FRIGHTENING Brightness From Latest Legend LS Mod

Hi everybody! I am back on CPF temporarily thanks to the help of Kubolaw who got me in through a vicarious web shell (Guardster.com) and though I can post, I cannot show pics or anything else (see my sig -- there is none 'cause it had pics in it).

Anyway if you recall I started LS-modding Legend 3AAs on DirectDrive and although the first ones were very bright (on alkalines the first one produced 488 lux, another one I kept for myself made 569 lux, a couple I put together as a favor to lemlux measured in the low 500's, all from one meter away), the latest iteration I just completed today blasted out a stunning 694 lux. And again, that was on alkalines.

For reference my Arc SLS and Lambda Illuminator and even the MiniMag Ill Pill are all in the mid- to high-200s range.

This seems to further confirm my (and everybody else's here) theory that Luxeon QC varies wildly, at least in the light output department. For your further information however, this particular Luxeon is from the latest batches manufactured. So maybe they're finally getting their act together. So if you are buying raw Luxeons, it would be advisable to try and get the latest manufacturing dates, as they seem to be consistently brighter than the older ones.

Now the brightest one up until today was the 569 lux example mentioned above, which "only" went 708 lux on lithiums. Wonder what this latest 694 jobber will do on lithiums, if it doesn't blow up on me...stay tuned (if I can get back on here again, that is).

Charlie,
What did you do with the 3 AAA bulbs from the Legends? I have a 3AAA legend, and could use them, as the bulb is starting to grow black.

Scott my friend, realize the potential of this mod and see if he will build one or you build one too... man that is bright for that small of a package MR. BULK, BTW long time no talk to you, I will try to contact you if you email is up.

Glad to see you are back on CPF Mr. Bulk! Things would be really really slow around here without both you and Darell! Thankfully Saaby is still here, or we would really be in a bind!

Absolutely incredible! Am glad to hear you scored on it - a keeper for sure.

But frankly, it really dissapoints me that Lumileds doesn't develope a grading method for selling their product.

It can make buying "matched" components difficult for buyers who intend to use them in multi-led applications - like Hydras. Then there are times that because of the high effort involved in building a mod, I'm more than willing to pay a premium price for a LED that is top shelf.

Maybe I should write this in to them.. I know I'm not the only one who see's this.

Buying Luxeons is a roll of the dice..

Charlie:

I can't tell you how much I'm waiting on pins and needles for the two LGI's with the "substandard" LS's that "only" put out "in the low 500's, all from one meter away." They'll get here before the Carley reflectors so I'll have plenty of time to -play with them before I get seriously distracted.

Scott, they're yours if you want'em. E-mail me, I lost yore e-mail in the last crash.

Bush by all means e-mail me also, as I lost your addy too!

Micah, thanks for the encouragement. Now if only things could get back to normal for my CPF access. I waited I swear almost 5 minutes to get to this posting point...

Slick, you NEED (not just Want) that light meter!

Clark, they said 2-3 days...(and they both went out yesterday).

MR Bulk, glad to see you finally made it back on.

I've been doing a lot of 3 cell DirectDrive mods and worry about limiting the life of the LS, or more so, burning it out. From what I've read here (unless I misunderstood), the cyan LS will better handle 3 cells (I'm using 3C in one and 3D in another) than the white, at least the white that I have, which was most likely from the 'older batch' you mentioned. I want to get a few more from the new batch or wait until the 5W are available.

By the way, the 3C direct drive cyan is REALLY bright!