KL1 with Q3J direct drive

I currently have a gutted KL1 that I was awaiting a BB700 for. Well, I have a bunch of Q3J's laying around (thanks kingkong). I got bored and wondered how a Q3J would run directly driven from a Pila 3.7V 168S. The LED was mounted in a KL1 and direct driven.

The picture shows the direct driven KL1 with Q3J on the left and my KL1 with R2K overdriven to 700mA on the right.



Any comments? How long do you think it will take this thing to self destruct?

Ok, another comparison. All LED are in KL1s. The one on the left is the direct driven Q3J, the one in the middle is an R2K overdriven to 700mA, and the one on the right is a R2H overdriven to 700mA.



They are all about 3 feet from the wall.

I can't see the pics.

Peter

you need to remove the orig.jpg part

Re: KL1 with Q3J direct drive *DELETED*

Post deleted by CM

DOH! shifties's got a quicker trigger finger /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

CM

Chop, can you tell any difference between the DD and the 700mA? The photo doesn't show a whole lot other than a cooler color temp. but I know photo's can be deceiving. I don't think it will burn out, just fade away...Seriously, if the temp of the heads are similar after say, two minutes, then you're probably OK. If the head doesn't get warm or if it's significantly warmer than the 700mA, then you may have trouble ahead.

CM

Thanks guys.

The direct driven one gets significantly hotter than the others. The pictures reall don't do the beam justice though. The direct drive is much brighter than the others.

Outside, I was able to light things up with the direct drive that the others couldn't even reach. What this tells me is that the 1 watter does get brighter than it is at 700mA. I think that I need a downboy at 1A.

CM,
Is that to say that I could run this light like this as long as I don't run it too hot? Is it the current that will kill the LED or the heat?

The two are directly related. The more hotter the LED becomes, the more current it will draw, the hotter it becomes, etc, until destruction.

I've run my 3AA direct drive R2H for quite some time, but not continuously. Mr Bulk is the man to ask about that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Yes, the Chief's correct. It's called thermal runaway. The brightness you say you're getting suggests that there may be much more headroom beyond 700mA in which you can get significantly more light. That 1A drive is starting to look interesting. It would be interesting to know how much current that lux is getting. Mr Bulk is THE man to ask since he's the overclocking king around here I think. Chop, I think you need to invest in a quality DMM. That's after you get your lathe /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

CM

On average an overdriven LGI pumps out just under an amp (900mah) on fresh alkaline AAs. Read more about what an LGI is HERE.

I have been running LGI with 3AA NiMH 2000ma almost every weekend. I did night hiking every weekend and run LGI continously 1.5 to 2 hours. So far, I haven't had any problem with LGI.

I also run mini LGI with Li-ion 150A without problem. However, I didn't try continous run on this like what I did with LGI.

Chop, by the way, are you interested to sell KL1 with Q3J Direct Drive?

Alan,

Can you give us some indication of brightness/heat production between 3AA and Li-Ion?

CM

Alan,
As they say..."Everything's for sale." My question is, why would you want it? The mod itself is easy enough to do. Just find someone with a busted KL1 head and buy a Q3J from kingkong (get'em while you can). Believe me, I'm no pro modder. It was very easy to do with a soldering iron.

Please keep in mind that I have this thing running on a Pila Li-ion 3.7v battery. On 1x123 it is only as bright as a stock KL1. On 2x123, it's almost instant death for the LED. If you leave it as it is, you must run it on a single Li-ion. Is this an option for you?

Hey, if you want it, make me an offer. It isn't in perfect shape. The first ring around the head has the HA rubbed off on the very edge and it has the old style bezel ring that has a couple of small dings in it. This is just something that I threw together out of curiosity. If you want to know how I did it, let me know.

I do use a lot of Pila batteries. While I like KL1 and its structure of its body (E2e), it's not as bright (not to mention whiteness) as my Mini-LGI w Pila (150A). Basically, I want to have KL1/E2e w Mini-LGI's brightness.

I haven't touched iron since my high school and doesn't have end up with an ugly, messy (a little glue here and there) and thus, an unreliable light.

Alan

The DD-Q3J/Pila experiment has come to an end and so has the Q3J. The LED died tonight. RIP /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I have some 1 watt, 1 ohm resistors coming in from Elektrolumens. When they get here, I'm gonna try again. At this point, I get the feeling that I'm gonna wind up going back to regulation though.

I guess I have to get back to the post office and send something off to CM for a 1A overdrive! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Maybe I should leave this stuff to people who know what they're doing....nah!