Diamond LED drop in questions

TrueBlue

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I was just rereading The LED Museum recent article on the Diamond LED and the wonderful review wowed me with the output of the Light.

http://ledmuseum.jpoproductions.com/diamond.htm

http://www.quality-items-flashlights.com/product_info.php?products_id=79&XTCsid=183bd16726adc8bf9f29f5a486ef49d6

I was totally impressed with the output of the light rating at 2,820,000 mcd in a concentrated spotlight. LED Museum rated the EverLED at 1,564,000 mcd, which I have, and I thought that was bright but it seems the Diamond blows the EverLED out of the water. The Diamond is cheaper too at $24.95 and the one with Fraen optics is $36.95 with overnight shipping making them cheaper than EverLED. I know the Diamond will only fit a 3D or 3C Muglite or I assume any 3 cell light. It might be worth buying a nice 3 cell flashlight to put a Diamond in.

A few questions to throw out to the crowd. How bright is 2,820,000 mcd? I'm sure I couldn't put a spotlight on the moon but will it light up 300 feet away? How far will 2,820,000 project a beam?

Is the Diamond regulated? I like lights that have consistent output.

Optics? How much of a difference would Fraen optics make in the beam output? Would it be a smoother flood beam? Would it be a farther light throw?

What runs the Diamond LED? A Luxeon 3W or 5W?

Finally, does anyone know the runtime of the Diamond?
 

NewBie

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Nice, now folks are starting to think about the necessary heatsinking. Helps alot with life and heat output.

Will be sweet to eventually see a commercial drop-in that takes full advantage of the MagLite body for proper heatsinking.
 

The_LED_Museum

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I can answer at least ONE question about the Diamond LED drop-in...it uses a 3 watt Luxeon.

The test sample I have uses a 3 watt Luxeon anyway. And it's designed only to fit a 3-C or 3-D cell Mag-Lite.
It has a threaded collar assembly attached to it that screws onto the lamp holder of the Mag-Lite.

I believe getting an optic down there will result in a wider beam than the Mag-Lite reflector provides.
I have not tried this though, so individual results may vary.
 

idleprocess

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Nice. Looks better than dropping $40 on an EverLED - although I imagine that the SE EverLED works a tad better with reflectors.
 

tech

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I'm a bit confused by their website.
Do you have to buy the adaptor and the bulb, or just the bulb?

T.
 

The_LED_Museum

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You just need the bulb.
The Mag-Lite bulb collar is already built into (or onto) the Diamond drop-in bulb. So you simply unscrew and remove the head off your Mag, unscrew and remove the collar, remove the original bulb, screw the Diamond bulb on, and screw the bezel back on. Dispose of or store the original bulb and collar as you see fit. I'd recommend at least saving the collar, but that's just my opinion.
 

The_LED_Museum

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I received my drop-in from another CPFer, and it did not come with any instructional material or other documentation. And there's nothing on the bulb itself indicating where it was manufactured.
Sorry, no help in this department. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 

SilverFox

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Hello Haveblue,

2,820,000 mcd = 2,820 cd. To figure out the throw you need to decide if you want it in foot candles or lux. The square root of 2,820 is about 53. This means that at 53 feet the light will be down to 1 foot candle, or at 53 meters it will be down to 1 lux.

If you use the lux readings, you can compare it to Doug's (Quickbeam) output vs throw chart in the reviews section.

Tom
 

TrueBlue

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Please forgive my learning curve when it comes to the light throw.

As a example when I go to Doug's nice charts I read on the chart a Badboy 400 Q2 throw as 19.49. Can I directly compare the Diamond LEDs 53 as throw and say the Diamond has over 2.7 throw distance?

I'm trying to get a reference light that everyone knows so I can tell if the Diamond has more light distance.
 

SilverFox

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Hello Haveblue,

That is correct.

If the Badboy 400 is listed as having a throw of 19.49, you can square that and get about 380 lux which equals 380 cd = 380,000 mcd.

Tom
 

14C

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Some answers for the thread:

The Diamond LED 3W is designed for screwing in to a 3C/D maglite. I doubt it will fit into just any PR base unless you go to the trouble of removing the threaded heat-sink and that is likely asking for problems.

I have the EverLED white and some of the Diamonds. The EverLED is a side emitter and is definitely more white than the Diamond Replacements but you'd only notice side-by-side.

I prefer the Diamond for light output, throw and beam smoothness. I have tried them in a stock reflector and with an Otokoyama PMR and with a stock reflector and Otokoyama's Acrylite lenses. In all cases I prefer the Diamond to the EverLED.

The WWW site lists the factory as being in China.

I have not tried the optics.

The site has a FIVE watt listed with the Fraen optic ONLY (I assume it's mass is needed more for heat-sinking) but because of other commitments I do not have the funds to purchase one at the moment.
 

turbodog

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I called them today. They say they are the only dist for these things. After an internet search , I believe them. Also, they are SOLD OUT of ALL models for 6-8 days. LAstly, they say the units are of canadian origin.
 

14C

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I have never asked them directly where the units are made but this page URL lists them as having offices and warehouses in the US, Canada and Germany and offices and factory in China.
 

ledlurker

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Hey, that is an incredible deal for $25, much cheaper than buying the LED and heat sink from separate sources and having to hack you Mags to modify them.

My suggestion is try to find the older style mags to use this. The older Mag C's and D's have a metal post holder for the bulb which will be even more additional heat sinking than the newer ones with the plastic only post.
 

turbodog

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I'm gonna wait for Craig to fully review it, or until mine comes in but I do not think it is regulated. There is too much evidence against this.
 

The_LED_Museum

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[ QUOTE ]
turbodog said:
I'm gonna wait for Craig to fully review it, or until mine comes in but I do not think it is regulated. There is too much evidence against this.

[/ QUOTE ]
Because it has been asked of me, I intend to run this product through my battery discharge analysis machine, but another product is using that machine at this time, and that test is expected to take several days. As soon as the machine is free, I'll start the test on this bulb. Then we'll know if it's regulated or not.
 

flashlightlens

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The quality on these is pretty nice. I dropped one in a 2D-to-3C Mag a month or two ago. It's really a nice and easy mod. The tint on the LED was a little on the green side, but very acceptable. I'd recommend one of these to anyone thinking about it.
 
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