LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thrower

In the category of C cell flashlights, the new $30 FHLED01 from LEDBeam steals the crown of "great throw at a great price" from Bright Star. Check out Quick Beam's review at http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/ledbeam_3c.htm . A throw rating of 5170, overall illumination of 5100, for $30.

More good stuff: Aluminum construction and a thumb switch mounted near the head.

Among the shortcomings, it's unregulated (no problem for me; I'd use L91 AA lithiums with adapters) and it's 11.7 inches long, more than two inches longer than my Propolymer 3C LED.

You can buy it directly at http://www.ledbeam.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2 . Shipping is $7.50. a fact I learned by "ordering" one until the shipping price appeared.

Can anyone tell me how this light could be turned into a flood light? The reflector seems larger than the usual suspects discussed here. Would the solution be to sandpaper the reflector's smooth finish?

This light would seem to be improved a lot with just a 1 ohm resistor in line. That would not dramatically affect output, but would greatly flatten out the Lux vs time curve.

As far as widening the beam - usually, making the reflector "rougher" is used to smooth out the beam, not widen it. There are some diffuser kinds of optical plates out there which might work.

Side by side comparison, M*g 3C Top, Leadbeam 3C Bottom.





Ledbeam at 10"



M#g 3C Diamond DB-3 at 10"

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Run three NiMh's instead of alkalines, and the runtime curve will inprove, also. Does the heat sink have good contact with the flashlight body? I guess I will find answers when I receive mine next week. I know about caution re using only alkalines, but three lithium AA's will hold output up there longer than 3 C alkalines, and there will probably be more heat generated.

Bill

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

This is an inside shot of the Ledbeam 3 Watt Luxeon.



The lens size is 52.1mm. A M*g lens will fit in.

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

I quite like it, as it is within reach of the average persons pocket at $30.00

I was so impressed with the first one of these I got, that I ordered another one. Although I have more than a dozen LED flashlights by some well known manufacturers, this one ranks at or near the top of the list.

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

I just bought one at a local bicycle shop, good deal IMO.

Next time I order some UCL's, I'll get one for this light, it's the same size as a mag. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

G.S.

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

It seriously looks like someone cloned the Hotlips/O-sink design and the Mag body. Check out Quickbeam's closeups of the LED, it looks almost exactly like what you'd get if you bought a silver/pewter MagC and Hotlips to roll your own. But the price is not bad.. (compared to rolling your own)

Now if you can pop the heatsink out, I wonder if it would be possible to insert a regulator. A 1000mA Wiz2 from the sandwich shoppe would do the trick.

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Very good price/performance ratio. Only $10 more than a mag light and you get a luxeon powered light!

Notice how the reflector must be deeper too as the side spill is brighter/tighter than the maglight. Very cool becuase it makes the sidespill that much more usable.

For those that don't have mods or the skills to do them, this is a great buy!!

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

[ QUOTE ]
KevinL said:
It seriously looks like someone cloned the Hotlips/O-sink design and the Mag body. Check out Quickbeam's closeups of the LED, it looks almost exactly like what you'd get if you bought a silver/pewter MagC and Hotlips to roll your own. But the price is not bad.. (compared to rolling your own)

Now if you can pop the heatsink out, I wonder if it would be possible to insert a regulator. A 1000mA Wiz2 from the sandwich shoppe would do the trick.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you look at the pix you can see a bit of red sealer on the heatsink. There's an allen screw under there, I think it has something to do with retaining the heatsink. I havn't tried removing it yet...

The reflector, to my eye, has the same dimensions as one from a mag except for the cam. I took my SN II and swapped reflectors, they interchange perfectly.

G.S.

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Left M*g Reflector, Right Ledbeam Reflector



Left M*g Reflector, Right Ledbeam Reflector

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Maglite could have done this a long time ago. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

I just got mine from ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=106987&item=5205330082&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

One great light for the price. I'm getting another for my dad for father's day.

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Better than paying $80! Looks good too! Ledbeam is offering free shipping (within U.S.) for father's day if purchased on EBAY. WHAT A DEAL!!!

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Just ordered my second one, and first one has not even arrived. Took advantage of free shipping on ebay. I need a "beater", actually two. Wife will use one. I will probably use nimh's if current is not too high. Will check these lights with DMM when they arrive. Adding a current regulator sounds like a good idea, particularly if current is too high with nimh's. If nimh's do work, then than lux drop noted on flashlightreviews.com will smooth out. Ah, the fun of it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bill

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Missed out on the free shipping! Great deal for the price!

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

I broke down an ordered another light! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

Hi Bill.

I'm still on vacation so I haven't done anything about ordering the DMM that you guys recommended to me in another thread.

If you'd be so kind, please post your DMM results when you get your flashlight -- I'd still like to know what, if any, stresses that 3 NiMH batteries would place on this light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Also, would the DMM results that you get be different than the ones I'd get with a different set of 3 NiMH batteries, or would they be more or less the same?

Thanks,

Demogo

Re: LEDBeam Luxeon III--the new 3C affordable thro

demogo, when measuring 1-1.5 amps there will probably not be too much difference between brands of C NiMh's, as long as we are talking about 4500-5000mAh cells. It is when we start pulling 5-30+ amps that differences in individual brands of cells may show a difference. Other variables would be the state of charge of individual cells, how many cycles, age of cells, etc. My cells have not been cycled more than 10 times, are Chinese made (some of the best made are Chinese), and have proven reliable, so far.

Bill