The LED torch craze has reached England!

[EMPOWERTORCH]

I'm a recently-started LED torchaholic with several home made and converted torches to my name. I've been investigating LED's to replace the old Edison bulbs in portable lighting and automotive uses for years. Up until Nichia and Lumileds came along with thier superbright LED's the technology was still the preserve of a few scientists. But the LED has come of age and is a viable portable lighting source in torches and head mounted lights.
So, I've built and converted a couple of torches and I'm hooked. I'd love to get hold of some of those superbright Luxeons, particularly the cyan ones. Trying to locate any here in England has proved difficult. I live about 10 miles from a bulb factory so I suppose its in thier interests to suppress information about these revolutionary light sources...
In the meantime, I'm going into small scale production of a simple plastic Nichia-equipped box torch, the prototype of which was finished today! Once I sort out the little niggling problems mainly in the asssembly procedure, the torch will be produced in various versions. The prototype unit works ok, and as a regular camper I shall be field-testing the unit this weekend.
The prototype is a single LED model, but up to 5 LED's may be used on later models. Further refinements will include solar rechargeable models and eventually a Luxeon Star equipped model.
Watch this space!

 

[Alchemist]

Empowertorch.

Welcome to CPF. I'm sure you will find everybody on the board very helpful if you have any questions.

As for the LS leds, I have found this site in the UK http://www.lumidrives.com/
If you click on products, then on "get started" you will find they have several evaluation kits available. I e-mailed them to ask whether they would sell direct to the public, and got a very prompt and informative reply telling me they would. They specialize in creating their own value added products using LS technology, and as such do not want to step on the toes of those supplying just the LS's, but given that nobody supplies them yet, this is not currently a problem. there is no ability to order and pay online (yet), but as I have already said, they are very helpful if you E-mail them. (I am currently deciding on what to order!).


Alan.

 

[machspass]

Since you're answering the question anyway, where are the best places to buy Luxeon Stars online in the US to experiment with? I have read the threads about the substandard pea-green white LS's and I want to avoid getting those. Is there any way to tell which ones you're getting?

 

[Alchemist]

[No message]

 

[ElektroLumens]

When the greenish LED's are used with a collimator, the green is not very noticable, just a slight greenishness at the outside of the beam. Also, the greenish ones, for some reason, seem to take more punishment (i.e. too much current), which means BRIGHTER!

Also, the nature of LED's is their inconsistent color. Some are bluish, some are purplish, and some are greenish. They're still pretty awesome, no matter what the tint!

Wayne www.elektrolumens.com

 

[signals]

I have one of the pea-green ones. I got it from Arc Flashlight last month. It's not so bad... Maybe it's because I'm red-green color blind, but it doesn't bother me much at all.

I think the only sure fire way to get a true white one is to buy a dozen of them and select the whitest one.

Maybe somebody will take up the slack and start "ranking" their Luxeons. You pay a little more for a guaranteed white one, and a little less for a guaranteed not-white one... Maybe even by voltage, 2.9V for 350mA, or 3.5V for 350mA?

-Kevin

 

[EMPOWERTORCH]

I've successfully tested the prototype BT1 box torch on a camping weekend and I shall not be using anything Edisonian for camping again! The LED fitted is a 5000mcd 30 degree green which gives a nice smooth beam output over a reasonably large area. It proved to be the ideal walking torch in the dark Lincolnshire fenlands at night, penetrating about 50 or 60 metres ahead. In my ex-Army Bivvy the BT1 made an ideal tent light; resting it on the sloping surface of my tank-bag I arranged the light to shine and be reflected of the inside of the canvas. Enough light was generated to read by the reflected light.
Being square, the torch stays put on most surfaces where most conventional torches would roll off.
The green output of the BT1's single Nichia LED takes a little getting used to, but after 5 minutes all was well. I found that the BT1's light output didn't destroy my night vision, allowing me to see some spectacular meteors whilst out on my late-night walks.
The torch doesn't attract insects and creepy-crawlies like filament or fluorescent lighting leaving the unfortunate spider which had set up home around the apex of the rear pole rather hungry!
A few campers were intrigued by the torch's very intense green output, as well as its 60's sci-fi look. Some of my biker friends have already put requests in for one, and my Mum, who lives on the fens is having a 5 LED model (a BT5) made with the same green Nichia LED's.
Someone has requested a BT1 with a violet or UV LED.
Most people like the BT1 becsause it is a seriousdly practical product. I thought it would be popular before I built the p=rototype, but now I'm convinced and shall be preparing some more torches to sell to friends. Watch this space...

 

[machspass]

Thanks for the info. I did notice that Peter sells them. I believe they were the ones with optics included. I'll check with him.

I know that LEDs do vary somewhat in color, and I don't mind that. I just didn't know how bad the pea-green color was or wasn't. Everyone's perception of something is different.

They are just too awesome to resist buying one any longer. Gotta have one!