L1, no more regulation=Argh!

I went camping last week-end or the first time with it, and the high beam was really helping with a nice flood around the camp. (beamshaper F04) The low was superb for nearby tasks (making a fire, inside the tent, bathroom). Time passed and my high beam went out of regulation. After a couples of minutes, I couldn't change to my low beam mode. It's surely normal. But It's absurd to "waste" the juice of the battery on the declining high beam when I can use so much less power with my low beam. I didn't have the choice to choose and It sucked.

*Edit*: Anyone experienced something similar with the L1? (whatever generation. I have the gen. with the focused beam)

Oh well, I ordered a L2 a week ago...The low beam is going to last a lot longer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You can still change to your low beam, just that it will be too 'low' to be useful.

That, IMHO, is the stumbling block of the L1 - the lack of regulation on the low mode. I expected mine to be extremely adept at draining depleted cells, but the added resistance plus the battery voltage falling below LED Vf makes it almost useless on depleted cells.

This is also why I particularly like the U2 - all levels are regulated. But as competition to the L1 goes, you might seriously want to take a look at the HDS Basic 42. 80+ minutes on high (same as the L1), plus MORE output on high (42 lumens), one cell, 4 levels, all regulated. At $125, it's the same as the L1's MSRP, and IMHO, the L1 has some extremely, extremely tough competition in that price bracket now.

I have the U2, L1 (latest generation - same long-throw optics as the 4th-gen KL1), and HDS Basic 60.

[ QUOTE ]
KevinL said:
You can still change to your low beam, just that it will be too 'low' to be useful.


[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, my low beam was not working at all. Not even a little glimpse of light. I had to twist the cap all the way trough to have the (only) high beam. Nothing more was showing up. I was in total darkness btw.

And one funny thing is the delay it takes for the high beam to kick in when the battery is almost drained. I don't mind the delay. If I can still have light, it's okay with me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The unregulated low beam of the L1 is a high point for me. It serves a change battery indicator, so I'm never left in the dark provided that I check the low beam every so often.

Mello, because of how much juice a regulated light will suck out a cell the battery in your L1 probably had so little power left the LED wouldn't light up (even in direct drive), or if it did light up the glow wasn't visible.

-Mike

What Mike said, when the battery is almost empty, the low mode doesn't work (at all) anymore, while the high mode still produces some light. This is something I don't like about my (old model) L1, otherwise it's a nice light. This behaviour is just an unpleasant reminder that you are always wasting energy because of the resistor when using the low mode.

Thank you for for your explanations. Greatly appreciated. Can't wait to have my L2. regulated mode in both high and low.

I've said something similar, the resistor reduces the brightness to the point where it's just barely visible even though the battery might still have enough power in direct drive mode (true DD, no resistor) to power the LED directly, or perhaps even the converter.

The HDS is regulated on all levels, but you will notice when you lose the higher levels. This gives you more than enough time to change the batteries. I have deliberately used it as a battery eater, even when I lose max brightness, it still has a couple of hours left on primary (10 lumens).

The U2 is similar, you'll notice when level 6 conks out and that is my battery change indicator.

Mark2 said:

What Mike said, when the battery is almost empty, the low mode doesn't work (at all) anymore, while the high mode still produces some light. This is something I don't like about my (old model) L1, otherwise it's a nice light. This behaviour is just an unpleasant reminder that you are always wasting energy because of the resistor when using the low mode.

Click to expand...

I'm bringing up an old subject.

Just to let you know that my L1 is not doing the same thing this time around. On my latest battery the L1 is still performing well. 10hours+ after the regulation dropped. The one thing different this time is that the HIGH *AND* the low mode always work. Ok, the high beam is about 3% brighter than the low beam. Still, it's pretty amazing I can suck the battery dry with the low beam! I do not understand. It's been out of regulation for days... And I can still use the low beam whenever I want. I keep the flashlight open 24/7 to see how much time it got left... Or when the low beam will stop working... But it's going on and on! The low beam is about 10% of it's "fully charged" brightness now.

The beavior is totally different. Last time, after regulation died... About 10mins after, the low mode wasn't working at all, and the high beam was declining. With further off-on cycles, the high beam was taking more and more time to light up. (sometimes 5-7sec after twisting the cap/pushing the cap). And after maybe 3 or 4 hours, the high beam wouldn't light either.

Can someone tell me why the low/high beam work flawlessly now? I always wanted the L1 that way! Woah!

that L2 on 15lumens will do you well... i believe its 13 hours...

The L2 is the only logical rolution, except that is too long, do not take rechargeables, and is not tightly focused. Of course, makes much more light!

MelloJello, I believe the LED in your L1 had an outstanding drop of the Vf... It isn't possible to explain in any other way the behavior of your L1.

About the energy lost in the drop resistor, I would't worry too much; at least in the case of SF L1, L2, and A2. Since the regulator "knows" that there is a drop resistor in the tailcap, the "waste" never exceeds 10% of the used power.

A dual tage tailcap for the SF L4 can waste up to 50% of the used power, and a 10 Ohm dual stage tailcap for the Nuwai Q3 (stock circuit) wastes 75% of the used power.

Anthony

Ray_of_Light said:

The L2 is the only logical rolution, except that is too long, do not take rechargeables, and is not tightly focused. Of course, makes much more light!

Click to expand...

I was saiying it was an old subject. Look at the date of my first message. Since then I have the L2. Nothing to say about it. It's with my L1 that I'm having different behaviors.

MeLLo