nichia leds

jasonsmaglites

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Feb 15, 2007
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980
the lights that have multiple leds, like 5 or 7 or even 54, they are all using the original nichia leds right?
how is the efficency on these multiple .1 watt leds compared to our favorite cree and seoul.
i'm all about lumens per watt.
thanks,
jason
 

john2551

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Jul 24, 2005
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NY
Jason,

I have many bright lights but in a power outage i reach for this: http://www.goldengadgets.com/produc...ucts_id=162&osCsid=d0nrj6cn0l1lnb7dvlv823fcj0

The 32 LED drop-in is brighter than the nite-ize bulb & can run for days & days on one set of batteries. I bought it about 4 years ago & still to this date, i consider this to be my best long runtime emergency light. But it is only for 3 or 4 cell maglites.
 
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frank777

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Oct 31, 2006
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Actually, most multiple 5 mm LED flashlights do NOT use Nichia LEDs, but instead use some Chinese brand that is not as efficient. If you run the Nichias (model 500CS) at 20 ma per LED, you should be getting around 75 lumins/watt. The most efficient Cree's and luxeon rebels are about 100 lumins/watt, but only at 350 ma. If you run them at 1000 ma as most flashlights do, you lose efficiency. The big difference is that after about 5000 hours, the 5 mm LEDs will have lost half their brightness. The Crees and Luxeons might only lose 10% or so. Good luck!
 

Marduke

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Jun 19, 2007
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Huntsville, AL
Actually, most multiple 5 mm LED flashlights do NOT use Nichia LEDs, but instead use some Chinese brand that is not as efficient. If you run the Nichias (model 500CS) at 20 ma per LED, you should be getting around 75 lumins/watt. The most efficient Cree's and luxeon rebels are about 100 lumins/watt, but only at 350 ma. If you run them at 1000 ma as most flashlights do, you lose efficiency. The big difference is that after about 5000 hours, the 5 mm LEDs will have lost half their brightness. The Crees and Luxeons might only lose 10% or so. Good luck!

The new Nichia LED's produce 100 lumen/watt, with 150lumen/watt on the way.

Edit: You also have to consider that lower current draw lets you use more of the energy stored in a battery.
 
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jasonsmaglites

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Feb 15, 2007
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980
my wife bought me a true value 32 led flashlight a while back, before she realized she can't buy a flashlight for me. he he.
do you think that would be a good emergency flashlight?
would that have nichia leds or china knock off?
 

Skibane

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Nov 26, 2002
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San Antonio
my wife bought me a true value 32 led flashlight a while back, before she realized she can't buy a flashlight for me. he he.
do you think that would be a good emergency flashlight?
would that have nichia leds or china knock off?

Chinese knock-offs, almost certainly.

Most of the inexpensive multi-LED flashlights drive the LEDs directly from the batteries - There is no resistor present to limit the current. So, depending on the condition and type of batteries installed, the LEDs may be driven at many times their maximum recommended current - NOT good for long LED life expectancy!

A good emergency flashlight doesn't overdrive the LEDs, and has good-quality construction (including a reliable switch). Also, it uses batteries that are big enough to provide decent run-time.

For a decent, relatively inexpensive emergency flashlight, I'd recommend the MagLight 2D or 3D LED models.
 
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