super MJLED drop-in for MiniMag 2AA

I've been really enthusiastic about the MJLED drop-in for the MiniMag 2AA (or 2AAA) my first ones were what is now known as generation 2.

Please see -

MJLED drop-in for MiniMag 2AA

So when I read about the Super MJLED at Lambda with even better brightness and efficiency I had to get some to try out.
I ordered two last Saturday Jan/14 - and they were delivered yesterday Thursday Jan/19 - great service (considering the holiday Monday) from Kevin/Lambda.

So am I now jumping up and down being all enthusastic again? :huh:

No - I am somewhat disappointed :mecry: .

On plain but Fresh alkaline AAs this new Super MJLED looks no brighter than my gen2 MJLED (#2) - and the tint is much bluer with a purple tinge.

This is for BOTH my samples of the Super MJLED.

The LEDs don't look different from my original gen2 MJLEDs.


I found one was very easy to get well centered and symmetrical in my MiniMag AA host - I used the one that would give the new Super MJLED an advantage - this host has the Lambda pre-drilled reflector and the UCL glass lens whereas my gen2 MJLED has a home-drilled reflector and the original plastic lens

superMJLED vs. gen2 MJLED (my #2)

The brightness seem about the same - if anything the gen2 might be very slightly brighter - and it's on good but used AA alkalines and the Super MJLED is on fresh alkalines.

Here are some current draw readings using 10A scale -

Duracell set open-circuit = 3.03V
PairDeer set open-circuit = 3.06V

Super MJLED
D = 0.03A or 25.7mA on 200mA scale
P = 0.03A or 22.7mA on 200mA scale

gen2 MJLED (my #2)
D = 0.03A or 26.3mA on 200mA scale
P = 0.04A or 27.5mA on 200mA scale

with these low current readings one would expect extremely/insane long runtimes - and the brightness level is about the same or perhaps a bit brighter than a typical 1/2watt LED light....

gen2 MJLED (my #2) vs. AdvancedMart 0.5w 1x CR2


SuperMJLED vs. AdvancedMart 0.5w 1x CR2


but what a pity about that blue tint of the newer Super MJLED -
they're just not as "super" as my original gen2 MJLEDs even the greenish yellow one (my #1) ........

Another great post!

In my personaly experience, it seems that my SMJLED is quite a bit brighter than my MJLED if both are run on 'conditioned' lithium cells, but the MJLED can focus tighter.

Also, I'm not 100% sure of which version of MJLED I have, but I bought the entire light from lambda during his end of summer sale so I assume it is of recent vintage. The tints on mine are very similar... On the bluish side, but certainly not as blue as any of the 0.5W Nuwai lights I've owned.

I've done current measurements, but I'm not at my computer so I will post them later, just for a contrast against your alkaline cell measurements.

Overall, big thumbs up is my rating.

cratz2 wrote: "In my personaly experience, it seems that my SMJLED is quite a bit brighter than my MJLED if both are run on 'conditioned' lithium cells, but the MJLED can focus tighter."

There was an early version of the MJLED - "generation 1" - which got superceded by the obviously brighter and more efficient gen2 - round about Feb/2005 - when Lambda and Wayne at the Sandwich Shoppe split the shipment half-half - I bought the kit from Lambda first, then just the MJLED from the Sandwich Shoppe - they were both definitely generation 2.

These sold out really quickly at Lambda - then when people realized the Sandwich Shoppe had the same thing they also sold out shortly too.

Then there was a MJLED famine of sorts until some of the UNcut versions were offered in a group-buy and some CPF'ers (like wwglen) cut them down for a Homemade MJLED - these and the factory cut MJLEDs round about June/2005 (like the ones sold at LightHound) were called gen3 - most peole thought gen3 were cooler/bluer than gen2. It sounds like you have the gen3 MJLED.

I have one Homemade MJLED curtesy of wwglen and 2 MJLEDs from LightHound purchased a few months ago by their characteristics they seem like gen3.


cratz2 wrote: "The tints on mine are very similar... On the bluish side, but certainly not as blue as any of the 0.5W Nuwai lights I've owned."

Side-by-side beamshot of
Super MJLED vs. the notoriously blue-tinted Nuwai 0.5w 1AAA (TM-310H)


in real-life the Nuwai 1/2watt's hotspot is pretty obviously blue in comparison to the superMJLED (blue'ish but not too bad) -
but these beam shots seem to show that the side-spill tint are about as equally blue......

well, the SMJ should be run at 100 mA, so any battery other than lithium does not work
(thats why I am also not completely satisfied with them)

With Lithiums (5 mins min. run in another light b4 start with SMJ) they work great, and as MMs and Lithiums make for the perfect "put anywhere and use in case of blackout"-team, thats the way to go

(...and EDC any Step-up regulated Light with reachargeables and a Lux 1)
;-)

When you start looking at the costto performance ratio, the MJLED begins to look less appealing.

First the LED is $7.50. then you need $5 worth of lithium bats for best performance. Add a $5-$10 minimag-style body and you are looking at around $20. And replacement bats are darn expensive.

You can get those little 1/2 watters for half that price...and they run on alkies.
Until recently, you coud get the UK4AALED for $20 + shipping.
The Opalec drop-in is $17.50. Runs on whatever crappy bat you like--but it isn't as bright as the MJ.
An Attitude is ~$18, or less. You can add Nichia CS and make it a real screamer.

You can get a DorcyAAA for $6, and drop in a Nichia CS for $1 and you have a very bright and tiny light for $7.

I like the little MJ's, but don't find them to be terribly economical.
Oh boy...I sound just like Paulr!

Bob

Well, I just installed one of these in my GF's minimag last night. I think it has a pretty nice beam, and is decently powerful on 2 lithiums (more so than a 2AAA RR). I have yet to test the runtime claim of 35 hours on it, but I would imagine that the runtime is very impressive as well.

I do agree with the above poster that the SMJLED upgrade kit isn't the cheapest way to get a nice LED light.
I think that it is a good option for a person who reallys likes the Minimag or already had a Minimag and wants to upgrade it. It blows the Nite Ize out of the water, and that costs around $9 in most stores (besides walmart. lol).

Overall I am very pleased with it, and for most non flashaholics, it will get the job done!

pedalinbob said:

An Attitude is ~$18, or less. You can add Nichia CS and make it a real screamer.

You can get a DorcyAAA for $6, and drop in a Nichia CS for $1 and you have a very bright and tiny light for $7.

Bob

Click to expand...

Pedalinbob,

This should probably be another thread, but here goes: I have a drawer full of various lights, including the ones you mentioned, and would like to replace the old Nichia LEDs with brighter ones like you have. How hard is it? Is there a thread somewhere that gives instructions? I think I have something like 4-5 Attitudes, and the same number of DorcyAAA's. -Plus a bunch of similar lights.

FYI I didn't intend to sound so negative about the MJ, it is still a pretty nice product.

Regarding the Dorcy AAA mods: it is pretty easy, and you only need modest soldering skills.
Basically, you use wrenches to twist the head off, and the LED/circuit board pulls right out. The LED sits on top, and is very easy to desolder. I heat the solder, and use a toothpick to pry the legs away from the board.
Placing the new one only requires trimming the legs and soldering two points (watching polarity, of course).
Reassembly is a snap!

Once you have one open, you will see how simple it is--just how I like it!

The Attitude required a bit more patience because the LED's are soldered through circuit board. I think someone posted somewhere how to do it, but I do not recall where.

Hmmm...my quick search didn't turn up the threads on the mod, but if you try harder than I did, you will likely find it.

Bob

yellow wrote: "the SMJ should be run at 100 mA, so any battery other than lithium does not work
(thats why I am also not completely satisfied with them)"

Ah! OK... the penny has dropped.....

These Super MJLEDs may need Lithium AA's to reach full potential?

The original gen1 MJLEDs needed Lithiums to get good brightness - but when gen2 arrive the brightness was better on plain old alkalines than the gen1 on Lithiums.

That's the main reason I bought gen2 MJLEDs.

Many people asked me about running the gen2 MJLEDs on Lithiums -
being "cheap" I never did -
and a short while afterwards we started to hear reports of people burning out the MJLEDs on Lithiums -
so I remained pleased that I did not run them on Lithiums.

I think up to gen3 - ie: the June/2005 batch - the general knowledgable advice was not to use Lithium AAs with the MJLEDs.

The super MJLED may have improved brightness using Lithiums.

BUT they would appear to perform to the same level of brightness on plain alkalines as the previous gen2 and gen3 MJLEDs -
with I think a worsening of tint......

UnknownVT wrote: "The super MJLED may have improved brightness using Lithiums."

Re-reading the Lambda Super MJLED page more carefully
it says about the Super MJLED -
"These are even brighter than the original MJLED!"

The "Original" MJLEDs are the gen1 -
my all gen2 and gen3 MJLEDs (even on alkalines) are brighter than that.

Note: also on that page:
"WARNING - Do not attempt to use the MJLED with any other type lithium cell such as 3.6V LiIon cells; SMJLED will let out the magic smoke and work no more..."

Can anyone actually do a current draw reading on the Super MJLED comparing 1.5V Lithium AA, and fresh plain alkalines - please? Thanks

pedalinbob said:

Regarding the Dorcy AAA mods: it is pretty easy, and you only need modest soldering skills.
Basically, you use wrenches to twist the head off, and the LED/circuit board pulls right out. The LED sits on top, and is very easy to desolder. I heat the solder, and use a toothpick to pry the legs away from the board.
Placing the new one only requires trimming the legs and soldering two points (watching polarity, of course).
Reassembly is a snap!

Once you have one open, you will see how simple it is--just how I like it!

The Attitude required a bit more patience ..
Bob

Click to expand...

Thanks Bob!

UnknownVT said:

Can anyone actually do a current draw reading on the Super MJLED comparing 1.5V Lithium AA SNIP ...

Click to expand...

My lowest Vf SMJLED in a Solataire with one unprotected AW AAA Li-Ion charged to 4.21V, and Pro-Gold contacts, draws over 400mA, and rapidly heads up towards 30 second (a guess) self destruction. Even a few seconds above 400mA, and the phosphor begins to discolor from the heat. These are durable little suckers, but A RESISTOR IS REQUIRED FOR FULL LI-IONS! Heat sinking would also be a good idea if pushing above the 100mA limit indicated in the sales thread.

A resistor or linear active curent limiter in a 2 AA Li-Ion MM would be too inefficient, for me, at about 30%. But it IS possible with the board mod below. Resistance estimate is (8.3Vbatts-3.2Vf)/100mA or ~ 51 Ohms. Four 200 Ohms SMTs should do the trick.

For you fans of Ledean single AA MiniMag cutdowns, I am attempting a DIY single Li-Ion-SMJLED resistor mod, using a 10 ohm resistor board for a McE2 switch. ($8 from Lighthound) Reduce the diameter ~1.5-2mm, put part of an insulating washer on the low (bare) part of the component side, and solder a ~1inch loop of ~#16 solid copper wire on the outside trace of the bare side. This "zero space" solution would lay over the stock spring. If you have some of these boards and a MiniMag, think about it, and please share any ideas.

UnknownVT wrote: "Re-reading the Lambda Super MJLED page more carefully
it says about the Super MJLED -
"These are even brighter than the original MJLED!"

The "Original" MJLEDs are the gen1 -
my all gen2 and gen3 MJLEDs (even on alkalines) are brighter than that."

These Super MJLEDs are only brighter than the original (gen1) MJLEDs - they do not appear any brighter than my gen2 or gen3 MJLEDs (I have more than 1 of each gen) on regular alkaline AAs

Here's some speculation - pure guesswork - I think these super MJLEDs are the same or very similar to the last known disinctive generation - ie: gen3.
I base this pure guess on the many similarities - not just the similar brightness levels, but even the (blue'ish) tint to my samples of the gen3 MJLEDs.

Even if these Super MJLEDs are a newer generation (gen4?) -
they are actually not that different from the previous gen3 from circa June-July/2005.

I am a bit confused here. I just bought the SMJLED and used it with two Battery station AA Lithiums straight out. I'm hearing the term "conditioning". Am I damaging my LED by not running out the initial voltage peak with these batteries on some other light? It seems to run little or no brighter than Alkaline cells. Is conditioning just a precaution or is there a history of damaged LEDs using 1.5 v. Lithiums?

Over the course of three versions of the MJLED and now the SMJLED, some users report that if using them on fresh lithium cells, they may start to strobe indicating they are significantly overdriven so Lambda cautions to use the cells in another device for maybe 5 minutes to take the initial 'hotness' of the lithium cells away. This is what I've always done... just put them in a minimag with an incand bulb for a couple minutes. I still have the first MJLED I ever bought and it's still going fine.

Keep in mind, these are still production items... regardless of what the sell for individually on CPF, they probably cost about five cents to make. This isn't meant in any way negative against Lambda, but they are production items made by the boxload or cartload... Out of 100, maybe only 10 really need to have their cells conditions. But at $7 a pop, what does it hurt to condition the cells for a couple minutes... the Lithiums still last for 20+ hours... Is 2 minutes every 20 hours use really that inconvinient?



Some folks also find that the MJLED on 2 alkaline cells is plenty bright for them... Me personally, they seem to be quite a bit brighter on 2 lithium cells rather than 2 alkaline cells.

cratz2 said:

the Lithiums still last for 20+ hours... Is 2 minutes every 20 hours use really that inconvinient?
.

Click to expand...

Aw, don't tell me all the graphs of "35 hours to 50% on Lithiums" are bunky, that's the whole reason I got these!
Has anyone put one of these puppys to sit for a day or two, to see how they measure up? I know I'm curious. I have a predrilled reflector at a friends house, god only knows when I'll get there, to try it myself.

Oh no no no no no... I'm not taking away from those graphs and tests at all... I can just 100% assure you that 20 hours later, you'll still be completely happy. Anything beyond that is just gravy!

In all honesty, I don't use my MJLED lights that much and have certainly never done a timed test or anything like that.

cratz2 said:

...Keep in mind, these are still production items... regardless of what the sell for individually on CPF, they probably cost about five cents to make. This isn't meant in any way negative against Lambda, but they are production items made by the boxload or cartload... Out of 100, maybe only 10 really need to have their cells conditions. But at $7 a pop, what does it hurt to condition the cells for a couple minutes...

Click to expand...

These SMJLED emitters are far from cheap productions items. They are not a dime a dozen emitters.

It takes months of manufacturer hand selecting these overachieving emitters from their normal batches. The SMJLED emitters are very rare compared to standard emitters. The super emitters are sent to another machine shop where they are carefully polished.

How often do you see a 5mm emitter with a Vf low enough to run on 3 volts? Only the SMJLED emitters run from that low a voltage. The emitters 'sip' the voltage from batteries. That is why the emitter run time is so long.

The emitters cost a lot more than you think. Wouldn't a lot of sellers on Ebay have them if they were cheap to make?

Ah, thanks for that Cratz, ya had me worried for a second. The one funny thing I did notice was this:
I put one smjled in the mm that had been using the TLE5, with 2 pretty much full alkalines. It was so dim, it was like a PALight on off/standby. When I put in a pair of fresh lithiums, I of coarse wasn't expecting it, and caught it in the face.Nice and bright. Then I put the smjled in a different mm, with what I thought were deader alks, and it was still bright.
I just can't figure out why a TLE5 looked fine and the smj looked dead, with that one set of batts.

TLE5 has a boost circuit that runs good down to about 1.8-2 volts.

The MJLED needs 3.0 - 3.1 Volts.

The super MJLED probably needs 2.9-3.1 volts

wwglen