LED Flashlight expert Needed.

[Darkfin]

I was hoping someone could take a few minutes, read this thread in candlepowerforums, and in a couple of sentences, tell me WTF they are talking about?? Stars, rounds, emitters, popoffs?

Thanks in advance!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=153779

[J Smith]

I am into lights a little but most of the stuff they get into over there is way over my head.

[vampyrewolf]

From how I'm reading that one....

rounds/stars = the PCB it's mounted on, the stars are the ones he has in those pics.
Emitter = LED (aka Light Emitting Diode)
pop off = come off easily

Essentially the user picked up a reel of 1000 LEDs (probably for the same price as a dozen seperate ones), mounted a few on round & star shaped PCBs, and is selling them with the option of mounted or reel packed (I get to see reel/tape packaged parts all day at work).

[NoFair]

The emitter is the led that emits the bright nice white light;)

In some lights the emitter is fixed to a star (aluminum disc) to make fitting it in a light easier. This isn't optimal, but some prefer it.

pop off: means you don't have to work hard/wreck anything to get it off.

If you are planning to use Cree leds in a light that now has a Luxeon in it you will probably not get the results you hope for. It will be bright, but the beam will not be pretty. You would probably be a lot better off with a Seoul led that is as bright, but size and beam pattern is closer to the older luxeon leds.

The Seouls are also sold in the dealers section on CPF.

It would be easier to advice if I knew what you wanted to use it in.

Sverre

[Darkfin]

Are they THAT interchangeable? One can pop out a Luxeon PCB with the attached led, and pop in a cree? (I have never heard of a Seoul.) From what little I know of LED flashlights, the cree is both 2x as bright and 2x as efficient, and made in china?

I remember my 1st experience with LED flashlights. My brother drove over to my house in his brand new 1999 BMW 325i to give me my birthday present. (He always gave extravagant gifts.) It was a new kind of flashlight (we had both collected flashlights and knives since we were kids), an LED. This particular model (I learned only recently) was a Longlight 2000, with 4 led's in the head. We drove out into the Ga countryside to get away from the Atlanta city lights, and made ready to turn on this new brilliant source of light...Click..."Is it on?" he asked. I looked directly into it...er YES, its on. Well as you might imagine, I was not impressed when I took out a Pelican I kept in my car and BLEW that really expensive and new high tech LED away.... That was my last interest in LED flashlights until this year, when I bought a Coast LL7730 V6 P-Chip Stainless...man this is one wicked light! It is every bit the equal fo a Surefire 6P with a P61!! and for about 1/2 the price! Ok, my faith in LED is now restored. But now I hear that CREE are the shizzle, and Surefire are going to be all Cree (for their LED's) soon. Thus this thread. Is a cree on a star or whatnot like replacing a GE lightbulb with a Phillips longlife in my table lamp? The way those guys were ordering the by them dozen just confuses me!

Ok, I have rambled on long enough, I hope y'all gleaned a bit of entertainment from this post, and any further info on flashlights is appreciated! (Feel free to PM me or refer me to scholarly websites.)

[NoFair]

The reflectors for luxeon lights don't really work well with Crees. The Seoul P4 is just as good as a Cree and is easier to retrofit into lights that use a Luxeon now.
If you buy a new light with a Cree or Seoul they will both perform very well.
The new SF led lights look very nice:D

If you are handy with a soldering iron and know some electronics most lights that use luxeons can be updated with the newer better leds. Seouls are better for this, but both work fine if you know what you are doing.
It is not quite as easy as changing a bulb:D

Leds have come a long way the last 3-4 years;) , but for really bright lights incans and HIDs still rule the roost.

Sverre

[Darkfin]

If you are handy with a soldering iron and know some electronics most lights that use luxeons can be updated with the newer better leds. Seouls are better for this, but both work fine if you know what you are doing.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/images/smilies/crackup.gif

[Ted]

I was hoping someone could take a few minutes, read this thread in candlepowerforums, and in a couple of sentences, tell me WTF they are talking about?? Stars, rounds, emitters, popoffs?

Thanks in advance!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=153779

Looks like a typical CPF thread...and then some people say we are freaks :rolleyes:

[NoFair]

Looks like a typical CPF thread...and then some people say we are freaks :rolleyes:

Oi! Ted were all freaks;)

CPF is a huge forum and posting quality is spiraling down hill at a sometimes alarming rate:o

My flashlight is brighter than yours though:D

[Ted]

Haha :D
So yours is brighter them my SF G2+P61 IC bulb?
Or my HDS EDC B42 with 2x123 tube an with momentary on after 250 clicks. Still need to get the Ti cookie-cutter bezel.
Just wait till I get my Fenix P1D with a CREE.
And maybe someday, Novatac will release the EDC LR so that I'll have a light with some decent throw. I hope they'll stuf a CREE in it as well...
But, the old Arc-AAA LE on the keychain remains the best there is...
:D

[NoFair]

Haha :D
So yours is brighter them my SF G2+P61 IC bulb?
Or my HDS EDC B42 with 2x123 tube an with momentary on after 250 clicks. Still need to get the Ti cookie-cutter bezel.
Just wait till I get my Fenix P1D with a CREE.
And maybe someday, Novatac will release the EDC LR so that I'll have a light with some decent throw. I hope they'll stuf a CREE in it as well...
But, the old Arc-AAA LE on the keychain remains the best there is...
:D

Yes to all:D :D :eek:

My HDS has a Seoul and puts out over 100 lumens:p

[Ted]

Yes to all:D :D :eek:

My HDS has a Seoul and puts out over 100 lumens:p

SF G2+P61 = 125 (!) :D :cool:

[NoFair]

SF G2+P61 = 125 (!) :D :cool:

My HDS isn't one of my bright lights:D

400+ is bright:eek:

[Darkfin]

I think my brightest (non handheld spotlight) flashlight is my UK SL6 Sunlight. At 201 Lumens, dive rated to 500 feet and about the size of a 2D Mag light, this one is hard to beat--especially for $40! http://www.brightguy.com/images/bgimages/undsl6b.jpg

Of course I am trying to learn about LED's here, and I am wondering if Cree will finally give non LEDs a run for their money!

[NoFair]

I think my brightest (non handheld spotlight) flashlight is my UK SL6 Sunlight. At 201 Lumens, dive rated to 500 feet and about the size of a 2D Mag light, this one is hard to beat--especially for $40! http://www.brightguy.com/images/bgimages/undsl6b.jpg

Of course I am trying to learn about LED's here, and I am wondering if Cree will finally give non LEDs a run for their money!

UK make great dive lights.

One firm (Barbolight) makes very nice dive lights using several LEDs, but these are 10 to 20 times as expensive as your UK:(

It is only the smaller lights where leds are a big advantage at the moment. It will be a good while before they will beat out incans in large bright lights.

[lycanthought]

Absolutely. The P1D CE and it's contemporaries are superb, even compared to the most expensive pocket flashlight, but they don't hold a candle to HID or anything with an expensive bulb and large reflector. Still, I like them more.

[Darkfin]

I have a Princeton Tec Rage which, at 41 lumens is substantially brighter than Surefire's size-competitive Lights (L1@22, E1@25, & E2@30). I'm thinking the Cree might finally close this gap. http://www.brightguy.com/images/bgimages/prirageg.jpg

One of my favorite lights is the Princeton Tec Surge. This is a freaking flamethrower! It is only rated at 115 Lumens, but one can adjust the focus into a laser! A quote from Flashlightreviews: Among alkaline powered lights, nothing comes close to the output of a Surge in a light this size. About the same size as a common 2-D cell flashlight, the Surge's output rivals that of 3 cell 123A lithium tactical lights. In fact, when you turn it on it's like holding onto a fire hose from the pressure of the photons bouncing off of the reflector and shooting out the front of the lens!
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/Darkfin1/pt_surge_size.jpg