What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspheric? MC-E beamshots added

[Moddoo]

So, the stock light works great.

But, I want it brighter.:shakehead

It looks weird with an MC-E.

My idea right now is to put a K2 tffc in there and overdrive it at, oh, maybe, 2A??

Does anyone have a modded A9 w/asph they want to share.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Nitroz]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

So, the stock light works great.

But, I want it brighter.:shakehead

It looks weird with an MC-E.

My idea right now is to put a K2 tffc in there and overdrive it at, oh, maybe, 2A??

Does anyone have a modded A9 w/asph they want to share.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Unless you just can't wait, use the XP-G when it becomes available.

 

[HarryN]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

So, the stock light works great.

But, I want it brighter.:shakehead

It looks weird with an MC-E.

My idea right now is to put a K2 tffc in there and overdrive it at, oh, maybe, 2A??

Does anyone have a modded A9 w/asph they want to share.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

2 amps is no problem at all - in fact, you can go higher if the thermal path is good.

 

[Moddoo]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

2 amps is no problem at all - in fact, you can go higher if the thermal path is good.

Sounds good Harry, thanks for the info.

I put an MC-E in last night, just to get a good feel for it.

The asph+mc-e beam is not very useful IMO. (but I'm sure a few people were wondering WTF is that on the water tower???)
The stock smooth reflector throws pretty well when out of focus just a bit to kill the donut. But, it's just not quite what I'm looking for.

I'll make a little copper base for the K2 and solder it on, then arctic silver that to the light. That should be about as good as I can do on this light.
I'll try 2A then maybe more if I need to. :devil:

BTW, the stock 2 level switch is fine at 2.8A so far.

 

[mash.m]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

So, the stock light works great.

But, I want it brighter.:shakehead

It looks weird with an MC-E.

My idea right now is to put a K2 tffc in there and overdrive it at, oh, maybe, 2A??

Does anyone have a modded A9 w/asph they want to share.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

you should not use the k2. an overdrived cree r2 is much brighter. i have done some tests with the 220Lumen K2 and a Q5. the q5 was always brighter.

markus

 

[Moddoo]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

you should not use the k2. an overdrived cree r2 is much brighter. i have done some tests with the 220Lumen K2 and a Q5. the q5 was always brighter.

markus

Please share your test details and results.

IMO the K2 tffc have better tint.

I have read that they have been proven stable and bright at high current.

 

[HarryN]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Hi, a very useful resource for considering various LED options and drive currents is this thread by JTR1962:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=3021005#post3021005

Posts 300 - 313 directly apply to your application Keep in mind that these test were done under somewhat idealized conditions, but the comparison for LED to LED is reasonably valid.

The nice thing about single die packages is the wide range of choices when it comes to reflectors, optics, and lenses. You can really make the beam anything you want with them.

Should be a fun mod, no matter what LED you choose.

HarryN

 

[ma_sha1]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

The new "Phat" SST-50 1000 lumen single die.

The SST-90 2000 lumen may be too much for the A9 to handle.

 

[Moddoo]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Thanks everyone for your input.

Harry, nice link.

The R2 does show some very good performance at high current.

The K2 looks pretty good too, although it was tested under slightly different conditions.

I don't have an R2 from a reputable source.
I'll punish the stock Q5 at 2.8A first and see what happens..
I will look for a decent R2 for the future.

The real problem I have with the K2, is that it looks like crap with the reflector.

The Cree's beam looks decent.

I have an R2 XP-E, but DAMN IT'S REALLY SMALL!!!
I have no idea how I can solder it to a piece of copper.

 

[Nitroz]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

I have an R2 XP-E, but DAMN IT'S REALLY SMALL!!!
I have no idea how I can solder it to a piece of copper.

Why don't you buy a board and reflow it on yourself?

 

[Moddoo]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Why don't you buy a board and reflow it on yourself?

Using it on a PCB is not the best thermal plan.

Soldering the emitter directly to copper will give the best performance.

However, the 2 electrical pads are on the bottom also, which means...
I would need to make a tiny island to solder it to.

 

[Nitroz]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Using it on a PCB is not the best thermal plan.

Soldering the emitter directly to copper will give the best performance.

However, the 2 electrical pads are on the bottom also, which means...
I would need to make a tiny island to solder it to.

True, but the two tiny pads is why I suggested the board.

 

[lightforce2]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

My A9 aspheric has an XR-E R2 WH emitter that is direct driven, it runs between 1300ma to 1700ma depending upon whether I'm using an old or a new battery. Used for nightime shooting, scope mounted & works extremely well.

I think the A8/A9's heatsink very well & they could be run even brighter with the latest emitters

 

[HarryN]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Hi, the good about asphericals is that they throw like crazy. The bad about asphericals is that they are more or less a magnifying glass / projector. It helps to slightly defocus them and to loose some of the harsh image details IMHO.

I am working on a light as well and was thinking seriously about the K2 - which K2 + reflector do you dislike and why? It seems like there are so many reflector and optics options out there for any single die LED that you can make it anything you want.

Thanks

HarryN

 

[tx101]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Just did some Mag lego and came up with this

different exposure

This is a K2 TFFC @ 1400mAH, to my eyes its about the same brightness
as a Q5 @ 1000mAH. So the question is, how many extra lumens will you
get from overdriving the K2 to 2000mAH ?

 

[HarryN]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Just did some Mag lego and came up with this

This is a K2 TFFC @ 1400mAH, to my eyes its about the same brightness
as a Q5 @ 1000mAH. So the question is, how many extra lumens will you
get from overdriving the K2 to 2000mAH ?

That is the question of the day, isn't it. JTR is attempting to answer this question with data in this thread, referenced above. For consistency, he has set up a near ideal thermal condition for testing all of the LEDs, which is not quite "real world" results. He is working on the "real world" aspect, but no answers yet, so we all get to guesstimate until then.

Actually, I think CPFr gman has a post in the LED flashlight area which from various flashlights in a testing sphere. Perhaps the anwers are out there.

The reality is that you are correct though, even if your two lights were identical, other than drive current, a 25 - 40 % increase in light output might still not be enough to get excited about at that level. One thing is for sure, doubling the power does not equal doubling the amount of light, and even if you did double it, that does not mean you will perceive it.

 

[Moddoo]

Re: What is the hot emitter upgrade for the A9 w/aspherical??

Here are a few beamshots with an MC-E M-bin at 2.8A

The night was hazy. Some ambient light from a parking lot nearby.

The comparisons aren't perfect because of the automatic camera. But the beamshots help to see what you get with this combo.

aspheric @ 900 ft <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>control

aspheric @ 500 ft<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>M60 @ 500 ft

Smooth reflector @ 500 ft <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>Smooth reflector out of focus @ 500 ft