Nichia GS "Fauxtons"

[Marduke]

I do not see the CS on the nichia website anymore have they been discontinued.

They have no reason to continue it, since the DS line is physically the same, and is superior in every way.

 

[Buck91]

I hear one "I'm in", anybody who wants to get a group buy going for the DS shoot me a PM!!

:naughty:

 

[Blue72]

Maybe, but consider that the GS is only rated currently at 10% higher typical intensity than the DS, but 1/10 the life to 70% brightness. That I had to get from my local Nichia rep., she said 2-3,000 hours for the GS, 30,000 hours for the DS (similar to the famously tough CS's). That would be at 20 mA, so don't expect 3,000 hours in our typical lights with significant overdrive, although I still doubt many of us will run a GS to where we can tell it has dimmed from use.

Can anyone confirm this, not that I doubt Hondo. It has just been my experience that reps from different manufacturers have been known to give mistakingly wrong information

 

[sino]

To bring this thread back on track, could more people who have received their GS fauxtons post your impressions? (I'm talking about those who ordered for the actual keychain light, not those who want to scavenge the LED for another body.) So far it seems evenly split: those who really like it vs. those who think the old fauxtons were better or at least as good.

I ordered when these first came out thinking they'd be much brighter than the 10-pack lights. When my order was delayed due to another item on the same order being backordered, I cancelled my fauxton order. I might order again if enough people respond here positively, but it sounds like the improvement in brightness can't justify the cost increase.

Thanks.

 

[Marduke]

Can anyone confirm this, not that I doubt Hondo. It has just been my experience that reps from different manufacturers have been known to give mistakingly wrong information

Compare the datasheets.

 

[Blue72]

Compare the datasheets.

datasheets do not contain that info, unless I missed it.

 

[vetkaw63]

To bring this thread back on track, could more people who have received their GS fauxtons post your impressions? (I'm talking about those who ordered for the actual keychain light, not those who want to scavenge the LED for another body.) So far it seems evenly split: those who really like it vs. those who think the old fauxtons were better or at least as good.

I ordered when these first came out thinking they'd be much brighter than the 10-pack lights. When my order was delayed due to another item on the same order being backordered, I cancelled my fauxton order. I might order again if enough people respond here positively, but it sounds like the improvement in brightness can't justify the cost increase.

Thanks.

Its at least twice as bright and two times as much area is covered by light. I am going to order a couple more.
Mike

 

[aussiebuddha]

I've received them and they're my first fauxtons of any kind.

My impression is very good.
they're extremely bright at least 50% more than my e01.
Quality seems to be ok for what they are, but i'm not sure how long it would last in keychain use.

does anyone has any reports on how this would run on cr2032?

Cheers

 

[Marduke]

I've received them and they're my first fauxtons of any kind.

My impression is very good.
they're extremely bright at least 50% more than my e01.
Quality seems to be ok for what they are, but i'm not sure how long it would last in keychain use.

does anyone has any reports on how this would run on cr2032?

Cheers

They are surprisingly durable for keychain use. I'll let you know about CR2032's in a couple weeks when I get mine.

 

[Fallingwater]

I just received ten GS fauxtons and a package containing 20 CR2032 cells.

From the comments and reviews on DX I was expecting about half of the CR2032s to have shorted against each other and depleted themselves; instead, all the cells were in tip-top condition. Measured right out of the package none was under 3.39 volts, and three measured as high as 3.47V.

I checked all the fauxtons with their stock cells and they all worked perfectly; apparently these have a higher build quality than the normal white fauxtons. They were very bright, as expected.

I immediately did the cell swap on one fauxton and did some measurements. From a fresh cell the LED drew about 17mA (a consistent reading was hard to take since I had to balance the whole thing on the multimeter probes while trying not to short it), and the cell slumped from 3.39V to 3.13. This is still way more than CR2032s want to deliver, but it's a far gentler treatment than what the usual two CR2016s get.

The LED is, obviously, much dimmer, but it's still bright enough for the purpose of the flashlight (emergency, backup and momentary use). I tried a CR2032 swap with a standard fauxton, and the result was too dim for my tastes; the increased efficiency and lower Vf of the GS solve that problem.

And since the LED is being underdriven it can be expected to last for a long time; unless the intermittent pressure breaks a leg or I lose the fauxton, I expect the LED to last for the whole lifetime of the flashlight.

The beam is a bit weird, but nothing I can't live with.

I briefly pondered replacing the body with one from a white ordinary fauxton, because I like how it glows when the light is on, but then I noticed that the dies in the GSs sit much closer to the lens than in the standard LEDs. They are actually outside the plastic enclosure, so even if I did the body swap there would be no light inside to make the casing glow. As a result, I left the black casing in place.

I'm very happy with them. The modded GS has instantly gone on my keychain.

I'll keep another GS fauxton as a replacement in case I lose my current one, but I plan to harvest the LEDs from the other eight and use them in other projects.

 

[mmmflashlights]

Glad to hear that you finally received yours Fallingwater (I was about to send a PM to you to see if you received them today ). I can pretty much repeat your entire post for what I've experienced with the GS Fauxtons and what I'll use them for - I immediately put a 2032 in one of mine and it has been on my keychain since then, drawing around 11-12ma from when I checked it and putting out a practical amount of light for short range uses. I have about 6 others that I'll intend to use for other things, with 4 more on the way.

As far as lifespan of these LEDs are concerned, unless I heavily overdrive them and dim them relatively quickly, a few thousand hours is an extremely long time for devices not being used continually. Even at 1000 hours under most uses, there'll likely be much improved LEDs that I'll have migrated to by that time anyway. So while I certainly do not welcome a greatly diminished advertised lifespan, I don't anticipate it to be a factor for me. Dimming of an LED from overdriving it would be a much more potential scenario for me than thousands of hours of running an LED near its rated current.

 

[Fallingwater]

Update: I'm having contact trouble with the CR2032 cells but, strangely enough, not with the 2xCR2016.

Basically if the legs aren't pushed against the cell with considerable force, the LED flickers.
I tried another non-GS LED and it does the same thing, even if I just hold it on the cell with my fingers.
But if I just touch the multimeter probes to the cell they'll give consistent readings without the need to press on them.
I tried with multiple cells, including a non-DX CR2032 I have sitting around, and nothing changed.
If I just slide the LED inbetween two CR2016s, no flickering at all even with no pressure on the legs.
I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is happening.

 

[Hondo]

Update: I'm having contact trouble with the CR2032 cells but, strangely enough, not with the 2xCR2016.

Basically if the legs aren't pushed against the cell with considerable force, the LED flickers.
I tried another non-GS LED and it does the same thing, even if I just hold it on the cell with my fingers.
But if I just touch the multimeter probes to the cell they'll give consistent readings without the need to press on them.
I tried with multiple cells, including a non-DX CR2032 I have sitting around, and nothing changed.
If I just slide the LED inbetween two CR2016s, no flickering at all even with no pressure on the legs.
I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is happening.

Bingo! Glad I'm not alone. My guess is that at higher voltage, a little resistive loss at the leg contact is no biggie, so the 2x2016's switch on like magic. We are running so close to Vf with the 2032's, only perfect contact gives consistant light output. I have no problem with this in my GS Photon Freedom on 2032, but the GS is soldered to the board and the battery is held firmliy in gold plated contacts.

BTW, Midnightrun, Nichia not only still makes the CS LED's, here: http://store.nichia.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=138, but the old BS LED's.

 

[Cemoi]

Nichia not only still makes the CS LED's, here: http://store.nichia.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=138, but the old BS LED's.

Thanks for the link.
I haven't found the DS nor GS on their store, don't they sell them?

 

[Hondo]

Thanks for the link.
I haven't found the DS nor GS on their store, don't they sell them?

Yes, they do. If you contact your local representative, they can set you up. You will be treated like a business buying wholesale, but it is no problem. Always 100 pcs. minimum. Seems to be the same $80.00 price for CS, DS and GS. Shipping, residential address delivery fee and local taxes also apply.

 

[Fallingwater]

Bingo! Glad I'm not alone. My guess is that at higher voltage, a little resistive loss at the leg contact is no biggie, so the 2x2016's switch on like magic. We are running so close to Vf with the 2032's, only perfect contact gives consistant light output. I have no problem with this in my GS Photon Freedom on 2032, but the GS is soldered to the board and the battery is held firmliy in gold plated contacts.

You're probably right. I'll see what I can do to solve this problem & report on the results.

 

[alibaba]

Bingo! Glad I'm not alone. My guess is that at higher voltage, a little resistive loss at the leg contact is no biggie, so the 2x2016's switch on like magic. We are running so close to Vf with the 2032's, only perfect contact gives consistant light output. I have no problem with this in my GS Photon Freedom on 2032, but the GS is soldered to the board and the battery is held firmliy in gold plated contacts.




Hmmm, interesting. I've noticed the same problem with these but, oddly enough, not with my "real" Photon II DS. I think that the Photon LED leads are gold plated so maybe this helps? Bummer though, these things are beautiful on 2032

 

[Hondo]

It's not all that bad, I find that it just takes a very deliberate squeeze, in the center of the light. I don't seem to have a problem getting it to stay on steady and bright using the constant on switch, either, but I have tweaked with the LED leads to optimize it while trying to improve the momentary contact.

Fallingwater, good luck on the improvements, I would be interested in any more simple tweaks to make this setup more robust. In addition to playing with the bend of the LED legs, I have treated both the insides of the legs and the surface of the battery with Deoxit and Progold, but seem to have hit a stone wall in getting easy, reliable momentary activations on 2032's. But as I said above, it is still very usable, just not as rock steady as the Photon Freedom. Hmmm, about 10+ times the price, and it works much better right out of the package, I guess that makes some sense .

 

[Marduke]

Treat the LED leads with a little Progold and see what happens.

 

[Hondo]

It's not all that bad, I find that it just takes a very deliberate squeeze, in the center of the light. I don't seem to have a problem getting it to stay on steady and bright using the constant on switch, either, but I have tweaked with the LED leads to optimize it while trying to improve the momentary contact.

Fallingwater, good luck on the improvements, I would be interested in any more simple tweaks to make this setup more robust. In addition to playing with the bend of the LED legs, I have treated both the insides of the legs and the surface of the battery with Deoxit and Progold, but seem to have hit a stone wall in getting easy, reliable momentary activations on 2032's. But as I said above, it is still very usable, just not as rock steady as the Photon Freedom. Hmmm, about 10+ times the price, and it works much better right out of the package, I guess that makes some sense .

YMMV