Major Problem with all LED Lights

I've got well over 100 LED flashlights. The technology is moving so fast that I am not inspired to buy many more lights. The advantages of having a lifetime bulb greatly diminish when you consider that I seldom every use my early purchases.

This is very unlke my previous flashlight experiences with Mag and Streamlight incad lights which I used with great joy for 30 years and only on occasion replaced the bulb with some better that came out. Now I have tons of LED light and only use a few and they are already obsolete.

Yes Yes Yes - I have all the LED lights because I have fun playing and experimenting with them and i can afford it - but I must say I miss the old times when you could buy a Maglight and use it with pride for several decades. * Yes, I know that Mags haven't been out forever, but I'm referring to that type of heavy aluminun police light - I thnk I have as early as the Bianchi forrunner whatever.

Of course, I will still be buying new LED lights to play with and experiment and eventually have the ability to light up my whole neighborhood during a power outage.

Incand's are now saturated in developing....
LED's are still improving.... (one of the major reason, why MAG didn't jump in to LED) from their Point of View, They are still early

It's true that the first generation White LED's are useless as compared with Today's Nichia's .. but then again, all the time, we always want to have the "New" and cannot wait for tech. to maturate... isn't it?

there is a talk going on for the new LED's that will directly emit white light (some zinc - sulphate... etc) technology and that it would work with vf of 2.2 to 2.4 .. they are still trying to improve on Lumens/watt... untill they settle down for 120 Lumens per watt (at rated current & normal operating conditions) ....

Sure... some LED Driver's gonna be extint

I feel that it would take atleast 10 years from now for LED's to get "Mature"

not sure though but some say edison took about 12 years to perfect a simple bulb working ....

I agree,

I have scores of lights that I'm never going to EDC and only have a hope of practical use if there is a major power cut or if my children take a liking to them or if suddenly they become the retro 'in' thing on CPF!

Until then they remain shelf queens or stuck in a drawer if they're not too lovely to look at.

But I still get a kick out of having them for comparisons, play, counting them all etc.

Even though the ultimate LED has not reached maturity as you put it, how can it? There will always be something greater just around the corner. And I think you'll find that incandescents too are improving.

This, as they say, is the nature of progress.

I think I'll keep collecting all the various stages on the way to perfection.

Or at least those I can afford...



Incand is Bright, LED is White...or whatever!

I see LEDs like digital cameras, the technology is fast moving making last years model obsolete. At least with lights, for the most part,you have a solid well made device that will last decades. Digital cameras seem too fragile and prone to breakage. I am holding off buying more LEDs at least until K2 emitters make to production lights.

As you noted, there has been a transition in the world of incandescents as well to bulbs like halogens, and krypton and xenon filled bulbs that signifcantly improve the performance over the bulbs from 30+ years ago. I'd suspect the argument here may be more a case of the LED lights not having consumer removable/replaceable components (at least not for the average consumer) that would allow them to be upgraded. That, I'm afraid is more indicative of today's throwaway culture, though that too may change when the economy of China grows to the point where it is no longer able to provide cheap labor to build disposable products.

Yukon_Jack said:

This is very unlke my previous flashlight experiences with Mag and Streamlight incad lights which I used with great joy for 30 years and only on occasion replaced the bulb with some better that came out. Now I have tons of LED light and only use a few and they are already obsolete.

Click to expand...

Incand's are now saturated in developing....
LED's are still improving.... (one of the major reason, why MAG didn't jump in to LED) from their Point of View, They are still early

I would disagree. Incans are still being developed, and while lamp technology PROBABLY won't take a quantum leap as LED's seem to be doing, they will show a significant improvement in the near future as more lights are introduced with regulation.

Bill

Well, that's why it's never a good idea to invest too heavily in a developing technology-unless of course you consider it a collecting hobby. LEDs are currently at a breakneck pace of development and this will likely continue for a good 5 years at least, if not longer. What makes this interesting is that previous light-emitting technologies (incandescent, fluorescent, HID) are all more or less mature, yet none can convert even 1/3 of the electrical power into light. Sure, this means there is plenty of room for improvement yet despite decades of development it is doubtful if these technologies can improve much more than perhaps 10 to 15%. LEDs however show signs of being able to reach at least 50% wallplug efficiencies, and there are really no theoretical or practical reasons why they can't approach 100%. What this means is that sooner or later (probably sooner) LEDs will reach a plateau where there is little if any theoretical room for improvement since they'll be approaching unity in their conversion efficiency. Unlike other technologies where the possibility of some breakthrough might exist down the road simply because current incarnations are not that efficient, and that possibility keeps you from investing too heavily, once LEDs plateau in about 10 years time it'll be a situation of few if any possible improvements (save for ever decreasing cost).

As for the other technologies, I think fluorescent and other discharge lamps will definitely have a place for at least another 10 to 20 years (basically until the next round of fixture replacements in commercial buildings). Incandescent has already made whatever improvements it can with halogen bulbs and infrared coatings. Short of a discovery of a new filament material which can burn at a much higher temperature than tungsten, there just isn't any realistic possibility of further improvements. If anything, incandescents are rapidly being replaced in the smaller sizes already by LEDs which are at least as efficient, and often 2 to 3 times better. This trend will only accelerate as LEDs become more efficient and cheaper. It's probably obvious that in 5 years time incandescents will be relegated to niche uses, much as amplifier tubes are now. Even now, there really isn't much incentive to develop a better incandescent since whatever we do will likely only be eclipsed by LEDs in short order.

Your problem is part of the fun of modding!
I have three lights were brighter is always better and the LED drivers can handle the changing voltages/current loads. My MillerMods Fenix 1.7 watt L1P hits the R bin at 490mA so a T-bin K2 (at 350mA) would be a 80% improvement in output. If the voltage going to the LED goes down, my runtime increases. Just grab the soldering iron and make the swap (it is easy to open now)
The nFlex LuxeonV Mag mod will be simple to upgrade. Resolder in a ??? LED say... 2.4V at 1,000mA for 250 lumens or something in the upcoming years. No problem, the buck regulator will adjust to the change.
Going for S-bin K2's for Andrew Wynn's BAM project. Yeah, it will adjust to the change also. 400 lumens in summer 2006 changing to 1,000 lumens in 2009? will be a rather simple task.
My EDC 2AA Mediterranean is not a big worry. It is a tough light, reconfigurable and puts out enough light with decent runtime. Sure, there will be brighter LEDs in the coming years but I am content with the Med.
Keychain EDC's are progressing quickly. Those are the puppies that always seem to be improving. The great thing about them is genuine Luxeon goodness can be had for $25 (MillerMods Arc clone Luxeon) to $50 (Fenix L0P) or $50 for the Peak Pacific AAA with regulation thrown in and different battery options/bodies to fit your needs.
Once I complete the BAM! 400 lumen, 4 K2 Luxeon light... I will enter the phase of general contentment. Upgrade LEDs here and there... maybe throw some dual 3.7V Lithium-Ion D cells to feed the thing.

Modding... feed the need to advance but keep your favorite lights running... and running brighter and longer.