WXOT LuxV and UWOK LuxIII's and WOW!

WXOT LuxV and UWOK LuxIII\'s and WOW!

I am now the proud owner of an ALEPHIII with a WXOT LuxV light engine built by Chop.

Several months ago I was able to track down this very desirable LuxV and spent a lot of time trying to decide how best to utilize it.

After a LOT of thought, and great advice from several people, I decided to build an ALEPH light engine. I had intially thought I would build this into a PR-T head, but after consulting with others, the LuxV was deemed to be too hot for long term use in a PR-T head.

Chop had a lot of experience with these kinds of builds and on his advice, I decided to build a BB750 LE for the ALEPH. That was great choice and after seeing the results, I am very happy with the decision!

Knowing my lack of small scale soldering skills, (tovdrd will testify of this!) I chose to have an expert build this for me, to make sure it was done right the first time! I considered many of the great builders on CPF, but Ginseng's recommendation of Chop, and Chop's experience building ALEPH's finally was the deciding factor in my decision.

He did an incredible job, my hat is off to him! I can't speak highly enough of his expertise!!!

The color is white, with no real tinge of color. The LuxV throws very well with a minimal donut in this incarnation. Currently it is mounted on an ALEPH tube, and to keep the size down, I am running it on 2 CR2's, though the regular tube will be a 2 CR123's tube with a two stage switch.

The other new light is a PR-T with a UWOK light engine. Yes, you read that right! A UWOK light engine. This is a monster light! The hot spot is intensely white and bright! The hotspot, while larger than a LuxIII in an ALEPHIII, head, is brighter than any TWOJ, TWAH, or TYOH that I have in a LuxIII, the total light output is very close, or perhaps even slightly greater than the light output from the LuxV.

This is an awesome combo!

Either or both, of these lights may be for sale in the near future, as I whittle down my oversupply. I have now determined for myself that at least some of the U Bins will outperform the LuxV's and look forward to a brighter future!!

Bill

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

That, ALEPHIII with a WXOT LuxV light engine built by Chop sounds awesome! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Wish I could afford something like that.

I'm curious about your second light, Is it a UWOJ or a UWOK???

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

Glad to see some of the WX0Ts from that old buy going into nice lights. I've built up a few similar setups for a few other people (FrenchyLED is waiting on a 2xCR2 A3 with a WX1T LE right now, actually).

U bin LEDs currently do not out-perform Luxeon Vs. Well, better said, a Luxeon V U-Bin vs. a Luxeon III U-Bin may yield similar results, but there should be a pretty big difference between the U and W, unless LumiLEDs binning was absolutely shot. Of course, we all, myself included, look forward to the future.

Have you done any 'tests'? I've found that the Luxeon V light engines might not throw quite as far as a Luxeon III do to focal point differences, but, the WX1T does make the light into a handheld spotlight, IMO.

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

The PR-T is cool. I have an older, well-travelled PR-T with a TW0L (back then when it was the New Hotness), and it has every bit of the throw and power that the OA4D Mag had (also a TW0L). Plus you could actually EDC it if you wanted /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOK LuxIII\'s and WOW!

OK,

So after a little more subjective testing, now that it is good and dark here;

LuxV WXOT vs LuxII UWOK-- The LuxV puts out more light in spill, even in the bigger ALEPHIII, however the spots are similar sized, (it just works out that the smaller PR-T makes the single die LuxIII spot the same as the multiple died LuxV at the distance I measured.) AND the LuxIII superimposes its spot, changing the color of the spot enough to be noticeable.

So, do I have a bad LuxV?

Next test -- WXOT AlephIII vs SpaceNeedleII. I have one of the last SNII's built by MrBulk. It has a very white and bright LuxV hand picked by MrBulk.

The WXOT holds up very well. Even against the slightly larger reflectored SNII with a PerfectMagReflector. Throw and output are VERY similar.

So what I have is an overperforming LuxIII UWOK?

Meterman LM631 readings with each light at its brightest part of the hotspot.
SNII-4350 Lux
WXOT-4175 Lux
UWOK-4895 Lux

Now, the lightmeter doesn't tell the whole story, both of the LuxV's are producing much more light in their coronas and sidespill, but this U-binned LuxIII flat kicks it out.

So far as subjective throw into a tree at about 50 yards, I can't see the difference between them.

Any more tests anyone wants?

Bill

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

A lux meter tells you the brightness of the spot - which any good Luxeon III will have in a good reflector. The Luxeon III is a point light source - the reflectors focus right on the center of the die. In the luxeon V, the center of the die is dimmer than the areas around it, since it's the four pads that light up, not so much the phosphor filled gaps in between.

The WX0T you've got should put out more light overall than any Luxeon III available to date. A lux meter isn't a very good comparison between two dissimilar beam types, since the tighter the spot, the higher a reading you'll get.

Besides, Lux at 1 meter also doesn't tell you much about the way the beam behaves 10, 20, 30, 100 meters away; it might be very tight at one meter, but incredibly wide a few meters thereafter, or, in the case of an Aleph III with a non-Luxeon V LED at long distances, close to a lightsaber effect in the right weather. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The Aleph III I've got here doesn't throw as nicely as an NG1000 TW0J LE, but it certainly puts out a formidable wall of light akin to a spotlight with the WX1T at 750mA.

Anyway, the questions weren't meant for you to pull out the meters and go through much trouble, was just curious as to how yours were doing. If you want to get less of a hole, and a better spot on the Luxeon V light engine, you can space out the LED a few hairs, and tweak it to the right depth in the reflector. I've head spacing it back about the thickness of a business card pretty much removes the hole, but I've not yet tried it myself.

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOK LuxIII\'s and WOW!

Chop sent me the spacers and together they are about the thickness of a business card, or maybe a little more. I got the least donut hole with both in, so I left them.

There is no doubt about your point that the single die acts more like a point source, and thus is more tightly focusable. I'm just amazed at how much light this LuxIII can put out.

The light meter was more a test of MY skills as it is brand new and these are the first tests I've run with it.

I actually tend to like my light more diffuse, and had to change the lens in my SNII, because I usually run a diffusion lens in it and my other SNII for that reason. Throw is not the end all/be all that some make it out to be. Smooth light means more to me than ultimate reach, maybe because my 40+ year old eyes don't necessarily have ultimate reach themselves.

The LuxIII does have a noticably tighter beam at 1 meter than either LuxV, and I expected the numbers to show that.

So far as total light output, I would agree, after further comparisons, the LuxV's do put out more light overall, but they can't concentrate it quite as well. For the first time, my single LED throw champion is not the Space Needle, but a LuxIII in a PR-T head!

Now if I could only find another for an ALEPHIII!!!

Bill

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

I have started using a proto setup to look at beams with a Lux meter that might be interesting for comparisons. I take a 2 meter wide board (actually a 2 x 2 x 8 ft board) and have marked it off every 5 cm. I set the board on two ladders that hold the board 1 meter above the test light. (The light is centered as well as possible)

I scan the beam, by taking lux measurements every 5cm (so an X scan). The data can be plotted in excel fairly easily and makes for some interesting comparison plots.

In order to make this acceptable to my eyes, I have been turning down the current to 380ma or less, and keeping the Lux levels below 1000 lux. (I was more interested in beam shape). At 4000 plus Lux the test will may require sunglasses.

Those are both very nice bins - and of course, Chop does great work.

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

I too have a UWOK Chop NG1000 LE and am equally impressed. I'd like to get a DB1000 U bin and see what it can do.

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

Bill,

Dibs on your LuxV LE /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Wilkey

Glad you like your lights. I've been very pleased with the UWOK in the Smooth Operator. Even in an Aleph2 head, it far outthrows my L4 and mwith a whiter and brighter spot. I've been looking for a good W-bin LuxV for a BB1000 LE. No luck so far.

Re: WXOT LuxV and UWOJ LuxIII\'s and WOW!

Congrats, Bill on your Lux-V LE. Chop is tops! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
I lost my LuxV-LE in the mail, and got discouraged. I have killed a LuxV in DD with Pila and may have killed another one. Maybe, I'm just up to the KL4s in terms of LuxV. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif