Diamond LED with Zetex Driver

x2x3x2

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1- in terms of proper heat sinking, how well does the 1 watt with Zetex driver fare?
2- is the Luxeon 1 being overdriven in the Zetex driver version? if so, how much is the LED's lifetime reduced by?

also when buying from flash-lights.com
http://www.flash-lights.com/product...w--LED-driver-fits-Maglite-2-3-C-D-cells.html
how do i know if im purchasing the unit with zetex or terralux circuit? doesnt seems specify either.
 
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lamperich

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Quickbeam test this unit (or the old version).

What i learned on cpf is if you want to drive a LED with 3 NIMH or Alkaline you need a driver with Buck & boost ability.

Since i read a lot threads about driver i know this driver are rare and inefficient (at least for now).That´s why it wasn´t a big surpirse what happen with Dougs unit.
 

x2x3x2

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im not familiar with what happened (what did happen anyway?) to the unit ur reffering to, neither about the buck n boost circuit. anyway, does that mean the LED with Zetex driver is a good or bad thing? thanks for the info.
 

turbodog

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I can only speak about the one I have.

I have the 1w regulated unit. "Regulated" is not really accurate....... ok it's more like a bald faced lie.

I conducted fairly extensive tests on it and can say: (bad stuff)
1. it's not regulated at all
2. it's a simple boost circuit

(good stuff)
1. It installs quickly
2. focus is really nice
3. it _is_ bright, even though it's just boosted

Since there's no regulation, the discharge pattern will match the pattern of typical alkaline/nimh cells.

It does get quite hot. Too hot to touch. But really now..... you're not going to use it enough to ever see it reach end of life or an unacceptable brightness level so who cares.

It's cheap and easy, and most people will be pleased with it. Buy one.
 

Css2000

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Hey X2,

I just purchased that very led in the link you posted. The estimated ship date in my UPS tracking shows I will get it Monday the 9th. I was assumeing that the one I'm getting is the Zetex version, because that is what they show in the picture. The Terralux version has the driver mounted on top of the bulb, which is very visible in the pictures of the two, inside the PDF document from the link you provided.
 
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x2x3x2

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thanks for the info guy, got another question tho... will i be signifigantly reducing the lifespan of teh LED if i use the one with Zetex circuit on a 3C mag? it seems to get pretty bright/overdriven for the review, almost 2x as bright as with 2C... any views on this?
 

Lobo

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Hijacking this thread (or rather repeating a question).
People keep mentioning that the Diamond LED 1w with Zetex driver must be overdriven, is this a bad thing and will it shorten the lifespann of the led considerably?

I was otherwise considering buying this bulb for a longrun light with descent flow and throw.
 

lamperich

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@ X2
yes look @ the heastsink of premium Moding Torchs! there is a little difference isn´t it?


unfortunately quickbeam didn´t do a runtimeplot with 3C/D again.
@ Doug WHY?
and where is the old page gone?
 
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x2x3x2

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ah i see.. is it acceptable to say that if i get the one with zetex circuit running on a 3c or even a 2c i should expect the luxeon led to degrade faster than normal due to the poor heatsinking and over-driving?
 
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