Sold/Expired WTB: red or green? lux III maglite.......

[coachbigdog]

I need a new or like new red Maglite for Father's Day.My Dad needs one for hunting.I hear green is also undetectable by deer(no he doesn't nught hunt!)if this is true then green would work as well as long as it's bright!Please pm me. Thanks!

 

[IsaacHayes]

Don't use green for hunting. I have tested both!!

I tested a LuxV Green and a luxeon 1watt R/O. Animals didn't notice the r/o, but when I switched on the green they turned away or ran away. The R/O (red-orange) also lights up their eyes red, making them stand out!!

And I would suggest to go with Red-orange over Red, as the extra lumens are worth it and the color is about the same.

ALSO, go with a 1W red-orange over a luxIII. Why? Well the LuxIII will draw a ton of current and will need a down converter. So run time is short and cost are up. Also, the LuxIII will NOT throw any farther than the Luxeon1. This is because the die is 4x the size, and the current is exactly proportional per surface area as the luxeon1.

You will have a bigger hotspot with the luxIII, but the Luxeon1 is plenty big as is in a mag reflector (bigger than a white luxIII).

I've built 2 of these for hunters, and the 1w R/O is the ticket for all practicality. It runs forever off of 2 alkalines, DD, and puts out 60+ lumens!!!


If you want I could build you one, but I'd have to order a luxeon, and that might delay it too much for fathers day?? I have an o-sink on hand and can get a red 2D maglight at wal-mart.

Hope my 2Cents helps!! I've had experience with this stuff so I thought I'd chime in!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

 

[reefphilic]

I've a RO Lux I and some extra heatsinks lying around. If you can't wait for IsaacHayes to order the LED. I can built a DD pill for the minim@g for you. Below is a pic of the minim@g pill I've built for myself sometimes ago.

 

[Niteowl]

[ QUOTE ]
IsaacHayes said:
Don't use green for hunting. I have tested both!!

I tested a LuxV Green and a luxeon 1watt R/O. Animals didn't notice the r/o, but when I switched on the green they turned away or ran away......

[/ QUOTE ]

I've also heard green light doesn't disturb deer. I find your real world results enlightening. Streamlight claims on their site that green light is good for hunters. That's the only place I've read it other than occasional remarks posted here, but none saying it is true. Perhaps I'll look for a 1w R/O star for my Q-III instead, are they readily available with a decent Vf? (J or less)

 

[IsaacHayes]

reefphilic, not sure how far the MM would throw though...

Niteowl, Perhaps green light used to light up the area you are walking or something, the animals might not see it, but when I shined the beam at them, they did not like it. I had my R/O on them the whole time and they didn't care or notice it. Yes, 1W R/O are typically S or T flux, and the Vf is around 3.00 volts. So DD in a Q3 looks perfect for you! Make sure to heatsink it well as you loose light from heat a lot quicker with these colors, and remember that the emitter/star can't contact anything negative because the slug of the emitter is connected to the postive. Actually though I think that the 1W R/O are isolated on the stars. I know the LuxIII R/O aren't though. So a 1W star may be a direct drop in for a Q3. (or put it on ViReN's DD heatsink tab for extra lumens by keeping it cooler).

Not sure how far the Q3 will throw, a 20mm IMS reflector will fit it though. The throw in a Q3 with a R/O should be what you were getting with the luxIII white.

Ive built the R/O mag mods with the mag reflector (C & D size) because the hunters wanted it to throw 100yards at least.

 

[IsaacHayes]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, even though they can't see red color very well, if you blast them at close range with a bright red light, they will notice it because of the intensity. But at a distance you're fine.

 

[3rd_shift]

So, R/O would be ok for hunting. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

I'm going to go ahead and build a new one tonight, test it and see how it does. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
This will be a 3D with a good 5 watt block resistor added, so that it will still fire up with usable light on half dead batteries.

 

[IsaacHayes]

3rd_shift, yes R/O is pretty close to luxeon Red. There is a difference but luxeon Red is still "orangish" to me. The extra lumens you get, and the slight color difference allows you to see much better contrast at night, so it's worth it. Animals still don't spook, but I'm sure a deep deep red (deeper than luxeon red) would be even harder for them (and us) to see.

A 2C r/o will last forever on alkaliens. A 2D, Way longer. A 3D resistored down would be ludicrious. A buck converter on 3D would be even better though.... wow!

 

[3rd_shift]

I just built one with an older beat up 3D maglite just for me to try out.

It has a 1 ohm 5 watt block resistor in it.
It's drawing .95 amps from half discharged nimh D cells and is really casting a heck red color in my bathroom right now.

I'll be keeping this one for me.
It will be tested tonight and tomorrow night at work.
If all goes well, I'll start building and selling a few of these for hunters, security and parking attendants. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[IsaacHayes]

950ma to a 1W R/O!! My god you better hope it's staying cool!! And that's on low voltage NiMH, fresh alkalines (3 of them) will deliver a lot more power!! You like living dangerously, I'll say... I bet that's a super thrower if it's not loosing lumens from the heat and being actually dimmer than at spec.

I'd go with 2 cells alkaline DD... but that's me...

 

[3rd_shift]

It's a Luxeon3 R/O. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[IsaacHayes]

Oh, Ok. you'll be fine then it has better thermal transfer due to the 4x larger die. You were scaring me and intrigue'ing me at the same time when I thought it was a 1W overdriven!

 

[3rd_shift]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wow.gif just retested with freshly charged nimh D cells.
1.1 amps going throught that lux3 R/O emitter.

With fresh Alkaline Rayovac D cells, 1.34 amps.
Looks like I found the winning setup to build in the future.
Luxeon3 red/orange bin g2g with a 1 ohm 5 watt resistor in a 3D Maglite. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[PJ]

I have a 2D pewter Mag with a R/O Lux III for sale.
PM sent.