Luxeon Lottery?

Alright, as if I don't have enough things to be paranoid about... I've been hearing about something called "luxeon lottery". Can someone explain this to me? I just purchased a U2 Ultra. How concerned should I be that I got a bum one? How would I even know?

The Luxeon lottery refers to the part-to-part variations in color and brightness. High-end manufacturers like Surefire will usually reject any Luxeons that aren't bright, but you can still get substantial variations in color. The lottery is less bad than it was 2 or 3 years ago (that is, variability is less and there are a lot more "winners" now), but it's still there.

More info on the Luxeon...

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/qa/luxeon.htm

Another thing to keep in mind is, there are several bins that look perfectly white until compared against something else. Just earlier today, I was comparing Lux I and III color tints of a TW0J, UX1L and RYAK... They all look very white when used alone, but when you compare their colors to each other at the same time, NONE of them look white.

biggest problem is: Vf bins

lot´s off the boardies here talk about "regulations".

but unfortunatley there are so many out there.
some cannot handle every Vf. most higher ones. LED are ConstantCurrent devices.

that´s the biggest problem in my eyes...and extrem underrated by common boardies here!


Flux bins are only the point on the >i< if driven,cooled and focused propper.


I hope this helps a bit.

Thanks guys! I've definitely learned a lot more. So it sounds as though I don't have that much to worry about. Hopefully my U2 Ultra will end up being a good one. But seeing as I have nothing to compare it to, I'll likely never know anyway.

From what I have seen even the bad U2 ultras still outperform 99% of other flashlights in their class. Ive got mine sitting on the desk to me and its pretty much my favorite light. Enjoy!

I like to test my lights before I buy them, Don't want to blow $200.00
plus on a lemon. It has happened to me before, Puke cat urine green Lux
in my expensive light, had to send it back to the manufacture for replacement
cost me a fortune to send it, never again will I go through this again.
I guess I lost the Luxeon Lottery

SF u2 for 200 Dollar where?
in my country you pay up to 400 Dollar!

and unfortunaltey you can still lost everything.
Extrem-Example:

You get a SF U2 with pur runtime in highest level
only ~1200lux caused by low Flux bad focus bad driver.

than a tint that looks fine but wash out most color if you throw 5-10 Meter.


would call that "The Surefire-nightmare".
"now available in ever tenth egg" nope that´s not truth, that was a joke.



So that is the worst case. but don´t forget you have an exellent warranty service if it´s unusal extrem like that.
or sell it on ebay and bet with your friends if he becomes a cpf member or not


I too lost one of 2 Lumiled luxeon tint lotterys. But they where much much cheaper so not really a reason to complain.

Always nice when guys paid hundreds of bucks for their favourite mark and report of discontent. Sorry torch boy but
so when does this surefire unworthy behavior have an end, forever?
SF IS premium manufactur... high pricey products like these should be fine immediately. and not >send it out <get it back >send it out.

Wilson, one other thing you'll notice is whether or not your u2 has a "donut hole" in the beam. Some have it some don't. Those that do can be very slight to very noticeable. My original had the donut hole and I got in touch with SF cust. serv. and they had me send it back. The replacement has zero donut hole with a slight violet tint. I can live with the tint but I was very disappointed with the hole. At that $$ I want something close to flawless.
Good luck! It is a great light.