McLux
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Darell
Flashaholic
Mine are working GREAT! Thanks for asking.
Leo. Paging Leo. Probably still recovering from New Year's celebrating. If he doesn't respond after a while I'll go give him a tickle.
Leo. Paging Leo. Probably still recovering from New Year's celebrating. If he doesn't respond after a while I'll go give him a tickle.
hotfoot
Flashlight Enthusiast
Darell was right - I (and most of Singapore) was still in the midst the Lunar New Year celebrations. Went to see a cancer-stricken friend today and watched the annual New Year's parade too - but of course, managed to squeeze McLux into my schedule too!
Patience is a great virtue, and with it comes great reward - now, wax on, wax off, please....
Seriously, its 6:14AM for me now and I've just come back from an early morning swim with my EDC McLux EN - just so I can report on its performance underwater, to you, the anxious buyers and world at large. Sorry, no pix for this update because my digicam is watershy and I have no bathing suit for it. Next time, I'll have one of those disposable watersport cams with me.
My EDC, which has seen regular "demostration" abuse, is typical of the TK McLux EN, with these exceptions:
- BB500 + handpicked Q2K emitter (not sure if it was an entirely sound decision, but I picked a BB500 to help mitigate the relatively high Vf of the K-binned emitter)
- mine was fitted with an NX05 for the swim
- o-rings totally without lube
- kroll-switch tightened using the DarellSlot(TM) method
The 30-minute aqua test was in a 2-meter(6.562) deep chlorinated freshwater pool, water temp about 27-deg C. The pool is half-olympic length, full width. These were the tests I performed:
Visual test:
============
The Q2 emitter was a gem in spite of its relatively high Vf - bright and very good shade of noonlight white. It would have been sooo fun if someone else was in the pool with me armed with a McLux - marine lightsaber duel! Apart from the lovely visible beam (oh, so that's what a 10-degree beam looks like!), the crisp white light cuts thru water well enough to light up the far ends of the pool from any other opposite end. Once you've seen LEDs underwater, only HIDs will be acceptable to you afterwards! Even if they throw better, I now think incandescents just pale in comparison underwater! When the 5W hits the water soon, only LEDs and HIDS will rule beneath the waves.
Waterproofness test:
====================
I on-off cycled the McLux at depths of 2-ft at least 150x, and a further 30x at the bottom of the pool. The light was also switched on at random every now and then for an additional 30x at least. The kroll-boot remained 100% stable during operation at all depths tested, with no unwanted activation at any time during the test due to water-pressure. I'm no big fan of the kroll, but this test suggests that its totally reliable in depths of up to 6-ft.
Then, using a coiled tether with one end clipped onto my trunks and the other end to the McLux, I lapped the pool a few times, allowing the light to trail behind and beneath me so that is was always at at minimum depth of 4ft at all times. I left the light switched on during my laps and deliberately kicked the light about also in an effort to simulate some light "work impacts".
My findings:
============
The McLux and its owner were bathed in warm soapy water after the swim and towelled dry. I left the McLux to air-dry for about 5-minutes to eliminate surface moisture and then cracked it open to find - NOTHING! Yes, it was bone-dry inside - Darell's tightening method really rocks! Of course, the light still functions beautifully and its right here beside me as I compose this post.
So, while the McLux was NEVER designed to be a dive-light, it certainly looks like it could take a fairly serious swim. I think it would be extremely handy to one have on a boat for those quick fix-it jobs in and UNDER the boat (say, un-snagging a plastic bag snarling a prop). Operating it repeatedly at 6ft doesn't faze it one bit and it simply yawns off anything less. I'll need to pass the McLux to a diver friend for deeper water testing and I understand that a product test facility here in Singapore has a depth-pressure simulation tank too. If its not too expensive, I may try to get a depth-rating of the McLux just for the heckuva it. I think 30-ft would be more than enough for a non-dive light, dontcha think? With this new info, I'll be hard-pressed to find anything now that tops the McLux as a general-purpose EDC - in or out of water
OK, beyond this info, I am lashing together the build-progress page, so watch out for the URL.
-leo
Patience is a great virtue, and with it comes great reward - now, wax on, wax off, please....
Seriously, its 6:14AM for me now and I've just come back from an early morning swim with my EDC McLux EN - just so I can report on its performance underwater, to you, the anxious buyers and world at large. Sorry, no pix for this update because my digicam is watershy and I have no bathing suit for it. Next time, I'll have one of those disposable watersport cams with me.
My EDC, which has seen regular "demostration" abuse, is typical of the TK McLux EN, with these exceptions:
- BB500 + handpicked Q2K emitter (not sure if it was an entirely sound decision, but I picked a BB500 to help mitigate the relatively high Vf of the K-binned emitter)
- mine was fitted with an NX05 for the swim
- o-rings totally without lube
- kroll-switch tightened using the DarellSlot(TM) method
The 30-minute aqua test was in a 2-meter(6.562) deep chlorinated freshwater pool, water temp about 27-deg C. The pool is half-olympic length, full width. These were the tests I performed:
Visual test:
============
The Q2 emitter was a gem in spite of its relatively high Vf - bright and very good shade of noonlight white. It would have been sooo fun if someone else was in the pool with me armed with a McLux - marine lightsaber duel! Apart from the lovely visible beam (oh, so that's what a 10-degree beam looks like!), the crisp white light cuts thru water well enough to light up the far ends of the pool from any other opposite end. Once you've seen LEDs underwater, only HIDs will be acceptable to you afterwards! Even if they throw better, I now think incandescents just pale in comparison underwater! When the 5W hits the water soon, only LEDs and HIDS will rule beneath the waves.
Waterproofness test:
====================
I on-off cycled the McLux at depths of 2-ft at least 150x, and a further 30x at the bottom of the pool. The light was also switched on at random every now and then for an additional 30x at least. The kroll-boot remained 100% stable during operation at all depths tested, with no unwanted activation at any time during the test due to water-pressure. I'm no big fan of the kroll, but this test suggests that its totally reliable in depths of up to 6-ft.
Then, using a coiled tether with one end clipped onto my trunks and the other end to the McLux, I lapped the pool a few times, allowing the light to trail behind and beneath me so that is was always at at minimum depth of 4ft at all times. I left the light switched on during my laps and deliberately kicked the light about also in an effort to simulate some light "work impacts".
My findings:
============
The McLux and its owner were bathed in warm soapy water after the swim and towelled dry. I left the McLux to air-dry for about 5-minutes to eliminate surface moisture and then cracked it open to find - NOTHING! Yes, it was bone-dry inside - Darell's tightening method really rocks! Of course, the light still functions beautifully and its right here beside me as I compose this post.
So, while the McLux was NEVER designed to be a dive-light, it certainly looks like it could take a fairly serious swim. I think it would be extremely handy to one have on a boat for those quick fix-it jobs in and UNDER the boat (say, un-snagging a plastic bag snarling a prop). Operating it repeatedly at 6ft doesn't faze it one bit and it simply yawns off anything less. I'll need to pass the McLux to a diver friend for deeper water testing and I understand that a product test facility here in Singapore has a depth-pressure simulation tank too. If its not too expensive, I may try to get a depth-rating of the McLux just for the heckuva it. I think 30-ft would be more than enough for a non-dive light, dontcha think? With this new info, I'll be hard-pressed to find anything now that tops the McLux as a general-purpose EDC - in or out of water
OK, beyond this info, I am lashing together the build-progress page, so watch out for the URL.
-leo
hotfoot
Flashlight Enthusiast
McLux Waterproofing test just completed! (please read post above this one
)
-leo
-leo
Leo!
You're still recovering from new year's tidbits coupled up with that illness of yours that seems to have not recovered completed since you sold me your BB500 over 1 month ago... and now going for a morning swim with 27 degrees water? Leo... you need to take care of yourself... Many people's hopes are pinned on you... they WANT their mclux...
Rothrandir
Flashaholic
hey leo, do you think you could add a link to the pictures page there?
hotfoot
Flashlight Enthusiast
Hi Rothrandir, I'll be putting up a McLux gallery on the site soon.
I'm actually compiling pix and diagrams now, but I'll only get the gallery up in a coupla days at best. Still got some backlog - like checking parts that just came in from CA and signing off the actual run itself!
The CPF threads are too dynamic and stuff gets buried all too quickly, so I've decided to host all static McLux related content on the Skunk site (as it should be). Dynamic stuff, like McLux discussions, will still take place here.
Hopefully, this strategy will offload some non-general traffic off the CPF as well and save David some precious bandwidth $$$
I'm actually compiling pix and diagrams now, but I'll only get the gallery up in a coupla days at best. Still got some backlog - like checking parts that just came in from CA and signing off the actual run itself!
The CPF threads are too dynamic and stuff gets buried all too quickly, so I've decided to host all static McLux related content on the Skunk site (as it should be). Dynamic stuff, like McLux discussions, will still take place here.
Hopefully, this strategy will offload some non-general traffic off the CPF as well and save David some precious bandwidth $$$
Rothrandir
Flashaholic
great idea!
and when you have time (heh), you should add a chat on the site
and when you have time (heh), you should add a chat on the site
hotfoot
Flashlight Enthusiast
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yeah, right! Me and what army? *LOL*Originally posted by Rothrandir:
great idea!
and when you have time (heh), you should add a chat on the site
-leo
yclo
Flashaholic*
Why you and your McLux army of course!
Darell
Flashaholic
Oh yeah. Uh guys.... Ryan asked if we (the Skunks) would like to be featured guests on a chat sometime soon. I suppose we should huddle up and see if there is a time that we're all sitting around wondering what to do with our free time.
Rothrandir
Flashaholic
jeez, on second though, speaking with you guys in non-realtime is scary enough...i'm out
C
Cosmic Superchunk
Guest
Hi guys, I'm kinda new here, so please forgive me if I sound ignorant, but what is a McLux?
C
Cosmic Superchunk
Guest
X-Ray, thanks for the link! That thing looks like something out of Star Wars! Where does one pick up one of these babies?
Kercheval
Newly Enlightened
Cosmic Superchunk, the skunkworks guys are making DIY (Do-it-Yourself) parts so that you could make your own and I would be not be too surprised if they don't make a few extra McLux TK units. You should contact Hotfoot for info...
