upgrade your Tec 20 to LED power !

I was following a link from Brock "regular flashlight" pages to Princeton Tec. Under "whats new" I found a LED module for their tec-20. Whats interesting about it is that the tec-20 is a 3 volt light. So I am wondering...does this module have have a step up curcit in it. I would put a link here not sure how. Any thoughts?

There was a link here for a single LED in a PR Base for 4 cell flashlights. I think it was designed for reflectors also. It's on my ever growing to buy list.

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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb

One thing about the module is that it's the same module used in their Matrix headlamp. Go to Eastern Mountain sports and compare the light output from the Matrix headlamp to that from the Petzl Tikka, and you will be disappointd with the Matrix.

Well since I owned a Tec-20 already, I went ahead and purchased the LED module for it and I most certainly was dissapointed! For $30, it has 3 white LEDs in it, and yes there is some sort of step up circuitry in it as the case is transparent and you can see the transformer, a small piece of ferrite with turns of wire wrapped around it, thus indicating some sort of inverter. The LEDs are probably under driven as the output of all three LEDs combined seems as bright as a White Infinity with a lithium AA in it. Not too impressive. Somehow I feel cheated, owning other "single" LED lights that far outperform this module.

Regards,

Ed

princeton tec says the matrix gives longer battery life. i believe them. also the matrix stays at the same brightness all the time. the tikka runs linearly. the tikka runs like the photon and the matrix like the pocketbright. i wonder what would happen if you put 3.6volts or something through it? would it be bright or fried?

I think that it is important to remember that Princeton Tec designs their lamps for camping and outdoor activities - meaning that they are made for around the camp or on the trail - back country. In these environments, burntime and usable light are more important than shear power. It does not require extreme amounts of light, but basic light. The burn time is an even 40 hour plus hours (mine burns roughly 60 on alkalines) - it maintains a constant output for the life of the batteries.

I spoke to Ed Viesturs last year - he uses the Matrix for around the camp and has taken it up Everest. His comment is that it is a great light, but for any technical uses, LEDs are not going to do it.

They say the thought was to give adequate light for backpacking with the most burntime possible - if they bumped the voltage, the burntime would decrease (see what happens if put it in the Tec 40 - a bit brighter, with little more than half of the burntime)

The Tikka is designed with a different thought. Petzl uses no step up and it burns bright for maybe 9 hours and slowly dimishes for another 9, but drastically drops off there after. Petzl went for price, Princeton considered technology.

They are both good lamps, it just depends on what you are planning to use them for.

Hey that got me to thinking. I just took one of the Starlight 128's (the ones running on 2 AA's with the step-up in the PR base) apart and put the LED in the Tec 20, very nice transplant. It is putting out about 22mcd, and has a bit of a ring in the beam from the smooth reflector on the Tec 20. It makes a great backup light though, completly waterproof. I wish someone like brightguy or glowbug would buy a bunch of theses PR LED's to resale, I think you guys would like them.

Another thought is to use a Versalux PR-2 bulb from www.techass.com in one of these lights. it is nice too.

Hi, yes the sino union LED replacement does use a PR base LED and a step up converter right in side the PR base! We had a big discussion about it maybe a year ago? Someone should be able to find it and post a link here. In any case they made LED replacement lamps that ran off 1.5v and a 3v version also. Very cool little item. The problem was they were only available in large quantities. Maybe TTS can help us out

Oh, here is a review with more info from Craigs site http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/starlit2.htm

I thought Techass was selling them also, but actually with a little better output, but I couldn't find them on their site.

Go to Techass.com then products then versalux or click the link hereversalux PR2
Problem is it goes under their Versalux product catagory. Easy to miss when you know that you're not looking for the Versalux ULM (utility lighting module).

Ahhhhh, there it is. Yup I skipped right over it.