super range led flashlight

JulianP

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Sounds unlikely. I dug up this press release on the company's "Light recycling technology" (RLT)

""RLT is Wavien's Recycling Light Technology, a compact, low-cost, passive component technology that increases over 2 times the useable light output of conventional LEDs by collecting high angle-led generated light, that would be wasted in conventional illumination systems, and redirecting it into a more compact, useful, and brighter beam. The usable LED light output is significantly boosted by the RLT reflector with no additional LED input power required and no decrease in LED lifetime," stated Dr. Kenneth Li, President and CEO of Wavien, Inc., who is also the inventor of the RLT™ technology. "

They don't tell you which LED they use, and frankly, 1,500 yards will need a little more than just recycling stray photons - think surface brightness. Anyhow, if someone reviews it and gets the 1,500 yards range (without using the LBT - Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona), please post. I will buy two.:crackup:
 

John_Galt

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From a quick gander at the listed specs,I'd say they're susing a Cree XM-L to get the output. And putting that behind an aspheric lens [which many people do, in order to get good throw; you end up with a projected image of the LED die of varying size depending upon the size of the lens. Aspherics's, however, are not very efficient, perhaps 50% of the light an LED produces makes it out the front.]

Waiven, as I recall staarted a thread here about a year or so ago, discussing there other "super throwers." Their key element seems to be their "light recycling collar," which is apparently meant to reflect light that would otherwise be lost within the head of a light [one that is utilizing an aspheric lens] back at the die of the LED, thus increasing surface intensity [which is how you get maximum throw]. IDK, honestly, how effective of efficient such a device is, but I took their claims with a grain of salt, as did many others posting in the thread.
 

saabluster

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From a quick gander at the listed specs,I'd say they're susing a Cree XM-L to get the output. And putting that behind an aspheric lens [which many people do, in order to get good throw; you end up with a projected image of the LED die of varying size depending upon the size of the lens. Aspherics's, however, are not very efficient, perhaps 50% of the light an LED produces makes it out the front.]

Waiven, as I recall staarted a thread here about a year or so ago, discussing there other "super throwers." Their key element seems to be their "light recycling collar," which is apparently meant to reflect light that would otherwise be lost within the head of a light [one that is utilizing an aspheric lens] back at the die of the LED, thus increasing surface intensity [which is how you get maximum throw]. IDK, honestly, how effective of efficient such a device is, but I took their claims with a grain of salt, as did many others posting in the thread.
Yes it does appear they are using the XM-L. They probably are thinking either wrongheadedly that more lumens equal more throw or they are going for the marketing aspect of being able to quote high lumen numbers and playing off the general ignorance of the populace.

John your statement about aspheric lights being inefficient while in one sense being totally correct is also totally wrong. First off I hope you don't feel I'm coming down too hard on you personally as I have noticed this "myth" repeated here ad nauseum from some of the more schooled people. The record does however need to be set straight. First off let me say that I am fanatical about good design. I'd say I probably hold closest to the design pillars set forth by Dieter Rams but I'd add that on my own personal list it begins with one thing.

Function. This should drive everything that follows. So you start off trying to figure out what function you are ultimately trying to achieve. To do otherwise would be folly as you would not have clear design direction. In this case we will assume the goal is to create the best LED throw light possible. Since the goal is throw every part of the design should contribute to this goal with as little in the way of compromise as possible. If advancements in efficiency happen to contribute to reaching the main goal then they are most welcome. If however the cost of efficiency (which in this case you are referring to throughput) means a reduction in the end goal then by definition it is right out.

Keep in mind there is more than one way to view efficiency. Packaging and materials, throughput(optical), source intensity conversion to beam intensity, energy. When it is said that an aspheric loses x% of light that is referring to throughput. When designing a light for throw throughput is one of the worst things you could use to guide your design. In fact if one was to put so much weight on throughput then we wouldn't even use reflectors or TIR lenses which lose 10-30% of the light themselves. The absolute best would be bare LEDs. Anything less then that and you are losing lumens. But then it really isn't always about lumens is it. Sometimes you need to see far away and the only way to accomplish this will require the death of some lumens via various collimation methods. There is no reason to cry over the lost lumens as long as the end result meets the goal set forth.

The fact is that there is no collimation technique that can come anywhere close to what can be accomplished with a properly designed aspheric(except maybe an equally lossy high precision multi-lens setup). For any given current to the LED an aspheric will always throw more than a reflector or TIR of the same diameter. To put this another way- it would take far more power or far more size to create the same amount of throw as the aspheric. That means the aspheric is far more efficient at converting the source into throw. That's right the aspheric is more efficient than any other alternative. The loss of some lumens does not change that and is inconsequential.

If you needed to see super far away and you couldn't see what you needed to with your reflectored or TIR light the knowledge that you have a little bit more throughput is of little solace. And while there is nothing you can do to make that reflector or TIR light throw farther when you need it it is relatively easy to make a lensed light diffused. There is a reason for my preference for optics.
 
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saabluster

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Well I ordered the light from HID country. Finally came in. Keep in mind they advertise it as "the worlds longest range LED flashlight available to the public" so you'd expect something in the range of 200Kcd or more right? So I measured the throw of this thing. You ready for it? 15Kcd:crackup:It is a poster child in poor design that I won't even begin to get into here. Well, OK here's one thing. They force you to cycle through a strobe mode every time you turn the light on.:sick2: Took one for the team on this one. :ohgeez:
 

TEEJ

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Well I ordered the light from HID country. Finally came in. Keep in mind they advertise it as "the worlds longest range LED flashlight available to the public" so you'd expect something in the range of 200Kcd or more right? So I measured the throw of this thing. You ready for it? 15Kcd:crackup:It is a poster child in poor design that I won't even begin to get into here. Well, OK here's one thing. They force you to cycle through a strobe mode every time you turn the light on.:sick2: Took one for the team on this one. :ohgeez:

Wait a minute, you mean a Chinese light company exaggerated their claims as to performance?!?!?!

That's CRAZY TALK!

:party:

LOL - Thanks for taking one for the Team!

:thumbsup:
 

BLUE LED

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Surly not a massive 15Kcd :crackup:

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
 
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cccpull

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Say it isn't so:eek:. You did not need to sacrifice yourself(reputation and dignity:shakehead)for this light. After reading about the stuff you, Elektrolumen, and Lambda Lights put out, there is no way I would be able to believe their ad.
Your curiosity got the best of you or you were bored to death. At least everyone is getting a good laugh.:D
 

JulianP

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Well I ordered the light from HID country. Finally came in. Keep in mind they advertise it as "the worlds longest range LED flashlight available to the public" so you'd expect something in the range of 200Kcd or more right? So I measured the throw of this thing. You ready for it? 15Kcd:crackup:It is a poster child in poor design that I won't even begin to get into here. Well, OK here's one thing. They force you to cycle through a strobe mode every time you turn the light on.:sick2: Took one for the team on this one. :ohgeez:
Does it make a good doorstop? Maybe the body can be recycled into a desktop trash can or part of a modern art sculpture.:confused:
 

jorn

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Does it make a good doorstop? Maybe the body can be recycled into a desktop trash can or part of a modern art sculpture.:confused:
It uses military grade aluminium (mutch better than civillian alu), so it will last forever as a doorstop haha :)
 

roadkill1109

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one of the reviews said square beam, sounds like might be like a dereelight aspheric.
 
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Very good of you to 'take one for the team'. At least I now know what YOUR lights are about. Thanks.


Well I ordered the light from HID country. Finally came in. Keep in mind they advertise it as "the worlds longest range LED flashlight available to the public" so you'd expect something in the range of 200Kcd or more right? So I measured the throw of this thing. You ready for it? 15Kcd:crackup:It is a poster child in poor design that I won't even begin to get into here. Well, OK here's one thing. They force you to cycle through a strobe mode every time you turn the light on.:sick2: Took one for the team on this one. :ohgeez:
 

RCLumens

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Thank you for the post! And thank you for TAKIN ONE for the team! I was reading about this too and for the price, was also considering...many, many, many thanks.

Well I ordered the light from HID country. Finally came in. Keep in mind they advertise it as "the worlds longest range LED flashlight available to the public" so you'd expect something in the range of 200Kcd or more right? So I measured the throw of this thing. You ready for it? 15Kcd:crackup:It is a poster child in poor design that I won't even begin to get into here. Well, OK here's one thing. They force you to cycle through a strobe mode every time you turn the light on.:sick2: Took one for the team on this one. :ohgeez:
 

saabluster

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Say it isn't so:eek:. You did not need to sacrifice yourself(reputation and dignity:shakehead)for this light. After reading about the stuff you, Elektrolumen, and Lambda Lights put out, there is no way I would be able to believe their ad.
Your curiosity got the best of you or you were bored to death. At least everyone is getting a good laugh.:D
Ha Ha. No not bored. I was curious to see for myself how it performed. Mind you I certainly did not expect it to match it's quoted specs but I also didn't expect it to be that far off. There was also the fact that it has Wavien's collar in there and I wanted to see how they implemented it as I have considered licensing this tech from them and may do so in the future as the idea is sound.

Does it make a good doorstop?
It certainly could. It weighs a ton for its size.

one of the reviews said square beam, sounds like might be like a dereelight aspheric.
Yes it is an aspheric light. I wouldn't go so far as to say "like a dereelight" though. The Dereelight is actually a nice light with excellent performance.
 

Gregozedobe

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Another "Thank You" for taking one for the team.

I hope you get some useful info from pulling it apart and experimenting with the components (especially the wavien collar).
 

nikosb

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Is there an article that explains why aspheric lenses are much better for throw than TIR even if they suffer from wasted light not directed at the lens?
 
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