Favorite bulbs for 8x18650 batteries and JM-PHD-D1 regulator

maxspeeds

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What are your Favorite bulbs for 8x18650 batteries and JM-PHD-D1 regulator? I have a fivemega Ellie II and am looking to install a JM-PHD-D1 regulator in it. With the regulator, it removes the 30V limitation of having eight 18650 batteries in series and provides the options of using bulbs with different voltages.

I'm currently doing research on bulb options and have found that some favorites are the Osram 64447, 62138 and 64625.

I'm looking for high efficiency, decent bulb life (~10 hours) and high whiteness. Which bulbs do you love? :thumbsup:
 
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StudFreeman

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Good to see another fan of JimmyM's voltage regulator!

Your setup would run a MagCharger bulb at 6.8V (~12W according to LuxLuthor's testing) for almost 8 hours. Tiny filament, good throw, fairly high CCT (higher than an Aviator's MA02), plus a couple hundred lumens OTF. Back of the envelope calc pegs bulb life between 45×(6÷6.8)^16 = 6 and 50×(6÷6.8)^12 = 11 hours. Add in a slow soft start and you're safer. I swear I saw Mag literature years ago that said average bulb life for the LR00001 was 50 hours, can't find it at the moment.

Here are my settings:

Operation Mode: Multi-level
3x Li-ion cells
Vbulb: 6.9V
Vlow: 9.3V
Level-1: 60%
Level-2: 90%
Level-3: 94%
Level-4: 100%
SoftRamp: Yes
Softstart: Slow
Low Volt Warning: Pulsing
Low volt shutdown: Undervolt: 93%
VLOW_Latch: Disable
Over Temp trigger: 70C
Over Temp Shutdown: Yes, 10 seconds
Response: 1/8 second

If I'd change anything it'd be a slightly lower low mode, nix 94% mode, and lower 100% to to 6.8V.
 
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ma tumba

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Good to see another fan of JimmyM's voltage regulator!
^ this

I am considering an EII based setup for CL1909 bulb, so the Vout is going to be arounf 11.5V. If you know your main bulb then you could go to Lux Luthor destructive tests and find other bulbs of different wattage that would worr at the same voltage. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...lb-Tests-Updated-8-27-2010-(Newer-Info-Added)

For example, for 11.5V, besides *CL1909 ([email protected]) I would try WA1185 ([email protected]), *WA1331([email protected]), WA1166 ([email protected]), CL809 ([email protected]), and even WA1326 ([email protected])

Tha 2 bulbs marked by "*" are now available from FM
 

maxspeeds

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Thank you, StudFreeman and ma_tumba. I actually hadn't considered those smaller bulbs. Compared to regular mags in weight, the Elle II is significantly heavier with the eight 18650 batteries. For this reason, I was looking at the higher wattage Osram bulbs as I have smaller mags with the 1185. I guess the eternal internal question for myself is which way to go: High lumens with short runtime or less lumens with longer runtime.
 

maxspeeds

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I've come full circle back to my original hotwire favorites. I don't know why I didn't think of these bulbs: I'm going to use the Osram 64440 and 64458 as LOLA and HOLA lamps for my upcoming regulated Elle II host. With 8x18650 batteries and regulation set to somewhere at 18V or slightly higher, I should have more runtime then I did years ago when I used 5x18650 IMR batteries in a 6C host. I can't wait for Jimmy to start selling the regulators again.

Anyone have a spare JM-PHD-D1 regulator they want to unload now? PM me =)
 

maxspeeds

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With this voltage setting, I can also integrate 64432 and 64447 bulbs as intermediary lumen options if desired as well.

I'm looking forward to hearing other's input on their favs for a setup that uses 5+ 18650 batteries
 

LuxLuthor

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Yeah, there are tons of great bulb choices. It really comes down to how much light you want to throw, quality & surface of reflector (some high power bulbs have more artifacts from filament configuration), run time (which you can estimate after you choose the voltage & amp properties of the bulbs in my tests). Bottom line is that there is not a right answer until you think about how you want to use it. I have about a dozen of Jimmy's mounted regulators, and a bunch more of his unmounted boards, and the computer interface to custom program however I want. Good Luck!
 

maxspeeds

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Now that the regulator is available, I'm interested to hear what are your most favorite bulbs for 4 or 5+ 18650 batteries in series. I'm looking for nicest beam with a 3" reflector, very white, good runtime and decent bulb life
 
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