XMLEZW accidental build

Meant to order a warm white XM-L U2 and accidentally ordered a warm white XMLEZW U2, 6V emitter. This is basically the MC-E in an XM-L package. Available in 6V (2x2) or 12V (4S).

Out of curiosity, I updated an old P7 light with it. The old DX 20330 driver in there was able to push 2.0A to it with 2*3.6V batteries, but on 2 LiFePO4, only 1.2A. I'll try other drivers, including newer 20330 and some PWM only drivers to see if I can pull the full 2A using only 3.2V LiFe batts.

Pics:

TJ,

I did not see U2's available @ digikey when I ordered yesterday. When did you see them?

Hill said:

TJ,

I did not see U2's available @ digikey when I ordered yesterday. When did you see them?

Click to expand...

The U2 in warm white is only available as the EZW (4-die) XML from digikey.

The 6V one was a real pain to drive from 2 LiFe cells and I just gave away my last two LiCo 18650. To avoid purchasing another IMR18650 pair, I killed this emitter. Not on purpose of course, but I tinkered with different drivers until I damaged the dome trying to center the emitter in the reflector, then I tried to de-dome it, which killed it. $12 wasted

I've been curious about this little fella.

I've been thinking about upgrading my old M1X with a High-CRI XM-L EW.

Do you think it might work?

mvyrmnd said:

I've been curious about this little fella.

I've been thinking about upgrading my old M1X with a High-CRI XM-L EW.

Do you think it might work?

Click to expand...

The XMLEZW only comes in 6V and 12V varieties, so you'll need a light with 2*3.6V cells and either a buck driver capable of 2-3A output or a boost driver capable of 800mA-1A output. For ease of operation and low expense, that means the light would also have to accommodate drivers ~25mm in diameter. If your MX1 meets both criteria, then yes, it could work. Having (briefly) seen the 3000K XMLEZW 6V run at 2.0A from 2*18650 IMR and a DX 20330, I was impressed, but not as impressed as with a conventional 2.9V XML in the same reflector, which cast a tighter beam. This fella falls between the MCE and the XML in terms of brightness and tightness of focus.

Wow this looks good.

I also would like to know about this baby for an M1X upgrade.
I do know the led in the M1X is run 2s2p at about 6V.
So I think the voltage would be right.
Not sure if the current would fry it though.

What is the beam from this like.........would it for example be a similar profile beam to an MCE but just brighter/more spill?

May I ask something?
Soem 1A drivers like te "keenan" type can support 2 LEDs in line...Doesn't that mena that hooking up a EW will give 500mA at each die?

Rat6P said:

Wow this looks good.

I also would like to know about this baby for an M1X upgrade.
I do know the led in the M1X is run 2s2p at about 6V.
So I think the voltage would be right.
Not sure if the current would fry it though.

What is the beam from this like.........would it for example be a similar profile beam to an MCE but just brighter/more spill?

Click to expand...

kosPap said:

May I ask something?
Soem 1A drivers like te "keenan" type can support 2 LEDs in line...Doesn't that mena that hooking up a EW will give 500mA at each die?

Click to expand...

The proper drive current for the 6V EZW is 2A. Being that the config is 2s2p, that puts the power to each of the four dies at approximately 3V@1A each. Characteristics are very much like the MCE (especially if you wire the MCE as 2x2). Beam profile was slightly more intense due to higher current and slightly smaller package (smaller dome).

Most current regulating buck-drivers (true DC-DC converters, not resistive regulators like AMC7135 chips) with Vin higher than 6V would work here. I suppose you could parallel two of the kennan-style 1A, 18V in drivers for a perfect fit. (I wish I'd thought of that before the dome disaster.)

I briefly ran the one I had from a 1st generation (large caps) DX 20330 driver, but because of ~1V driver overhead, it could only regulate to 2A drive current if I used two 3.7v batteries and I wanted to use two 3.2V LiFe batteries instead. I tried a 2.8A 8*AMC7135 2-mode regulator, with the LED power-in straight off the switch, and the regulator power in parallel wired to that, but also prefaced by a polarity protection diode to drop input voltage to the driver to below 6V. Something wasn't right though, 'cause it would only pull 1.3A on high. Maybe some of the 7135 chips were damaged, or maybe the emitter Vf was too high. I didn't try direct drive from the 2 LiFe cells, 'cause I didn't want to kill it if I ever forgot later on and loaded two IMR cells.

It was a curiosity satisfied as far as I'm concerned. I like it better than the MC-E, except for with 2 LiFe cells (the 12V version would be better for that, I think), but not nearly as much as the single die XM-L.