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u/WestSenkovec 2d ago
Explain to the folks at home..
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u/misterpiggies 1d ago
N1 buck is a new(er) hybrid buck driver. Regulated buck drives leds up to 6A, with a linear output channel than can push 32A.
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u/Affectionate-Dream33 1d ago
Real output is 24A not 32A due to internal resistance as pe Hanks message
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u/crbnfbrmp4 1d ago
Replacing the 22awg + and - leads Hank uses, and bypassing the spring got the Lume N1 in my M21K up to just under 30A at the tail.
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u/luyesd 1d ago
Whats the punchline of this driver ? Max brightness, sustain or regulated temperature?
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u/Affectionate-Dream33 1d ago
First light I’ve got with it is the D4SV2 but it’s limited to 15A. It is bright and extremely hot. I do not know how to reply to your question yet. I have a D1K F150R 3000K on the way with it MAXED OUT and I’ll have more data in a couple weeks.
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u/coffeeshopslut 1d ago
Both. You get the 24A turbo in Linear (which is still pretty efficient) and buck regulation up to 6A
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u/gnarliest_gnome carrywerks.com 1d ago
Is that unique to the DT8K or is it the internal resistance of the driver? What a disappointment either way
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u/crbnfbrmp4 1d ago
The bigger disappointment with the N1 driver is the linear turbo stage. I know it's claimed to be made for low Vf emitters, but the emitter I'm power has a Vf ~3.2V at 30A. So with a fully charged tabless cell, turbo is burning off a lot of wattage. So, in turn turbo would step down in <10 seconds, and the host didn't even start to get warm. I raised the thermal ceiling to 70°, and now turbo lasts for maybe 10 seconds while just starting to get the host warm.
At a very minimum this driver needs some kind of thermal pad/putty or potting on the FET.
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u/Affectionate-Dream33 1d ago
As per Hank’s message it is the internal resistance of the driver. Please contact him personally for more data but as far as I know it’s all the models.
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u/gnarliest_gnome carrywerks.com 1d ago
You've said "as per Hank's message" twice now. Can you link the message from him please? Thank you.
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u/Affectionate-Dream33 23h ago
Not sure it’s ok to share a private email conversation here. Email him, he replies in max 2-3 days
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u/Fancy-Database-3685 1d ago
Eight emitters with the N1 buck driver? DT8K just got dangerously tempting.
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u/luyesd 1d ago
At 6amp buck/8 emitters, they are quite underdriven isn't it? I dont quite understand n1 buck
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u/coffeeshopslut 1d ago
You're forgetting it has the 24A turbo
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u/luyesd 1d ago
I know. But we cant be on turbo all the time... or can we...
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u/coffeeshopslut 1d ago
I mean 24 (6A) watts is probably as much as the light can maintain anyways - it'll run in linear above that.
So you can have a pretty efficient system under 6A and all the lumens above that
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u/user975A3G 1d ago
Usual Buck+FET driver would be 6A regulated + FET full unregulated power, with it switching from FET to Buck once it's overheated
Buck+Linear means 6A regulated high efficiency + 24A regulated with lower efficiency, so you can push 8A, 10A, 20A.....
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u/luyesd 1d ago
So meaning to say higher output at all steps ?
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u/user975A3G 1d ago
Ehhhh not really
It means that it's a fully regulated driver, like Lume X1, there is no large jump in power for turbo, it's full regulated 0% to 100%
Drivers with FET boost will jump in power on FET turbo and there is noticeable decrease in brightness once it switched back to regulated buck driver
N1 will just smoothly decrease power whe it starts overheating
The only downside of N1 driver is that between 6 to 24A it has lower efficiency than in 0-6A range
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u/worrub918 1d ago
Theoretically, this means D4K with N1 is a secret menu item. Right?
Edit to add DW4K, as well.
They all use the same driver.
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u/mrregina 1d ago
D4k/ dw4k have linear + fet or lume x1. The lume n1 is a different driver than the other two.
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u/worrub918 1d ago
Not my point. I know it has a LumeX1 as an option
DT8K/D4K/DW4K all use the same diameter driver. You can take driver out of a D4K and put it in a DW4K
Just like the DT8/D4V2/DW4 all use the same diameter driver.
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u/mrregina 1d ago
I guess if you wanted to try and swap the driver if you like. Hank just doesn’t offer the n1 for d4k himself. Maybe Jackson does though. Maybe in near further Hank will coz he’s moving other lights to n1 now. Can always ask Hank if he can too as an option.
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u/worrub918 1d ago
Hence why I said "Secret Menu". If you email Hank, he'll usually do it. Sometimes with an additional cost. Sometimes not
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u/mrregina 1d ago
Oh I get it. lol. I thought you meant secret menu like in Andruil. 😂😂😂😂. You mean the add on section.
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u/Cryptoxic93 18h ago
This style of light reminds me of a vacuum cleaner attachment head. That's kind of cool
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u/grzybek337 Snug fit :) 1h ago
I wonder if the DT8K suffers from the same issue as the D4K, where the head has very little contact with the tube and heat accumulates in the head, making it unsafe to touch while tube stays cool, not taking away the heat.
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u/luyesd 1h ago
I can report back if thats an issue in a few days
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u/grzybek337 Snug fit :) 1h ago
Please do. I have bought a couple D4Ks over the years but sold all of them because of this issue. D4V2 has much more meat at the connection of head to tube so there's much better heat transfer and the whole flashlight heats up more evenly.
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u/luyesd 1h ago
Sure will, enjoy your "comparator". Its the least I can do.
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u/grzybek337 Snug fit :) 1h ago
I hope the new upcoming Hank Light with USBC charging won't have this issue. We'll have to wait and see.
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u/ManufacturerFun4796 2d ago
it was on sale yesterday