Advice about

...a current mod. (Sorry I made an error with the subject line but can't seem to edit that)

Been a while since my last post, and many thanks to CPF admins for restoring this site!

Finished a popular Maglite thrower mod weeks ago (3D -> 1D body, XR-E with aspherical, 4AAA pack). I kept the costs down and spent a total of < $20 for Led, Driver, asperical lens, AAA battery holder, homemade copper heatsink. This thing throws very well and I am impressed. The XR-E LED (it's an old Q5 but an R2 it's on the way) is only getting 700ma via a buck driver. Runtime with 800mah eneloops give me approx 1 hour (not tested yet)

Here's the question: Would I notice much improvement if I ran the XR-E at 1000 or 1400mA? I know that means a different driver and probably different batteries too.

It will probably look 30 to 50% brighter @ 1400mA, but the heat generated by the LED will be a lot more. More than double and good heat sinking will be essential. PS try to edit the 1st post subject line. Used to work in the past if you did it within a week or two from the date that it was created.

Liteshow,
Is it the cost factor why you don't go with a more efficient LED like the newer Cree XP-G package or the larger died XM-L package?

LiteShow said:

...a current mod. (Sorry I made an error with the subject line but can't seem to edit that)

Been a while since my last post, and many thanks to CPF admins for restoring this site!

Finished a popular Maglite thrower mod weeks ago (3D -> 1D body, XR-E with aspherical, 4AAA pack). I kept the costs down and spent a total of < $20 for Led, Driver, asperical lens, AAA battery holder, homemade copper heatsink. This thing throws very well and I am impressed. The XR-E LED (it's an old Q5 but an R2 it's on the way) is only getting 700ma via a buck driver. Runtime with 800mah eneloops give me approx 1 hour (not tested yet)

Here's the question: Would I notice much improvement if I ran the XR-E at 1000 or 1400mA? I know that means a different driver and probably different batteries too.

Click to expand...

CampingLED: I seem to be able to modify only the message body and not the subject title of my first post. Maybe I am doing something wrong here.

Hmmm, I was hoping for more like close to twice the output at 1400ma, but 30 to 50% increase in brightness might not be worth doubling the current to the LED (and drain on the batteries + heat). I guess that answers my question. Just curious, what devices are you running your XR-E at 1400 mA?

Got Lumens: I was hoping to get the best throw in the aspherical mod, that's why I went with the XR-E instead of the XP-G. The difference in cost is minimal. Correct me if I am wrong but won't the XP-G (with only slightly more lumens) with it's larger die not throw as far as the XR-E?

AS for the XM-L I might actually try that on the next donor Mag - but that would definitely mean upgrading the batteries (to push close to 3 amps), 3 amp driver and of course the led.

The max that I drive my XR-Es are 1050mA. Mainly for the heat and little benefit from higher drive currents. The heat could also cause it to have even less output after a while than at 1050mA. (See this thread from bigchelis). If you only plan to use the light for 1 minute at a time the 1400mA option should be fine. I have small camping lights at 350mA and 700mA and the heat at 700mA is much much more.