How much would you pay for a Quad-Lux?

I'm wanting to sell semi-large volumes of modified 2D and 1D cell Maglites in a Tri/Quad-Lux configuration. My new driver design allows full power 12 watt total drive up to 4 Lux III's from 2 NIMH D cells (10-12Ah) and up to 8 watts total with a single cell. The current draw for the battery on the single cell version is about 9 amps. I'll be asking $125 for a Tri-Lux and $150 for a Quad-lux for the 2 cell versions. The single cell versions will be $25 more. I'm trying to keep the price low and I'm just wondering if there's much demand for this sort of thing.

I'm sure someone will be asking- I might as well ask it... what bin luxIIIs do you think you'll be using? It might be worth waiting a bit and seeing how the U and V bin K2s are when they come out- if they can be bought for *cheap* when they become available, that might be a good way to get a lot more light for a lot less bones.

I've been following the other thread with interest, and I'm just waiting for you to announce these are for sale. I'll definitely buy a tri-lux at your prices. Heck, the cost of parts alone is probably worth it.

I don't even care too much about the bin of the Luxeons, as long as they are some nice T bins.

Ty_Bower said:

I've been following the other thread with interest, and I'm just waiting for you to announce these are for sale. I'll definately buy a tri-lux at your prices. Heck, the cost of parts alone is probably worth it.

I don't even care too much about the bin of the Luxeons, as long as they are some nice T bins.

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I plan on using T-bins at least, but K2's will be my eventual choice.

I'd be much more inclined towards buying a circuit that can deliver 1.5A to 4 or more K2's.

Kryosphinx said:

I'd be much more inclined towards buying a circuit that can deliver 1.5A to 4 or more K2's.

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I can design a circuit to do that with 2 cells (2.4 volts), but the circuit I already have designed is limited to 1 Amp drive per lux. I use it because it will operate with one cell very well but it's 75-85% efficient. You'll need at least 90% efficiency to drive 20 watts, otherwise the circuit will disipate so much heat it'll run away and possibly fail. If you plan on driving 20 watts into the head of a Maglite, you might consider the fact you won't be able to run it too long without fins.

Ty_Bower said:

I've been following the other thread with interest, and I'm just waiting for you to announce these are for sale. I'll definately buy a tri-lux at your prices. Heck, the cost of parts alone is probably worth it.

I don't even care too much about the bin of the Luxeons, as long as they are some nice T bins.

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Same here just waiting for the annoucement, I want a 1D.
Pay Pal Ready.
Thanks

I'll be contacting everyone that's expressed an interest in the B/S/T forum very soon. Just thought I'd get an idea of what I might expect in the future in terms of how popular this mod, at this price will be.

Sounds sweet. Pricing is fair.
What's the current draw in the 2 cell version?

I guess it won't sell to the general user like a Fenix would, but those who buy lights like Pentafour and Tesla-6 might be interested in something like that. Small but multi-lux with a decent runtime, and regulated.

Interesting. Would be on the look out for the 1D cell sized version.

I suggest to sell in a kit, not assembled. That would let people select their luxeons (and maybe save some money).

LEDcandle said:

Sounds sweet. Pricing is fair.
What's the current draw in the 2 cell version?

I guess it won't sell to the general user like a Fenix would, but those who buy lights like Pentafour and Tesla-6 might be interested in something like that. Small but multi-lux with a decent runtime, and regulated.

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The current draw on the 2 cell version is 4.5 Amps for the Tri-lux and 6 for the Quad-Lux.

glire said:

I suggest to sell in a kit, not assembled. That would let people select their luxeons (and maybe save some money).

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I'll definately consider that.

MillerMods said:

If you plan on driving 20 watts into the head of a Maglite, you might consider the fact you won't be able to run it too long without fins.

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The general rule of thumb for incandescents is 10 watts is about the limit before the stock reflector starts to melt. I realize these tri- and quad-luxes don't use the stock reflector, but isn't the IMS reflector basically made of the same stuff?

Incandescents also tend to throw a lot of their watts out the front in the form of heat. Luxeons dump their heat into the heatsink, with little radiated heat. Does a ten watt Luxeon make the head of the light get hotter than a ten watt incandescent bulb?

I'm sure there are people who have been building high watt multi-luxes for a long time, and they've already figured out these answers. I'm just curious...

MillerMods said:

The current draw on the 2 cell version is 4.5 Amps for the Tri-lux and 6 for the Quad-Lux.

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Thanks! And as standard, the luxes will be driven at 1000ma each? or is it made to order?

The 1D sounds really nice but a 2D has a more practical runtime for longer use. The only gripe I have is the standard 2D mag is a little long as Mag makes its tubes longer for all the spare parts and stuff.

In a lux mod however, we don't need the extra tailcap space and long spring etc... a cutdown 2D mag running a shortened spring would be ideal.

How about the 1D mag? Will it be cutdown but only to reuse the stock mag D spring or will it be made as short as possible with a cutdown spring? Thanks!

LEDcandle - good questions. Just curious - what do you think is a practical runtime on high? I thought that MillerMods estimated 1.5 hrs on high for a 1 D tri-lux at 2 watts per lux was pretty decent. I don't remember whether an estimate or guestimate was given for a quad-lux.

Ned

LEDcandle said:

Thanks! And as standard, the luxes will be driven at 1000ma each? or is it made to order?

The 1D sounds really nice but a 2D has a more practical runtime for longer use. The only gripe I have is the standard 2D mag is a little long as Mag makes its tubes longer for all the spare parts and stuff.

In a lux mod however, we don't need the extra tailcap space and long spring etc... a cutdown 2D mag running a shortened spring would be ideal.

How about the 1D mag? Will it be cutdown but only to reuse the stock mag D spring or will it be made as short as possible with a cutdown spring? Thanks!

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Hello Ned-L

I think with one 12000mah single Nimh-1D, 3x 3WLux at 1000mA will run about 50 Minutes. Thats my estimation.
We will see, what the reality will show us.

Best regards

______
Tom

Ty-Bower -- About 99% of the heat goes into the head because LED's produce cold light. Given the efficiency of LED's at 30 lumens/watt, that means about 85% of the energy used by the LED is converted directly to heat. That heat goes directly into the heat sink and head. With no fins, the stock head does fairly well at dissipating around 12 watts. At 12 watts it will get good and hot after about 10-15 minutes of just sitting, maybe longer if it's being moved around. But as temperature gets higher on the head, the differential between it and ambient temperature increases, so it reaches a point where it won't get any hotter, unless convection air current is eliminated (i.e. under a blanket), and then it can get as hot as a soldering iron. I haven't had the pleasure of using fins on the head yet, but I hope it will allow for 20 watts.

LED Candle-- My standard driver will be 950mA-1000mA drive into an H-binned Vf at 3.25 Volts. The circuit is very large, so I need the extra space in front of the switch. The cut-down is a standard Mag that lopped off at the bottom and uses the standard tail cap. This keeps the cost down also.

Ned-L-- Runtimes will be coming soon, but I have another estimate that the runtimes will be about 1 hour and 10 minutes with a single cell and a drive of 2 watts into 4 Luxes. This estimate is based on 9 amps of current draw from a 12Ah cell.

Long John said:

Hello Ned-L

I think with one 12000mah single Nimh-1D, 3x 3WLux at 1000mA will run about 50 Minutes. Thats my estimation.
We will see, what the reality will show us.

Best regards

______
Tom

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Can you share the math with us? Include that the efficiency of the driver is at least 75%.

Here's my math: 1.1 volts times 12000mA = 13.2 watt hours times 95% capacity down to 1 volt at 1C current draw = 12.54 watt hours of capacity

12.54 times 75% convertor efficiency = 9.41 watt hours divided by 8 watts drive total to the Luxes = 1.18 hours of runtime.

It'll be very close to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

LEDcandle's post got me wondering at what point does it pay to machine the light versus modifying an existing light? For instance, Elektro Lumens Little Friend is a 3x 3W Luxeon light running on 4aaa with an estimated 20-30 minutes runtime on high for a pre-sale price of $110. I am not crazy about the 4aaa NIMH or the rather limited runtime which is why I am interested in MillerMod's project. The 2 D trilux for $125 sounds very reasonable, but when you go to the 1D with fins it starts to get a little pricey (note I am not saying unreasonable). Just wondering is it a volume thing?