# Black Diamond Storm - review => Waterproof 100 lumens



## Szemhazai

Black Diamond Storm - at the first look it is not especially different from the Black Diamond Spot - powered from 4 AAA cells and 100 lumens except of 75 and 3 AAA. However, after a closer acquaintance, it turns out that it is not a headlamp competing with Tikka 2 XP but with Princeton Tec EOS 70. In addition, it looks like the designers have met all assumed targets: compact size, 100 lumen, regulated, waterproof headlamp.







*Some marketing data.*

When you need bright, reliable light in the worst conditions, the fully waterproof Black Diamond Storm offers up 100 lumens of illumination for spotting rap anchors or lighting up the trail. In addition to versatile proximity, distance and strobe modes, the Storm's 2 red LEDs preserve night vision and activate without cycling through white mode. We also included a lock mode to stop accidental battery drain when the lamp is stored in your pack. 

LED Type : 1 TriplePower, 4 SinglePower (2 white, 2 red)
Lumens : 100
Max Distances* : 70 m (TriplePower LED); 25 m (2 SinglePower LEDs)
Max Burn Time* : 200 H (TriplePower LED); 125 H (SinglePower LEDs)
Batteries : 4 AAA
Weight Without Batteries : 110 g (3.9 oz)
IPX Rating : 7 (Protection against immersion in water - immersion to the depth of 1 metre for 30 minutes).
* - all values are approximate.
Price : 49.95$

*Impressions.*

In total, similar to Spot, but somewhat another, the front glass integrated with then casing, screw closure, gray – orange colors… Where did I see it? That is exactly Princeton Tec EOS on steroids; well, almost, the closing screw is somewhat smaller what makes opening a little bit more difficult and the header deflection range is also smaller. The control system is known to me from the Spot already, though I do not bother too much. First switching on and the first illumination: wow, this little thing lights really good !






This TriplePower led looks somehow familiar; this is Cree XP-E - the economic version of XP-G that I’m putting into all modded headlamps these days. XP-E is a good industrial standard for the present day, considerably cheaper but only a little lower efficient; these small things of 350mA provide at least 90 lumens of light at the lowest selection.






The screw closure, the casing halves are not matched ideally; but, this time, it does not mean any gap - the additional edge ideally contacts the rubber gasket surface what ensures the tightness of the whole casing.

The battery level indicator known from the Spot - when the light is powered on in white mode, the battery meter on the side of the headlamp will show for 3 seconds: 


Green – more than 75% - this is a very important information since, in this headlamp, it means also the time during which the light is regulated.
Orange - from 25 up to 75%
Read – below 25%






Never less, I would like that the screw will be a little bit bigger. The pushbutton rubber is also glued into the casing; thus, nothing will leak here, too.

*What does whine inside ?*






This time, the battery compartment has been thought over very carefully; the batteries find their way accurately into their places, they may be pulled out easily, the additional strap enables to remove the fourth cell. In the middle of the compartment , a little riddle. But I'll write about it later.






4 screw later, everything is on the top; this additional component in the battery compartment is a heat sink screwed to mcpcb , on which the LED-s are set. This is an interesting solution since delicate heating-up in the case of chargeable or not chargeable batteries enables to squeeze more energy from them - and it is simply and genius solution for winter season.






The mcpcb (metal core pcb) mentioned earlier, enables for much better heat distribution from the LED-s, in contrast to normal PCB applied in the Spot. Diode, inductor, some transistors and sepic processor - typical modern DC-DC buck driver.

*Power supply.*

In contrast to the Black Diamond Spot, Storm is a headlamp lamp offering regulation of the amount of emitted light what means that, within the defined voltage range, the amount of light will be constant. The manufacturer declares regulation till the instant that the power supply voltage falls down to ca. 4,7V, i.e. exactly when the voltage across the cell drops down below 1,2V what enables to use the NiMH type rechargeable’s without any loss of the amount of light with respect to the battery power supply. This is also a nice statement since, frankly speaking, nobody knows after what, accurately, time the voltage falls down below that level; thus we bypass the declaration concerning the regulated operation time. For the user, there is left the information: “green – regulation on, orange – you don’t have any regulation” .










The measurement results confirms that the regulation is working; honestly speaking, obtained efficiency levels do not drive to ecstasy, but it is well enough ;-). 


Code:


Black Diamond Storm - 4xAAA rechargeable batteries NiMH - 5,26V, at no load.
          V-In    I-in    P-In     V-led    I-led   P-led   Eff.
XP-E high 4,87V  336 mA  1,64W     3,17V   407 mA   1,29W  78,9%
XP-E low  5,21V    7 mA  0,04W     2,56V    10 mA   0,03W  71,0%
SMD-high  should be about 70mA... I have to check that again.
SMD-low


If we divide the current consumption results by the energy stored in 4 cells type AAA NiMH , of the capacity 950mAh , we should receive 4,56Wh / 1,64W = 2,78h, i.e. the lamp could light at the full power for more than 2,5 hours. The riddle remains the result of the efficiency for the low-range illumination.

Intermediate modes – there is a problem with that since the automatic control between the minimum and maximum is infinitely variable ; any user will receive other amount of light and operating time .

*How does it light ?*

Black Diamond Storm is a development of the Spot’s marketing idea; we do not declare the amount of light on the LED but the amount of light emitted by the headlamp. This is important since, even when using the very good optics, the light losses on the optics are about 10%. Due to that, we obtain, in direct comparison, a very good „wow factor” – they declare 100 and we declare 100 , but our lamp lights lighter ! Driving the Cree XP-E LED with current above 400mA , event at rather poor selection, we will gain 112 lumens, what, exactly, enables to gain 100 lumens at the output .

Black Diamond Storm – high





Princeton Tec EOS 70 – high





Black Diamond Spot 2011 – high





Petzl Tikka 2 XP - high





*Resume*

I have to admit that Black Diamond caught up Princeton and chased out ’a Petzl in the race of the compact forehead lamps; if somebody thinks how the fourth cell impacts on the mass: inconsiderably: Storm is only of 4 grams heavier than the EOS supplied from 3 cells AAA (90 vs 86g – without straps). Good design, good workmanship, met expectations and declarations. It looks that the Black Diamond Storm shall find its place in our outdoor market for a longer time. One I get used to the control system: after several hours with the Spot provided with Storm, I had no even smallest problems yet. It was worthwhile to wait for it and , for sure, to pay the differences in the price with respect to the Spot; the logo is the same but I almost can't believe that the manufacturer is the same. 

And if you have access to the hot-air and you have spare Cree XP-G Outdoor White emitter... :welcome:
Storm XP-E vs. Storm XP-G


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## robostudent5000

wow. finally, a BD lamp worth buying.

Did you notice any PWM strobe on the lower settings?

How about the comfort of the forehead pad?


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## Szemhazai

It is blinking during dimming, but when you set the level it stops and the light output seams to be constant.

I think that it is ok - the strap may be softer, but it's individual stuff.


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## carrot

Cool. All the little details make me really excited about this HL. The power meter is cool though unnecessary and the battery "heater" is a nice touch. I'll probably eventually snag one of these for my own use and testing.

One thing I couldn't figure out playing with the Spot (not Storm) in store is the UI. I couldn't figure out how to operate the thing for the couple of seconds I was playing with it.


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## d1337

Great review Szemhazai. I have been waiting for this review for a while. If you had to choose between this and the EOS 70 which one would you choose?


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## d1337

[/QUOTE]One thing I couldn't figure out playing with the Spot (not Storm) in store is the UI. I couldn't figure out how to operate the thing for the couple of seconds I was playing with it.[/QUOTE]

Carrot, I had the same issue with the Storm while at EMS. Then i noticed on a tag the had instructions that were pretty clear. I think it is a ui that would be pretty easy to get used to.


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## turboBB

Thx for the great review and tear down as usual! Might be interested in picking one up in the future if I can find a good deal.


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## yatsunil

Thanks for a great review. How easy is it to get into the dimming mode and is mode memory available? My personal pet peeve are headlamps that start with a blast at max before dimming down with frantic switch presses - had enough complains from camp mates who have received a blinding flash when I turn on my headlamp while facing them


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## Szemhazai

Changing the modes makes a new user “grrr” .





After a brief moment with manual, you can learn everything that you need to master this headlamp. The lock mode is indicated by a blinking of a blue led - sometimes, instead of entering the lock mode you will enter to the maximum light level and change it continuously from a maximum to the minimum, but this option is not used too often.

It is possible to set an intermediate mode on the main light source, but unfortunately, this setting is not saved and every time you will need it you will have to set it again.


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## Szemhazai

delete


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## cccpull

Great review! I was looking into getting the PT EOS, but now I'll have to look into this one. 
Don't you guys find the UI too complicated? I know you can learn to use it, but it doesn't seem as you can just hand it to someone and say here, use this.


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## gcbryan

I don't think the UI is too complicated as it's very logical but I think with any UI it's hard to hand it to someone and have them immediately know how to use it.

The only improvement I'd make to the UI is to have mode memory (not necessarily light level memory) or even no memory but it has "toggle memory" so it comes on in spot mode one time and then next time it will come on in flood mode. So for someone who always uses spot mode it will always be in the wrong mode upon power up.

Otherwise, the UI is very good considering its use of one button and all the modes it supports.

Once you read the manual and play with the UI you won't forget how it works. It is logical. You just need to be exposed to the logic once of course.


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## gcbryan

Thank you to the original poster! I had the Black Diamond Spot and had never used it other than to test it. It was about 3 months old. I was just able to return it to REI and I got the new Storm.

I liked most things about the Spot but most of the things I didn't like were corrected with the Storm!

The one thing I wasn't expecting when I got the new Storm home is the brightness of the secondary white light mode (5mm leds for flood). They are brighter than the 5mm leds in the Spot as far as I can tell. The spec sheet says 25 lumens and I seem to recall that the Spot is 14 lumens.

I love the improvements to the battery compartment (thumb screw) and the water proofing and the regulation of course. I'll use the dimming feature a lot so regulation won't be as much of an issue as for some but it's still nice to have.

If I'm wrong about the 5mm white leds being brighter on the Storm someone please correct me.


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## Szemhazai

There are no 5mm led's in the Storm - there are 2 big smd leds on both side of the mcpcb - and they are powered with even higher current than main cree led ! If they use one XP-E emitter as a flood light source they will have 100+ lumens of flood.


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## robostudent5000

Szemhazai said:


> There are no 5mm led's in the Storm - there are 2 big smd leds on both side of the mcpcb - and they are powered with even higher current than main cree led ! If they use one XP-E emitter as a flood light source they will have 100+ lumens of flood.


 
so that's what those things are. thanks for clarifying that. i've never seen SMD LED on a personal lighting application before. only on light bulbs.


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## turboBB

Szemhazai, looks like you've upgraded the Storm w/XP-G already. Any chance for an outdoor shot (when you have time). Based on the comparo indoor shots, seems it lost a little throw but has better flood.

Also, does it look like it's possible to swap out the SMD's?

Thx!,
Tim


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## gcbryan

Szemhazai, your indoor beam shot looks a bit different than mine. Maybe it's just a photo issue. Your beam looks round as one would expect. Mine has more of an odd shape. The led may not be centered perfectly on the optic but mainly I think it's just the six sided plastic surrounding the optic that picks up glare and projects that shape as well.


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## Chongker

Might be getting this soon, was it difficult swapping out the emitter? Might be ordering some HI CRI XPGs soon too =)


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## Szemhazai

*gcbryan*, there were rectangle shape patterns cased by shape of the front cover I think, but you need a bigger picture to see them.

*Chongker*, if you can swap the emitter on the mcpcb star (try that first :huh, you can swap the emitter in the storm :thumbsup:


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## Woods Walker

As always nice review.


I played around with a floor model at EMS. Seemed bright and the low looked good. I kinda liked the ramping UI but think having to do this each time would be a pain. I think the LED blinked once it reached the highest and lowest levels. Is there a way to jump to these modes? I seen a bit of PWM on everything other than high when the light was shaken. Seemed better than the PWM on the Tikka though.


Not sure I would replace my EOS with this. It appeared brighter but 4XAAA would mean I gotta pack 8XAAA total as take an extra set in my pack. Given my 1XAA headlamps even the EOS is used less as only need 1 AA for a backup battery. I don’t remember any PWM with the EOS and they have great CS. All that being said it did looked good and the ramping UI is unusual for a headlamp.


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## gcbryan

Woods Walker said:


> ...
> I think the LED blinked once it reached the highest and lowest levels. Is there a way to jump to these modes?
> ...


 
I'm not sure I understand your questions. Are you asking if it has lighting level memory? The answer to that is no. Jumping to spot or flood is easy. Turn it on and it's in spot mode. Turn it off and back on and it's now in flood mode (it toggles between the two).

Jumping to red led mode only requires pressing and holding the button for 3 seconds.


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## Woods Walker

gcbryan said:


> I'm not sure I understand your questions. Are you asking if it has lighting level memory? The answer to that is no.


 
So the main XP-E has no preset modes just the ramping?


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## gcbryan

Woods Walker said:


> So the main XP-E has no preset modes just the ramping?


 
That's correct. It comes on at max output and you hold the button down until it's at the level you want.

High is often more than I need so I just hold the button until it dims down a bit. To me that's easier and more accurate than clicking through high, medium, low.


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## Chongker

Got my Storm today, and I quite like it! It does quite a lot of things right, the UI is not perfect but better than quite a few I've seen before. The only thing I don't like is the abysmal efficiency of the flood SMDs, does it seem possible to swap them for something else? I've so far only swapped emitters already mounted on stars, which is straightforward and easy to do, but I do in principle know how to swap bare emitters, and I have a heat gun, so I guess this is my next project! Will use the light for awhile before touching it, and will probably practice on my Eos before giving it a go on the storm. HI CRI XPG ready and waiting for as spot LED =)


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## Szemhazai

*Chongker*, I dint test that, but I think that you can use 2 Cree MX6 Q5 leds to get 100+ lumens of flood light


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## gcbryan

I think I just improved the Storm for my uses. I just put a piece of translucent tape over the plastic covering over the spot led. Now the beam looks much better. It still throws further than the flood leds (and more efficiently) and yet it has no annoying artifacts or halo bouncing around when I'm trying to locate something.

I can't put a small beam of light on a tree 200 feet away but I don't usually need to do that. If I'm climbing with steep drop offs at night I'll bring along a flashlight that will put out more light than the headlamp anyway.


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## Chongker

Szemhazai, ordered some warm Q2 binned MX6's from DX today, will be some weeks before I get them. I'll update on here what I manage to do with them once I get them though =)

gcbryan, if you're willing to tinker with your headlamp, looks like swapping to an XPG like Szemhazai did made the beam profile more floody, with a much larger hotspot (sounds like what you'd want) and also looks less artifact-y (as far as I can tell from the picture). You might even be able to put in an XML in there and have a really floody 'spot' mode, and it should be pretty efficient at those drive levels.


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## gcbryan

Chongker said:


> Szemhazai, ordered some warm Q2 binned MX6's from DX today, will be some weeks before I get them. I'll update on here what I manage to do with them once I get them though =)
> 
> gcbryan, if you're willing to tinker with your headlamp, looks like swapping to an XPG like Szemhazai did made the beam profile more floody, with a much larger hotspot (sounds like what you'd want) and also looks less artifact-y (as far as I can tell from the picture). You might even be able to put in an XML in there and have a really floody 'spot' mode, and it should be pretty efficient at those drive levels.


 
I'm willing but not able (don't have the skills for it)  Putting in a XPG would result in a larger hotspot but it wouldn't do much regarding the artifacts in this case I don't think since the plastic optic and the plastic six sided cover would be the same.

Replacing the flood emitters with something more efficient would be nice however putting a piece of tape over the optic did a great job of diffusing the output (even more so than a XPG would do) and was a simple solution (for me).


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## gcbryan

Just for the sake of keeping all posts on the Storm to one common thread and now that I've used and thought about the features more I thought I'd list the changes I'd make to this light if I had the ability to make this the ideal light.

There is nothing really wrong with it the way it is but here are the changes I would make.

More efficient flood emitters (equal to the spot if possible) and a bit brighter (50 lumens rather than 25).
Better spot beam pattern. Lightly frost the front plastic cover if necessary.
Change round battery compartment screw to flat thumb screw to make it easier for cold fingers to operate.
Use two CR123 batteries and have reverse polarity protection.
Start spot and flood mode in low rather than high.
Have mode memory for spot and flood and trigger between the two with 2 quick clicks (make strobe mode 4 quick clicks).
Incorporate some type of tiny glare guard below the lens area.
Make the button more distinctive to the touch.
Just to be consistent allow the red emitter to ramp (I think the BD Spot did this).
For a redesign BD could actually just use one emitter for flood and put the spot and flood emitters vertically (one above the other) in the center of the housing.

A light like that would be my ideal light. The Storm is close in practical terms.


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## Chongker

gbcryan, I agree with most of what you suggest, just a few small little changes here and there, but otherwise not crucial.

Still waiting on my emitters to do the swap (as always, DX will take weeks) so that ticks no.1 off the list. 

As for a more even flood, the scotch tape idea is a nice temporary fix. I'd taken a step further before by using glass frosting spray to frost some lenses of some lights (my old Eos had that done to it). Again, not a permanent solution as the layer is not quite so durable and needs reapplication every now and again. Right now, my Storm has a diffuser lens from a Spark XML headlamp taped in front of it (mostly because I only had clear, but not translucent tape on hand) and that works reasonably well as well. These are by no means the most efficient methods, however. The most ideal situation would probably to replace the optics with something else. I've seen the beam of an XPE behind a Carclo narrow frosted 10mm lens before, and the results were quite pleasing. Smooth, but quite narrow and throwy, not quite fully flood. It might fit into the Storm, but I'm not too bothered to change that aspect myself just yet (maybe some day). 

As for UI, my favourite so far for a single electronic switch is Zebralight's. If possible, a SF Saint style dial would be nice too (of course with adaptations for spot/flood/red), but these wishes are probably gonna be fruitless 

I guess without going custom, it's gonna be almost impossible to find the perfect light of any form (handheld, headlamp) from commercial companies like BD. We can only really go for the closest thing, and so far I'm liking the storm for what it is =)


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## Chongker

On a side note, just found a distributor in the UK that can get me some MX6's at reasonable prices. Might just get those and figure something else our for the ones coming from DX 

EDIT: Ohh, I also opened mine up to have a quick look inside, the optics are part of the front lens which makes up part of the body of the light, so swapping it out likely isn't an option. Might frost the inside of the optics, depending on how much I like the XPG beam pattern


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## Chongker

Just an update, I've received my MX6's. Q2 flux binned, 4300K tint, 80+ CRI :thumbsup:

Taken apart the Storm so far and removed the old SMDs. Gotta get some flux so I can reflow solder on the new emitters, and I think I'll have some high CRI XPGs coming on monday as well, so one of those will likely take the XPE's place as well. Will update if I see success :twothumbs

If I don't end up posting here though, might mean that I messed up


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## gcbryan

I made another minor change. There is some glare just above your nose due to the semi-translucent nature of the plastic body. I used some black electricians tape and covered the area of the body from just below the clear plastic covering over the lens down to the beginning of the battery compartment on the front of the housing.

Not exactly ugly looking but not pretty either but it works and it's removable. I suppose you could take the unit apart and do this same mod from the inside.

Please post when anyone switching out the flood emitters for something more efficient.


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## robostudent5000

gcbryan said:


> I made another minor change. There is some glare just above your nose due to the semi-translucent nature of the plastic body. I used some black electricians tape and covered the area of the body from just below the clear plastic covering over the lens down to the beginning of the battery compartment on the front of the housing.
> 
> Not exactly ugly looking but not pretty either but it works and it's removable. I suppose you could take the unit apart and do this same mod from the inside.
> 
> Please post when anyone switching out the flood emitters for something more efficient.



it seems like you're having to make a lot of changes to be happy with the lamp. maybe you should just get a different lamp.


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## gcbryan

robostudent5000 said:


> it seems like you're having to make a lot of changes to be happy with the lamp. maybe you should just get a different lamp.



Maybe you can suggest one that has all of the positive features of the Storm and has incorporated the changes I've made? I'm picky.

As far as I can tell there isn't such a light.


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## robostudent5000

gcbryan said:


> Maybe you can suggest one that has all of the positive features of the Storm and has incorporated the changes I've made? I'm picky.
> 
> As far as I can tell there isn't such a light.


 
lol. i remember one of your earlier posts saying you weren't picky about headlamps, so this made me laugh a little. it's easy to fall down the headlamp rabbit hole. and i suppose that there's no turning back now. 

the only other headlamp that i can think of that has a combination of throw, flood, and red light in a sub 4 oz package is the Petzl Tikka Xp2. based on your desire for a more efficient flood, the Tikka Xp2 might actually be more to your liking. but it's not as bright in spot mode, it's not totally waterproof, and it's not regulated, and a couple of people have noted that PWM is noticeable on low, so it's not perfect either. 

anyway, i'm not pushing you to dump your Storm or suggesting you get a Tikka Xp2. it just seemed like you're were't really happy with your new purchase, and i was trying to be helpful.


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## gcbryan

robostudent5000 said:


> lol. i remember one of your earlier posts saying you weren't picky about headlamps, so this made me laugh a little. it's easy to fall down the headlamp rabbit hole. and i suppose that there's no turning back now.
> 
> the only other headlamp that i can think of that has a combination of throw, flood, and red light in a sub 4 oz package is the Petzl Tikka Xp2. based on your desire for a more efficient flood, the Tikka Xp2 might actually be more to your liking. but it's not as bright in spot mode, it's not totally waterproof, and it's not regulated, and a couple of people have noted that PWM is noticeable on low, so it's not perfect either.
> 
> anyway, i'm not pushing you to dump your Storm or suggesting you get a Tikka Xp2. it just seemed like you're were't really happy with your new purchase, and i was trying to be helpful.


 
Haha...yeah, I did say that didn't I ! I actually meant that if it had one decent emitter for spot and a diffuser for flood I didn't care so much about strobes, red leds, and having two emitters. On the other hand I do care about not being waterproof, having emitters that aren't efficient and having strobes that are triggered too easily.

I either want a small headlamp with an efficient emitter and very few other features or I want it to be perfect 

I don't really like any of the spot beams so that's where the tape comes in. Most people wouldn't think the Storm has a lot of glare but why put up with any if some electrical tape will eliminate it 

Now that I found something close to perfection for me it's annoying that I can't fix the few remaining imperfections. Before I bought the Storm most headlamps I read about had so many imperfections that I just had to not care since I didn't think I had much of a choice in the matter.

The Tikka XP doesn't work for me at all since it's underpowered, not waterproof, and as I recall the UI is a little annoying. I do like the flip up diffuser. There should be more models with this.

Zebralight doesn't work for me. Sure it's a good flashlight and a good headlamp but want a great headlamp. I don't want to pull reflectors or wear two Zebralights at once. I don't want to have to pull a diffuser on and off either.

If I had the electronic skills I'd replace the inefficient flood emitters and change the electronics around so that it started on low instead of high. Lighting level memory would be nice. These should be basic things but no small headlamp does all of these things. Some are still using 3 5mm emitters for their main beam. Some have buttons that don't stand out from the rest of the body.

It's like being in the "dark ages" compared to current flashlight features.

Why would anyone make any headlamp that wasn't waterproof or without memory or with old school emitters?


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## carrot

That the Petzl Tikka 2 series "isn't waterproof" is a gross inaccuracy. The battery compartment isn't sealed, but the electronics are. This offers the distinct advantage that it is safe to put new batteries in your Petzl even when you are in water or being rained on. I would not dare do the same with headlamps with sealed battery compartments, since a compromise in water resistance of the battery compartment in such designs usually also means the electronics are flooded. Again, not the case with Petzl.


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## gcbryan

carrot said:


> That the Petzl Tikka 2 series "isn't waterproof" is a gross inaccuracy. The battery compartment isn't sealed, but the electronics are. This offers the distinct advantage that it is safe to put new batteries in your Petzl even when you are in water or being rained on. I would not dare do the same with headlamps with sealed battery compartments, since a compromise in water resistance of the battery compartment in such designs usually also means the electronics are flooded. Again, not the case with Petzl.


 
How hard is it to do both? Are you sure that if it were subjected to the 1 meter 30 minute test that the only thing getting wet would be the batteries?


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## carrot

gcbryan said:


> How hard is it to do both?


 
It's not hard at all, but in the interest of cost savings it is probably rare to expect. 



gcbryan said:


> Are you sure that if it were subjected to the 1 meter 30 minute test that the only thing getting wet would be the batteries?


Petzl claims only IPX4 on their Tikka 2 series. I don't recall exactly what IPX4 is, but I'm pretty sure that means "splash proof". In my testing however, it is more than happy to be immersed in water for short lengths at a time.

In any case I do not want to derail this thread which is about a fine headlamp that I would also like to check out for myself one day. We shall move the rest of this discussion to my Petzl thread.


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## gcbryan

I have a question for those of you are have the skills and are planning on replacing the SMT flood emitters. How hard would it be to make this light start on low instead of high. Someone either in this thread or elsewhere mentioned that it was probably just a matter of switching two resistors. Is that difficult on this particular circuit board and is it that straight forward? Is anyone planning on trying that as well?

I ask just in case I run into someone locally who has those skills I'd like to know what is involved and if it's even practical.

I'd rather have mode and lightling level memory but just having it start on low instead of high would be almost as good (to me).


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## Chongker

Completely forgot to update here. Basically the mod is complete. Went with 2 4300K, Q2 flux bin, 80CRI min MX6's for flood, and a 5000K, R3 flux bin XPG for the spot emitter. Could have gone for higher flux bins for more light and more efficiency, but I'm a warm/neutral guy :thumbsup: Lovely tint out of the flood LEDs, though wish I went warmer with the XPG.

Mixed feelings with the beam shape though, flood is essentially the same, but the spot is more floody now (as expected). Problem is there are still artifacts in the beam, and the optics are fixed in place so no chance of changing them. Decided to go with a diffuser for the spot beam to make a complete flood/throwy flood headlamp. If I want distance, I'd use a handheld anyway.

Pictures to follow, all taken with auto WB, so you won't see the tint differences, but the exposure is fixed (ISO400, F2.0, 1/30) so it should give an idea of beamshape and relative outputs.

And after much text:

Mod complete








Spot max







Spot min








Spot diffused max







Spot diffused min







Flood max







Flood min










I wanted to include a pic of the finished internals, but am too embarrassed for that. Used the worst soldering iron I had ever handled, which did the job, but made a huge mess of my soldering so it's real ugly inside now.

But anyway, hope it was worth it for anyone reading this, just a small emitter swap to something I prefer.


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## gcbryan

Thanks for the update! So do you think the flood emitter current draw is now more efficient than what was in there? Do you have either more output at the same draw or the same output at a reduced draw?

Secondly, other than the emitter tint (for the spot beam) do you think the spot output is any different using the XP-G and diffusing it than using the stock emitter and diffusing that?

Thanks.


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## Chongker

gcbryan,

I did not touch the driver at all, and to answer your earlier question, I am not sure modifying the driver to start on low will be quite so simple as changing a single resistor, as the light doesn't only have high low modes, it can ramp up and down between those levels, which probably involves a more complicated circuit involving a PWM or current based dimmer switch. I could be wrong though, I'm not too good with circuit design.

The typical Vf for the MX6's I put in is about 3.3V for cool white bins, probably higher for mine (3.5V maybe?). This is higher than the Vf that szemhazai measured for a stock Storm, so with all other parameters except the LEd being the same, I would expect the current draw to be lower with my current setup. The gains in brightness is barely noticeable, I estimate I'm getting about 30 lumens OTF based on relative output from a Novatac. 5 lumen gain doesn't sounds like much, but the tint and colour rendition is significantly better IMO, and I should theoretically be getting better run times. I would check the Vled and Iled and probably should have tried, but I don't have the right equipment to do that accurately and I've already sealed the thing back up 

For the spot, I'm guesstimating 145 lumens based on my ceiling bounce readings, which suggests a 45% brightness increase. Allowing for increased current draw due to a lower Vf contributing to part of that increase, I think it might be safe to say BD is using a Q4 bin in the Storm? But again, take these speculations with a grain of salt.


EDIT: Ohh and the beam pattern for the spot diffused pretty much looks the same, just brighter =)


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## gcbryan

Thanks for the feedback Chongker.

I figured replacing one resistor was too easy for that fix (not easy for me however!).

I'm OK with the brightness on the diffused spot and with the tint on the flood although more efficiency would be nice for run times.

Thanks again.


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## gcbryan

To Chongker or anyone else who has this headlamp.

I took the diffuser tape off temporarily just to check out the optics again. Why do you think BD chose this optic configuration? It's got to be the oddest/ugliest beam shape of any light I've seen.

The optic itself, in my unit anyway, doesn't even result in a symetrical (round) shape. It's kind of lopsided. Then there is the six sided plastic cover that makes for a lower level of illumination in an odd shape. I can't imagine the engineering department at BD looking at this beam shape and saying "Yeah, let's go with it"!

The tape diffuser works and makes the beam look good although it slightly reduces the throw (only slightly because the beam was so distorted in the first place) but tape isn't all that permanent. The unit is waterproof but the tape isn't!

I'd like to take it apart and put the tape on the inside but from others posts it seems that getting the optic off wouldn't be easy.

The beam shots that others have posted do look better than mine but I suppose that's just a photo issue or maybe my emitter is slightly misaligned. For anyone using a diffuser are you just using tape?


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## Szemhazai

*gcbryan*, it looks that BD may have some quality controll issue - some headlamps have emiiters soldered not in the center of the mcpcb that cause very odd beam shape.


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## gcbryan

Szemhazai said:


> *gcbryan*, it looks that BD may have some quality controll issue - some headlamps have emiiters soldered not in the center of the mcpcb that cause very odd beam shape.



Thanks. I think that may be an issue with my unit in addition to the odd shape caused by the plastic cover.

I'm trying to learn a bit more about how current regulation works as well. Perhaps you can help. I know that the regulation on the Storm is from 100% - 75% of battery capacity. Is this regulation only when the headlamp is on high or is the output regulated on a medium setting as well?

In other words when set on medium will the output be more stable than if it weren't regulated?


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## AMD64Blondie

Just received my Black Diamond Storm from REI. (Mine's orange..) I quite like it,even with the stock alkaline batteries in it. (Bright,floody,and quite-impressive reach.) I might go for a walk tonight,to test out my newly-arrived orange wonder.

Can't wait.


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## Ent

Hi 

Well Storm arrived and figured out the instructions. A very useful light with good flood ability and nice beam plus you can avoid the annoying strobe function. Not so sure on the red light feature but for some that would have its use. The lock feature is excellent from an electronic point of view but would prefer a sliding switch as crammed into my pack lights have a habit of self switching. Love that it least you know when in lock mode and battery indicator useful though I assume this works best with alkilines rather than NiMH of lithiums. Any comment from our electronic experts?

The variable dimming is excellent but why do manufacturers based in the USA insist on bright then dim rather than the reverse. In the bush the brief bright flash until to cycled to the lower levels takes out your night vision. Is there any trick to reverse the order like on the Pretzll MYO? Please someone say yes. Please

Great light for bushwalking and even better if you could reverse the brightness order. It has replaced the Princeton0tec Quad or EOS or Corona that I normally carry. Would prefer it to have been two AA's as they would match GPS and BD Apollo group lantern batteries but such is life.

Anyway top job Mr BD and hope it is as good long term as your elliptical walking poles have been to me. Look forward to Princten-Tec's response. Also why does Petzel not go of an IP7 or better rating. We are talking lights designed for outdoor activities and it does rain a lot in Tassie:devil:

Cheers


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## Szemhazai

I was thinking about replacing the flood leds by selected cree leds, so I get MX3 bin Q5 and for the main led Cree XP-E bin R3.
And to be honest the effects are disappointing 

On the paper instead 25 lumens i should get 100+ on flood mode and maybe a few more on main led.





It's hard to see any difference, on my own eyes there was no difference too.





For XP-E there is almost no difference too, only in color tint and i messed up centering.

So if you are going to replace XP-E by good XP=G it's OK, but other changes are not worth it. :thumbsdow


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## gcbryan

Good to know. Why do you think that is? Is it possible that the flood LED's aren't being driven as hard as we think they are?

I don't know if I'm reading the figures correctly but in your original post where you take the current measurements doesn't it show that the flood emitter on high is drawing more current than the spot emitter on high? As in 4 times less efficient? If this is the case why even use the flood mode?

Are you sure this is correct? I just used my light enough to get the battery indicator to change from green to orange in spot mode. However when I switch to flood mode it still shows green.

Wouldn't this also indicate that the flood mode is drawing less and not more than the spot beam?

If so that would explain why you didn't get 100 lumens when you replaced the flood emitter right?

The numbers are confusing however since the instruction sheet for the Storm when giving run times also shows that the spot emitter runs far longer than the flood emitters. It just seems odd using these for flood if they use 4 times for power than simply using a diffuser for flood.


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## AMD64Blondie

First battery change on my new Black Diamond Storm after 8 days.I replaced the preinstalled alkaline AAAs with Energizer lithium AAAs.Feels quite a bit lighter.


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## gcbryan

I just did the same thing tonight (replaced batteries with lithium) and the weigh change is noticeable. At first I wasn't sure about the 4 AAA concept. I thought they should take that extra battery out due to weight issues.

However weight is only an issue outside of certain limits. With the lithium batteries in there I think I'm glad that they stuck in that extra battery. The weight is fine and when you buy AAA's they typically come in a 4 pack anyway...might as well stick in in the headlamp!

It is somewhat hard to get that 4th battery out of the battery compartment. There is a ribbon that you pull on to help pull it out. It's still a tight fit. I just wonder how long that ribbon will last.

The more I use this headlamp the more I like it. The spot to flood toggle with every on and off is the main thing that bothered me (and still does to a degree) but I've just learned to expect it and I double click to quickly get to the right mode.

I also expect it to come on in high and I now automatically hit the ramp button down to low and start from there.

Sometimes the way it works actually works out...that's kind of like saying a broken clock is right twice a day but nevertheless...

There is some logic to the toggling. If you are in spot mode and want to change modes then turn the light off and back on and it will be in the other mode. You only have two choices...spot or flood so it does make some sense. If you are turning the light off just because you want it off however then this way doesn't make sense. When you turn it back on you want it in the same mode.

You also shouldn't have to turn a light off to change modes in the first place. You should be able to have it in spot and then press a button to switch to flood.

Still, there is some logic to the way it is and (more importantly) I know how it does work and can adjust the way I use it accordingly.


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## ringzero

gcbryan said:


> I don't know if I'm reading the figures correctly but in your original post where you take the current measurements doesn't it show that the flood emitter on high is drawing more current than the spot emitter on high? As in 4 times less efficient? If this is the case why even use the flood mode?
> 
> Are you sure this is correct? I just used my light enough to get the battery indicator to change from green to orange in spot mode. However when I switch to flood mode it still shows green.
> 
> Wouldn't this also indicate that the flood mode is drawing less and not more than the spot beam?




You're right - something seems off about his analysis of the flood emitters.

I'm wondering exactly what his chart is showing for VL and IL for the flood emitters. After all, there are two flood emitters.

Is the IL he shows wbat he measured for a single emitter? Or, did he measure IL for one flood emitter, then double it to get a total effective IL for both flood emitters?

I'm also wondering if he actually measured IL, or perhaps looked it up from a data sheet to match his measured VL.

If you could just slap a voltmeter across one of your flood emitters running at max, that'd give us VL.

Then, from the data sheet for that particular emitter, you could look up the approximate current for the LED at that measured value of VL. Sheet should also give the output of that flood emitter in Lumens for that value of VL and IL.

That'd give you a fairly accurate value for flood emitter lumens output.

Then you could derate that value by 20 percent (to account for losses through the optic) to get the lumen output for a single flood emitter.

Finally, double that value to get the total flood output.

(I'm suggesting 20 percent derating, rather than the more commonly used 10 or 15 percent, because of the heavy diffusion pattern on the optic over the flood emitters.)

.


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## ringzero

Duplicate post - sorry about that.

.


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## Szemhazai

Yes I know that something went wrong during flood leds measurement - probably I short-circuit the power supply for flood led's and didn't double-check those values later .

The flood emitters should get about 70mA... In next week I should get another storm and check that once more.


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## SportyBen

First of all a big thanks to Szemhazai for this great review und his beamshot camparison site. it helped me a lot.
I own a Zebralight Z501w, which i very much like for working and reading, but i find much to floody for running.
After a lot of reading i believe the BD Storm is the best compromise for what i want for running, even though i would prefere a smoother change from flood to throw - i will try the tape on the lense for that. And i hope, it wount be to heavy for running.
I just placed a bit on a Storm on ebay, which will probably take a few weeks to get to germany. Just a short question: will there be any problems running NiMH in it?


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## airb

Just a short question: will there be any problems running NiMH in it?[/QUOTE]


The BD Spot i ve tested showed a big gap between the two housing parts when fed with eneloops, but with the storm this problem is history


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## gcbryan

SportyBen said:


> First of all a big thanks to Szemhazai for this great review und his beamshot camparison site. it helped me a lot.
> I own a Zebralight Z501w, which i very much like for working and reading, but i find much to floody for running.
> After a lot of reading i believe the BD Storm is the best compromise for what i want for running, even though i would prefere a smoother change from flood to throw - i will try the tape on the lense for that. And i hope, it wount be to heavy for running.
> I just placed a bit on a Storm on ebay, which will probably take a few weeks to get to germany. Just a short question: will there be any problems running NiMH in it?



No problem with NiMH. That's how I generally use it as well. If you want to reduce the weight to a noticeable degree use lithium primaries.


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## Hiker

Anyone have an idea of how long it runs regulated on the 100lm and on the flood mode?


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## gcbryan

Hiker said:


> Anyone have an idea of how long it runs regulated on the 100lm and on the flood mode?



I haven't done any timed tests but it runs in regulation (regardless of mode) only for the first 25% of battery capacity. After that it's unregulated. 

Flood mode is only 25 lumens so it should run a long time but regulation depends on battery capacity as mentioned above.

You can get an indication of whether it's still in regulation by looking at the battery indicator light at start up. As long as it is in the green it's still in regulation as well.


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## SportyBen

Friend of mine owns a Fenix HP10 or 11 and said it would be a much better choice, he dosen't realy run with it.
So what do you think? I am a little bit afraid the Storm will be to heavy in front and bounce.


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## robostudent5000

SportyBen said:


> Friend of mine owns a Fenix HP10 or 11 and said it would be a much better choice, he dosen't realy run with it.
> So what do you think? I am a little bit afraid the Storm will be to heavy in front and bounce.



not to be a thread-derailer or anything, but i would ook at something lighter like a Zebralight or one of the Petzl Tikka's which all weigh right around 3 oz. the Storm weighs like 3.9 oz. i have a PT Eos which is a little lighter than the Storm at 3.7 oz and even that's kind of heavy for running. and the way the tilter is hinged at the bottom levering the headlamp away from the forehead makes it that much more prone to bouncing. as for the HP10/11, 4AA is a lot of weight to have on the back of your head when you're running. i think you would need to wear a bandana or skull cap under the lamp to keep the battery pack from bouncing.


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## SportyBen

Hmm, I already placed me bid on the storm.
I have a zebralight H501 which is much to floody for running. I am just learning about the H51 which seems quite good. I am still searching for beamshots to compare it.


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## gcbryan

I have the Storm, EOS, H51 and H51f for what it's worth. The hinge on the Storm is better than on the EOS. If you use lithium primaries in the Storm that gets it to about 3.1 oz. 

If I was a runner I would probably use the H51f. The H51 has a hotspot and a distinct cutoff going from spill to dark so it's like looking through a tunnel in a way. In that way it's similar to the EOS. I would think that would be distracting for running.

The H51 with a piece of tape over the lens or the H51f are diffused but still have enough throw for running I would think. I use them for hiking in the mountains (among other things).

The advantage IMO of the H51f over the Storm would primarily not be so much the weight but the size. The H51f is not much bigger than a single AA however it is made of metal vs plastic for the Storm. If you use the Storm in flood mode or if you put a piece of tape over the lens (personal choice) you could get it diffused enough to probably not have to use the hinged beam angle adjustment when running.

So if you win the auction try out the Storm before deciding it won't work. The best choice IMO would be the H51f.


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## WhoDaresWins

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the input and experience with this headlamp. I recently got the Black Diamond Storm from REI here in San Diego. I love the light but really want to switch the 2 side led's (the flood ones) with neutral/warm led's. I read this thread over and over and despite all the great advice, I don't know where to begin! I've never modified the led's of a light before and was wondering if anyone had step by step instructions. I'm also willing to send the headlamp to someone to have it modified for a good price. Please let me know of any suggestions or where I can look. Thanks!


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## YoSeKi

The mod that you want to do requires the use of a heat gun and some experience with surface-mount devices (SMD). If you have neither and can't find someone to mod it for you, leave it as-is. 

The Storm is not the best headlamp to do your first emitter swap on.


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## WhoDaresWins

YoSeKi,

Thank you for the information. I do have a heat gun, but have no soldering experience. It seems the best option would be to invest in someone else skilled enough for the task. Do you, or anyone else, have a recommendation on who I can ask to have this mod done?

Thanks again!


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## YoSeKi

Already having a heat gun is one less hurdle to you doing it yourself. Try asking around in the Homemade & Modified sub-forum or the Custom & Modified B/S/T sub-forum. You might find someone there who will walk you through it, or at least get you started.

Or... try PMing Chongker and asking him directly. He changed the emitters on a Storm successfully.

As for the actual soldering, as can be seen in this video, reflowing an LED or an SMD is not terribly complicated if you have the right tools. It does take some practice though. But you can get practice by digging up an old circuit board and practicing on the components on that.


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## WhoDaresWins

Thank you again for the advice and direction to take. I'll follow your suggestions! The CPF rocks!


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## fedcas

some info from the mod i've done to my Storm. I think it's a great headlamp, i just wanted it to be slightly more floody... so i swapped the XP-E with an XP-G2:

XP-E (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)







XP-G2 (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)






(you can also check the picture from Szemhazai in the first post, he got similar results swapping with an XP-G since the die size is the same)




but of course the more you get, the more you want  so I have modded the driver as well.

the sense resistors used by the driver are R240 and R620 at the bottom of the board, on the back size:






that's how they work: the left resistor is used for the main led, the side leds use BOTH the resistor in series (so that makes 0,86 ohm)

The stock currents are 400mA for the main LED and 110 mA for the side leds (they are in parallel, so 55mA each)

acoording to what i've measured the driver follows this relation: i = K / R
where K is around 95 (current in mA and R in ohm)

so here's my modded driver 






i moved the 0,620 res to the left and sandwiched it together with a 0,330 res i took from another driver. That makes a 0,215 ohm resistor, which gave me 440mA output. I guess 10% more current should be in the safe range for all the components (it's my main headlamp and i need it to be reliable).

XP-G2 @ 440 mA (1/100s f/2.8 ISO 200)






comparison:






(the difference in the XP-G2 beamshot shape at 400 and 440 mA is due the position of the depth of the led in the optics: at 400 mA i was playing with it and trying to solder the MCPCB a bit more forward, but then when i had finished modding i realized that the position of the MCPCB is fixed by the small "plastic heatsink". I may try swapping the XP-G2 with an XT-E though http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?377397-XP-G2-vs-XT-E )


I have then shorted the two pads on the right side instead of putting the spare 0,240 resistor there (which would have given me 210 mA output) cause i wanted the side leds to have the same output of the spot led [*IMPORTANT*: i have done that cause i have swapped the two side leds with two xp-g, i haven't found the model of the stock leds but i doubt they can reach over 200mA each safely]

swapping the side leds with XP-Gs makes no sense unless you want to drive them at much higher current than the stock 110mA (55mA each): i couldn't see any difference in the output and i have measured basically the same voltage drop at 110mA so also the efficiency is the same at currents that low.

XP-Gs at 110mA
(1/100s f/2.8 ISO 800)





XP-Gs at 440mA
(1/100s f/2.8 ISO 800)





(the output seems much lower than the spot XP-G2 but that's just because the wall was 2-3 meters far... but the output is comparable, just one is spot and one is flood)

P.S.
the efficiency of the flood mode might be considerably lower than the spot mode because of the two resistors they have cause they are in parallel, i have to measure their voltage drop to see whether it is significant or not.


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## fedcas

i think a 10% more output should be quite safe for the main led, and the much bigger increase in the output of the side leds should be also safe cause i think the driver should be basically in common for the two mode except the sense res and few other components, so i see no way it could be damaged.

But i'll appreciate if more experienced people tell me their opinion, especially cause i want it to be reliable as i said... it's not fun to have a blackout while in the mountains, even less while caving  (even though i'm always carrying at least my olight i3s as a backup)


P.S.
i just noticed Szemhazai measured 72 mA for the side leds in the review... that's weird


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## Kwenchana

Aren't these white 5050 SMD typically driven around 60mA? So fedcas figures of 110 mA in parallel for 2 is about right


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## fedcas

Kwenchana said:


> Aren't these white 5050 SMD typically driven around 60mA? So fedcas figures of 110 mA in parallel for 2 is about right



i don't think it's a common led, they have 6 dies, not 3 like most other similar leds: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?363350-Which-led-is-this-black-5x5mm


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## PunkBuster

Got it and like it very much, good headlamp for trekking/hiking(especially for it's price) :twothumbs


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## Charles L.

Agreed, nice headlamp for the money.


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## TX_caver

This was one of my go to headlamps for caving until I switched to something a little beefier. The only complaint I had was even with care water and moisture would still get in a corrode things. a little cleaning and it would start working again though. Great reveiw!


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