Which ArcLS is this?

OK...
Now that there is a small delay on the new one, that made up my mind to order an Arc LS once I get this figured out.

Question.
Exactly which flavor/run/type will I be getting from this vendor?
What exactly is coming out next month?
http://pocketlights.com/arcls.asp
He is shipping in October, 2002, so that means it will be a new group of them I think???

Thanks

I won't be making a big deal about this but soon, you will start seeing "hybrids". These are rev1 in everyway except the circuit (Wayne's rev2, current regulated) and the heat sink (rev2 as well to handle the higher current). They look indentical to the rev1 and are still referred to and cost the same as the LS1 because they have the batwing emitter. The difference? Brighter, short run time, hotter running, 1.4v cuttoff (does not work with most single AA packs).

Visually, the only way to tell them apart is to look at the positive battery contact. The rev2 board has a gold button while the rev1 board has a gold pad. One is flush with the board, the other is raised. Inside, they are quite different.

I believe the first vendor to get these is theledlight.com (they where the last to get the LS1 and the first to get the hybrid).

They should be getting their stock Tuesday or Wednesday.

Our next batch should be ready by the middle of October, maybe even ahead of schedule. All firsts from here out will be hybrids before they become full rev2 mutants. (allow me a little drama? )

In what may be a contraversial decision on my part, I lowered the blemish QC on these hybrids. This means it will be awhile before I make any hybrid seconds. The seconds we do have are all rev1. Now the beam on these hybrids is fully checked and we presorted all the greenish LEDs out. But we are short on good housings so I let pass units as firsts that had anodize blemishes and mismatches but otherwise great beams and bright (thanks to the new circuit). These all where tested free of the nasty flex bug as well.

Peter Gransee

So what is the visable differance in the LS1 hybrid beam & the LS2 beam? IN other words, how much difference will there be between the low & high dome LS's run at the same current?

I admit I am thick sometimes.
I hate returning things ( in fact I seldom do ).
I want to get it right the first time.
===============================================

I do not want anything else but this:

I want to get the best that Arc has to offer.
I want ONLY the ArcLs 123...the stubby one.
I want Waynes' Circuit
I want the extra heat sink.
I want WHITE...no green whatsoever
I would like the LS centered reasonably
Blemish is not an issue.

What do I ask for and how do I make sure I am getting this?

I went all over theledlight.com and could not find the ArcLs...Arrrgh.

Is there a simple way to get this?

The rev issues are confusing to me.

I know it will cost more to order from Arc, but I would be willing to just not to have to "wonder" if I am getting the right one.

Thanks

Seconding exactly what K-Bar just said.
-Also-will the hybrid definitely have the High Dome-Lambertian?

theledlight.com probally doesn't list us because they haven't got the stock yet. You can call them at 1-775-423-7388 though (their gonna love me... )

Hybrids are currently low dome (batwing) and will probally always be that way. The high domes (lambertian) will go into the LS2s, which will most likely be straight rev2 all the way through.

Rev1 is the current design. Rev2 is the new design. The rev2 design has new everything- new circuit, new housing, new power packs, etc. Hybrids are a mix of rev2 and 1.

I am not doing this to make things more complicated for you. The purpose of the hybrids are to help us transistion all these changes as smoothly as possible. There will be anywhere from a month to several months between each new feature. When at all possible, we will throw as many new features into a run as we can.

Right now, the PCBs are completed but the housings are not (waiting on the machine shop again). So, we are putting new PCBs in older housings.

Beam pics where posted here a while back. People, I have posted zillions of pictures (ok, maybe not that many, but a lot) in the past month in this very forum.

Ken, simple way? I try to make things simple but as long as we keep improving the product, its gonna be complicated. One day the LS will be as straightforward as the Arc-AAA.

Ok, you can't buy the LS1 (hybrid or no) from us directly. For now. The only dealer who will have them this week will be theledlight.com. You can call them and see if they have any left. Other dealers will follow in October. Eventually, we will even have them on our website again.

One other note (eek! more complications!), the hybrids we are making now have the wrong sense resistor installed. These are not your common resistors because they are low ohm, high precision parts. I specified 400mA, but the current hybrids are running closer to 500mA. This means that they will be brighter than later LS1s but the run time will also be shorter. It's kind of wild around here, so bear with us. Anyways, if you do any runtime graphs, just bear that in mind.

Peter Gransee

Originally posted by Gransee:
Beam pics where posted here a while back. People, I have posted zillions of pictures (ok, maybe not that many, but a lot) in the past month in this very forum.
Peter Gransee

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Actually, if this was in response to my question above, AFAIK there have never been a comparison shot between an Arc LS w/low dome run at 500mA & the prototype LS2 w/high dome LS.

Since low and high dome LS's have different beam profiles it would be nice if you could compare the LS1 hybrid against the LS2 proto. Unless of course I missed that picture somewhere.

Got it!
I need to wait for rev2.....although hybrids are probably almost as good and cheaper.

Thanks,
Ken

Hi Peter, I was the one that dropped by your facility last week and bought the Arc second. Thanks for the tour. Love the light. It is now carried everyday. Anyway, about that 500mA on the hybrids. Is that the bias of the LED's or is that the current draw of the batteries. Just curious. 500mA through the LED is a bit hot.

CM

Sean, your right, I haven't posted pics of a hybrid vs LS2. I do have LS1 vs LS2 though (I will have to search here).

CM, yes, 500mA is hot. We have a great heatsink though (one of the best there is) and the circuit has a thermal circuit breaker to protect all the parts. The housing will get hot but if the light is running, the LED is fine (since the breaker cuts out long before the LED gets too close to its danger level.

I will try to get you a pic Sean. I am behind on my regular duties since I am helping out with production (we all are) this week. I also need to see if the 2AAA pack will work on the Arc-AAA.

Peter Gransee

Thanks!

No hurry, keep working!

I'm waiting with baited breath to hear result of 2aaa pack on the arc aaa

Originally posted by Gransee:
The difference? Brighter, short run time, hotter running, 1.4v cuttoff (does not work with most single AA packs).

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I just read that again and I'm confused.
(So what else is new.)

Does that mean that the hybrids might not work with the 1xAA pack?
If so then how does that affect the people who ordered 4-piece kits?
Are they going to get a pack that can't even be used?

The 1xAA pack will not work (properly) with the LS1 hybrids & beyond. They 1xAA pack has been discontinued and will no longer be sold in the flashlight kits.