TerraLUX Maxstar5 K2 5W U BIN LED for Maglite**Got mine Today**

I originally posted this in the original thread from BATTERJUNCTION but it got lost in the shuffle.

Well I got mine today, thanks for the fast shipping. Installation is simple. Just screw it on. I put it in a 5 "C" Cell. Its definetly brighter than the maglite bulb. But not as bright as I thought it would be. I was also hoping for a bigger hotspot. The hotspot on the terralux is just a little bigger than the maglite bulb. About 12" at 20 feet. Very white though. As soon as it gets dark Ill check the throw. If it gets even close to the run times they are talking about its well worth the money. Thanks Terralux and BATTERYJUNCTION.

Just took it out to check the throw........DAMN!!!!!! This thing is got the longest throw Ive ever seen. I was lighting up trees more than 100 yards away. The Terralux is ALOT better at throw than the MAGLED. At 25-30 yards the hot spot is about 8 feet in diameter and pure white. At 100 yards its just a little bigger. Im really impressed with this bulb. Its well worth the money.

Thank you for the report, mhubble.

Any chance you can give us the "current draw"
on new Alkaline cells ?

Looking forward to any other insights you can offer.

Any chance you can give us the "current draw"
on new Alkaline cells ?

Click to expand...

Tell me how to do it and Ill try.

Here are my MaxStar5 measurements with fresh Duracell Alkalines. I used a 4D flashlight and stacked up the proper number of cells. Then I used a DMM on the 10A scale at the tailcap for 15 seconds.

6D cells 400 mA
5D cells 460 mA
4D cells 540 mA
3D cells 420 mA

These measurements don't make a whole lot of sense at first glance. But I can tell you I verified them three times!

Here are the wattages pulled out of the batteries from my measurements above. These numbers all assume 1.5V per cell.

6D 3.60 W
5D 3.45 W
4D 3.24 W
3D 1.89 W

I don't think the emitter is getting 5W, unless the law of Energy Conservation is broken by this drop-in

One more prediction. Since a good Alkaline D cell has 20500 mA*h, expect the following life for flat regulation:

6D 51.2 hours
5D 44.6 hours
4D 38.0 hours
3D 48.8 hours

However, I have no idea at what voltage the 3D cell flashlight will kick out at. I have the feeling this drop-in isn't appropriate for 3D mags.

For comparison sake, the TLE-DB3 drop-in for 3 cell mags uses 620 mA with 3D cells. That's 2.79 W for 33.1 hours of operation.

This explains why my comparison of beamshots between the 3W(3D) and 5W(4D) weren't much different. The MaxStar5 was running at only 16% higher wattage, which is linearly extrapolated to only 16% more light output.

I would like to see somebody from Teralux or Batteryjunction explain the readings you got. As little as I know it doesnt make any sense to me either.

Let me see if I can get simultaneous current and voltage readings at the device to get a more precise wattage result... stay tuned.

6D 8.73 V at .40A (3.49W)
5D 7.24 V at .46A (3.33W)
4D 5.76 V at .54A (3.11W)
3D 4.36 V at .42A (1.83W) ...Visibly dimmer & cooler to the touch

mhubble, ignore the amps drawn. The watts tell you how much energy is being used. The 3D should be using around 2.9-3.0 watts if the device was working consistently.

All the wattages should be around 6 if the emitter is delivering a true 5W.

Battery used: Duracell MN1300

Weird. Maybe its the BIN and K2 that gets more lumens per watt so even at a 3 watt draw it'll be 25% brighter than a Luxeon 3Watt. This sure is different than what Matt was told, TerraLUX said it should run at around 1000mA if my info is right, I just want the brightest Mag Drop in I can get, if this is it then fine. What is the draw of a Direct Drive drop in, I know Newbie did a draw on the MAG 2D led at starting about 1250mA but with in 5-10 minutes or so it went to about 450mA. Your info does bare out the fact that you need a 4 cell light or 6V to keep it in high gear.

SuperTorch said:

Your info does bare out the fact that you need a 4 cell light or 6V to keep it in high gear.

Click to expand...

Probably 5 cells minimum if you want to use NiMH batteries!!

with 4D cells, I'm get 3.35 V at the emitter. (At 15 seconds)

At 100% efficiency of the driver, it would be 930 mA. Derate as you see fit.

Your useing alkalines right?

New Copper Tops!

Here are my MaxStar5 measurements with fresh Duracell Alkalines...

duhh, I was so focused on the numbers I never looked at the batt types. Can't wait for graph info and light output numbers.

The MaxStar5 operates the LED between 3.5 to 4 Watts over the range of 5-9 Volts. It drops to 3 Watts at 4.5 Volts and gradually decreases to about 3 Volts where it shuts down. The circuitry reduces the battery voltage to accommodate a constant current thru the LED, but as the battery voltage falls, the circuit steps out of the way, and does not shut the unit off abruptly as the Mag circuit does. So the current through the LED is 1.1 Amps over most of the voltage range. At 4.5 Volts about 0.9 Amps is still going thru the LED.

This is a quote of the specs. In comparison, my device is significantly underperforming.

Sorry I havent been around, My internet has been down since last night. Thanks for all the great info. I think this afternoon Im going to start a runtime test and see how this bulb performs. Ill keep you all posted.

mhubble,

Glad to have you back!

Can you perform current/voltage measurements like I did, before doing the runtime? Let's see if your device is running to the same specs as mine.

I would be interested to see some beamshots of this bulb in action if anyone has any or knows of any links to some. :rock:
I would also like to see a side by side comparison between the 4d Magled and this bulb.
That and the current/ voltage comparison between the bulbs that each of you have.
Not trying to be demanding or anything.:lolsign:

If anyone would like to host several pictures, I could provide the following beamshots comparisons:

Stock incandescent 3D mag
TLE-DB3 on 3D cells
TLE-6K2 on 3D cells
Stock incandescent 4D mag
TLE-6K2 on 4D cells

PM me if you are interested. The beamshots will be made after the sun goes down on the east coast.