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Talk about ... flashlights?

Greetings,% username%!
This is a small educational program on the current state of the portable lighting industry.
Disclaimer
I have no relation to the shown lanterns and the rest of the gland. Their advertising this post is not.

Let's go, let's start with modern LEDs

LEDs


To date, the most popular LEDs are the company Cree.
To date, they have the best ratio of Lm / W and at the same time there are excellent neutral and warm options, including those with a high Cri . True, as regards the “warm lamp light” and high Cri, not so long ago diodes from the Japanese company Nichia appeared on the market, which, according to reviews of people who see how they shine, give out just wonderful light (neutral / warm, Cri> 90) fit even for permanent use at home.
Of course, so far the “warmer”, the lower the efficiency of the diode. Therefore, more cold or neutral versions are used in the lamps.
At the same time, even a cold Cree in a cheap lantern will be much more pleasant looking and much, much brighter than your old LED watering can.

So. Of the variety in modern lamps in 99% of cases are diodes Cree or XP-G / XP-G2

or XM-L / XM-l2 .

Those with prefix 2 are built on the new SCÂł technology and give out on average 10-20% more light than those without it.
In particular, one XP-G2 can produce ~ 500 lumens at ~ 5 watts. This is equivalent to a 50 watt incandescent bulb.
And one XM-L2 is about a thousand at ten. This is a 75-80 watt light bulb.
')
At the same time the size of XP-G2 / Nichia is only 3.45x3.45 mm. and XM-L2 5x5mm. Honestly, when I first saw XP-G, roasting to the fullest, I could not believe my eyes.

Drivers



All this power must somehow feed. This is done by special LED drivers, which are linear, pulse, programmable, and a bunch of other words. In other words - DC-DC converters controlled by MK.
For example, in the picture above - a hand-made piece copy , a pulse driver with a diameter of only 17 mm, which provides constant brightness during operation and with an efficiency of about 95-97%. Development and assembly, by the way, the Russian-Ukrainian)

In the majority of Chinese and Russian lanterns, there are ordinary liners, which smoothly quench the diode depending on the residual voltage on the battery. More seriously, in the lamps, the driver “sucks” as much power out of the battery as much as possible to ensure constant brightness. Particularly cunning then still go into lower modes, so that the shutdown was not a surprise.

Also in the driver can be implemented such chips as


and many many others.


In this shot from the Oblivion film, the optics of the module with three LEDs, popularly known as a triple, is visible on the rifle. The development of this particular light module, by the way, was the work of the Lux-RC Moscow office (+ their partners from Oveready (responsible for the lamp hulls)).
The flashlight at the beginning of the theme was also designed by Lux-RC. Produces 6000 lumens with 4x batteries, has active cooling.


Optics




It's all harder and easier. The typical angle of illumination for LEDs is 120 degrees. In addition, the source of the glow is a square with a side of 3.45 or 5 mm.
You can collect them in a narrow beam, for example, with a lens. However, linsed lanterns are not sealed, do not give almost any illumination and very much of the light is lost in the lenses. Flashguns disapprove)
Therefore, if you want quality and long range, then you have a direct path to the lamps with a deep reflector, for example, the same Thrunite catapult V3, with which Tema will go on his next expedition.


If you need something for everyday needs, then it is more a matter of taste. There are also crumpled reflectors and TIR optics, you can get almost any angle of hotspot / illumination.

Nutrition




All serious lanterns are powered by 18650 lithium batteries (18mm diameter, 65 mm length). They are by far the most technologically advanced of all. And also not too hard to delay the pocket
For example, the Panasonic NCR18650B has onboard 3400mAh, Sanyo ZTA around 3000. Also, the same (Sanyo, Samsung, LG) batteries with a maximum charge voltage of 4.35V instead of 4.2 began to appear. They need, respectively, other chargers.

From one 18650 a good flashlight can produce 1000 neutral stabilized lumens for an hour.

Add:
I forgot to say that there are 18650 with and without built-in overdischarge protection (a small scarf on the positive contact) and without it. If such protection is built into the lamp, there is no need to overpay for the protected version. Well, sometimes protected 18650 do not fit into the lantern, so it is better to clarify this point in advance.

bonus

18650 format batteries are used in banks, from which you can power your phone \ tablet via USB. For example, here's a 4 battery

Able to produce 2A and in the case of using 4 Panasonic on 3400 its total capacity will be about 13,500 mAh

If the AA / AAA format is more familiar to you, then of Ni-MH batteries, the Sanyo Eneloop is considered the best. They have very low self-discharge and decent capacity. Not the same, of course, like lithium, but for EDC / home duty use is fine.
With one non- lithium AA best flashlights remove about 280 lumens. Such as the SC52w from Zebralight


There are also lithium batteries of format AA (14500), but they are less common and will go only to those lights where it is separately stated.

Cooling



Perhaps the most difficult moment. Not all manufacturers think about the high-quality heat sink for lamps.
(FL33 flashlight in the picture above is a pleasant, but rather expensive and exclusive exception)
Strong heating of the LED leads to a decrease in luminous flux and its gradual degradation. Also, it is not the most pleasant way affects the e-filling. This is not very critical if you “fry” the diode is not full and not very long. But in general, it would not be superfluous to read reviews and reviews on specialized forums.

Modifications


Among flashagolics, “finishing off” lanterns to the functionality they need is very common, such as:


Well, that is, everything can go under the replacement, except for the case. There are even specialty shops that sell purely buildings / heads, etc.
So, if you are friends with a soldering iron, you can collect the lamp for your Wishlist.

Tips


If you just want to understand and see how modern flashlights shine, anyone on XP-G (2) / XM-L (2) with DX and other Chinese stores will suit you. Their brands usually end with “Fire”, so they are called “multi-facets” (but not to be confused with the expensive American SureFire). You can also buy inexpensive ones (but don't expect quality from them) 18650. For the first time, that's enough, but in order not to spoil the impression of use, it's better not to save money on power and charging.
If you want something more, then you are welcome to specialized forums like lanterns . There hang out as a flash game, and developers. You can read reviews, watch bimshots, participate in holivars and make your choice. Well, or order a custom lantern, as I finally did.

PS
Thank you for helping to create the topic.
Forum flashlight
Test base / flashlight flashlights

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/183670/

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