UPDATES / on May,23,2016 – Field-Test a success! (read below)– the prototype was a hit at the camp this weekend. It was the smallest of all the modded bright LED lanterns we had on the trip, ( it could hang from a belt carabiner easily, and fit in a hoodie or jacket pocket as we tested.
– it was also the brightest with best tint of all the LED lanterns we had there. (i did the field test with a XP-L V3 5D tint emitter, that has probably the best neutral tint available from a CREE emitter for this type of use) also it emitted the light in the widest direction range than any of the other lanterns in the test at the camp, ( widest angle of light emitted from down to up with the down-firing LED location and the flat white base beneath the emitter)
For run time, it was as expected, it ran the entire 4 night trip on a single set of four 18650 2500mah cells, (an average of 3+ hours per night on high-mode continuously, from 9 pm to midnight or 1am) (On this field-test its Q-Lite Driver was set to use two 7135 chips, for average of 700mah on high-mode, which gave the light the best balance of output & long run time that is needed for these types of uses.)
- Here below is the BLF/SRK lantern prototype (the one at the far right of the photo) compared to my two best & brightest modded LED/Li-Ion lanterns in my arsenal, along with a Coleman 321 Easi-Lite Naptha Camp Lantern on the far left of the pic.) The 2nd from left is a coleman LED modded with an XM-L 3D tint & 3-mode driver, the 3rd-from-left is a Defiant modded with with 30 warm white (3000K) Luxeons and Q-Lite driver with 2-7135s:
- Below photo showing the BLF Lantern prototype on the log in the center of the photo, ( on high mode)
- And here is a photo of the base-camp, with all my LED lanterns & lights illuminating the camp, ( the BLF prototype is still on the log in the background where the people are standing)
UPDATES below in OP / #4 on April,19,2016 – Prototype ready for big field test in May at a 4-day backwoods camping trip. Photos of lantern below with Specs:
Here is the BF Lantern prototype outside in the back yard hanging in a tree. ( it is still daylight as the sun just settled over the horizon.) Here its easy to see the warm natural tint of the 7A3 XP-L:
Here is the basic Specs of the prototype:
- one, two, three or four 18650 cells. ( soon possibility able to run on single 26650 or 32650)
- four modes, ( moonlight, Low, Medium, High. – Zero parasitic drain with lockout.
– easily moddable. – 7A3 natural warm white XP-L
- Glareless Down-firing design, with flat-white up-reflector.
- can be hanged or tabled upright or upside down, with balanced all-direction degree flood.
- Tested Runtimes & output: (***have not Sphere-tested the lumens yet)
>High / 7 hours (equivalent to 40-watt Incandescent Lamp
>Medium / 41.5 hours ( roughly a 20-watt Incan.
> Low / a month ( same as a 3-watt night light)
>Moonlight / so far un-measurable, but estimate 3 to 4 months continuous based on amp-draw from four 3000mah 18650’s in parallel. ( i cant wait that long for the test of run time.
- Beer-can sized, able to fit in jacket pocket or pack-sack pocket.
-This began as an idea noted to me from Southland, and as a lantern guru i was immediately interested. Along with Kronological joined in on this as he has the contacts with manufacturers & sellers along with great Group Buys, it all began.
I am building somewhat a “prototype”, a lantern based from common components we all are familiar with, and this will be designed with a a lot of room for modding for those who wish. As we all know 99.99 % of all LED lanterns available commercially are absolute crap in stock form, usually with crap tints, inefficient garbage 5mm LEDs, low runtimes, bad modes, made from cheap plastic & components, low output, very glarey on the eyes when at eye levels, the bad list goes on. I have some 125 + LED lanterns in my collection, and at least 95 % of them are modded in some way at different levels. Almost none of them however have the “perfect” set of perimeters to serve as a perfect lantern for camping, power outages, survival, long term use, compactness, durability, output balanced with run times, good useful modes for lanterns, etc.
What i will be building here is a compact, durable lantern with the best perimeters & features that my best lanterns have combined into one, using known components, to combine the best run times, output, lighting tint, least glare, compactness, & features. It will be LiIon 18650 based, can run a single 1, 2, 3 or even 4 18650 cells, all will be in parallel for safety & increased run times, have the best warmer high CRI tints suited for continuous lantern use, compact, sturdy, durable, great modes, zero-parasitic drain when off, etc, I will start with the best battery tube for that purpose i could think of, the popular SkyRay King.
Of all the different drivers, LED tints, etc. i have modded into many lanterns & tested, this project will use the Nanjq 105C Q-Lite Rev. driver, with the fourth-star set for using the moonlight, Low,Medium, and High modes. The best tint range for lantern use i found to be between the 2700K to 3500K warmer white range, (Warmer whites are much less “glarey” on the eyes, have much better CRI than the cold whites, and as tested by independent university lab studies warmer colored light to amber light can reduce eye fatigue, & oddly reduce stress & hypertension during longer exposures (as lanterns run continuously as the main ambient light.)
face it, as humans we lived for thousands of years lit by warm, amber colored fire, lamps, and the sun, not by blueish light from fluorescent or cold white LEDs. (as in the fact that the blueish, gloomy, gray light from cloudy days, & mercury vapor glarey street lighting can be depressing, while the warmer light from the sun does the opposite.
I will start with a XM-L 6C tint, (3500K warm white) and may switch it over to a 7D4 tint later for testing, (close to 2700K incandescent) Others may prefer neutral tints, & i do have some lanterns with 4000K & 4500K tints, but from experience the most preferred tint range from people that seen my lanterns in use at night seem to prefer the warmer tints. I will be using a clickie switch, to avoid electronic switches to avoid any parasitic drain. The Q-Lite driver will also have a reduced number of 7135s, most likely three from my other lantern tests. Keep in mind, from testing i found most XM-L2 & XP-L LEDs are most efficient between the .700MA to 1 amp range, producing the best lumens versus amps usage balance. For lanterns, ( unlike directional flashlights & throwers) over-driving an LED for more lumens don’t seem to be as beneficial as getting the best run-times, as lanterns will run continuously for many hours at a time, and need to possibly last for days, & even weeks on single charges. (some of my lanterns modded with a 2-7135 Q-lite 105C (700mah on high) on High-mode driving an XM-L2 6C & 7D4 tints, running on four average 2200mah 18650 laptop-pulls in parallel, will run 20 plus hours continuously on highest mode, (a full weekend of camping use) and produce the light close to that of a 60 watt incan household light bulb.
This build will be a design variant that can be built in mass numbers by a manufacturer, and allow a lot of room for those who wish to mod it for more output, tints, etc. It will be also “down firing” meaning the LED will be mounted on a heatsink from the top facing down, this method produces the best side & down direction lighting and the least eye glare when used on a table, shelf, or hung from a tree or ceiling. Most cheap LED lanterns bought tend to be up-firing, and basically glares in the eyes when on a lower table, and practically useless when hung outdoors in a tree or for camping. ( also face it, there are no ceilings outdoors to “bounce” light off for up-firing lanterns or tail-standing flashlights. ( i will get into the disadvantages of using diffusers lon regular flashlights later.
- In the first photo below, is an SRK clone host, a Q-Lite, LED, and some basic common components that i will begin with on this Lantern project. ( including a sturdy acrylic jar that will be used for the “globe shade” of the lantern.
Second photo, shows the first mod to the SRK clone host, (i band-sawed the top section of the SRK off just above the threadded LED plate, then polished it smooth. The third inset-pic shows the basic start to the lantern build idea.
- For those interested in a possible Group buy on a manufactured variant of this lantern when its completed, let us know here.
I will post more on this as the project continues with more photos as it progresses. 
UPDATES #2 – February,23,2016
Below image collage shows next steps on this prototype build:
- Next i stripped all the junk of the original driver plate. (will clean it up later before i install new components) ( IMAGE #1)
- As this will be a mechanical clicking instead of an electronic switch, (to avoid parasitic drain, and better adaptable for future mods.) i will have to modify the driver body section of the lantern to adapt a rubber clickie switch boot and switch. (IMAGE #2 )
- I bored out the original electronic switch hole to fit the boot, but i made sure the hole is slightly smaller than the boot, so it seals water resistant/tight in the body. I also counter-sunk the boot below the body surface, (notice the counter sink chamfer, familiar with Zebralights) to help prevent accidental turning on in packsacks, camp bags, etc and protect the switch boot from damage. ( IMAGE #3)
- Here with boot in place. ( IMAGE #4)
- The switch will mount on a bracket i will install on the original stripped driver plate on the inside. ( IMAGE #5)
UPDATES #3 – April,1,2016
Ok so more progress on the BLF Lantern Prototype!
- Below image descriptions:
- after stripping the original SRK driver board bare, i dremeled it clean of the traces, except for two pads to solder the switch back plate to, and the positive & Negative trace contacts. (IMAGE #1)
- i then soldered the steel angle back to hold the clicky switch in place. Also added the wires and support to mount the popular Nanjq 105c Q-Lite Rev. driver in place. i removed 5 of the 7135s to lower the amps for the LED emitter to bring the LED into that “sweet spot” of its most efficient amp range vs. output to increase the run times in all modes. ( it would be easy to leave more 7135s on the driver for more output, but at a sacrifice of run times and loss in heat. with this design there are many options of modding the lantern with custom firmware, modes, even different drivers. ( IMAGE #2)
- Here showing the driver & clickie switch in place. (IMAGE #3)
- This design also has tons of extra space between the driver plate & the lantern head, to add a TP4056 built in charger, ( to charge the four 18650 cells in parallel. This configuration woudl take longer to charge the cells, but some advantages are that its much safer to charge them this way, (unlike the Supbeam X40 built-in charger imbalanced charging issue fiasco last year we had to endure.) also each cell will charge balanced with each other in parallel and a lower charging amps, helping to extend the life of the cells.
For off grid use, a 7-watt USB solar panel phone charger will charge the four cells in this manner in a day’s worth of sun. But for now i will not install the charger until i get the Prototype lantern completed and testing is performed. ( IMAGE #4)
*Below image Descriptions:
- Ok next is the top cap of the lantern, which will serve as the heat sink for the LED emitter.
I used a solid block of billet Aluminum, then machined it down to sort of match the Lantern body and fit to the top of the Acrylic lantern lens that will be used. The center is left protruding down to serve as the base mount for the LED star. This is a hefty, solid chunk of aluminum, so it will make a great heat-sink to allow some modding of driving the LED of your choice with more amps if so desired. I also drilled holes on each side for the para-cord handle/lanyard. ( IMAGE #1, #2, and #3)
- i painted the head with a high-solids enamel paint, then baked it on in a toaster oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. ( its not as durable as anodizing like on the original SRK body, but it is tough and looks very close to the anodized aluminum. ( IMAGE #4)
I forgot to take a photo of the acrylic cup (used for the lantern lens) epoxied & bolted to the original SRK threaded Star mounting plate, and will do so later)
- Below so far shows the Lantern prototype before i wire in the LED , secure the lantern top, and add the Para-cord lanyards.
(I decided i will start with an XP-L U5 7A3 tint for the first tests, as they are very close to that of an Incandescent 40-watt household bulb.
UPDATES #4 – April,3,2016
- First will show how i secured the acrylic lens/cup is secured to both the body & top. below, ( IMAGE #1) shows thew original SRK LED star plate bolted (and epoxied) to the acrylic lens/cup bottom, and in IMAGE #2 shows the top of the cup/lens epoxied into the solid aluminum lantern head, ( with the center LED plate protruding through the white plastic cap.
- Below shows all the different types of diffusers i tested. Many of the fluted diffusers ( some recovered from LED garden lights) caused to much “noise” & glare in the light from the lantern, though # 3 in the image was the best at directing light out directly 360 degrees sideways, but lowered the down & up flooding of the light. the lantern with no diffuser directed a lot of light down and reflected up, ( from the flat white base reflector) but very little out the sides at 90 degrees. #2 diffuser ( which is a common PingPong Ball!) was the smoothest at shedding light in all directions, but its frosted a bit to much and reduced the lumens output by at least 20%. it was close to a bare frosted incandescent frosted light-bulb. what seemed to work best in this case with the design was the 35mm film case, ( #1) i cut the lower half and used that. its frosted just enough to reduce any glare & smooth out the light from the “sharp point source” of a bare LED, and has enough frosting to direct some light out the sides at 90 degrees without causing glare, and not reduce the lumens output at all.
Ok below is the first test of the beam profile of the Prototype lantern! (Test done 3 hours ago tonight, dark outside, and all lights turned off in the house, camera shutter settings are close to what the human eye would see it.)
- Here is the lantern on “High mode” , XP-L U5 7A3 tint / Q-Lite Rev driver with three 7135 chips / Four CGE18650CG light green laptop pulls, (all tested at 2200mah avg. The lantern is on the top of the red popcorn machine on the island in the kitchen. Here you can see the lantern emits nearly ther same amount of light up s it does down, with a lower percentage out the sides at 90 degrees to cut eye glare to a minimum. The tint of the 7A3 is a beautiful warm white with good color rendition and warm hue. On high it appears to illuminate the room equally to a 40 watt incandescent light bulb.
- Below i moved the BLF Lanter to the top of the fridge:
Now below are indoor beamshots of the lantern in the same spot, but one is right side up, and the other is upside down, showing how “balanced” the directional output is. ( Red arrows shows lantern inverted & right side up)
Unlike 95 % of all factory lanterns which has the LEDs upfiring causing glare and almost no downward illumination, this design works both great in a room and outdoors while reducing eye-glare which is a big issue with bad factory designs.
—- More beam shot photos coming soon, some comparing the prototype to my other “best” stock & modded LED lanterns, to Electric lamps with incandescent bulbs, and to gas camping lanterns, both indoors and outdoors. In late May this prototype will get 4 days of testing on a wilderness camping trip planned too.
I will also do a tint test, using soem different tints to get a feel of what will work best. ( though it is possible for a manufacturer/seller to offer a production version in various Tint & LED choices.
I will also draw up a specification sheet and blueprint drawing so that Kronos can work with a manufacturer on a production version.
That Canadian flashlight guy & Lantern Guru -Den / DBSARlight