What's got the best throw on 26mm LED drop in?

[scott2907]

I've finally crumbled and decided to "upgrade" to LED. I've plowed through the guides, sticky's and posts here but I simply can't find an answer to my needs, and wondered if you guys could give me the benefit of your experience. I run a 6P body and I have a UF charger. Currently I run a LF EO-4 bulb with 17500's and its about the same as a stock 6P in terms of throw. I'm looking for MORE distance, and money (within reason) is not a problem. If there is a cheap solution, I'll take it though!
I have considered the DX units (confused - help!)
and the D26 LF unit too. I'd even buy a Malkoff if they threw well.
Has anyone distance beamshots or experience they'd like to share?
Thanks
T

 

[Mjolnir]

As far as P60 dropins go, I believe the Malkoff M60 has a fair amount of throw. You might also want to check out the Dereelight dropins, which are available with smooth reflectors for more throw.

 

[bigchelis]

The most throw from a 26mm LED drop-in is a Dereelight single mode R2 w/smooth reflector. It is 220 plus lumens out the front and the DX 3.7-18v versions are about 120~150 ( I stuck it inside MrGmans sphere).

Also,
Please note that if you want the absolute most throw you can stick an aspheric lens instead of a lens. The 22mm aspheric lens from DX or KD fit a Solarforce bezel like a glove and focus the square die perfectly. In the past I was using the 26mm aspheric, but it just wouldn't focus as good. The key is the 22mm aspheric lens, but you will loose up to 40% of the total out the front lumens. On the plus side the throw is literally doubled.

I might do a review on this discovery this week for all to see.:twothumbs

 

[LukeA]

There's a smooth reflector set available at DX.

 

[rizky_p]

I Have been using DX SKU 11074 for almost 1 year now, very bright and throw further than my other dropin. Change the reflector with DX SKU 5937 and you get yourself a thrower. I loves the 0-100% modes.

 

[bigchelis]

There's a smooth reflector set available at DX.

I purchased a couple of bare smooth reflectors to paint black and have extra's for the Dereelight R2 drop-ins. The DX R2's will vary in quality and the versions I have do not even make 150 lumens out the front w/ MrGmans sphere. The Dereelight R2 drop-ins will deliver the output they claim, but make sure to get the single mode made for more 2 plus cells. For some reason they make more lumens. Check MrGmans lumens sticky to see for yourself.

 

[MrGman]

The most throw from a 26mm LED drop-in is a Dereelight single mode R2 w/smooth reflector. It is 220 plus lumens out the front and the DX 3.7-18v versions are about 120~150 ( I stuck it inside MrGmans sphere).

Also,
Please note that if you want the absolute most throw you can stick an aspheric lens instead of a lens. The 22mm aspheric lens from DX or KD fit a Solarforce bezel like a glove and focus the square die perfectly. In the past I was using the 26mm aspheric, but it just wouldn't focus as good. The key is the 22mm aspheric lens, but you will loose up to 40% of the total out the front lumens. On the plus side the throw is literally doubled.

I might do a review on this discovery this week for all to see.:twothumbs

+3 on that. Get the Dereelight module with the smooth reflector. You can get the 3 mode or the single mode.

Pill and Reflector Type_____________SLR F Bzl/AR__SLR F plain Bzl__SF 6P Bzl,
Dereelight 3SM R2 SMO refl: High______227___________220____________215,
Dereelight 3SM R2 OP refl: High,_______226___________223____________215,
Dereelight 3SM Q5 SMO refl: High,,_____215___________207____________203,
Dereelight 1SM R2 OP refl: High,_______211___________209____________206,

The 3sm are 3 mode units, and the 1sm is the single mode unit. I like them both. You can buy the reflectors separately and have both.

 

[Winx]

I might do a review on this discovery this week for all to see.:twothumbs

Please do...

 

[phantom23]

Check this thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=231936

 

[old4570]

This drop in :

With this driver :


$4 USD + $9.10 USD = $13.10 USD :candle:

Or $20USD for a Solarforce 3.7-4.2v 5 mode R2 pill .. Or just buy an entire flashlight for $25USD shipped !
Nailbender - Worth a try !

 

[Justin Case]

The DX11836 is a good drop-in, but its orange peel reflector isn't going to win any throw contests. You need a smooth reflector at a minimum. It's not just lumens. It's beam pattern. For throw, you need an intense hot spot.

The KD direct drive, PWM controller will help in the overdrive department when using a single Li-ion to drive the 11836, but the Dereelight drop-ins are also overdriven at 1.2A forward current. The Vin/Iout data on the KD web site for SKU S005025 applies only for an SSC P7 (and perhaps a Cree MC-E in 4P). You aren't going to get Iout of 3A at Vin of 4.0V because the Cree R2's V-I curve doesn't go there.

 

[Sgt. LED]

I'd recommend the Deerelight R2 1.2A with smooth reflector but 4 others have beat me to it! :laughing: I have the 1 mode myself and it's easily beat every other drop-in that's come up against it. Feel free to name any, it's beat it.

It really is the best without moving into aspherics. Bigchelis has the good word on that already posted too.
I'm too late, all the good advice has already been posted.

 

[old4570]

The other choice would be a Osram Diamond Dragon ... or Golden Dragon .

I have one : DD

And there may be 2 more on the way

I had to order more drivers and pills to stuff LED's into

DD - LUW W5AP-MYNY-5P7R

Luminous Flux: 285 Im
Wavelength: 6500 K
Operating Current: 1400 mA



Oooops : From Osram !

LUW W5AP
Diamond DRAGON, silicone lens, ultra white, ThinGaN, chip level conversion, 2A max. current, lead (Pb) free – RoHS compliantypical
Luminous Flux: 311 lm at 1.4 A
Color coordinates: x = 0.31, y = 0.32 CIE 1931 (weiß)
Color temperature (typ.): 6500 K
Viewing angle at 50 % IV: 140°
Technology: ThinGaN
Typ. efficiency: 65 lm/W

So if you were to drive it @ 2A , 440Lumen could be possible . I could live with a P60 drop in like that .

 

[radu1976]

I had a 1SM DEREELIGHT module but despite what the producer is saying I have noticed a dropping of the output after 1 hr...it doesn't seem to be regulated.

Although I don't like the multimodes lights I am using right now a 3SD module which is regulated and it seems to throw as far as the other :thumbsup:

The most throw from a 26mm LED drop-in is a Dereelight single mode R2 w/smooth reflector. It is 220 plus lumens out the front and the DX 3.7-18v versions are about 120~150 ( I stuck it inside MrGmans sphere).

Also,
Please note that if you want the absolute most throw you can stick an aspheric lens instead of a lens. The 22mm aspheric lens from DX or KD fit a Solarforce bezel like a glove and focus the square die perfectly. In the past I was using the 26mm aspheric, but it just wouldn't focus as good. The key is the 22mm aspheric lens, but you will loose up to 40% of the total out the front lumens. On the plus side the throw is literally doubled.

I might do a review on this discovery this week for all to see.:twothumbs

 

[bigchelis]

The other choice would be a Osram Diamond Dragon ... or Golden Dragon .

I have one : DD

And there may be 2 more on the way

I had to order more drivers and pills to stuff LED's into

DD - LUW W5AP-MYNY-5P7R

Luminous Flux: 285 Im
Wavelength: 6500 K
Operating Current: 1400 mA



Oooops : From Osram !

LUW W5AP
Diamond DRAGON, silicone lens, ultra white, ThinGaN, chip level conversion, 2A max. current, lead (Pb) free – RoHS compliantypical
Luminous Flux: 311 lm at 1.4 A
Color coordinates: x = 0.31, y = 0.32 CIE 1931 (weiß)
Color temperature (typ.): 6500 K
Viewing angle at 50 % IV: 140°
Technology: ThinGaN
Typ. efficiency: 65 lm/W

So if you were to drive it @ 2A , 440Lumen could be possible . I could live with a P60 drop in like that .

The Diamond Dragon will definitely not out throw an R2. I have a 4C Maglight with a fully regulated up to 6v Diamond Dragon. At the tail I got 2.6A of current.
It did 295 Lumens out the front in MrGman's sphere, but it was close to 220 Lumens in 3 minutes.

Even on start up with 295 Lumens out the front and the bigger Mag bezel the throw was very poor and not as good as an R2 DX 1186 that I compared it to. FYI: The 1186 did about 120~140 Lumens out the front on start-up, but no recordings were taken because the numbers were not impressive to note down.:nana:

The Diamond Dragon's beam is more like a P7. It has a very pretty beam and covers an area like a P7, but at nearly half the lumens with the same power. If the Diamond Dragon didn't have all that spread I bet it would throw, but mine didn't throw and did not come close to 400 Lumens


The 4 "C" NiMH Mag was made by nailbender per my request to prove whether a well sinked Diamond Dragon would hit the claimed lumen numbers and whether it would be a super thrower. Unfortunately; it is without a doubt neigther of those. Sorry folks, but it is what it is.

 

[scott2907]

Thanks for all your replies, every one of them is interesting and useful. I will have a play around with a few of these options and see how it all works out.
I hope to one-day out throw the bulky dragon lights that my colleagues whip out every time!

 

[MrGman]

I had a 1SM DEREELIGHT module but despite what the producer is saying I have noticed a dropping of the output after 1 hr...it doesn't seem to be regulated.

Although I don't like the multimodes lights I am using right now a 3SD module which is regulated and it seems to throw as far as the other :thumbsup:

I became curious and took your comments as a challenge to find out the real truth. I literally spent about 3 hours testing the regulation of this thing against a power supply and the Sphere O truth in the garage.

I will publish the full data later but I will say this short answer now. Its regulated. This module is supposed to run from 3V up to 13V. I tested it from 11V down to 2.80V. It drops out of regulation coming down at about 5.3V and below 4.7V you are definitely out of regulation and lumens is dropping linearly with the diminished current draw which follows voltage but not linearly with the voltage drop reduction itself.

If you say well starting to drop out of regulation at 5.3V is not much regulation then you are forgetting the module was meant to run up to 13V. If you run 2 good rechargeable batteries that start you up over 8V, getting down to 5.3V is really the end run of those 2 batteries. If you only use primaries then you will not see as much regulated run time, as you have noticed. I run mine on 2 AW RCR123's or 2X17500's. G

 

[Justin Case]

The Diamond Dragon will definitely not out throw an R2. I have a 4C Maglight with a fully regulated up to 6v Diamond Dragon. At the tail I got 2.6A of current.
It did 295 Lumens out the front in MrGman's sphere, but it was close to 220 Lumens in 3 minutes.

Even on start up with 295 Lumens out the front and the bigger Mag bezel the throw was very poor and not as good as an R2 DX 1186 that I compared it to. FYI: The 1186 did about 120~140 Lumens out the front on start-up, but no recordings were taken because the numbers were not impressive to note down.:nana:

The Diamond Dragon's beam is more like a P7. It has a very pretty beam and covers an area like a P7, but at nearly half the lumens with the same power. If the Diamond Dragon didn't have all that spread I bet it would throw, but mine didn't throw and did not come close to 400 Lumens


The 4 "C" NiMH Mag was made by nailbender per my request to prove whether a well sinked Diamond Dragon would hit the claimed lumen numbers and whether it would be a super thrower. Unfortunately; it is without a doubt neigther of those. Sorry folks, but it is what it is.

This is moderately surprising. Isn't the Diamond Dragon a regular-sized, single-die emitter?

What reflector did you use in the Mag mod -- stock smooth Mag, OP, stippled? Did you ensure that it was optimally focused when you tested for throw?

I've measured about 7000 lux at 1 meter for my DX11836 R2. In comparison, I've measured 19,000 lux at 1 meter for a 2C Mag mod using a Seoul P4 U2-bin. I don't need a meter to see that the Mag mod is clearly hotter than the R2.

When testing multi-die emitters like a D-bin SSC P7 in Mag mods using a KD orange peel reflector, I still have gotten 12,500 lux in direct drive (2.2A). Using the stock smooth Mag reflector and running direct drive (2.8A), I measured 23,000 lux.

When I've underdriven the P7 at 250mA per core with a KD OP reflector, then I've gotten about 7000 lux, same as for the DX11836 R2.

I have also noticed that hot spot lux can vary drastically if the Mag head is even slightly out of optimum focus.

 

[LukeA]

I purchased a couple of bare smooth reflectors to paint black and have extra's for the Dereelight R2 drop-ins. The DX R2's will vary in quality and the versions I have do not even make 150 lumens out the front w/ MrGmans sphere. The Dereelight R2 drop-ins will deliver the output they claim, but make sure to get the single mode made for more 2 plus cells. For some reason they make more lumens. Check MrGmans lumens sticky to see for yourself.

I was talking about this, which screws onto most dropins including the dereelight models.

 

[bigchelis]

I was talking about this, which screws onto most dropins including the dereelight models.

Yes, those will work perfect for the Dereelight drop-in and I have about 3 of them.

I used one of those and painted it black to use the 22mm aspheric lens from DX. The 22mm aspheric lens focuses the LED perfectly at the expense of up to 40% lumen loss, but you gain throw.