Digitally Regulated Flashlight Questions

Since digitally regulated flashlights seem to be the wave of the future, I'm just curious how many there are out on the market now and what people think of them. I'm only aware of three: the Surefire A2 Aviator, the Surefire L1 Lumamax, and the Opalec Newbeam AA Maglite conversion. Come to think of it, there is the Surefire KL series of LED conversions, too.

Has anyone run a test on a digital incandescent light like the A2 to see if the "soft start" circuitry significantly improves bulb life?

I myself only have the Newbeam, and I love it. It is definitely my most used flashlight because of its handy size, nice quality of light, and economy of operation. I just wish Opalec would produce a kit for the old style AA Maglites that are rotting away in my garage. Yeah, I know you can use the old style Maglites with the Newbeam with some modifications, but I don't know how and I'm lazy.

Bruise

The new EternaLight Max is regulated/non-regulated depending on user configuration, the Lightwave Pocket Bright is regulated if I'm not mistaken, not sure about their 2000, 2100, 3000, & 4000 but a simple web search would tell. There are several review sites that would define additionals (?). I'm sure someone will "straighten me out" (and thanks ahead of time)!

Bruise, I have put them in the older style mags without doing anything. It works fine, I do remember someone saying something about taking out extra parts, but I have never done it and it works fine so far. I did that to one of my old ones at work and give that one out for people to borrow, works great.

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Brock said:
Bruise, I have put them in the older style mags without doing anything. It works fine, I do remember someone saying something about taking out extra parts, but I have never done it and it works fine so far.

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Interesting, I installed the conversion on two of my old style Maglites, and it didn't work with either. Is it possible that there is more than one version of old style AA Maglite? It definitely wasn't the Newbeam, because it worked great when I installed it on a new style one.

Bruise

If I recall correctly, headlamp maker Black Diamond was the first to produce regulated incandescent lights.

Velcro

The sandwich shop has some mini-mag mods that I think will work in old mags the badboy 400 & 500 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif both are regulated & make great lights out of a mini-mag

The term *Digitally Regulated* is a misnomer. There is some implication that there is a microcontroller in there that functions to regulate the light when in reality, a good old switching regulator (nothing digital about it if you ask any competent power supply engineer) is used to regulate current. I have disassembled an L1, KL1, and KL3 and they all use some kind of buck/boost switcher mostly using Linear Tech switching controllers. So let's not forget the Arc LS series and Arc AAA as these are controlled using a conventional switching regulator, just like the Surefire series. I really don't like the way people misuse the term *digital*. It's all a marketing gimmick in my opinion.

CM

Willie Hunt's incandescent LVR's use a microcontroller.

John

Hmm. I'd thought that the 'digitally regulated' Surefire lights used a PIC based system, in which a PIC was calculating a PWM duty cycle based upon supply voltage. However this may have been an early approach that they later dropped.

I know that Willie Hunt is currently working for Surefire, and that he designed and built the LVR system of lighting regulators, first as an analog PWM system, and then later as a PIC microcontroller based system.

P.S. Didn't we have this discussion already /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

-Jon

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Illuminated said:
Willie Hunt's incandescent LVR's use a microcontroller.

John

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And your point is....? No disrespect meant at all here. The KL1, KL3 and L1 do NOT use a microcontroller. Don't know about the A2, though. Anyone want to volunteer their A2 to be a sacrifical lamb? I'd love to take that one apart as well. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jonathan,

We must have hit the post button at the same time. I'm aware of the LVR and there are remnants of it (HC04 hex inverter) in the L1, but no microcontroller. The KL1 and KL3 use fairly run-of-the-mill monolithic converters from Linear Tech. And yes, I believe we've had this discussion already /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif