Versalux vs Eternalight

[KenBar]

Well I got my Versalux module in mail this afternoon. It is extremely bright. I am not sure how they do it but each led is slightly brighter than the Eternalight's led's. Combine that with 10 led's vs 4 and it will screw up your vision if you look at it longer than a second or so. I also am running it on 2 used AA batteries.
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I tried it on 6 volts and the current consumed was almost cut in half...from 350ma down to 150 and the brightness stayed exactly the same....blinding bright.

SO>.....
I am going to have to think about this a few more days to figure out what do do with it.

The minimum operating voltage is 2.2 volts so the more batteries I use, the more I can suck the batteries down... This is combined with the fact that the higher the voltage, the less current I use.

I am not totally sure what to make out of this....except that if I set it up for 6 volts, the current draw drops down from 360ma down to 170 for the same brightness.

I am trying to decide if I want to use 4 AA or 4 C cells. I could make an extremely small light with a killer punch....AND I could suck the batteries all the way down. It would of course become less efficient as it went down.

It is very nicely made and comes with a template for drilling the holes for the led, center hole and a hole to adjust the pot.

It adjusts all the way down to virtually nothing. At 6-10ma, all the led's are shining equally bright and fairly bright...about like the Pal on standby except there are 10 of them. If you keep turning , the lights finally go out. If you remove the battery, the lights still glow for a little while as the caps discharge.

This seems like a perfect light for a boat or camper where you wanted light and not to strand yourself with a dead battery. At 13 volts and at MAX output, it is drawing only 80ma. If you just crank it down a HAIR.....you get almost as much light and it only draws 30ma (at 12 volts).

I THINK I want to get a nice 4 D cell flashlight and make a scorcher that runs over 100 hours.

Any ideas... This is really so nice I hate to waste it on a cheap 5 buck flashlight.

 

[Go Go Gadget Flashlight]

Ken, do you have a Black & Decker Snakelight?

I have one that uses those Versapack rechargeable cartridges. The standard light uses 2 C batts.

Anywho... it's a really useful light and the Versalux would be a really cool mod for it.

If you have NO clue what I'm taking about, let me know. I'll find a picture.

OR... A nice, waterproof lantern style light that uses the big 6V springtop battery or 4 D's.

My $0.02.

 

[JollyRoger]

I got the versalux last week and I have to agree...it is BRIGHT!!!!

Right now, I have it set up with 4AA's. I'm DESPARATELY trying to find a small light to retrofit so I can put this sucker in...

I found an ALMOST perfect 4AA light at Target, but it is just barely too small.

Radioshack has some 4AA battery holders..one even has a switch built into it...

I'm thinking of asking my roommate to machine me a nice rectangular-shaped housing that'll hold the versalux and maybe 4 or 6 AA's... Something the shape of an elongated box...just big enough to fit the batteries and the unit.

I spoke with techass and they told me that the led's are actually a driven a bit more conservatively compared with the eternalight (where they are overdriven a bit).

 

[KenBar]

Thanks Gadget...That might be a great idea about the snake light.

Roger, how are you thinking about access to the pot?

I am thinking of drilling a hole and I have some of those rubber grommets that will "dress" the hole and use it for access.

I wonder about "conservative"...

It truly hurts my eyes...and I only did it once.

I am also toying with the idea of getting another for a 2 banger.

I found the perfect contained but my wife would kill me... It is a container we take when traveling abroad for 35mm film. It is real sturdy, waterproof, and would accept 4 C cells. The only problem is I would get only one shot at drilling the holes and I am not that good working under pressure...plus the thing cost 30 bucks. I would be dead meat..

 

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KenBar:
Well I got my Versalux module in mail this afternoon. It is extremely bright. I am not sure how they do it but each led is slightly brighter than the Eternalight's led's.
Roger:
I spoke with techass and they told me that the led's are actually a driven a bit more conservatively compared with the eternalight (where they are overdriven a bit).
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe your Eternalight has a little bit older LEDs?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
I tried it on 6 volts and the current consumed was almost cut in half...from 350ma down to 150 and the brightness stayed exactly the same....blinding bright.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, thats the way with regulated lights .-) Therefore we make all the effort.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
I am trying to decide if I want to use 4 AA or 4 C cells. I could make an extremely small light with a killer punch<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

AA cells have better high current behaviour and 2 AA cells are better than one C cell for a current of 0.3A or more. And (at least here) 2 AA cells (same brand) are less expensive than one C cell (and are smaller and lighter).

 

[KenBar]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>AA cells have better high current behaviour and 2 AA cells are better than one C cell for a current of 0.3A or more. And (at least here) 2 AA cells (same brand) are less expensive than one C cell (and are smaller and lighter). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
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Hmmmmm!
Well that sure simplifies things for me size wise.
Are you sure this is so?
Why is this?(2AA better than 1 C)
How would you power this for max brightness?

I am going to have to redo all my thinking..

I have a 4AA battery pack that has the top 2 batteries offset half and inch, so the whole battery package is a little "thinner".

I could put 2 of these together in series and that would give me 12 volts.
BUT THEN the current would be below 300ma ?? and better efficiency would be from C cells??

SO...perhaps the best overall battery would be 4AA or even 3AA...Hmmmm I woulder if that is why Eternalight has 3AA for power.

Anyway...Pelu, thanks for information. I really did not want a hog for a flashlight. This thing is really impressive with just a 2AA battery pack delivering this much punch.

 

[Go Go Gadget Flashlight]

Ken,

If I understand the Versalux's regulator, it seems that you would get the same run time from either 4 AA's in series (6v) or 4 AA's in series-parallel (3v) (without taking efficiency into consideration).

I think the thing to focus on is the board's efficiency. If it is more efficient at higher input voltages, then series is the way to go.

And from memory, it seems that all the discussions about step-up and step-down circuits give the better efficiency to the step-down boards. So, I'd think that the higher input voltage would work best. Plus, you have that "minimum input voltage" to consider. You want to suck those cells down as low as possible to get all the life out of them.

And now to totally change the subject...

Why not use rechargeables? Runtime would be less, but operating cost should be better.

 

[KenBar]

Gadget, I agree. I think I am going to run it on 9 volts..that way I don't have to worry about max voltage. I also may crank it down a hair...it is really too bright ( heresy

) to waste on everyday use. I will still have the option of easily taking a screwdriver inside and turning to max.

I have also thought of epoxying something to the pot inside ( it is pretty sturdy ) and having an outside adjustment. All I have is a 50 K and Tom said to use nothing more than 10K.

BTY... the template included works PEFFECTLY. I did a dry run and it looks grand. It takes a 13/64 drill bit.

Ken

 

[RonM]

The Versalux sounds great for use on a boat. Any ideas as to how to diffuse the beam a whole bunch? Lighting on a boat is generally used to light an area not a spot.

I currently use these 4 LED cabin lights made by Hella on my boat. Not too bright, makes you feel like you're in a small room with a nightlight on. I'd really like to use the Versalux to brighten things up and still have the option of dimming it.

 

[KenBar]

RonM...this is perfect IMHO for a boat,cabin etc as is. Get a small gell battery, solar panel ,a Trace controller and you would be set.I was thinking of a sailboat with a small solar setup...this would be absolutely perfect!!


It lights a whole area. This is without any reflector, etc etc. I pointed it to the cieling to see what it would do and it gave NICE light that was reflected throughout the room.

That is really my problem now. I don't want to waste its functionality for JUST a flashlight and I want to wait a bit before I get another one..still 50 bucks is a fair price. It would be nice if it were a little less, but the guy has to make a living. If volume would allow, I could see it coming down to $39.95 perhaps eventually. I certainly don't mind the price if lowering it would change the quality.

 

[Go Go Gadget Flashlight]

Hey Ken, how 'bout one of these?

I took some shots of the lens so you could see if the Versalux would fit....

It uses 4 AA's in series-parallel for 3 volts. But, the battery box is very easy to get to and doesn't look too hard to change over to series 6 volt use.

It's a very cheap light, but is surprisingly comfortable and snug fit. I wouldn't recommend it for caving or anything, but for hands free use, it'd be a pretty handy LED light.

Let me know if you want one to play with. They're currently on sale over at Harbor Freight Store (where I got all those yellow DMM's for $5).

It's a whopping $2.50!

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Hi Gadget, I just bought one of these headlamps at Spag's camping department, sold under the Coghlan brand (line of cheap small gizmos for camping). I thought I'd play at putting Luxeons in it before destroying one of my better headlamps. The overall quality is not great; I'd use it for hiking with a backup light, but not caving. I'd put a new switch in it before seriously using it. I paid $5.

Walter

 

[KenBar]

I needed some sort of case to test while I am looking for THE case/shell/flashlilght etc.

Something I discovered tonight is the light is really pleasant for reading. The placment of the led's allow the whole page to be equally lit. No hot spots, rings, etc etc...just very nice white color.

I am using 4 C cells in series. I had them soldered together from another project gone bad and they were still here so I am going to suck the life out of them and see how they do.

For those who have these, I epoxied a shaft to the pot and put an ordinary faucet washer to dress the hole..( the template for the pot was not exactly on center and I had to make it a hair larger so as not to bind). THe thing on top is a gromet that allows me to turn it. The rest of the buttons etc do nothing. This box was a project orignially gone bad and was just laying around.

There is lots of room left to put at least 2 more modules on the front. I am going to have to quit...this xxxx gets expensive

...PeLu, I could melt some Ice if I did that!

Also, at 5-7ma, almost shut off, it puts out more than enough light for a very bright night light.

I also might throw a SatCure circuit together with a RED led and put in the center at 40K and let it burn all the time to be able to find it in the dark.

 

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KenBar:
There is lots of room left to put at least 2 more modules on the front. I am going to have to quit...this xxxx gets expensive

...PeLu, I could melt some Ice if I did that!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey, that would be an additional benefit for a perfect caving light! Melt away the ice! But I prefer a tight spotlight for that to melt only the unwanted ice.
About a month ago I was wading through knee-waist deep ice water (no neoprene or similar stuff). Heating it up first by some 20° would have been nice....

 

[Harrkev]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by RonM:
The Versalux sounds great for use on a boat. Any ideas as to how to diffuse the beam a whole bunch? Lighting on a boat is generally used to light an area not a spot.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Two ways.

1) (Permenant) Take some fine sandpaper and lightly sand the surface of the LEDs.

2) (Temporary) Mount the module in a box with some type of clear cover (plastic, plexiglass, etc.). Lightly sand the clear cover.

Hope this helps.

 

[RonM]

Looks like I've got a winter boat project lined up for myself. Spending the $50 for the Versalux becomes easier when I think in terms of the boat. Heck, you can't do anything on a boat for under 50 bucks.

For those interested, my boat is a '97 Hunter 26 sailboat. It has a standard group 24 lead acid marine battery, Unisolar 10W flexible solar panel, 3 cabin lights have been replaced with Hella LED cabin lights, 2 incandescent cabin lights, 1 halogen reading light.

 

[Go Go Gadget Flashlight]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Walter:
Hi Gadget, I just bought one of these headlamps at Spag's camping department, sold under the Coghlan brand (line of cheap small gizmos for camping). I thought I'd play at putting Luxeons in it before destroying one of my better headlamps. The overall quality is not great; I'd use it for hiking with a backup light, but not caving. I'd put a new switch in it before seriously using it. I paid $5.

Walter<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey Walt,

Yeah, it's a cheapie just for experimenting. I probably wouldn't have even bought it but they were 1/2 off. Heck, it was cheaper than 2 Nichias so I couldn't pass it up.

I've got it rewired now for 6 volts. Gonna see how it works with 8 Nichias and a resistor for now. If I like it, I'll drop in one of them LM2621 step-ups and run it with 4+4 series-parallel Nichias (approx. 7.6v).

And Yes, the switch has to go.