World's longest throwing LED Flashlight- FTP the affordable DEFT

[kengps]

For 330 Lumens see my post #237 above....

 

[meister]

I read your post 237 earlier. These are just questions without definites. I was guessing you had some additional definite answers by now.

 

[kengps]

Nope, posed the question to Michael. It is he who says he's getting 330 LED Lumens at 1.4 Amps on the DEFT. I want to know what his driver source is. I seen one guy a while back with an A9 who just ran a few feet of thin wire (as a homemade resister) between the Battery and LED. I did the same couple nights ago with an SST-50 IMR test rig. Was curious why people were getting Direct-Drive boards, yet only getting 500-650 Lumens with an IMR battery. What I discovered was that Yes Indeed, an IMR can torch an LED Direct-Drive...($45 bucks down the garbage bin to prove it) but the hosts have a lot of resistance in the spring contacts, switches, and Drivers (?)

As I recall the A9 guy was claiming something like 95,000 Lux with his A9. If I could get 95K then that would only give the DEFT a 17% advantage in apparent range/brightness. I'd be willing to give up 17% for something I can easily carry. The DEFT is a fun light with a record claim. But a bit BIG for everyday use.

 

[saabluster]

Michael, If you don't mind me asking....how do you get 1.4 Amps from the DEFT? I'd like to mod my A9 Aspheric. I still like it, It is small, and I get 72,000 Lux with it. Tiablo claims 255 Lumens. 330 would be nice...Do you run a particular driver board to get 1.4 amps? I have a mini-lathe so I can build a custom heat sink for it. I know the origianl DEFT had a bigger heat sink and 1.6 Amps. Is that on the edge of toast?

Nope, posed the question to Michael. It is he who says he's getting 330 LED Lumens at 1.4 Amps on the DEFT. I want to know what his driver source is. I seen one guy a while back with an A9 who just ran a few feet of thin wire (as a homemade resister) between the Battery and LED. I did the same couple nights ago with an SST-50 IMR test rig. Was curious why people were getting Direct-Drive boards, yet only getting 500-650 Lumens with an IMR battery. What I discovered was that Yes Indeed, an IMR can torch an LED Direct-Drive...($45 bucks down the garbage bin to prove it) but the hosts have a lot of resistance in the spring contacts, switches, and Drivers (?)

As I recall the A9 guy was claiming something like 95,000 Lux with his A9. If I could get 95K then that would only give the DEFT a 17% advantage in apparent range/brightness. I'd be willing to give up 17% for something I can easily carry. The DEFT is a fun light with a record claim. But a bit BIG for everyday use.

I got the 330 figure from this post and rounded down just a bit. The driver is a 7135 based board. With the proper heatsinking 1.6 is not even all that close to toast. On those models the LED had a direct connection to solid copper. The FTP runs at lower current so is just able to use normal mcpcbs. It helps that that sits on top of copper though and that there is enough mass and surface area to shed the heat created.

 

[Deleted member 97529]

😀 I just received my DEFT FTP! All I can say for now is :twothumbs, and that I am very impressed with it. I also found out that I can remove its aspherical lens for a great area light to be used around the house. 😛 There was a black piece of something (maybe plastic) beneath the pre-collimator, which affects the beam when using it in the "area light" mode. Thankfully, I managed to shake the light so that it fell somewhere beside the LED. Additionally, I found out that by slightly loosening that bezel, I can actually get a tighter and brighter beam! :devil: I may use a lux meter to find the perfect focus of the light and mark the spot, so that I will know how much to loosen the lens every time I put it back on. I'm looking forward to use this incredible thrower practically in the near future. 😉
​

 

[saabluster]

😀 I just received my DEFT FTP! All I can say for now is :twothumbs, and that I am very impressed with it. I also found out that I can remove its aspherical lens for a great area light to be used around the house. 😛 There was a black piece of something (maybe plastic) beneath the pre-collimator, which affects the beam when using it in the "area light" mode. Thankfully, I managed to shake the light so that it fell somewhere beside the LED. Additionally, I found out that by slightly loosening that bezel, I can actually get a tighter and brighter beam! :devil: I may use a lux meter to find the perfect focus of the light and mark the spot, so that I will know how much to loosen the lens every time I put it back on. I'm looking forward to use this incredible thrower practically in the near future. 😉
​

Good to hear. Not that it matters but it comes tuned for max throw. While what you changed may appear to have improved things most likely it did not. Remember it is tuned to be tight and collimated at distance. Either way you can play with it and get the beam how you like it. Enjoy!

 

[h22]

Saabluster, if I understand it correctly, the size of the emitter vs optics has everything to do with how much throw one can generate.

I just finished installing an XP-G R5 emitter on a light, and AFAICT it has almost if not exactly the same sized emitter as the R2 (this is what you are using right? )

The XP-G can output well over 400 lumens @ 1500ma, would it be worth trying in the FTP?

 

[saabluster]

Saabluster, if I understand it correctly, the size of the emitter vs optics has everything to do with how much throw one can generate.

I just finished installing an XP-G R5 emitter on a light, and AFAICT it has almost if not exactly the same sized emitter as the R2 (this is what you are using right? )

The XP-G can output well over 400 lumens @ 1500ma, would it be worth trying in the FTP?

Would it be worth trying? If you want a wider beam that does not throw as far then sure. If you want maximum throw then you need to stick with the XR-E.

 

[Th232]

I just finished installing an XP-G R5 emitter on a light, and AFAICT it has almost if not exactly the same sized emitter as the R2 (this is what you are using right? )

The die in the XP-G larger than the XR-E, and at the moment has a lower surface brightness, so throw will actually be reduced.

 

[kengps]

On those models the LED had a direct connection to solid copper. The FTP runs at lower current so is just able to use normal mcpcbs. It helps that that sits on top of copper though and that there is enough mass and surface area to shed the heat created.

Saabluster...is there a particular Copper alloy or will any copper do for a heat sink. Any particular source for the copper? Will copper be any advantage for an aluminum star board? Or might as well just bond it to an aluminum heat-sink?

 

[saabluster]

Saabluster...is there a particular Copper alloy or will any copper do for a heat sink. Any particular source for the copper? Will copper be any advantage for an aluminum star board? Or might as well just bond it to an aluminum heat-sink?

Some copper is better than others thermally but not significantly so. You are correct in questioning the need for copper if using the mcpcb. It will still help but the effect is reduced. It depends on several factors which I don't have the time to get into but the thinner your heaksink is the more likely you are to need copper if running the LED really hard.

 

[Deleted member 97529]

My lux meter reads max 1,000 lux at 10 meters for my DEFT FTP (100,000 lux at one meter), but I have read on the forums that it should be around 130,000 to 150,000 lux at one meter. 🙁 Is this normal? 😕

 

[Votekinky06]

Any idea of even a rough ETA on the next batch?

 

[jsholli]

Is this normal? 😕

What type of batteries are you using?

 

[saabluster]

My lux meter reads max 1,000 lux at 10 meters for my DEFT FTP (100,000 lux at one meter), but I have read on the forums that it should be around 130,000 to 150,000 lux at one meter. 🙁 Is this normal? 😕

It is probably just out of tune. You will need to adjust the small optic since it got messed with. Correct positioning is critical to maximum throw. It most likely needs to come out some. You have to work with it to find the sweet spot. I started hot gluing the optic holder to keep it from accidentally being moved after I tuned it but didn't want to do anything permanent so the user could do a teardown for cleaning or changing the LED out. Since it is just hot glue you can rip all that off. The optic holder will stay without it. Just play with how far out or in you put the small optic. Note that a tiny change in position can make a lot of difference. Let me know how it goes.

 

[saabluster]

Any idea of even a rough ETA on the next batch?

About to have some built but not tested. Tomorrow? I probably won't put them up for sale until next week as I still have the final tune and boxing to do.

 

[Deleted member 97529]

Deleted per request.

 

[Th232]

:thinking: Shouldn't it come pre-tuned? :thumbsdow

Given your previous post:

😀 I just received my DEFT FTP! All I can say for now is :twothumbs, and that I am very impressed with it. I also found out that I can remove its aspherical lens for a great area light to be used around the house. 😛 There was a black piece of something (maybe plastic) beneath the pre-collimator, which affects the beam when using it in the "area light" mode. Thankfully, I managed to shake the light so that it fell somewhere beside the LED. Additionally, I found out that by slightly loosening that bezel, I can actually get a tighter and brighter beam! :devil: I may use a lux meter to find the perfect focus of the light and mark the spot, so that I will know how much to loosen the lens every time I put it back on. I'm looking forward to use this incredible thrower practically in the near future. 😉
​

and Saab's reply (bold added by me):

Good to hear. Not that it matters but it comes tuned for max throw. While what you changed may appear to have improved things most likely it did not. Remember it is tuned to be tight and collimated at distance. Either way you can play with it and get the beam how you like it. Enjoy!

My guess is that you somehow detuned it when you took it apart.

 

[Deleted member 97529]

Deleted per request.

 

[saabluster]

:thinking: Shouldn't it come pre-tuned? :thumbsdow Anyway, I have tried loosening the head until I get the highest lux reading at 11 meters. It turns out that it can shine 860 lux max (104k candela), with a 4000 candela improvement compared to completely tightening the bezel!

Regarding the small optic, I have pressed it down slightly and the resulting beam (without the head) became a little larger. Does this mean that I have to bring it out a bit? If so, how can I do that? I hope that I will get at least 130k candela after the adjustment! 😀

Additionally, I found quite a lot of dust between the two lenses in the giant head of the DEFT. Can I remove them to clean them or are they fixed? Moreover, I have used eneloops in my DEFT FTP and after I put them in the battery tube, I can't get them out without a huge amount of effort. Therefore, I made a "crane" out of it: :devil:

As I said before they do come pre-tuned. You tore the light down and pressed on the pre-collimator which undoubtedly changed it's position. This is a very critical piece to have just so. I also already said it most likely needs to come out some and that now you will have to play with it to get it right. You can pull the small optic holder out by prying it out the top. It is a press fit. I use compressed air to blow out all the lights before I close them up but it is impossible to get rid of all the dust or to keep more from getting inside. Sorry not much I can do there.