LionHeart Undocumented feature???

If you have poor eyesight, you will not be able to appreciate this feature (at least I think it is a feature).

In a totally dark room, I layed my LionHeart down on a table and was thinking about what a wonderful light it is. I noticed a very slight "glow" coming from the light. Closer examination revealed that the LED appears to not completely shut off.

I removed the battery to see if that had any effect.

WARNING:
If you happen to disconnect and reconnect the battery while your eye is focused on the very dim glow of the LED and are in a completely dark room, you will be seeing spots. I did this. Wow, this thing is bright. When you re-connect the battery, the light flashes a very brightly.

At any rate, I took the battery out and the glow was still there.

I tried to "light up" something with the glow, but it is too dim. I am thinking the night light feature of the EternaLight or PALight, but this will only let you locate the LionHeart if you happen to look directly on axis into the reflector.

With the battery disconnected, the glow goes away when you press the switch.

Anyone else notice this?

Tom

Tom---Yes, I had noticed it. I figure that either
1.) The phosphorescent coating on the LED continues to glow for a short time after the light is turned off
or
2.) There is a capacitor or some storage device still powering the LED with a teeny tiny current even after the battery is disconnected from the circuit.
or
3.) I need to re-balance my meds /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Anyway, it isn't much of a concern either way.---Marc

Try turning on any of your Luxeon lights in the dark while not messing up your night vision (in other words, turn the light on under a blanket or something). Then turn them off and look at them. What you are seeing is the remaining glow in the phosphor layer over the LED (much like many GITD objects or CRT displays for that matter).

Yeah but if it goes out when you press the button (without battery) then it can't be that. It must be a capacitor or the meds. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I vote for meds. And I don't see it (heck I need glasses under an 8x magnifying headband just to build the dang things)... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hello Charlie,

This effect is pretty cool. You can lay the light down on a table, and with dark adapted eyes in a dark room, you can actually find the light by reaching for the glow.

I have seen the after glow of the LED phosphor. It seems to diminish with time. The glow of the LionHeart glows at a steady rate until you press the switch.

So, if you happen to drop your LionHeart in the dark, make sure it lands lens up so you can find it... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Tom

Haven't noticed mine yet. I always had it bezel down on my table /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/oops.gif
Anyway, will take a look tonight. Sounds like a really nice feature!

I can always find my LionHeart in the dark since I put green glow powder on the IMS SO27XA reflector.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Two questions about glow powder:
What's the proper technique for applying it?
How long will it last before dimming appreciably?
I was thinking of a glow-ring in one or two of the grooves machined into the knurling.

Update:

I was going to try to capture the glow with my camera. I spent some time last night mounting my camera on a tripod, adjusting the focus, playing with my Super Night Shot feature and getting all set up for the shot.

This morning, the glow is gone...

LEDModMan suggested that the glow was after glow from the phosphor, so I turned the light on under a pillow and let it stay on high for 1 minute. Turned it off and watched the phosphor after glow. The glow that I saw yesterday was similar in brightness to the after glow after 2 minutes. It took 12 minutes for the after glow on the LionHeart to completely fade away. It was gradually dimming the whole time.

Off Topic
I noticed that the after glow from the phosphor of my L4 only took 3 minutes to fade away. I wonder if there is any correlation to length of after glow time to the condition of the phosphor?
Back on Topic

I have also noticed that the operation of my LionHeart has changed as well.

Yesterday, I could press and hold to pick the level I wanted, then if I needed to change levels, I could simply press and hold again.

Today, I press and hold to get the level I want and within a couple of seconds I can continue to adjust the level. Once I use the light for a while, pressing and holding only gives me the highest level. I have to shut it off and turn it back on to get back to where I can adjust the level.

I believe my light is functioning properly today and was a bit off yesterday. At any rate, the glow is gone...

If it makes any difference, I am running in the 5 level mode with auto sleep turned on.

Tom

[ QUOTE ]
SilverFox said:
Yesterday, I could press and hold to pick the level I wanted, then if I needed to change levels, I could simply press and hold again.

Today, I press and hold to get the level I want and within a couple of seconds I can continue to adjust the level. Once I use the light for a while, pressing and holding only gives me the highest level. I have to shut it off and turn it back on to get back to where I can adjust the level.

I believe my light is functioning properly today and was a bit off yesterday. At any rate, the glow is gone...

If it makes any difference, I am running in the 5 level mode with auto sleep turned on.

[/ QUOTE ]
Weird. Being able to adjust the brightness without off/on cycling (yesterday) seems like a Mode 0 (continuous brightness) feature, while the adjust-first, then locked-in (today) is definitely Mode 1 (5-level with momentary High) operation. It sounds like your light may have been operating in a quasi-Mode 0.5, though I'm not sure how that would be possible.

I'm curious if your test of removing the battery, then pressing the button had anything to do with it, maybe putting the LH in a metastable state. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I think his LH is just posessed! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif