milkyspit
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: I did it! 11200 Lux from a LxIII - new
Beretta, maybe you could just paint the heatsink under the leads with a little clear nail polish for some insurance against shorts. Or gently slide a short length of heatshrink tubing over the leads after soldering (slide 'em over the wires first, then solder, then move heatshrink into position) to electrically isolate them from the heatsink. It just makes me nervous to see those unprotected leads sitting there; if you dropped the light and were unlucky, the leads might short out. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Also, don't use too MUCH thermal epoxy! The most important thing is a paper-thin, even coating on the underside of the emitter, then holding it in good contact with the heatsink until it sets. Large surface area but thin, even layer of epoxy will maximize thermal transfer. I've heard at least one horror story from someone whose epoxy layer was too thick, and ended up frying their emitter. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
Just my two cents, although for what it's worth, yesterday richpalm and I modded 5 lights in the "Milky Labs" with great success using this exact technique.
Anyway, your work looks really great! Keep improving the process and no doubt you'll have big things ahead. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Beretta, maybe you could just paint the heatsink under the leads with a little clear nail polish for some insurance against shorts. Or gently slide a short length of heatshrink tubing over the leads after soldering (slide 'em over the wires first, then solder, then move heatshrink into position) to electrically isolate them from the heatsink. It just makes me nervous to see those unprotected leads sitting there; if you dropped the light and were unlucky, the leads might short out. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Also, don't use too MUCH thermal epoxy! The most important thing is a paper-thin, even coating on the underside of the emitter, then holding it in good contact with the heatsink until it sets. Large surface area but thin, even layer of epoxy will maximize thermal transfer. I've heard at least one horror story from someone whose epoxy layer was too thick, and ended up frying their emitter. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
Just my two cents, although for what it's worth, yesterday richpalm and I modded 5 lights in the "Milky Labs" with great success using this exact technique.
Anyway, your work looks really great! Keep improving the process and no doubt you'll have big things ahead. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
