PD30 Turbo Amp Draw.

I just compared the PD30 to the LD10 and it does not seem all that much brighter 180 - 190 lumens not much more.

PD30 when in high from (2 RCR123a's) @ 8.8v (freshly charged) It pulls only 0.503amps which would give almost 2 hours on turbo... the LD10 with 2AA's actually seems brighter than the PD30 on turbo so mine faulty anyone with a PD30 able to see how much yours pulls?..... if it's not as strong as it should be i don't mind too much though (longer runtime).

1) LD10 is 1xAA light, or are you talking about 2xAA LD20?
2) If your 2xRCR123s have 8,8V freshly charged, then your charger is overcharging or your volt meter is defective (they should be 8,4V...)
3) 0,5A current drive is typical for a PD30 and RCRs. You can expect runtime around 70 minutes (batteries are in series so total mAh is still the same, only voltage doubles).

for some reason i multiplied 4.4 @ 2 it's 4.2v... ok thanks. now i know.

LD10 (with 3.6v CR123a)

So you are talking about LD10(PD20) with RCR123 rechargeable battery?

LD10/LD20/PD20 driver is designed to run with 1xAA, 2xAA or 1xCR123 primary cell. So the supported voltage range is roughly 1-3V.

Fully charged RCR123 battery has higher voltage even under high load. So for the first couple of minutes it runs in direct drive and is brighter than claimed 180 lumens.

jirik_cz said:

So you are talking about LD10(PD20) with RCR123 rechargeable battery?

LD10/LD20/PD20 driver is designed to run with 1xAA, 2xAA or 1xCR123 primary cell. So the supported voltage range is roughly 1-3V.

Fully charged RCR123 battery has higher voltage even under high load. So for the first couple of minutes it runs in direct drive and is brighter than claimed 180 lumens.

Click to expand...

OK, the cells are LiFePo 3v nom 3.6v when fully charged, when comparing Turbo of the PD30 the LD10 (1.5v) is only a little dimmer, just a littler over 120lm more like 140lm

Now when i take the P2D tube and use it on the LD10 head, Turbo (3.6v) seems brighter than the PD30... which made me draw to the conclusion that the PD30 is not really outputting over 200 lumens more like 180lm OR it could be i have a really impressive LD10 ...

So i was interested in what everyone else gets from Turbo Mode (on freshly charged 2 4.2v) .... if 500ma seems normal i'm happy.

fenixmad said:

So i was interested in what everyone else gets from Turbo Mode (on freshly charged 2 4.2v) .... if 500ma seems normal i'm happy.

Click to expand...

I only have a P3D RB100 and it draws .45A.

Like jirik said above, you are putting more voltage into the LD10 than it was designed for, so it's going into direct drive. You are probably getting over 200 lumens out of the LD10, maybe in the 220-230 range, while the P3D is running in regulation at around 200 lumens.

ok to put that to the test i've put it underload and been running it for the past 10 minutes (350ma capacity from this LifePo4 3.0v cells) and then i compared the output against the pd30.... still the same, and it steps up fine from low to high then to turbo, so i whipped out the ammeter.

3.3v turbo draws 1.09amps so then

3.3*1.09 = 3.5watts
8.4v*0.500 = 4.2watts

And yet the LD10 does appear brighter, strange though... it could be the LD10 is just perfectly suited for 3v cells now the TK10 is for sure brighter than both the LD10 and the PD30 which is why I suspect the PD30 could do better.

WadeF said:

Like jirik said above, you are putting more voltage into the LD10 than it was designed for, so it's going into direct drive.

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I'm confused about this direct drive statement. My P2D draws .86A with a 4V battery. Every other P2D/L1D that I have owned shows about the same. I have a couple of direct drive lights and they draw between 1.3A and 1.4A. What am I not seeing.

Hey all!

I'm not sure about LiFePo cells but I have tried running RCR123A in the LD10. It outputs about 2.8x the output of a LD10 NiMH on turbo, warm. It should put out well over 200 lumens (peak), assuming the LD10 puts out around 70-80 lumens (no... it's not 120 as claimed =( )

Tested on my LD10
NiMH turbo, warm - 2710 lux
14500, turn on - 7610 lux

Pocket rocket baby!! Albeit a dangerous one.

fenixmad said:

when comparing Turbo of the PD30 the LD10 (1.5v) is only a little dimmer, just a littler over 120lm more like 140lm

Click to expand...

Are you comparing lights indoors or outdoors? Differences might seem smaller inside... Or maybe your PD30 is defective.

I'm surpsied that no one has stated that our eyes don't sense light linearly. That means 2x the light won't seem 2x brighter. 4x the output will seem around 2x brighter by eye persuming same tint and beam pattern.

Also the Vf of the LED can also affect the current to the LED which will affect the output.

Gunner12 said:

Also the Vf of the LED can also affect the current to the LED which will affect the output.

Click to expand...

Fenix flashlights are current regulated, Vf variability doesn't affect their performance.

jirik_cz said:

Fenix flashlights are current regulated, Vf variability doesn't affect their performance.

Click to expand...

Good point, not enough to be significant.