Sold/Expired The Zephyr

Howdy Folks,

I've been working on a project since late December 2008, and between various design iterations, time, and some prototyping, have at last arrived to the release of my new light, the Zephyr.



It is a small, fully regulated, two-stage, AAA-based flashlight, constructed entirely out of 6AL4V Titanium. The lens is made of sapphire crystal for scratch resistance and durability. The reflector is custom made, diffused, and then covered with a 94% reflective overcoat to bounce as many photons out the front as possible. The LED used is a Cree XP-E, available both in cool white, and neutral white (around 4500K color temperature).

The Zephyr is capable of activation both via twisting, or via a momentary tailswitch at the rear of the light. It comes in at 13.5mm in diameter by 87mm in length, and is capable of tailstanding.

This post is intended to be supplemented by those I've written prior to it. I've chronicled various aspects of the design and development, which have many details, and many pictures, on my web log.

The user interface of the Zephyr is simple and intuitive, similar to my previous lights, but with a new useful feature built in. For constant access to any light level, simply twist the head for low mode, and continue twisting for high. For momentary access, you press in for low mode, and press further for high mode. Or use a mix of both - twist for a constant on low, and hold the button in for a burst of high.

The Zephyr clocked in at three hours in regulation on high mode, running off of a fresh Duracell AAA alkaline cell. Low mode runtimes are still being worked on, but they're likely to be similar to my previous Mako (which was 140 hours). The driver is continuing in the same vein as all the previous ones I've designed, with gold plated connections and thick copper traces to maximize efficiency, and equipped with two easily accessible stages.

The grooves on the head and near the tail of the Zephyr allow for comfortable grip and twisting, and the length of the light fits comfortably in the hand for a four-fingered grip using the thumb to activate the pushbutton.

Summary:
Zephyr Flashlight
Runs off of one AAA battery
Two fully regulated stages
3 Hours Regulated Runtime on High Mode (Low Pending)
6AL4V Titanium Construction
Sapphire Lens
Cree XP-E LED
Momentary Pushbutton Tailswitch (Twist for constant on)
O-Ring Sealed; Water Resistant
Capable of Tailstanding

The Zephyr is expected to ship in late September-October timeframe barring any flying wrenches finding their way into the cogs of the project, and I will keep everyone aprised of the status regularly as things progress here.

All in all, I feel the Zephyr makes good use of its power plant, and has a very nice set of features and performance in a very small package.

I've tried to be as thorough as possible with all the information regarding the light, both here and on my site, but if you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask.

The Zephyr project has been cancelled.

Take care folks.

-Enrique

Enrique,

This light looks great!

:twothumbs :twothumbs :twothumbs :twothumbs

I look forward to getting one!

I'm definitely all over this one, but I do have one question. Is this going to be a standard production item that will be available into the foreseeable future or a limited run more akin to the Mako?

Thanks and it looks great. :thumbsup:

That is a beautiful light!!!!!! :bow:

I see that low will be 6mA and High 80mA. I have no idea how bright these levels actually are. Can you give me a comparison as to how bright these are... possibly comparing to my Fenix L0D or similar?

Thanks,
Dan

This looks like a great light! I love the 2-stage via head twist or momentary tail. Is the tailswitch similiar to Don's piston design?

Also, I searched everywhere, but could not find what the high (or low)drive level is set at. 3 hours in regulation on high off a AAA Alkaline is great.

Lastly, what reflector is being used?

maxspeeds said:

This looks like a great light! I love the 2-stage via head twist or momentary tail. Is the tailswitch similiar to Don's piston design?

Also, I searched everywhere, but could not find what the high (or low)drive level is set at. 3 hours in regulation on high off a AAA Alkaline is great.

Lastly, what reflector is being used?

Click to expand...

Running on a constant-burn off of a fresh Duracell Alkaline AAA, the Zephyr ran in regulation on high mode for three hours, with diminished output for 25 minutes thereafter. Drive levels are set at a reasonable 6mA on low mode, and 80mA on high, providing two distinct levels of operation and generous runtimes despite the use of a AAA power plant. Runtimes on low mode are still pending, but I expect them to be similar to my previous Mako's low mode. Use of lithium primary AAA cells would no doubt increase performance, and the Zephyr is also well suited to use a low self-discharge NiMH cell such as the Sanyo Eneloop.

Parabolic reflector

As quoted from Enriques site. Hope this helps.

Dan

Ok you've sold me enrique, Sign me up!

-Mayo

edit: email sent regarding MO payment

Paypal Sent!

Hello Everyone,

Looks like I forgot to put a price in the first post (though if was posted in the links that followed); I hope that was my only omission! :green:

Incidentalist: I'm not making an aluminum version as it stands today, and I don't have planned to make much past that which is pre-ordered.

djans: 80mA is close to 30 lumens from the LED. I don't have a Fenix L0D, and don't own many or use their lights because of their fairly poor performance. :shrug:

maxspeeds: My tailswitch addresses the same problem that McGizmo's piston, but in an altogether different implementation. I'm not using a sleeved piston for ground-loop level control like he did.

The levels are set at 80mA on high, 6mA on low. The reflector, like most other parts in the design, are custom manufactured. The only "stock" part in the light are the O-Rings and a few resistors and capacitors that constitute the driver - I even had to get my driver IC custom fabricated.

-Enrique

Endeavour said:

Incidentalist: I'm not making an aluminum version as it stands today, and I don't have planned to make much past that which is pre-ordered.

-Enrique

Click to expand...

Well I guess that means I better pre-order one. Payment sent! :thumbsup:

Endeavour said:

and I don't have planned to make much past that which is pre-ordered.

-Enrique

Click to expand...

Just when I thought I wouldn't be buying more lights...., I've already got 2 Aeons, but does this give me the reason to buy a Ti one.... (need to sell at least 1 first)

Enrique - how long do we have for pre-order & ability to save $25 on Aeon?

Interesting; an AAA-powered PD light (EDIT: or something similar in function, if not execution). Don's switch design continues to prove its worth.

Is the Mokume version shown in your blog also for sale, or only the titanium version?

fyrstormer said:

Interesting; an AAA-powered PD light (EDIT: or something similar in function, if not execution). Don's switch design continues to prove its worth.

Click to expand...

Fyrstormer: With respect, my switch design is my own. This is not "Don's switch continuing to prove it's worth" as you put it. I created my implementation of a momentary pushbutton and have gone through the trouble of making sure it was not similar to any previously existing solution, since I have no interest in using someone elses' work without permission. My light uses no "piston" and while McGizmo makes fine lights which I've enjoyed using in the past, I'm not keen on having credit for my work given to someone else.

Regarding the Mokume light, I'll probably get at least one made for myself since I like the material a lot. The price of such a light would run close to $500 thanks to high materials cost and low volumes. If there's interest here I'd be happy to make a few more, but I'm at least making one.

nfetterly: I'll leave the pre-order open for two weeks (until the 19th of August).

-Enrique

Cool versus Neutral: Light FIGHT! What one do you guys prefer?

Endeavour: BB option is a definitive NO? In out last PM you mentioned that possibility of expanding for a Trit slot. Go or No GO on launch?

THANKS!!

But I don't NEED another AAA light...I need a, uh...oh, right, I don't NEED any more lights.

Enrique...this is a wonderful, wonderful light. I love the design, and that UI sounds fantastic. My "play" account is once again depleted, but I hope to have it refilled by the middle of next week, and will hopefully be in before the bell.

Endeavour said:

Fyrstormer: With respect, my switch design is my own. This is not "Don's switch continuing to prove it's worth" as you put it. I created my implementation of a momentary pushbutton and have gone through the trouble of making sure it was not similar to any previously existing solution, since I have no interest in using someone elses' work without permission. My light uses no "piston" and while McGizmo makes fine lights which I've enjoyed using in the past, I'm not keen on having credit for my work given to someone else.

Regarding the Mokume light, I'll probably get at least one made for myself since I like the material a lot. The price of such a light would run close to $500 thanks to high materials cost and low volumes. If there's interest here I'd be happy to make a few more, but I'm at least making one.

nfetterly: I'll leave the pre-order open for two weeks (until the 19th of August).

-Enrique

Click to expand...

I meant no insult, Enrique; I noticed that the pushbutton was not integrated into a piston like on Don's lights, hence the edit I made to my post. It is strikingly similar in operation from the user's perspective though, which suggests you were at least inspired by the PD design, and there's nothing wrong with that. I consider it to be one of the best switch designs I've ever seen, however exactly it's implemented, because it doesn't make me choose between having a twisty or a clicky and it offers multiple modes, so anything that looks like a PD and quacks like a PD is as good as a PD in my mind. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't spent some time speculating on different ways to achieve the same result, for the same reasons you did so, and I'm all the more intrigued that the method you chose is pretty much identical to what i daydreamed about.

bmstrong: Both tints have their strong points, though I suspect that most people will go with the cool white to edge out on brightness, both perceived and actual, but the neutral white is nice for seeing more natural colors, at the expense of a few lumens. :shrug: At the end of the day it all boils down to personal preference and what you prefer to see out of your lights.

The Zephyr won't be bead blasted. The Mako lent itself well to the finish but I very much like the way this particular design looks off of the machine without any secondary processing.

smokelaw1: Thanks.

-Enrique

Will the Zephyr use the highest available bins like the Nautilus and the Aeon?

Cool. Its a bit of a wait but worth it. I look forward to my Zephyr. How, when do we choose the emitter type? For some reason I did not get the usual PP comment box. :thumbsup: