LumaPower's D-Mini VX ULTRA

JoeN_Ffx_VA · Dec 21, 2009

Received mine Friday from batteryjunction. Can only use with a CR123 primary until my 18650 comes from 4Sevens. Output is OK nothing spectacular but previous threads say have to use the 18650 to get full benefit.

But have a basic question. The writing on the side of the body says LumaPower D-Mini VX and under it a tiny tiny s/n : D-mini-VX and #s can't read.

The instructions in the box says ultra but is it really? I'd have expected it to say ultra or is there some other way to tell? thanks

fiveform · Dec 21, 2009

No, they don't say, "Ultra" on the torch. I picked mine up last week at their store in CT and this is a truely amazing light when you use either a 16340 rechargeable with the short tube, or an 18650 in the longer tube. Since my goal with this light was to use in in the compact mode, I have been running the 16340 Ultrafire 880mAh rechargeable. This torch is actually brighter than a recently purchased Olight M21 and almost as bright as my Olight M30 Triton. Beam is a fairly wide spot with lots of spill, so very useful in lots of situations. If you need long runtimes, use the longer tube with the 18650. The big difference is that you pick up the extra .6 or .7 Volts with the rechargeables. Good luck and enjoy! :twothumbs

turboBB · Dec 22, 2009

As fiveform mentioned, just wait until you get your 18650 or if you order the 16340 (which I did with mine), you'll be pretty pleased by the overall output.

Re: the "Ultra" label, I had posed the exact same question to the mfg and I'm sharing Ricky's responses since I'm sure others will be interested as well:

Q1: How can I determine if my VX Ultra is truly an Ultra and not just
regular VX? The case does not distinguish this as an Ultra but just D-Mini
VX.

A1: The main difference between the D-mini VX and D-mini VX Ultra is the LED itself. The die size of a SST-50 is much bigger than the XR-E.

Each side of LED with 10 bonding wire within. The XR-E only with 4 bonding wire.

Q2: Thx for the reply, I've taken it apart and confirmed it's SST-50 LED. However, I actually meant visually on the product. My flashlight only says VX on it and no Ultra. Will you ever release these with the Ultra on it?

A2: At this moment, the SST-50 is very limited in supply. So, we do not have a plan to make a special lasermark on top.

Great flashlight, enjoy it!

Cheers,
Tim

paulsl · Dec 25, 2009

Can someone please explain how to use the 18650 tube? I changed the led to the larger tube but it won't work. Something else needs to be done and I haven't figured it out yet. Instructions don't mention anything.

Thanks.

Not So Bright · Dec 25, 2009

There is a spring in the spare parts bag. Put the spring between the light engine and the battery tube.

Merry Christmas

turboBB · Dec 26, 2009

Not So Bright said:
There is a spring in the spare parts bag. Put the spring between the light engine and the battery tube.

Merry Christmas

Per NSB's reply, take the spring and put it into the hole in the pill side. It should look like this (do not try to make the spring flush as it needs to make contact with the pill):

Tim

Fitz · Dec 26, 2009

Yeah, the spring thing got me too- put the extended tube on, dropped a battery in, and nothing. Took a look and realized the battery button wasn't anywhere near making a connection with the pill. I saw the spring in the spare parts bag and thought it looked just right for making the connection. They might have mentioned it in the instructions!

JoeN_Ffx_VA · Jan 4, 2010

turboBB said:
As fiveform mentioned, just wait until you get your 18650 or if you order the 16340 (which I did with mine), you'll be pretty pleased by the overall output.

Re: the "Ultra" label, I had posed the exact same question to the mfg and I'm sharing Ricky's responses since I'm sure others will be interested as well:

Q1: How can I determine if my VX Ultra is truly an Ultra and not just
regular VX? The case does not distinguish this as an Ultra but just D-Mini
VX.

A1: The main difference between the D-mini VX and D-mini VX Ultra is the LED itself. The die size of a SST-50 is much bigger than the XR-E.

Each side of LED with 10 bonding wire within. The XR-E only with 4 bonding wire.

Q2: Thx for the reply, I've taken it apart and confirmed it's SST-50 LED. However, I actually meant visually on the product. My flashlight only says VX on it and no Ultra. Will you ever release these with the Ultra on it?

A2: At this moment, the SST-50 is very limited in supply. So, we do not have a plan to make a special lasermark on top.

Great flashlight, enjoy it!

Cheers,
Tim

Hi Tim,

thanks for the info. I counted 8 bonding wires on 2 sides of the die, not 10 or 4. Any idea what that means?

The 18650 battery arrived. Light output much much better than a primary 123. I'm only measuring 1.2 Amps on high tho my test circuit may not have been ideal. I've seen 2+ amps reported for this device.

NaturalMystic · Jan 7, 2010

fiveform said:
No, they don't say, "Ultra" on the torch. I picked mine up last week at their store in CT and this is a truely amazing light when you use either a 16340 rechargeable with the short tube, or an 18650 in the longer tube. Since my goal with this light was to use in in the compact mode, I have been running the 16340 Ultrafire 880mAh rechargeable. This torch is actually brighter than a recently purchased Olight M21 and almost as bright as my Olight M30 Triton. Beam is a fairly wide spot with lots of spill, so very useful in lots of situations. If you need long runtimes, use the longer tube with the 18650. The big difference is that you pick up the extra .6 or .7 Volts with the rechargeables. Good luck and enjoy! :twothumbs

Hey fiveform, this is the type of info I've been looking for and luckily the search function allowed me to find your post.
I've been looking for a high-powered light for a while and had my mind set on the M30 Triton for a while until I found out about the LumaPower D-Mini Ultra.
Do you have any comparison pics showing the lights themselves, as well as beamshots? How much brighter do you find the M30 over the D-Mini?
I've got the D-Mini on backorder but it isn't too late for me to cancel and order an M30. I was kind off dissuaded from the M30 after reading about all the PWM flicker it seems to have.

Thanks bud.

turboBB · Jan 7, 2010

JoeN_Ffx_VA said:
I counted 8 bonding wires on 2 sides of the die, not 10 or 4. Any idea what that means?

...I'm only measuring 1.2 Amps on high tho my test circuit may not have been ideal. I've seen 2+ amps reported for this device.

Good question, I actually only count 7 on each side:

As for the Amps, it may be related to the battery you are using but I'm not an electronics whiz so maybe someone who knows better can chime in.

NaturalMystic said:
I've been looking for a high-powered light for a while and had my mind set on the M30 Triton for a while until I found out about the LumaPower D-Mini Ultra.
Do you have any comparison pics showing the lights themselves, as well as beamshots? How much brighter do you find the M30 over the D-Mini?
I've got the D-Mini on backorder but it isn't too late for me to cancel and order an M30. I was kind off dissuaded from the M30 after reading about all the PWM flicker it seems to have.

Thanks bud.

Don't have a M30 to compare to but here are some comparison pics vs. DBS V2 R2 and RRT-0 (Zebralight thrown in for reference/fun):
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3220536&postcount=41

Cheers,
Tim

rickypanecatyl · Jan 7, 2010

Has anyone compared the throw of the VX Utlra with Olights M30? Thanks

LumaPower's D-Mini VX ULTRA

JoeN_Ffx_VA

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fiveform

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turboBB

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paulsl

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Not So Bright

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turboBB

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Fitz

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JoeN_Ffx_VA

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