I love the Fenix HP30R V2.0. Run time is phenomenal and the user interface is perfect for a headlamp. The weight is substantial I suppose but does not bother me. I have an HP25R V2.0 as well and it is a fine light as well but the run time and interface are inferior to that of the HP30. Thoughts?
What about the Fenix HP30R v2.0
- Thread starter Randy1956
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Misthailin
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
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I'm using the HP30R V2.0 on a hard hat right now, and have a HP25R v2.0 on the way. The 30 is pretty awesome! Don't really need more than than the 2nd click (medium), it has a very simple UI, and isn't too heavy after 8 hours on the hard hat. I was feeling it a bit after 14-16 hours, but with what I was doing I can't attribute much of that too the light. I'm getting the 25 for the red led and off hard hat use.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
What are the exact specifications? How many 21700s are used at once? What the the reflector diameter? How the heck can they dissipate the heat from 800 lumens for 12 hours? Is it flat, constant output for the 12 hour setting, which is a great workday runtime length (rarely do we can we use lights under 10 hours, and 4k candela)? What type of led is used in the spot light? Does it use a 92% efficient buck driver, or the cheap 70% linear drivers everyone else uses? I don't see them boasting ar glass, which is important to maximize output.
I can't find my light bag with all my headlamps that I have built over the years, and need a headlamp asap. I found it easy to build my own, using the most efficient parts, so the runtime was easily 10 hours, dimmable, 376 lumens and 4k candela, which is enough for 1 to 3 meter works. I messed around with linear driver lights and 217000s, but never got the runtime that was promised or enough lux to see the work optimally. the 2x18650 pack in the rear, the buckpuck 700, avid and computer cpus build with cooling that can't be bought in any light, ar glass, has served me well since 2014. Unfortunately, led efficiency has been going backwards as cheaper leds and less efficient, less focusable leds are the target. I care about the lumens, but only in the context of flat runtime and candela. Single cell lights have been nearly useless, due to the dim candella and poor runtime, as well as their fragility. I tried wearing them on my belt for the last 2 hours working outside, when I don't need a workhorse. Within 2 years, I destroyed or had stolen from me about 8 or more 21mm reflector single cell lights from various makers. My guys do not walk off with rear battery pack lights, especially without a built in charger, as often.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
I got mine today. Looks like cree xhp50 for the spot very yellowish tint, I am still clueless about the voltage to the led, or the lumens per watt of the led.
I thought you need 100 cm of metal to dissipate 1 watt. 800 lumens for 8 hours, I am not yet buying. You can draw no more than 600 milliamps per 4800 mah cell for an 8 hour runtime. That is 1200 ma max at 8 hours. A buck driver can be 92% efficient, linear is 70%, like the cheap amc7135s. So, linear is out, too many hours lost to driver heat. Thus we really cannot deliver more than 3 watts to the led and get 8 hours. As far as know, at 3 watts, the xph50 is not 200 lpw, which would be 600 lumens for 8 hours, if we assume 200 lpw. However, they are claiming 12 hours. The numbers don't add up, not even close. Sounds more like Chinese claims which usually indicate poor performance below expected, even ignoring spec sheet.
I fired it up briefly, I liked the 2 highest spot settings, but found too low of lux on the two lower spot settings for what we use headlamps for. The 800 lumen spot did look to my eye like somewhere near 6000 candela. So, I have it on the charger and will need to run it all night and see if the lux drops by morning. If it can't keep the 6800 candela spot, the second from the brightest, all night, I may send it back.
I might get a Fenix hp25r v2 instead.
But who knows, maybe it will be able to endure the night. The reflector diameter might be between 36 and 40 mm. Probably 40, but I don't have a good mm ruler and am guessing. I would buy 600 lumens for 8 hours for this light and 300 for the xp25r v2. I think the lumens don't add up. Fortunately, I only care about the candela, flat output, and the runtime. So, I would not send it back over lumen lies. However, I am disappointed in Fenix, or that candle power forum let me down by not notifying me of a 300 lpw breakthrough, outside of the lab.
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degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
My first impression was that I like the high of supposedly 800 lumens, supposedly 12 hour runtime.
I also like the high flood, 1000 supposed lumens with supposedly 10 hour runtime, as it lit very well, for up close. ... I also like the med flood with the med spot and med flood, 17 hour runtime, as it looks suitable for close up work and it has 17 hours at a comparable vision acuity as the 10 hour high flood setting. Moreover, I noticed a better color contrast when combining the two emitters than either alone, which is good for color inspection. I never cared too much about cri, so long as I can see subtle color differences. Neither of the emitters seem to be a high cri, but neither are cold in temperature. (I recall one review saying that they used some xpg in the flood.
I do not mind the lack of the red led, because adding a red probably would have added another driver and cost.
I am still skeptical about runtime and will check the lux again at 5:40, 8 hours after I turned it on. 12 hours is a good runtime choice. If the specs are valid, then the next question is the warranty. I probably should not worry, as all my 2012 fenix hp11 lights are still running as of last year and were still very useful.
I also like the high flood, 1000 supposed lumens with supposedly 10 hour runtime, as it lit very well, for up close. ... I also like the med flood with the med spot and med flood, 17 hour runtime, as it looks suitable for close up work and it has 17 hours at a comparable vision acuity as the 10 hour high flood setting. Moreover, I noticed a better color contrast when combining the two emitters than either alone, which is good for color inspection. I never cared too much about cri, so long as I can see subtle color differences. Neither of the emitters seem to be a high cri, but neither are cold in temperature. (I recall one review saying that they used some xpg in the flood.
I do not mind the lack of the red led, because adding a red probably would have added another driver and cost.
I am still skeptical about runtime and will check the lux again at 5:40, 8 hours after I turned it on. 12 hours is a good runtime choice. If the specs are valid, then the next question is the warranty. I probably should not worry, as all my 2012 fenix hp11 lights are still running as of last year and were still very useful.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
Update: It failed the first runtime test. I woke at 5:30 am to test the lux and only found a dead light after less than 8 hours in the closet. The specification sheet says it should be able to do the high spotlight for 12 hours, with an unspecified drop 4 hour step-down to what looks like 90 percent on the graph.
I fully charged the light before the test. It looks like each cell charges to 4.12 volts. The closet had plenty of empty space, 70F, and the head of the light was carefully hung up and not touching anything to avoid fire and smothering.
I can't charge the cells in my 21700 charger because their cell button top and protection circuit adds several millimeters to the length. They are quite long.
I can only hope that the protection circuit was flakey, and future tests will prove the specification sheet correct. I want this light to work, because on paper and per my amc7135 home builds v. Buck driver 2s18650, I could never get enough runtime and lux with anything lower than two cells, without choosing a more narrow xpl-hi, and much lower lumens and current (adequate to see detail for extended use, but less spill/more tunnel vision, which has several hypothetical, and largely unproven penalties that my flashaholic brain wishes to overcome, 17 years into my led headlamp usage).
I am interested if anyone else has done similar tests. There are 10 settings to test, which should have like 6 different current demands on the cells-the top 2 tiers might be more than the 21700 protection circuits can handle without falsely tripping.
The alternative to sending the unit back over bad cell protection circuits would be to buy unprotected button top 5000 mah 21700s and hope that they fit, else it would necessary to invent a spacer that wouldn't get stuck in the battery compartment.
I like 2 other settings, but not enough to keep the light if I am not able to get the full workday day spot (which needs to be at least 4000 candela). Our people are too busy to diddle with settings. It is bad enough that there is not just one or two settings, since guys often accidentally turn on the turbo settings and have no light for most of the day, which costs me a lot of money paying people who can't see optimally. If they choose a setting with too low of a lux, there are also added labor costs that I must bare.
While I have been trying to memorize the runtimes of all 10 settings, most guys will not do this, nor consider costs.
I do not really buy the specs on the hp25r v2 either. To get its runtime 1.5 watts are the maximum possible from the 21700 cell. At 200 lumens per watt, a maximum 300 lumens should be on the spec sheet, not 400, for the setting nearest 8 hours. Plus, I recall that it did not quite achieve 8 hours.
My biggest complaint about the hp11 is that the light died around 8 hours, which left us without light for an hour, as it is rare not to work at least 9.5 hours. Cutting the light down to a lower setting is not normally optimal or fully practical. Usually, we have too many other things to worry about.
I might need to bit the bullet and spend a day building another headlamp from parts across a dozen suppliers. The shipping time for some of the parts is a bummer. And my lights are not as waterproof and as tough as Fenix lights. I am not motivated, since the lpw hasn't improved since the 4000k xpl v6 202lpw (intl-outdoo) and the energy density of the Panasonics of 2015 and 2014. It is also a pain getting decent reflectors above 31 mm. 36 mm are nearly impossible, and I have not liked the beam patterns from the 40 mm. 31 mm is barely acceptable in the lux per watt compartment with the xpl die size.
The charging time claim of this light is like 4 ish hours. I am not sure if this speed impresses me or makes me feel uncomfortable at how many amp hours (10 ah) are being quickly stuffed into the cells. Balancing the cells could become a problem without having a 21700 charger that can handle the extended cell length.
I fully charged the light before the test. It looks like each cell charges to 4.12 volts. The closet had plenty of empty space, 70F, and the head of the light was carefully hung up and not touching anything to avoid fire and smothering.
I can't charge the cells in my 21700 charger because their cell button top and protection circuit adds several millimeters to the length. They are quite long.
I can only hope that the protection circuit was flakey, and future tests will prove the specification sheet correct. I want this light to work, because on paper and per my amc7135 home builds v. Buck driver 2s18650, I could never get enough runtime and lux with anything lower than two cells, without choosing a more narrow xpl-hi, and much lower lumens and current (adequate to see detail for extended use, but less spill/more tunnel vision, which has several hypothetical, and largely unproven penalties that my flashaholic brain wishes to overcome, 17 years into my led headlamp usage).
I am interested if anyone else has done similar tests. There are 10 settings to test, which should have like 6 different current demands on the cells-the top 2 tiers might be more than the 21700 protection circuits can handle without falsely tripping.
The alternative to sending the unit back over bad cell protection circuits would be to buy unprotected button top 5000 mah 21700s and hope that they fit, else it would necessary to invent a spacer that wouldn't get stuck in the battery compartment.
I like 2 other settings, but not enough to keep the light if I am not able to get the full workday day spot (which needs to be at least 4000 candela). Our people are too busy to diddle with settings. It is bad enough that there is not just one or two settings, since guys often accidentally turn on the turbo settings and have no light for most of the day, which costs me a lot of money paying people who can't see optimally. If they choose a setting with too low of a lux, there are also added labor costs that I must bare.
While I have been trying to memorize the runtimes of all 10 settings, most guys will not do this, nor consider costs.
I do not really buy the specs on the hp25r v2 either. To get its runtime 1.5 watts are the maximum possible from the 21700 cell. At 200 lumens per watt, a maximum 300 lumens should be on the spec sheet, not 400, for the setting nearest 8 hours. Plus, I recall that it did not quite achieve 8 hours.
My biggest complaint about the hp11 is that the light died around 8 hours, which left us without light for an hour, as it is rare not to work at least 9.5 hours. Cutting the light down to a lower setting is not normally optimal or fully practical. Usually, we have too many other things to worry about.
I might need to bit the bullet and spend a day building another headlamp from parts across a dozen suppliers. The shipping time for some of the parts is a bummer. And my lights are not as waterproof and as tough as Fenix lights. I am not motivated, since the lpw hasn't improved since the 4000k xpl v6 202lpw (intl-outdoo) and the energy density of the Panasonics of 2015 and 2014. It is also a pain getting decent reflectors above 31 mm. 36 mm are nearly impossible, and I have not liked the beam patterns from the 40 mm. 31 mm is barely acceptable in the lux per watt compartment with the xpl die size.
The charging time claim of this light is like 4 ish hours. I am not sure if this speed impresses me or makes me feel uncomfortable at how many amp hours (10 ah) are being quickly stuffed into the cells. Balancing the cells could become a problem without having a 21700 charger that can handle the extended cell length.
To charge the Fenix protected 21700 batteries I had to buy an Xtar VC8.
But now there are other models that do it too: the VC4 Plus and if you just want only 2 slots there is Xtar FC2
Protected 21700 batteries with dimensions equivalent to Fenix are the Keeppower P2150 TC If you live in the USA illumn has them in stock.
My PD36R works flawlessly with them and USB-C external charging works too.
I forgot to ask:
But when you found the flashlight turned off, did you check the voltage of the batteries before recharging them?
What tension did you find?
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
I didn't check the voltage of the cells at 5:30 this morning, unfortunately.
I kept trying to charge them until noon , in the hp30r v2, when I started the second run time test of the high spot, 800 lumen setting.
What I am seeing per obfuscated Cree pdf, is that 1050 milliamps at 6v the xhp50 should get around 1100 lumens. At 5 hours 30 minutes, my multimeter (which I don't trust its miliamp reading above 200) read 850 milliamps. In a relative lux with a 10 year old fenix hp11, it came out 917 lumens (4. 5 hour mark). Also, no noticeable drop in lux at 5.5 hours. The lumen v current makes sense. The higher 917 number could be that my old hp11 with a few thousand hours is 12 percent dimmer, or fenix is using the average lumens including the stepped down lumens, which looks like around 4 hours if I was not mistaken. I haven't seen any step down yet.
I am convince about the 800 lumen claim. But, at 850 milliamps draw from the cell pack in series 6v, the light should be dead at the 6.5 hour mark, which is far short of the 12 hour mark.
I kept trying to charge them until noon , in the hp30r v2, when I started the second run time test of the high spot, 800 lumen setting.
What I am seeing per obfuscated Cree pdf, is that 1050 milliamps at 6v the xhp50 should get around 1100 lumens. At 5 hours 30 minutes, my multimeter (which I don't trust its miliamp reading above 200) read 850 milliamps. In a relative lux with a 10 year old fenix hp11, it came out 917 lumens (4. 5 hour mark). Also, no noticeable drop in lux at 5.5 hours. The lumen v current makes sense. The higher 917 number could be that my old hp11 with a few thousand hours is 12 percent dimmer, or fenix is using the average lumens including the stepped down lumens, which looks like around 4 hours if I was not mistaken. I haven't seen any step down yet.
I am convince about the 800 lumen claim. But, at 850 milliamps draw from the cell pack in series 6v, the light should be dead at the 6.5 hour mark, which is far short of the 12 hour mark.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
I personally think that 800/1100 is roughly 75%, of 1050 is 750 milliamps.
7.4 volts at 750 MA is about 5.5 watts, which at 150 lpw, would be around 830 lumens. If true, then my meter was off, or more likely, the driver was drawing much lower mA in the the early stages. 750 mA, average gives 6.666 hours off, which is interesting.
Yep, at 6 hours and 40 minutes, it just dropped to a maximum lux of 2000. The high and turbo is shot. It also is blinking the spot to indicate a low battery.
What is wrong with Fenix that they would post erroneous numbers on their spec sheet, with doing a simple runtime test with a watch and lux meter?
To me, I care most about the runtime, efficiency, and the lux. I like lumens, but they are best used in the fovea and cone area of the vision.
I think they need to change the emitter to a xhp50.3 hi, and change the resistor in the buck driver to halve the amps for the spot. The result would be like a 25 percent less Hotspot diameter, the same lux, and 66 percent of the present lumens for the spot. Then, they would have a good worklight. I am not sure about the flood, if it would be possible to tinker with it and still have a useful flood.
7.4 volts at 750 MA is about 5.5 watts, which at 150 lpw, would be around 830 lumens. If true, then my meter was off, or more likely, the driver was drawing much lower mA in the the early stages. 750 mA, average gives 6.666 hours off, which is interesting.
Yep, at 6 hours and 40 minutes, it just dropped to a maximum lux of 2000. The high and turbo is shot. It also is blinking the spot to indicate a low battery.
What is wrong with Fenix that they would post erroneous numbers on their spec sheet, with doing a simple runtime test with a watch and lux meter?
To me, I care most about the runtime, efficiency, and the lux. I like lumens, but they are best used in the fovea and cone area of the vision.
I think they need to change the emitter to a xhp50.3 hi, and change the resistor in the buck driver to halve the amps for the spot. The result would be like a 25 percent less Hotspot diameter, the same lux, and 66 percent of the present lumens for the spot. Then, they would have a good worklight. I am not sure about the flood, if it would be possible to tinker with it and still have a useful flood.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
The light was totally dead a tad over 7 hours. So, it gave like 20 or 30 minutes warning, starting around 6 hours and 40 minutes.
This matches the math. The lumens and lux claims are likely correct. However, the fenix runtime claims on the specification sheet are lies.
Probably, I would take their runtime hours and multiply by .55, roughly half, to find out the real runtime. I think someone purposely did the math for the current drawn from 2 cells in parallel (where you divide the pack current by 2 to get current per cell), rather than series, where we have a nominal 7.4V and 750 mA means 750 MA per cell, not 375 MA per cell.
The fact that they did not physically test the miscalculated numbers is mind boggling, and a stain on their reputation in my book. I really would not give them too much slack just because the light has 11 settings.
This matches the math. The lumens and lux claims are likely correct. However, the fenix runtime claims on the specification sheet are lies.
Probably, I would take their runtime hours and multiply by .55, roughly half, to find out the real runtime. I think someone purposely did the math for the current drawn from 2 cells in parallel (where you divide the pack current by 2 to get current per cell), rather than series, where we have a nominal 7.4V and 750 mA means 750 MA per cell, not 375 MA per cell.
The fact that they did not physically test the miscalculated numbers is mind boggling, and a stain on their reputation in my book. I really would not give them too much slack just because the light has 11 settings.
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degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
I think that the cut off was 3.0 volts. I say, I think because I forgot and accidentally put the light on the Qualcomm 3.0 charger for 10 or 15 minutes before I checked the cells' voltage, which was around 3.1 volts. I will need to retest in the name of Science.
This light will need a pathetically low setting, or 4 cells to make it through a work day. Again, a xhp 50.3 hi and lower current choices for the spot to really match a work day length would have made the perfect work light ever yet by any company!
This light will need a pathetically low setting, or 4 cells to make it through a work day. Again, a xhp 50.3 hi and lower current choices for the spot to really match a work day length would have made the perfect work light ever yet by any company!
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
It also pains me to say that all reviews are being moronic when they do not verify runtime claims. A dead light is a very dim light.
Just a few ideas:
I think before contacting someone for warranty you should retest and check the battery voltage when finished.
Also, when you find the flashlight off before taking out the batteries try turning it on to see what happens.
Even if the cabinet can be large 800 lumens for hours is a lot, I would not want that due to the heat, in addition to the lowering of the brightness, some sensor had not intervened that for safety turns off the flashlight.
I think before contacting someone for warranty you should retest and check the battery voltage when finished.
Also, when you find the flashlight off before taking out the batteries try turning it on to see what happens.
Even if the cabinet can be large 800 lumens for hours is a lot, I would not want that due to the heat, in addition to the lowering of the brightness, some sensor had not intervened that for safety turns off the flashlight.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
Holy crap, I almost caught this sheet on fire with the two floods. The light was on high flood, face down for about a half minute and it burned these marks. I smelled something burning so I was able to get the light up before the sheet caught fire. I noticed earlier that touching the flood tirs on high burned my fingers after only a few seconds of being turned on.
I was measuring the Kelvin with a color meter app by folkstedt.
The spot is reading in the 5300 Kelvin on high and 6200 to 6490 on turbo. So, it is likely a 70 cri 6500K.
The 2 floods seemed to be around 4700, until they catch something on fire when the Kelvin lowers to lower, more balmy 1800 Kelvin, until the fire department comes.
I was measuring the Kelvin with a color meter app by folkstedt.
The spot is reading in the 5300 Kelvin on high and 6200 to 6490 on turbo. So, it is likely a 70 cri 6500K.
The 2 floods seemed to be around 4700, until they catch something on fire when the Kelvin lowers to lower, more balmy 1800 Kelvin, until the fire department comes.
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degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
I definitely will keep testing. I am even in for thermal epoxing some old fashioned cpu heat sinks on it.
But, the runtime numbers in their spec sheet are impossible on paper with the math, and 6.66 hours to dropout and 7 hours to dead on the High setting fits exactly with the math.
6 and a half hours would work only if I buy 2 more protected button top cells and another charger, and only I use the light. I found 2 cells and an 8 bay charger at liionwholsale for $60 with shipping. This pushes up the cost of the light to me to $310.
Playing around with my 371 lumen 2 watt dimmable buckpuck 2s18650, with 4k candela, 4000 Kelvin, which cost me $35 in parts in 2016, I can't see $300 better with this hp30r v2. At least for color inspection 1 to 3 meters from my eyes. I am not yet sure about outdoors at 21 feet inspections.
I really like the mid spot+mid flood setting (17h, but most likely a bit over 8 hours), but wish the center threw 2.5 x further on medium. Up close, it does what the hp25 2013ish model promised. I also liked the high flood, especially with the high spot, a heck of a lot, until it tried to kill my family... I probably would rather kick in the high floods, than to use the turbo spot in 98 percent of the situations.
The low probably gets only 66 hours rather than 120 hours, but too long to test. I bet the mid 34 hours is really closer to 19 hours. Nevertheless, those modes would be great for camping or just walking around. I do think they should have thought hard about how to include a low power red to make it work in more situations. A spot and a flood red would be cool, unless it added weight.
As far as the weight goes, it is lighter than the 6 AA headlamp mods that I did before jumping into the liions. My homemade 2s18650s are super comfortable. This light is okay comfortable but borderline. Hard hats are far less comfortable for me. Unbalanced lights, with batteries in the front are less comfortable. Given the additional brightness and battery capacity, it is a good tradeoff for the serious user.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
On high, I am surprised that head temperature seems not to exceed a warm coffee mug. Not do hot that it made me want to jerk my fingers off. I will need to use my ir gun on it.
It is the tir lenses on the floods on flood high that can start a fire, as seen by the distinctive round burn marks in the photo.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
I haven't been testing the runtime today, but I have been testing the relative usefulness for each setting.
I must admit that if I could get the spot high with the flood high for 10 hours straight, I would throw away all of my other lights. My bet is that it barely breaks 2. 65 hours, a max of 3.3 hours, not the claimed 6 hours. My concern is that they might have forgotten a step down for this double high mode, and the 1800 lumens at under 30% light efficiency, the rest is heat, might damage the light.
So, I am wondering if anyone has used this mode for the full 3 hour ride? And how much damage, drop in efficiency the light took?
Doing the math, the low and mid runtime numbers are fit the math, according to emitter efficiency. Even the double mid and double low. It is just all 3 high settings are impossible on paper and in reality... And, I do not know about the turbo, knowing that it purposely steps down..... (my high spot in the test, never measurably stepped down, until it cut out to the mid setting for a half hour or so before it went dark) .
I wonder if I could build high bin xhp70.3 with enough efficiency to match this high flood + high spot, without an obscene number of 21700s or 18650s. I probably would use the 239 lpw Samsung 351 mid power chips for the flood. The only way to cut down on the insane heat and insane cell requirement is to keep things above 200 lpw, at least in spirit.
Yeah the emulation of the Fenix hp30r v2's high flood + high spot should be the target, but done in a 2x more efficient scheme. This output and beam shape really beats anything else, except for the fact that it is not sustainable for a full work day.
I probably should test the dual mid mode before testing the 1800 lumen double high mode, in case the double high mode damages the light.
.
I must admit that if I could get the spot high with the flood high for 10 hours straight, I would throw away all of my other lights. My bet is that it barely breaks 2. 65 hours, a max of 3.3 hours, not the claimed 6 hours. My concern is that they might have forgotten a step down for this double high mode, and the 1800 lumens at under 30% light efficiency, the rest is heat, might damage the light.
So, I am wondering if anyone has used this mode for the full 3 hour ride? And how much damage, drop in efficiency the light took?
Doing the math, the low and mid runtime numbers are fit the math, according to emitter efficiency. Even the double mid and double low. It is just all 3 high settings are impossible on paper and in reality... And, I do not know about the turbo, knowing that it purposely steps down..... (my high spot in the test, never measurably stepped down, until it cut out to the mid setting for a half hour or so before it went dark) .
I wonder if I could build high bin xhp70.3 with enough efficiency to match this high flood + high spot, without an obscene number of 21700s or 18650s. I probably would use the 239 lpw Samsung 351 mid power chips for the flood. The only way to cut down on the insane heat and insane cell requirement is to keep things above 200 lpw, at least in spirit.
Yeah the emulation of the Fenix hp30r v2's high flood + high spot should be the target, but done in a 2x more efficient scheme. This output and beam shape really beats anything else, except for the fact that it is not sustainable for a full work day.
I probably should test the dual mid mode before testing the 1800 lumen double high mode, in case the double high mode damages the light.
.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
Test results of the double mid setting, hp30r v2: I am predicting 13.8 hours, if no step down. Based on the emitter lpw and the battery capacity. 6:45 am on, starting runtime test, 1800 and something lux.... 12 hr mark, still 1800 lux and head is significantly warmer than my home made 187 lpw 373 lumen headlamp, due to a less efficient emitter to my xpl v6 bin with better heat sink scheme.. .. 8:45 pm, 14 hour mark, my lux meter now says 1500 lux and the head is cooler than 2 hours ago... Some kind of step down.... 8:56 pm first distress blinking, 14 hours and 16 minute mark. 9:01 pm second distress blink--I think 3 blinks. 9:23 I just realized that it was the mid flood that cut out! Duh! The light is very cool now.... . 9:50, 15 hour mark, I wanted to go to to bed and continue the test in the morning. So, I turned off the light. But, I needed light 2 minutes later, with no other light within arm's reach, I tried to turn the hp30r v2 on again, only to find the hp30r unable to be turned on again! ....
Conclusion: the light was predicted to cut out at 13.8 hours, and, indeed, the flood cut out somewhere in the 13th hour. I did not notice because I was unaware of this fact, and was only looking at the beam on the ceiling. By hour 15 it was really struggling, distress calls every 3 minutes or so. I forgot again to check the cell voltage and plugged in the light for only a few seconds, then unplugged and found that it could be turned on again! I think that the low protection circuit on one or both of the cells kicked in when turning off the light. This tells me that the 17 hours Fenix is stating was likely done with unprotected cells to pull the last 2 hours, 12%. So I turned light on until it blacked out. The cells measured 2.78 V and 2.83 V after it went dark. I personally am not interested in the mid spot only setting, so, the extra hour or two, or even 3 of step down is useful for safety reasons on insanely long workdays, but not relevant, bright enough, for most of the type of work we do. I guess, the mid and low might be bright enough for walking around or equipment management in poorly lit areas. Of course, any headlamp, no matter how dim, is infinitely better than nothing.
13.8 hours for 400 lumens (even at a substandard 1812 candela) is impressive. It is a very useful runtime and a useful amount of light if you only need it for arm length work, and not standing back constantly to inspect the work from afar.
The fact that the combined final cell voltage is under 6 volts, makes me think that the led is the 3 volt flavor and they are using a very highly efficient buck driver. The led is usually rated 150 lpw, and 144 lpw is what is my best guess for one of the modes (as I recall the high spot). With little actual to go on, I would wager they are getting 95 percent efficiency on the driver and are getting the heat out of the head well enough for at least the 800 lumen setting.
I am going to test the high flood next. Remind me to test the relative diffused lux ratio and to test the cell voltage at the end. Apparently, with my Qualcomm 3.0 charger, this is charging the light very quickly when initially plugging it in. I probably should do a voltage test every so often to see the charge curve of the built in charger.
It would be interesting to modify the spot with a warmer xhp50.3 hi. The 3000 lux at 1 meter for 30 ish hour mid spot would be useful for constant 1 to 2 meter color inspection work. A boss could drop off a light with a worker, and return in 3 days, and not worry about the light getting stolen by leaving it on the USB c charger on the jobsite. The more familiar the charging technology is to the public, the more likely the light will be stolen overnight.
To reiterate, each mid-day battery swap is an excuse for a smoke break, and costs the boss an average of $1500 annually, according to the math. Moreover, workers often break lights when fiddling with the battery components. Plus, I found lots of workers are too lazy, and will continue to work in near darkness for hours after a light goes out. Quality is not their priority, just the paycheck, which is based on as many hours as they can make excuses for.
Conclusion: the light was predicted to cut out at 13.8 hours, and, indeed, the flood cut out somewhere in the 13th hour. I did not notice because I was unaware of this fact, and was only looking at the beam on the ceiling. By hour 15 it was really struggling, distress calls every 3 minutes or so. I forgot again to check the cell voltage and plugged in the light for only a few seconds, then unplugged and found that it could be turned on again! I think that the low protection circuit on one or both of the cells kicked in when turning off the light. This tells me that the 17 hours Fenix is stating was likely done with unprotected cells to pull the last 2 hours, 12%. So I turned light on until it blacked out. The cells measured 2.78 V and 2.83 V after it went dark. I personally am not interested in the mid spot only setting, so, the extra hour or two, or even 3 of step down is useful for safety reasons on insanely long workdays, but not relevant, bright enough, for most of the type of work we do. I guess, the mid and low might be bright enough for walking around or equipment management in poorly lit areas. Of course, any headlamp, no matter how dim, is infinitely better than nothing.
13.8 hours for 400 lumens (even at a substandard 1812 candela) is impressive. It is a very useful runtime and a useful amount of light if you only need it for arm length work, and not standing back constantly to inspect the work from afar.
The fact that the combined final cell voltage is under 6 volts, makes me think that the led is the 3 volt flavor and they are using a very highly efficient buck driver. The led is usually rated 150 lpw, and 144 lpw is what is my best guess for one of the modes (as I recall the high spot). With little actual to go on, I would wager they are getting 95 percent efficiency on the driver and are getting the heat out of the head well enough for at least the 800 lumen setting.
I am going to test the high flood next. Remind me to test the relative diffused lux ratio and to test the cell voltage at the end. Apparently, with my Qualcomm 3.0 charger, this is charging the light very quickly when initially plugging it in. I probably should do a voltage test every so often to see the charge curve of the built in charger.
It would be interesting to modify the spot with a warmer xhp50.3 hi. The 3000 lux at 1 meter for 30 ish hour mid spot would be useful for constant 1 to 2 meter color inspection work. A boss could drop off a light with a worker, and return in 3 days, and not worry about the light getting stolen by leaving it on the USB c charger on the jobsite. The more familiar the charging technology is to the public, the more likely the light will be stolen overnight.
To reiterate, each mid-day battery swap is an excuse for a smoke break, and costs the boss an average of $1500 annually, according to the math. Moreover, workers often break lights when fiddling with the battery components. Plus, I found lots of workers are too lazy, and will continue to work in near darkness for hours after a light goes out. Quality is not their priority, just the paycheck, which is based on as many hours as they can make excuses for.
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This could become a new standard when advertising a flashlight runtime..
