FEZ and light testing
Was testing the FEZ adapter so might as well test some lights. Batteries used were Sony Murata VTC6 18650 and 21700 for the unprotected tests and Modlite branded 18650 and 21700 for the protected tests.
Edit: HRT and KF1 added to chart.
Candela
RSA Insert testing and some Turbo tests
Decided to try to tackle two problems that have been brought up with the RSA. One is output loss, and the other one is price. Originally the RSA was made to handle the extra length of protected batteries which came as a detriment due to having more items in the critical path. So to help with price and output we have decided to move to a solid insert. What that insert would be would be up to testing. Copper is super conductive but heavy and aluminum 6061 can almost get to that conductivity without the extra weight (in this case .4 oz).
While testing we noticed a couple of interesting things. With a sample size of 2 in this case it seems that not all REIN 3.0s are equal. One of the REIN’s best output was around 88,000 candela consistently using the REIN switch. The other one hovered around 96,000 candela +- 3,000. The other interesting thing is again, that adding both the RSA and the ROSS plus the REIN switch we see no loss in output at all. Also, the Surefire Turbo, using the same DS00 switch, reaches 100k candela with ease. The error on the current spring insert is also a bit higher than the solid inserts. The inserts vary along the margin of error of the testing equipment which is around 3k candela for this output range.
Either way, the new solid insert will get rid of the need for the nylon sleeve so hopefully we are able to pass those small savings to the customer. You would gain a bit of output but lose the ability to use protected cells which most don’t run on REIN lights anyways. We are working on something that may or may not come to fruition called the FEZ (Field Effect Zwitch). It will fix the output issues with Cloud lights and Surefire switches but might come at a cost of equal or higher price compared to the current RSA.
RSA Testing
TL;DR: The REIN switch is a beast but it would still be nice to have more switch options like a single button one and a dual REIN/Crane switch.
Now to the details.
From the beginning the RSA's one goal was to provide options for people to run different switches. However there's no such thing as free lunch.
Take the following data with a grain of salt seeing that this is a sample size of one across the board. This is also with an off the shelf lux meter and it has no NIST certificates, although the same meter was used for all tests at the same distance.
Started the test comparing a combination of RSA with a DS00 tailcap vs the REIN's switch. As you can see in the chart below there is a difference in output. People argue at what point a human eye would be able to see the difference but at this range the difference is most likely visible.
Wondering where the step down might lie I decided to add another adapter that was made alongside the RSA called the ROSS, which is to add a REIN switch to a Surefire tailed light. As you can see the increase in output compared to the RSA is substantial. Now this is an addition of an RSA adapter, an RSA spring insert, and a ROSS adapter. That's a lot of extra steps to get the current where it has to go.
Note on the Surefire DF test. The RSA DS00 is not actually running an RSA, it's just a DS00.
Attached PDF to the page for a better resolution chart because Facebook really compresses pictures.
Formula for conversion:
Iv(cd) = 0.09290304 × Ev(lx) × (d(ft))2
HP MJF Weather Testing
Additive manufacturing is a great alternative to injection molding. I wouldn’t call it a replacement of molding manufacturing but instead it is here to supplement it. This is a good paper on weather testing of MJF parts. Enjoy.