I just got this light from a CPF member 'Mark2'. Thanks for the great service and prompt delivery!

This is my first light with the Luxeon III Star LED for the lightsource. Now I have used it it won't be the last!

This is a seriously bright little light!!

The styling of the light obviously borrows heavily from other 'Tactical' lights that you can find reviewed on this site. I quite like the design. It feels very solid and fits well into the palm of my hand when in use. The tailcap clicky switch is simply presses and released to turn on the light. Repeat to turn off. It's operation is so called reversed because if you want to operate the light momentarily you must first turn it on then press the tailcap until the light just turns off. This is fine for signalling but no so good if you just want a brief burst of light. The rubber switch also protrudes from the end of the body preventing stable candle mode operation. Although it does just balance on it's end!

As this light is not exorbitantly expensive I have gone further than my normal reviews and decided that I would dismantle it to show all of the component parts.

I have also done a little more research on the electronics that make this light operate so I hope this will be of some interest to people.

I found the light to be the almost perfect size for everyday carry (EDC) only slightly larger than an ARC LSH This light with it's 3Watt LED also puts out a lot more light than my ARC LSH does! For a lot less money. So a good choice for many that would not want to spend so much on small light!

Power is supplied from a single CR123 cell. This runs the light for about 1 hour 40 minutes before the light output falls off by a noticeable amount. I then got dimmer output for around another 2 hours. I measured the current draw from the battery with my Fluke meter at around 552mA this was after the light had been running for a few minutes. On a brand new battery I would imagine the initial current would be a lot higher.

I also measured the temperature of the light during my runtime test. As it is so small in size it does not have very much thermal mass to absorb heat from the LED when it is running. What this means it that this light will get hot when in use. I measured the temperature rising to 48-49 Degrees Centigrade after 15 minutes of use. This was with the light resting on a wooden desktop. If you were holding it I think your hand and circulation system would act as a heatsink and reduce the overall temperature. 48 Degrees will not burn you but it may feel uncomfortably hot when you pick it up. Great for those winter nights when you need a handwarmer!

As you can see from the number of pictures there are a surprising number of components in such a small light. The quality of the machining is very good with no burrs or sharp edges. The aluminium is anodised with what looks like a black type II finish. Some of the threaded components are not anodised in places an this is to ensure good electrical conductivity so the light still works properly.

Out of the box only the tailcap of the light will unscrew to allow access to the battery compartment. This is sealed with an O-ring to give some weatherproofing.

I proceeded to take the rest of the light apart in the following manner.

I removed the tailcap and battery and put the rest of the light into a plastic bag. This was placed into my kettle and brought up to the boil! I left it in there for five minutes to let the heat penetrate into the body and then whilst wearing gloves I removed the light and was able to unscrew the head with relative ease. It looks like some form of loctite or epoxy was used to seal the head. I then repeated the procedure with the head and reflector assembly using a small pair of circlip pliers to remove the reflector.

The tailcap switch assembly was simple to remove with just the circlip pliers onto the plastic spring support.

As I had removed all of the components from the light I was able to get to the LED and electronics. The Luxeon LED is a star unit. This means it is supplied mounted to its own printed circuit board (PCB) which is bonded to a heatsink back made from aluminium. This is spaced away from the driver circuit PCB with an aluminium spacer ring which will also act as a heatsink to draw heat into the body of the light. I was surprised the electronics when not potted with any thermal epoxy. I suppose that they don't get too hot and again potting things makes them more expensive. It also make this light ideal as a host for modifying!

I dug out the soldering iron and took off one of the wires holding the Luxeon assembly in place. This allowed me a good view of the PCB components and allowed me to see the Bin codes on the back of the Luxeon Star. The Bin code is the rating given by the LED manufacturer to the grade of the LED. A good explanation is provided here http://home.comcast.net/~theledguy/home.htm

The LED on this light is as follows :- SV1JW

S=60-67.2 Lumens (If overdriven this will probably give the claimed 70 Lumen output)
V= 5500K Colour Temperature Tint Greenish
1= 5500K Colour Temperature Tint Greenish
J= 3.27-3.51 Vf (Forward Voltage)
W=Colour White

The Greenish tint is not really that bad at all, it looks greener than my premium ARC LSH and whiter than my Surefire L4. The beam pattern is very even and smooth with a a noticeable white hotspot in the very centre of the beam. The edge of the corona is not perfectly round due to the scalloped edges of the bezel. The bezel edged also let you see that the light is still on when you place it face down on a flat surface.

The circuit that operates this light is based around the following integrated circuit (IC)

http://www.zetex.com/3.0/pdf/ZXSC300.pdf

More details on a similar circuit that can be used to power a Luxeon within a modified Maglight can be found here:- http://www.zetex.towner.org.uk/ This is well worth a look as you can learn a great deal about how this type of circuit works.

From what I understand about the regulation circuit, the way it is used in the Nuwai Quantum III it is designed to give the absolute maximum battery life. It could have additional components (Capacitor and a shottky diode) This would give rectified DC output that would drive the LED at a constant current, thus making the light output greater than a supplied circuit. But at the expense of decreased battery life and greater cost to manufacturer! Not good if you are in a competitive marketplace.

I really like this small light and am looking forward to future products from Nuwai. I think I read a rumour that a similar model with adjustable brightness would soon be available I will be queuing up for that one!

Ok, now hopefully your interested where can you get one?

I got my light from a CPF member Mark2 see here:-

www.candlepowerforums.com One of the best forums of any kind on the net. Lots of reviews, opinions and help for the novice to the expert on anything relating to illumination products.

I think some other members of CPF have also had these light for sale. So look round for them. Nuwai seem to sell lights from various Chinese manufacturers so don't be surprised if you see exactly the same light sold by someone else. It will probably still be excellent value.

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