Show us pictures of your heavily used emitters!

Pick you heaviest used LED flashlight, and snap a picture of the emitter.

• How many hours do you think it has on it?
• How's has the output/color changed over time?
• How does the rest of the flashlight look?

Thanks in advance!

Cool topic! I'm too new to have any heavily used emitters to show pictures of, but I'm looking forward to seeing some.

My brother has my camera (still :shakehead), so I can't take any pics right now, but I have an ROV 2AA Highbeam that I use at work with a lot of hours on it (maybe 40?) and I have noticed lately, it has lost quite a bit of the blue/purple tint that it had when I first started using it. I've been meaning to start a thread to ask if that has been known to happen with LEDs that see a lot of use. It still seems to be as bright as ever, but now it's more pure white than it was when new.

This actually makes me happy, because that was one of the only complaints I had about the light, was the blueish tint.

I'll have to take some pics when I get my camera back.

Interesting viewpoint. However, could it be that over time you've become more accustomed to the color being emitted from the LED and now perceive it as more acceptable? Unless you have other LED lights that you use and compare it against on a regular basis you will have become so used to it that your impression of the output and tint could be compromised.

LED emitters can and do suffer from tint shift over time and certainly loose their output. However, I'm not aware of any changes that improve the tint?

dougie said:

LED emitters can and do suffer from tint shift over time and certainly loose their output. However, I'm not aware of any changes that improve the tint?

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I might be missing something, but why can't an LED tint shift to a nicer tint?

Because by "nicer" people usually think "warmer".
And the only way for the tint to get warmer would be a spontaneous buildup of additional phosphor in the emitter, which is (i'm pretty sure) impossible

Jarl said:

I might be missing something, but why can't an LED tint shift to a nicer tint?

Click to expand...

Usually as the phophor coating of a white LED degrades (for those who don't know a white LED is actually a blue chip with a phosphor coating that fluoresces and emits the green, yellow and red that combine with the blue to make white) the tint becomes more and more blue.

Very interesting thread !

:thumbsup:
_

heavily used....
Fenix P1-CE Q2?


Fenix L0D-CE Q4


Zebralite H50 Q5


Surefire L4 LuxV


Muyshondt Aeon R2


My camera has no way in shape or form to stop down the aperture to permit taking photos while they are on, so don't ask me for it

ITN - great pictures, but they all look new!

I've only had one Cree that noticeably changed with use. I haven't noticed any changes with the rest.

EngrPaul said:

ITN - great pictures, but they all look new!

Click to expand...

I've ran luxeons for hundreds of hours and not noticed any difference on pictures...aside from the ones that the metal dish oxidized due to oxygen corrosion but nothing different on the dies:shrug:

are you referring to the lights themselves?

I had a LUX V from a KL4 that the edges had started to turn brown and green and was visible in the beam on a white wall.
I tried to find it but it seems to be gone.

Dumb question ... why would a well used emitter look any different from a new one? Provided that its not abused of course.

???

I don't know either... :shrug:

I wonder if Crees or other emitters look like luxeons do after many hours

Here's a Fenix P1D-CE Q5 I just picked up on clearance at fenixstore.

It's a brand new emitter, but it's got brown spots!

Finally!

A pic of heat damage. oo:

wow, how did that happen EngrPaul?
the orange stuff was what I was referring to in terms of oxidation but I don't have a clue that that brown gunk isoo:

FYI
P1-CEs eaten through at least 7 new cells and countless used cells rejected by surefire incans
LOD-CE's an awesome little vampire for AAA cells, actual consumption unknown
Zebralite H50 uses an eneloop and run through at least one cycle per week since I bought it towards the beginning of the year
the L4 stopped eating cr123As once I found the body capable of 17670s, by tallies marked on the cell its been through at least 20 cycles:thinking:
the Aeons a relatively new light, buts being used almost every night for a variety of applications on low. The frequency of use turns me very nervous when I forget to keep it on me and usually goes head over heels looking for it:green:

Probably flux.