XLamp Archives - A Leslie Wong Blog

November 4, 2008July 26, 2021

Jet-I Pro I.B.S. Flashlight

My latest flashlight is the JETBeam Jet-I Pro I.B.S. V1. It uses a single AA size battery to power a Cree XR-E 7090 LED (PDF) (Q5 bin). The JETBeam Jet-I Pro I.B.S. came with a lanyard, removable clip, spare tail cap, two spare o-rings and a warranty card.

BugOutGearUSA.com, where I purchased my Jet-I Pro I.B.S. for $64.95 USD, now lists a Jet-I Pro I.B.S. 2.0. From what I’ve read, the 2.0 is only cosmetically different.

According to JETBeam specs, the lens is sapphire crystal and the body is T6061 T6 aluminum with a type III hard anodized finish. The dimensions: Bezel diameter – 25mm, Tail diameter – 19mm, Overall length – 100mm, while the weight is 50g.

The push button tail cap switch is a “reverse” click type, i.e., the switch will make or break contact after it clicks. I prefer the “tactical” or forward click switch – a forward click switch will allow a half press of the switch to turn on a flashlight.

I tried fitting two forward click switches – one that I removed from my LumaPower D-Mini Digital and a McClicky switch. Neither fit. Unable to find a forward click switch, I settled for replacing the black tail cap with a glow-in-the-dark silicone tail cap.

Because the Jet-I Pro flashlight will accept an input voltage of up to 4.2V, it can use a rechargeable 3.7V 14500 Lithium battery. The Lithium battery gives a not insignificant 100 more lumens when compared to a 1.5V Alkaline AA battery or a 1.2V rechargeable NiMH.

The main attraction of the Jet-I Pro is the I.B.S. (Infinite Brightness Setting) technology. The I.B.S. circuit allows for three operating modes, A, B and C, each of which can be set at any output of ~2 to 225 lumens. Any mode can also be set to one of five strobe modes including 1Hz to 15Hz, warning signal, standby (flash once every 8 seconds), 100% SOS and 5% SOS.

When reading about programming the flashlight, it seems complicated. In practice, it’s relatively simple. BugOutGearUSA.com has a page with the Jetbeam I.B.S. User Interface Instructions.

Output & Runtime (from JETBeam):

AA Battery
Max Output: 130 Lumens, lasting for one hour;
High Output (Default Mode A): 110 Lumens, lasting for 75 min;
Low Output (Default Mode B): 20 Lumens, lasting for 3.5 hours;
Minimum Output: 2 Lumens, lasting for 45 hours;

JETBeam Jet-I Pro I.B.S. Cree XR-E 7090 LED

Rechargeable lithium Battery
Max output: 225 lumens, lasting for half an hour;
High output (Default Mode A) 180 lumens, lasting for 45 min;
Low output (Default Mode B) 20 lumens, lasting for 8 hours;
Minimum Output: 2 lumens, lasting for 50 hours;

Compared to my modded LumaPower D-Mini Digital (Cree Q5, DX 7612, single RCR123 and McClicky) the Jet-I Pro wasn’t as bright. But the D-Mini’s reflector is smooth, is deeper and 50% larger in diameter. The JETBeam Jet-I Pro I.B.S. is a great flashlight for its size and versatility.

August 1, 2008March 25, 2019

LED Tail Lights

I had some extra Cree XLamp® XR-E LEDs (P2 bin) when I upgraded some flashlights to Q5 bin LEDs.

When I found a LED circuit board that had an input voltage of 4v-18V, I thought it would work well as a driver for an automotive LED bulb. The circuit board uses a Micro Bridge Technology PT4105 (PDF specs) step down LED driver.

I took an 1156 bulb to use as a base for the circuit board and LED. I broke out the glass and filament and used JB Weld to glue the components together.

The LED was brighter than the 1156 bulb, but it had a noticeable hot spot, even though the Cree LED has a 90 degree viewing angle. Heat doesn’t seem to be a problem; the Bavaria’s light socket dissipates the heat well.

Joe Weir, on the Senior Six Mailing List, suggested using a diffuser lens. I’ll have to find something then report back.

March 4, 2008July 26, 2021

Cree XLamp XR-E R2 Bin

Now that I’m a flashaholic, I’m always looking for brighter LEDs. A recent eBay search for the latest Cree XR-E 7090 white LED R2 bin, I found this Solarforce Cree R2 (5 mode) drop-in.

It’s called a P60 sized drop-in, because that is a Surefire size designation for a reflector-LED-regulator assembly that also fits many different other manufacturers flashlights. The Solarforce drop-in is advertised as 290 lumens (seems unlikely), maximum. The five modes are: strobe, 3 levels of brightness and S.O.S. It was $27.99 USD plus $3.00 shipping. It showed up today in the mail and I was shocked, because delivery from China, where the vendor is located, took only 10 days.

For a comparison test, I used fully charged Ultrafire RCR123 batteries and Ultrafire 502B flashlights with switches replaced with Judco SPST 519PB-ND I bought from Digi-Key. The other P60 size drop-in was a generic Cree P4 module. In the first beamshot, the difference is brightness is minor. I tried another Cree P4 and it put out much less light compared to the Solarforce R2 drop-in. The third beam shot uses the first two modules, but is underexposed 1.5 stops to maximize the visual difference in the two beams.

So did I find a brighter light? I have the feeling I did. I’ll have to check it with my light meter and compare the EVs.

My beamshots were done with a Nikon D70, Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens. Exposure information: ISO 400, 1/30 sec, f2.0.

December 5, 2007March 25, 2019

Cree XLamp XR-E LED

I just received a bunch of flashlight parts I ordered from Kaidomain.com. Among them, four Cree XLamp XR-E LEDs, Q2 and Q5 bins. I thought I’d mod my Ultrafire C2 flashlight that has a P4 bin Cree with the Q5. I can’t tell the difference between the Q5 and Q2 by looking at the two. I guess I have to do some kind of measurement of current and light output. The Cree XLamp LED Q5 will put out 107 Flux (lumens) when driven at 4 amps – that’s very bright.

One of the four LED’s seems to have a manufacturing defect – see the material in the upper left corner of the chip in the photo?

Two people who offered me help on the Candlepowerforums.com came up with different answers. jtr1962 says it’s the result the dome is starting to detach – he called it internal separation of the silicon filler. WeLight theorized that it was a manufacturing defect and I should return it. I don’t know much about these high power LED’s but I’m learning.