Oak
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2006
- Messages
- 5
Been lurking, but this is my first post. Hi all!
I have been playing with the Dorcy 3D luxeon flashlights for awhile (now on sale at Target for $5.48)
These are fascinating as the beams are brighter and with equal or more throw than anything else I have.
Note : The luxeon leds are off center on the lights I have seen.
They were mechanically designed to be centered, but for some reason the assemblers reversed the leds.
If yours is off center, all you have to do to correct this and get a nicer beam is unscrew the head from the body, expose the luxeon, and unscrew it with a small Phillips screwdriver, carefully noting which side gets the fiber washer, since the other bare screw conducts current to the led.
See this link to see the luxeon mounting. http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=113883
Then, just turn the led 180 degrees and the red wire will be pulled out a little more from the flashlight body. The screw threads in the aluminum can strip, so be gentle.
If a thread strips out you can use a slightly larger self taping sheet metal screw instead.
After the led is reversed you may note it is much better centered.
You can put some heat sink grease on the back; I did, but it probably made little difference. You must keep the bare screw clean though, as it conducts current.
There is another way to focus the beam: it's funny, but apparently this is the way the assemblers did it at the factory instead of using the right mounting holes.
If you look into the reflector portion of the head (http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=113883, fifth picture down, center item) you will see the silvered reflector mounted by a white plastic screw washer with four slots in it.
If this washer is loosened by inserting a tool into one of the slots and turning counter clock wise (don't slip), then the reflector can be turned to focus the beam more sharply and center the led better.
If you can see four dark lines coming out of the beam center, two on each side of the white center (sorry, I can't get a beam shot right now), those lines are the shadow of the led bonding wires, then you have focused it perfectly, although its not necessary to do so.
While you are at it, with the luxeon loose, note the numbers stamped on the back.
The two Dorcy 3Ds I have are as follows, all measured with the same batteries:
# 1. RYAJW 0167004 0705LXHLMWID, drawing 0.46 amps on my 20 amp meter range, beam snow white color.
# 2. RYAHW 0321047 410SLXHLMW1D, drawing 0.57 amps , beam white with slight yellow tint.
For comparison my Maglite 3D draws 0.85 amps.
Using a color and angle corrected GE light meter with a large diffuser, # 1 Dorcy reads 1.25 time the brightness of my maglite, and # 2 reads 1.4 x the maglite. Its hard to give an accurate lux reading as the beam is diffused and filtered, but as a relative comparison:
3D maglite about 26 lux
# 1 Dorcy about 32 lux
# 2 Dorcy about 38 lux
I would swear that # 2 Dorcy looks 50 percent brighter than # 1, but my light meter says otherwise.
I originally bought the flashlights to remove the luxeons to mod with, but I have been so satisfied with them that I am leaving them as they are.
Notice that at half an amp and 4.5 volts the luxeons are dissipating 2 plus watts as noted by the previous post.
I wonder what the light output curve is for overdriving 1 watt luxeons?
It seems that an overdriven 1 watt luxeon is brighter than some 3 watt units. Does anyone have any data?
I have been playing with the Dorcy 3D luxeon flashlights for awhile (now on sale at Target for $5.48)
These are fascinating as the beams are brighter and with equal or more throw than anything else I have.
Note : The luxeon leds are off center on the lights I have seen.
They were mechanically designed to be centered, but for some reason the assemblers reversed the leds.
If yours is off center, all you have to do to correct this and get a nicer beam is unscrew the head from the body, expose the luxeon, and unscrew it with a small Phillips screwdriver, carefully noting which side gets the fiber washer, since the other bare screw conducts current to the led.
See this link to see the luxeon mounting. http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=113883
Then, just turn the led 180 degrees and the red wire will be pulled out a little more from the flashlight body. The screw threads in the aluminum can strip, so be gentle.
If a thread strips out you can use a slightly larger self taping sheet metal screw instead.
After the led is reversed you may note it is much better centered.
You can put some heat sink grease on the back; I did, but it probably made little difference. You must keep the bare screw clean though, as it conducts current.
There is another way to focus the beam: it's funny, but apparently this is the way the assemblers did it at the factory instead of using the right mounting holes.
If you look into the reflector portion of the head (http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=113883, fifth picture down, center item) you will see the silvered reflector mounted by a white plastic screw washer with four slots in it.
If this washer is loosened by inserting a tool into one of the slots and turning counter clock wise (don't slip), then the reflector can be turned to focus the beam more sharply and center the led better.
If you can see four dark lines coming out of the beam center, two on each side of the white center (sorry, I can't get a beam shot right now), those lines are the shadow of the led bonding wires, then you have focused it perfectly, although its not necessary to do so.
While you are at it, with the luxeon loose, note the numbers stamped on the back.
The two Dorcy 3Ds I have are as follows, all measured with the same batteries:
# 1. RYAJW 0167004 0705LXHLMWID, drawing 0.46 amps on my 20 amp meter range, beam snow white color.
# 2. RYAHW 0321047 410SLXHLMW1D, drawing 0.57 amps , beam white with slight yellow tint.
For comparison my Maglite 3D draws 0.85 amps.
Using a color and angle corrected GE light meter with a large diffuser, # 1 Dorcy reads 1.25 time the brightness of my maglite, and # 2 reads 1.4 x the maglite. Its hard to give an accurate lux reading as the beam is diffused and filtered, but as a relative comparison:
3D maglite about 26 lux
# 1 Dorcy about 32 lux
# 2 Dorcy about 38 lux
I would swear that # 2 Dorcy looks 50 percent brighter than # 1, but my light meter says otherwise.
I originally bought the flashlights to remove the luxeons to mod with, but I have been so satisfied with them that I am leaving them as they are.
Notice that at half an amp and 4.5 volts the luxeons are dissipating 2 plus watts as noted by the previous post.
I wonder what the light output curve is for overdriving 1 watt luxeons?
It seems that an overdriven 1 watt luxeon is brighter than some 3 watt units. Does anyone have any data?
