does the Everled run too hot in a Tec 40?

pilot4x4

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Does the Everled run too hot for a plastic bodied light like the PT Tec 40 with no heatsink? I'd like to be able to run it for long periods of time and not worry about it getting too hot. John
 

Empath

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It probably won't run too hot. The EverLed's circuitry is designed to reduce current to it when it gets too warm.
 

Darkaway

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Not in my PT 40 with 4xNiMH. I use it constantly for 40 minutes or so on the way to work. In fact, my totally unscientific opinion is that 1W luxeons in general don't need huge heatsinks unless they're way overdriven. Look at the new plastic luxeon headlamps from PT and Black Diamond as evidence.

And BTW, watch the polarity of those batts in the '40 unless you want to see the (expensive) magic smoke!!!!
 

pilot4x4

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Thanks for the info. Darkaway, how much light would you say it makes in the Tec 40 compared to the stock halogen bulb? Does it give a beam similar to the bulb?
John
 

Darkaway

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Pilot, I can't give you the exact comparison you want because I traded in the stock PT 40 bulb for a 3 cell Maglite Xenon bulb long ago, but I can tell you this: I use my PT 40(with 4xNiMH and a faceted reflector) to illuminate a dark trail that I run to work on. I aim it 10 feet ahead of me as I run. For this specific application, the EverLED lights up the trail almost as well as the incan bulb, while providing a whiter, cleaner beam with less artifacts. But when it comes to throw, the LED is completely outclassed by the Xenon bulb. As with anything else, YMMV.
 

illumiGeek

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I'm running a home made 1W lux "bulb" in a PT40 at full current, and even though it gets quite hot during use (too hot to touch), I have run it for extended periods several times (once more than an hour). It seems no worse for the wear after a lot of use. The "bulb" is simply a PR size metal slug with an appropriate resistor calculated to give me 350mA at 4x1.2V (NiMh), so it is actually slightly over-driven when the batteries are fresh off the charger (1.3-1.4V).

I thought the EverLED would be the lazy way to get regulation into my PT40, but the Ever is quite under-driven and doesn't even come close to my home made hack-job. Of course it also runs much cooler. Compared to the stock PT40 lamp, I'd say it's pretty close. It's much whiter in color, and has a larger hot spot with a bit less throw. There is also one ring around the central hot spot (which I don't have with my home made hack).

Compared to my home-made 1W Lux or a good Xenon replacement lamp, the EverLED will be dissappointing. And there is the very real risk of smoking the EveLED since the PT40 can take batteries either way. If you are careful, though, the EverLED will produce a nice, bright, white light from the PT40 that will run for a very long time on a set of batteries, and won't change in color or brightness when switching between disposable & rechargeable batteries.

Aloha, iG
 

Alan

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I think EverLED is not underdriven. If my memory serve me right, it should be driven around 330ma (?).

Unlike EverLED, new Luxeon headlamps from PT and BD are way underdriven.

Alan
 

Empath

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I don't think the EverLed is underdriven either. However, it will throttle the current back if it gets too warm.
 

Illuminated

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If memory serves, I sent an email inquiry to LED Corp about using a 3-cell (4.5V) LED PR replacement with 4 AA NiMH, and they said it would be OK. Not sure if it was with regard to their 2x5MM unit or the Pro series (Luxeon).

Has anyone ever tried this with a 3-cell Epion? I'm curious...might get warm, but be OK for intermittent use...

John
 

illumiGeek

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[ QUOTE ]
Alan said:
I think EverLED is not underdriven. If my memory serve me right, it should be driven around 330ma (?).

Unlike EverLED, new Luxeon headlamps from PT and BD are way underdriven.

Alan

[/ QUOTE ]

My EverLED is way dimmer than my home made 1W Lux lamp, so it sure looks like it's under-driven to me. Maybe I got a crappy bin in my Ever? Or maybe I got a "Factory 2nd" and paid full price? Hmmm... now I'm wondering if I should send it back, or at least contact LED Supply about its poor performance?
 

Alan

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Your home made 1W is over driven. According to your previous message, your home made 1W is "calculated" to draw 350ma on 4AA NiMH based on 1.2v/cell assumption. Most NiMH will have a bit over 1.3v to 1.4v. Multipy the voltage difference by 4 is quite a bit.

Alan
 

illumiGeek

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Actually, NiMh are only 1.3+ volts right off the charger. They drop to 1.2 pretty quickly under load. The batteries in the light at the moment have a significant amount of run time on them, and it's still WAY brighter than the EverLED I have. Maybe I just got a crappy EverLED? I dunno...
 

Alan

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Drawing merely 350ma (3.xV) on 4 NiMH AA drops its voltage from 1.3v+ to 1.2v pretty quickly? Did you actually test the voltage or by calculation?

I run Super LGI with more than 1A from 3 NiMH AA, it maintains 1.28v to 1.3v after 15 minutes of continous use.

Alan
 

illumiGeek

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Oops, good point about the light load from the EverLED. That's what I get for posting at 3AM. Guess I didn't think that through.

Still though, that would only be around a 10-15% over-drive. How much brighter would that really make it? The difference I'm seeing between my hack and the EverLED is quite dramatic. They are not even close in output.

Hmmm... I wonder where my old light meter is? Maybe I should try and excavate it from the bowels of the lair and make a measured comparison?
 
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