ArcAAA Nichia CS/DS/GS mod & comparison

I received some Nichia DS (NSPW500DS) LEDs yesterday.

Today, I modified two of ArcAAAs (my wife's and mine) that I had previously upgraded to Nichia CS LEDs. I should note here that these CS LEDs were among my top performers. I also have a new stock ArcAAA-P for comparison (also Nichia CS).

I started by charging a set of Rayovac Hybrid NiMH AAAs so each light would be on equal footing.

I used a home-made light-box for output comparison. I put the freshly charged cells into the lights and got some baseline output numbers. (Keep in mind that these numbers are only useful for comparison purposes for a relative comparison between lights and before-after comparison.)

I then proceeded to swap out the CS emitters in two of the lights for DS ones and retested the lights. Here are the results.


Here are a few beamshots (underexposed for better comparison)







There is a noticable improvement in output.

Notes:
1. This mod is only cost effective if you do it yourself as the potting has to be removed from the ArcAAA "pills". That process is very time consuming. I had already done that so these were fairly quick to upgrade.

2. The Vf of these DS LEDs is much lower than the CSs. In lights like the Photon, that will make a much larger difference in putput.

Thanks for looking,

Paul

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

Thanks for the pics Paul. The difference in output is quite noticeable in the photos. It appears whiter too. Can't wait to see a comparision between a DS and GS.

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

Haz said:

Thanks for the pics Paul. The difference in output is quite noticeable in the photos. It appears whiter too. Can't wait to see a comparision between a DS and GS.

Click to expand...

They did seem a little less blue than the CS versions. I'm not sure if I used C or B binned CS LEDs.

OK, who has some GS kicking around? I can replace one of the LEDs and have a CS-DS-GS comparison.

Paul

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

Where did you order the DS from?

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

ackbar said:

Where did you order the DS from?

Click to expand...

Cutter (WeLight)

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

chimo said:

OK, who has some GS kicking around? I can replace one of the LEDs and have a CS-DS-GS comparison.

Paul

Click to expand...

can't wait for it

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

Was it crazy hard to unpot the arc? Is it still waterproof etc?

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

gunga said:

Was it crazy hard to unpot the arc? Is it still waterproof etc?

Click to expand...

It takes lots patience.

1 Uncrimp, remove "pill"
2 Boil some water - dip pill
3 pick small piece of epoxy off (go easy with this part - don't damage the components - a dental pick works well)
4 Repeat 2,3 until epoxy removed
5 unsolder LED (& cap if necessary)
6 shape legs of new LED and solder (& cap if necessary)
7 replace board and LED

I didn't re-pot so it's not water-proof, but that's not a concern to me. You could use silicone to make it waterproof.

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

Good news. I have a few GS on the way. I will do one ArcAAA and take another beamshot.

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

Hey Chimo

Any updates or pics

Re: ArcAAA Nichia CS to DS mod & comparison

dd61999 said:

Hey Chimo

Any updates or pics

Click to expand...

They are not here yet. I will mod one Arc after they arrive and do another comparison.

The GS LEDs arrived today so I have modded one of the Arcs to the GS.
Here is an underexposed pic of the three. (CS, DS, GS)



Lightbox Results (no units - for comparison between lights)


This was a very good performing GS LED. The light output went up another 15% from the GS LED. (62% improvement from the CS LED).

The hotspot is not quite round (in the pic above, the lights are at an angle to the backdrop), but I don't think most people would notice it. I don't find it distracting at all. The colour/tint is similar to the CS and DS LEDs.

Paul