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Which LED's to use?


Tieffels

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Hi DIY Hubbers,

 

At my work we've got Invenor, killer manufacturing facilities and a lekker bos, so I'm trying to get a LED light housing CNC-ed with the long term view of making it available in kit form.

 

I can manage the design and everything, but what is the best LED/s to use at the moment? I'm looking at <1000 lumen for now, but I'm open to suggestions. I've been recommended the Cree XP-G, but what about the MC-E? Or any other options?

 

Also looking at using a buck-puck but battries is still an unknown..

 

Any suggetsion with motivations would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

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Hi DIY Hubbers,

 

At my work we've got Invenor, killer manufacturing facilities and a lekker bos, so I'm trying to get a LED light housing CNC-ed with the long term view of making it available in kit form.

 

I can manage the design and everything, but what is the best LED/s to use at the moment? I'm looking at <1000 lumen for now, but I'm open to suggestions. I've been recommended the Cree XP-G, but what about the MC-E? Or any other options?

 

Also looking at using a buck-puck but battries is still an unknown..

 

Any suggetsion with motivations would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

The MC-E is actually the equivalent of 4 LEDs in one (I think XP-G but could be XP-E). If you look you can see 4 dies in it.

 

Just make sure that you have enough of a heatsink to handle the heat generated.

 

I'm busy experimenting with some MC-Es right now, and using separate protected 18650 Li-ion cells as the battery.

You can also get cheap drivers with various characteristics. (beware sometimes they don't work, I haven't had a problem yet tho)

 

will try post some pics later

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The MC-E is actually the equivalent of 4 LEDs in one (I think XP-G but could be XP-E). If you look you can see 4 dies in it.

 

Just make sure that you have enough of a heatsink to handle the heat generated.

 

I'm busy experimenting with some MC-Es right now, and using separate protected 18650 Li-ion cells as the battery.

You can also get cheap drivers with various characteristics. (beware sometimes they don't work, I haven't had a problem yet tho)

 

will try post some pics later

 

Thanks Flowta

 

Ja, the MC-E has 4 LEDs on one primary optic giving you 430lm, but it seems you can get the XP-G in a 3-up arrangement with 3 seperate LEDs mounted on one PCB, http://ledsupply.com/creexpg-w417.php , giving you 417 lm. You also get the full range of optics for this configuration. So which is better? And are there other options to consider? I'm corrently thinking about using 2 of either of the above, giving me above 800lm if the math works like that.

 

 

PS stop using up all the company bandwidth..

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Chicken, use the XPG R5. They have the highest lumens per watt rating and they run cooler than most other LEDs.(yes there are reports of brighter Cree's, but they're impossible to source.)

Look at this page at cutter. You'll find basically everything you might want from here.

If parts you order are in stock, your order should be here within a week.

 

Have a look at the Lux-RC page. This guy is my hero and one day I'll design something as good as his products.

Awesome awesome stuff.

 

Also, when selecting a LED you must consider the color of light the LED will produce.

While we might automatically think that cool blue/white (which is also the brightest color lumen wise) will be nice, I have found that people doing night rides actually prefer a warmer white. Warmer white seems to highlight textures and rock better. Cool white tends to "wash out" terrain, leaving you uncertain of what's coming up.

 

 

If you are gonna look at the MC-E, then you have to look at the SSC P7 too.

 

PS, if you think selecting the right LED is a process just wait till you get to selecting optics.

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Thanks Flowta

 

Ja, the MC-E has 4 LEDs on one primary optic giving you 430lm, but it seems you can get the XP-G in a 3-up arrangement with 3 seperate LEDs mounted on one PCB, http://ledsupply.com/creexpg-w417.php , giving you 417 lm. You also get the full range of optics for this configuration. So which is better? And are there other options to consider? I'm corrently thinking about using 2 of either of the above, giving me above 800lm if the math works like that.

 

 

PS stop using up all the company bandwidth..

 

If I am correct that 430 lm is when driven at 350mA per die. They can be driven at up to 700mA safely provided you have a decent enough heatsink.

 

@Maximus, those L30 engines are awesome. Especially since the driver is built in. All you need is the housing and lense and you're good to go.

 

FYI: the Seoul and Cree use the same dies for their LEDs, they just have different methods of mounting, different primary lenses, etc.

 

The MC-E can be driven in series or in parallel, ie each die can treated as their own individual LED

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I have 3 x MCE's in my light housing being driven at 1200mA by a fully programmable MaxFlex version 5

 

Battery pack is 8 x 2000mAh 18650's Lithium Ions in 4S2P configuration which I got built locally.

 

 

post-858-032352900 1282241539_thumb.jpg

 

post-858-046187000 1282241623_thumb.jpg

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I have 3 x MCE's in my light housing being driven at 1200mA by a fully programmable MaxFlex version 5

 

Battery pack is 8 x 2000mAh 18650's Lithium Ions in 4S2P configuration which I got built locally.

 

 

post-858-032352900 1282241539_thumb.jpg

 

post-858-046187000 1282241623_thumb.jpg

 

Nice!!!

 

How are they driven? 1200mA through each die or 1200mA per MC-E?

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I have 3 x MCE's in my light housing being driven at 1200mA by a fully programmable MaxFlex version 5

 

Battery pack is 8 x 2000mAh 18650's Lithium Ions in 4S2P configuration which I got built locally.

 

 

post-858-032352900 1282241539_thumb.jpg

 

post-858-046187000 1282241623_thumb.jpg

 

What are you using to charge the battery?

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Flowta, I've no idea on how the MaxFlex drives the MCE dies. Electronics is not my strong suit but the MCE's are wired in a 6S2P configuration ie 2 chains of 6 emitters.

 

Battery is charged by a 16.8v 800mA Li-ion charger.

 

I've programmed the MaxFlex for 3 settings, dim, medium and full power. Using the light at the night race, I completed 3 x 1 hr races predominantly on medium (but also showing off how bright it was on full power) and it lasted close to 3.5 hrs. Ideally I would have liked to get 2600mAh 18650's but the supplier had no stock. Output on max is approx 1400 lumens. The guy who makes the kits can be found HERE.

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