Arc4+ REV2 Runtime

What setting are these on?

wow, so less lux than the 4+ #1?

T.I.N.,
Would you say that not all rev.2 are 10% brighter, or that some rev.1, are exceptionally bright?

It looks to me like his Rev1 starts at level one, then drops to level two after 25 minutes or so. His #1 Rev2 drops to level two after 10 minutes, then drops to level three at the twenty minute mark. His #2 and #3 Rev2s drop to level three pretty early, maybe after 15 minutes or less.

Clearly, he's buying several lights, keeping the best one for himself, and reselling the others. I'd guess his Rev1 is one of the higher performing ones. It certainly outperforms all three of his Rev2s.

At level two, it does indeed look like the Rev2s are a hair brighter than the Rev1. This agrees with Peter's comment that they've been recalibrated to higher standards. I'm not sure you can see his Rev1 at level three for any length of time, so it's difficult to compare it to the other.

I'm a little surprised the profile isn't flat at level one. It almost seems to be the power supply is running wide open, and the current to the emitter is limited only by how much amperage you can pull from a single CR123. It is possible the differences in output you see at level one (Rev1 and Rev2 #1 slightly brighter than Rev2 #2 and #3) are due entirely to variations in the cells.

Obviously, the cream of this crop (ignoring the X) is the Rev1. It can run at level 2 seemingly forever without overheating (or at least until the cell gives out). Second up is the Rev2 #1, which is more efficient (less heat, longer runtime) at a given level than either of his other Rev2s.

Thanks to T_I_N for these helpful graphs. It helps one understand what one can expect to get if you buy one of these lights.

Sorry. I should have put some words around the graph.

1. All test are done from Level-1, with no external cooling.
2. The Arc4+ tested is a middle of the road unit, meaning not the brightest/best that I have. I didn't use that one, since I thought it would totally make the results confusing.

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Noxiousbt said:
T.I.N.,
Would you say that not all rev.2 are 10% brighter, or that some rev.1, are exceptionally bright?

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I would say both.

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Ty_Bower said:
It looks to me like his Rev1 starts at level one, then drops to level two after 25 minutes or so. His #1 Rev2 drops to level two after 10 minutes, then drops to level three at the twenty minute mark. His #2 and #3 Rev2s drop to level three pretty early, maybe after 15 minutes or less.

Clearly, he's buying several lights, keeping the best one for himself, and reselling the others. I'd guess his Rev1 is one of the higher performing ones. It certainly outperforms all three of his Rev2s.

At level two, it does indeed look like the Rev2s are a hair brighter than the Rev1. This agrees with Peter's comment that they've been recalibrated to higher standards. I'm not sure you can see his Rev1 at level three for any length of time, so it's difficult to compare it to the other.

I'm a little surprised the profile isn't flat at level one. It almost seems to be the power supply is running wide open, and the current to the emitter is limited only by how much amperage you can pull from a single CR123. It is possible the differences in output you see at level one (Rev1 and Rev2 #1 slightly brighter than Rev2 #2 and #3) are due entirely to variations in the cells.

Obviously, the cream of this crop (ignoring the X) is the Rev1. It can run at level 2 seemingly forever without overheating (or at least until the cell gives out). Second up is the Rev2 #1, which is more efficient (less heat, longer runtime) at a given level than either of his other Rev2s.

Thanks to T_I_N for these helpful graphs. It helps one understand what one can expect to get if you buy one of these lights.

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You bring up a good point. I have a modded ARC-AAA Lux-III on the meter now. When that's down, I'll do a Level-3 test with both the REV1 and REV2.

One thing I note. I thought that I read that the levels were *brightness* calibrated at .707 per step, hence two steps yield a halving/doubling. This relationship appears to be roughly true at the lower levels but not at the upper levels.

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Doug S said:
One thing I note. I thought that I read that the levels were *brightness* calibrated at .707 per step, hence two steps yield a halving/doubling. This relationship appears to be roughly true at the lower levels but not at the upper levels.

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I believe that the power, not brightness, is calibrated that way. The LED becomes much less efficient at the highest power levels--hence the diminishing returns.

Hey TIN, can you tell me if what I think I see is what should be seeing?

I recall Peter saying the Rev.2 was 10% brighter, so the output should be 10% higher on the Rev. 2 as compared to the Rev. 1.

As I look at the chart, all the Rev.1 models are brighter than the Rev. 2.

Or am I interpeting things wrong here?

You are reading the graph correctly. Bare in mind that these are the results of my particular lights and your mileage may vary.

My understanding is that there is a range of tolerance for Rev1 as well as Rev2, and the two overlap, but overall the Rev2s are 10% brighter. My Rev1 (before it fell 20 ft on the edge of the bezel onto solid rock requiring repairs, leaving barely a mark on the edge of the bezel!) was MUCH brighter than my Rev2 (all lights firsts). Peter has on file each light's performance, and can verify that it is within tolerances. The key word is tolerances.

Rudi has got it right.

Peter