UK 5 (6) WATT E-LED diving light anyone : ?

SidewindR

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Aug 1, 2002
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Texas
:
HI i just ordered a C-4 UK diving -led and
after saying they had run out they upgraded me to a C-8
which was nice and i got an extra head for focused light but i didn't really notice the difference, anyway
any thoughts on this light.
Bright to say the least.. very sturdy switch it seems
so far this is almost as bright as my Seattle Space Needle II, really cool and water resistant , gosh this is almost like a car head light LED! anyway 8 hours on 8 C's so far and no loss in quality
 

illumiGeek

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I've played around a bit with the UK eLED module. I haven't taken it apart or done any real voltage/current measurements (yet), but I'll bet it only runs fully regulated on high power mode in the C8 eLED light, and not in the C4 eLED.

Both lights are pretty bright, but the C8 host is noticeably brighter on high, and in a regulated light this should not happen. If it was a proper buck-boost regulator then light output would be the same (at the expense of even shorter battery life in the C4).

Since this doesn't seem to be the case, I suspect it is a buck regulator only, and the C4 is running in direct-drive on high (since the C4 is only running off of 6V on high - minus circuit resistance losses - and the typical Luxeon 5 watter needs about 6.8 to run at the correct current). This explains the brighness difference, and also why the C4 dims more as batteries are used up.

Aloha, iG
 

Billson

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What type of led is it using? It states it's an InGan 5 watter and has a 5000 hour life putting out 130 lumens. Is this a new kind of led?
 

paulr

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Re: UK 5 (6) WATT E-LED diving light anyone :

Someone did a review of it recently. It's using a side emitter if I remember right. It does have a voltage converter. The review sites may have some more data.

http://uwkinetics.com/D_C8eLED.htm
 

Billson

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Re: UK 5 (6) WATT E-LED diving light anyone :

Since no 3 watter can produce this much light, it must be a lux 5 but it still doesn't explain the 5000 hour life span since it doesn't seem to be underdriven at 6W.
 

illumiGeek

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Re: UK 5 (6) WATT E-LED diving light anyone :

It uses a Luxeon 5W Side Emitter. Typical Luxeon 5W has a vf of 6.8V. That means that the eLED module would need a buck-boost converter to work properly from either 4 cells (6V needs boost) or 8 cells (12V needs buck).

However, reviews of these lights (and my own observation since I have one) shows that the C4 host is quite a bit dimmer than the C8 host on high (they are the same on low).

At first I wondered if it might be that the higher current demand on the 4 cell light might be pushing the Alkalines too hard. But running it from 4 NiMh still produces less output. The only explanation is that the 4 cell host is not regulated on high.

If you look at the run time plots in the UK data sheet you will see something interesting. There are plots for the C8 with Alkaline and NiCad batteries, but only for NiCad with the C4. Why? Because NiCad cells have a very flat discharge curve that looks almost regulated. If they had published a plot for Alkalines I'll bet real money you would see a gradual (unregulated) drop in output. I think it's pretty obvious that the eLED module has a buck only regulator. Too bad. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Still a nice light if you don't mind the larger C8 form factor.
 
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