Power Regulation - basic Question

If a Malkoff M60 is installed in a Surefire 6P or 9P, there wouldn't be any power regulation, right? How about if it went into a Surefire 6P LED?

The Malkoff M60 drop-in has it's own regulated circuitry built in as does other led drop-ins. It doesnt matter what light you put it in(that is if it's made for it) it will work the same. It depends on what batteries are used for it though as different led drop-ins are made with different input voltage range(3.8V+ to stay in regulation for M60) to stay in regulation. The surefire 6P and 6PL are identical. The only thing different is that the 6P comes with a incan drop-in whereas the 6PL comes with a Led drop-in module.

Yapo said:

The Malkoff M60 drop-in has it's own regulated circuitry built in as does other led drop-ins. It doesnt matter what light you put it in(that is if it's made for it) it will work the same. It depends on what batteries are used for it though as different led drop-ins are made with different input voltage range(3.8V+ to stay in regulation for M60) to stay in regulation. The surefire 6P and 6PL are identical. The only thing different is that the 6P comes with a incan drop-in whereas the 6PL comes with a Led drop-in module.

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Very helpful!

I wasn't sure where the regulation circuitry was -- that's why I chose an incan and an LED as my examples.

Many thanks.

Very few incandescent lights contain regulation circuitry, since an incandescent bulb inherently consumes a fairly constant power as the voltage changes over a moderate range. There are a few regulated incandescent lights such as the Surefire A2, but they're very much the exception.

In contrast, the current through an LED changes dramatically -- exponentially -- with small changes in voltage. And not only does the battery voltage change as it discharges, but the LED voltage changes as it heats up. So some sort of regulation is important. The crudest sort is "direct drive", where the internal resistance of the battery provides rudimentary regulation. Good regulators like the Malkoff drop-ins keep the LED current constant, providing a constant light output.

I wrote this up some time ago to help explain it better. You might find it useful.

c_c

Curious_character said:

Very few incandescent lights contain regulation circuitry, since an incandescent bulb inherently consumes a fairly constant power as the voltage changes over a moderate range. There are a few regulated incandescent lights such as the Surefire A2, but they're very much the exception.

In contrast, the current through an LED changes dramatically -- exponentially -- with small changes in voltage. And not only does the battery voltage change as it discharges, but the LED voltage changes as it heats up. So some sort of regulation is important. The crudest sort is "direct drive", where the internal resistance of the battery provides rudimentary regulation. Good regulators like the Malkoff drop-ins keep the LED current constant, providing a constant light output.

Click to expand...

More good info and thanks. I want to avoid having another LED FL like my Streamlight 51016 (not a cheap FL), where the output curve immediately starts dropping with use -- very disappointing.