Questions about the original HDS line of lights...

Is the difference in the 42 and 60 only a difference in emitters? or is it different circuitry or drivers driving them?

If I were to get a basic HDS42 and a basic HDS60 and mod them with the same emitter, would the high on both lights be the same?

Also, was the original HDS series of lights the first one that went through the test of being abused, dropped, thrown against objects and then still work perfectly??

IIRC, each emitter has a slightly different Vf so each light is "tuned" to output 42/60 lumens. So, for a mod, you'd probably want an HDS with a high Vf original emitter since the drive current would have been set higher and your modded light will be brighter (if that's what you want).

The old HDS threads are in Manufacturers' Corner in the MarketPlace. You will probably find the information you are looking for there.

The 42 and the 60 had the same driver circuit. The circuit in each light was factory calibrated so the light would produce the designated output. I expect that units which failed to make 60 lumens, even when the circuit was "cranked all the way up", would go back into the assembly line for re-work. Then they would become a 42.

I expect there were also some lights which probably could have be calibrated for 60, but they were setup for 42 in order to satisfy market demand for the lower priced models. This is pure speculation on my part.

It is impossible to say whether a modified 42 or a modified 60 would produce the brighter output. It all boils down to where that particular unit ended up (power to the emitter) after factory calibration. If you have both lights in hand and are trying to determine which one should make the "brightest" mod host, I would expect the one with the shortest runtime would end up being the brightest after modification. Be very careful not to let thermal stepdown interfere with runtime testing. These lights can be very quick to trigger thermal stepdown when running on high, and it can be very easy not to notice it.

The light you seek is named "Pummeled".

souptree said:

The light you seek is named "Pummeled".

Click to expand...

My apologies, but that was totally lost on me.. :shrug: am I missing something?? :thinking:

Pummeled was the name Henry gave his hds that he took to shows and let people throw it against wall and stuff.