3C 1185 -- 3xAW C Cells. AW Hotdriver (recommended). Runtime: 1/2/4 hr

You can see comparisons of these to each other in the link in my signature (though not all of mine are using the AW switches).

Reflector Options:
SMO -- maximum throw.
VLOP -- nice tradeoff between smooth beam and throw
MOP -- nice beam pattern

reflector can be bought from Kaidomain ($15) or Fivemega on the forums ($30, but higher quality). The Cells and driver can be bought from AW on CPF. Bulbs are available from Bulbconnection.com. AR coated glass can be purhcased from flashlightlens.com or kaidomain.com

Expect over 1000 lumens out the front from any of the bulbs I suggested, and total price tag between $150-200 everything included (bulbs, host, batteries, etc). These are expensive but worth it IMO. Think about how nice your A2 is at 50 lumens. Now multiply that by 20

 

[js]

lyrrag,

To see what I have to say about the A2, check out the "A2" link in my signature line area. The short of it is that it is probably my very favorite light, and has been my EDC for years now.

As for other regulated incans, I believe that black diamond makes one or two, and I make a regulated TigerLight using the same Willie Hunt LVR3 regulator as the A2, and also the rechargeable packs I made for the M6 were regulated as well.

Or, if you draw CR123A cells at a low enough rate, their voltage vs. time curve is fairly flat, and act almost like a regulated source for the first half of a 2.5 or 3 hour discharge. I have an MN15 in my SureFire M6, and I think it's 95 percent as good as a true electronically regulated light. (See X-LOLA link in my sigline). Or the A123 systems Li cells have a very, very flat discharge curve. Same for the emoli cells. A homemade light with these acts a lot like a regulated light. And an NTC can give you a soft start type feature.

Or, winny made a programable incandescent regulator (PIR), and AWR made a "hot driver" which was significantly less sopisticated in that it was just a linear regulator that burned off the excess power as heat in the FET, but which still got the job done. Either of those, or a Willie Hunt regulator, can be used in a homemade light to make a regulated incan. But, as far as I know none of the three is available. andrewwynn left CPF in disagrace, and still owes CPF'ers thousands upon thousands of dollars. And all the PIR's were spoken for in the first run of them. One may turn up on B/S/T of course, or a hotdriver, or a light made using one of those.

There's really too much to tell you about in detail. But the point is that what you probably like about the A2 is its color temperature or "CCT", which is very high. You can get this in other ways besides a production regulated incan, but things can get a little interesting and complicated (but also fun, if you have the right mindset and some modding ability).

Good luck and I hoped this helped!

 

[lyrrag]

Thanks everyone for the answers and JS your review convinced me to seek out an A2. I have done a couple of led mods and built a couple of LE's thus the interest in modding a M@G or possibly start with Mac or FM parts and putting the recommended combinations by 2xtrinity in.

Anymore recommendations are most appreciated and welcome

lyrrag
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[pertinax]

I bought three of Winny's PIR regulator boards. Unfortunately, all died within a short period of time. However, before that occured, I become totally hooked on regulated lights. The flexibility to pack whatever batteries you desire behind the bulb is awesome. Want run-time? Put it in a 4-D body. Want small? Put it in a 2D body. Etc.

I want an 1185 run off 16 Eneloops. That will be darned useful.

I'm eagerly awaiting AW's regulator, though at this rate someone else may beat him to the punch.