SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid!

I might have jumped the gun on these! I want to convert not only flashlights, but desk lamps, etc. as well, so sprung for 15 of them. Usually when good items go up at reasonable prices, they are gone in short order but no one else has bought any so now I'm really paranoid! What's up with that?

Feel free to PM me with any info /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I REALLY need some input!

Arlen

Re: SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid

Sure they are good. S is still good flux, just not as much as T. It might be borderline of being T flux too. WO is the best tint for pure white. J is a low VF, closest to the super rare H.

They may not be the brighest, but it's a good deal!! They will look real nice no matter what the application.

Just make sure to heatsink them well and not over-drive them past 1000ma.. The J vf isn't so good for direct driving unless you use some resistance. But it's excellent for drivers as it draws less overal power, increasing runtime.

Re: SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid

Thanks! I feel better now! I still can't understand why they aren't selling though. Usually if I want it, it sold 10 minutes ago! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Well, breaking it down, it depends on use.

WO - is my favorite color, so that is hard to beat (of course, other people have other color preferences)

J - Nice effient Vf, can be run even using a DD on a single 123 cell with reasonable output. Good for long run time, and the Vf will tend to be stable over time.

S Brightness - This was state of the art about 1 - 1.5 years ago. Now it is a "common" bin. "T" is pretty much what you can buy when you pay a premium, and "U " bins are rare as hens teeth, but occassionally available (think 2+ x the price of a T bin)

For general use, especially if driven at 400 - 500ma, they are fine, especially for around the house projects.

For ultimate performance, and trying to charge a premium when selling a flashlight at the max possible price, it just will not happen with this bin.

Put another way - for qty 10 each emitters.

Unbinned (probably SxxK) 10 each from Future - $ 9./ea
Binned TWOK 10 each today is worth perhaps $ 12./ea
Binned TWOJ 10 each today is worth perhaps $ 13 - 14/ea
Stars are worth perhaps $ 1 - 2/ea more.

With the upcoming K2 and U bins Lux IIIs likely to be more common in 2006, it is reasonable to assume that the price of these will drop a few $ / each over the next 6 months.

I still have Lux Is that I purchased several years ago for "more than $10 / each", and I still use them for various non-critical projects. Of course, you can buy these from Future today for around $6.

A lot of commercial lights use much lower bin quality than what you have purchased.

Re: SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid

Thanks HarryN

Were you at Amondotechs get together? My memory is just too darned short these days.

With what little experience I had with Luxeons, I knew TWOJ/K was about as good as it gets, so S bin couldn't be that much different. Just when no one else showed interest I started getting paranoid. I also was reasonably sure that if I played the "Luxeon lottery" I would likely not get a decent bin, or possibly even get mixed bins so all one bin was a plus.

Thanks all

Arlen

Re: SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid

Hi Arlen

I think we met at a previous CPF meeting, but I was not at the Amondotech one. Last minute family life related items.

Maybe next one. Harry

Re: SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid

[ QUOTE ]
HarryN said:
Hi Arlen

I think we met at a previous CPF meeting, but I was not at the Amondotech one. Last minute family life related items.

Maybe next one. Harry

[/ QUOTE ]

Hope all turned out well with the family thing. jpegs get together and Amondotechs are the only ones I have been to.

Start planning on coming to Modesto next month or so. As soon as it cools down a bit I am hosting one at my place. There will be LOTS of BBQ, so come hungry!

Any inexpensive lights you want to part with? I'm always looking for something to mod or usefull parts to scavenge.

Arlen

Re: SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid

SWOJ thay are still ok for mods, not as bright as the T Bins, however they are cheaper,

Re: SWOJ on BST/ Are these good for mods? Paranoid

I've made and used 2 differnt mods with SWOK's in them, and they were plenty bright. I sold them before I had my TXOK's to compare to, so I can't tell if there was a difference. If there was it wasn't drastic. Only noticeable if you had them side by side I bet, even then, small...

There's a lot of T bins out now compared to a while back, so most S bins are probably teetering on the edge of being a T bin...