Gone because of PackHorse ..

so i just started to get all the pieces together for my dive light, my driver from George came yesterday so i got to get that all wired up ...


this is a thing of beauty .... and it pumps out some serious power to the SST chip..



with some emails back and forth to george i got it all together..he is at Task Led .com I still need to get it all put together in the light engine .. Here is a shot of the SST in the reflector from Deal Extrm



i have the led Mounted into the lens , and I use aluminum Tape HVAC , to diffuse heat off of the Led , I am also going to add more heat sink stuff after i get the acrylic lens cut , and it Mounted into the light head ..


front shot of the reflector ...



and a front shot of the Light head , the light head is a Black sched 80 drain fitting from Home Depot.. and its a perfect fit !!
More pics to follow as I build this beast of a dive light
I am diving here in Puget sound , Washington state , so our water temps here ar 52 deg.. once this head gets in the water It pretty much cools the heat coming off the Led to Zero.. The cold is absorbed through the PVC and then transfers to the Light engine .. like i said more pics soon for all to see ...

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

You know that the tape will be definitly too less heatsinking. You really got to add an appropriate heatsink.

rayman

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

Have you fired it off? How's the beam.

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

Have you ever used this Tape ? It ROCKS !!! Its aluminum Tape that transfers 100 % of the heat Off the led.. The reflector is part of the sink.. I've used this Tape for 6 years and its Incredible for dissapating Heat ...
350 I fired it up last night and was Blind for 1 hour.. This is the brightest chip I have ever seen ...

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

H20doctor said:

Have you ever used this Tape ? It ROCKS !!! Its aluminum Tape that transfers 100 % of the heat Off the led.. The reflector is part of the sink.. I've used this Tape for 6 years and its Incredible for dissapating Heat ...
350 I fired it up last night and was Blind for 1 hour.. This is the brightest chip I have ever seen ...

Click to expand...

Bright yes... but is it a bunch of flood or is that reflector tight?

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

i wont know till i get it fully heatsinked , i can only turn the chip on for about 3 seconds and then it gets Mega Hot ...So i dont want to fry this 45.00 Led before its even wet on a dive.. I will get a beamshot here hopefully in a few days ... On to get a Big heatsink built ..

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

Im sure this post isnt going to make me any more popular with you but...

PVC is a terrible conductor of heat. If you encase the LED and ( hopefully a proper heat sink) with PVC tube it will over heat regardless of ambient temp.

There is no way that tape transfers 100% of the heat away from the LED.
SST's regenerate a huge amount of heat when driven near spec.

I would consider that reflector a flood type when used with a SST-90. I used one for a while with a P7.

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

Packhorse said:

Im sure this post isnt going to make me any more popular with you but...

PVC is a terrible conductor of heat. If you encase the LED and ( hopefully a proper heat sink) with PVC tube it will over heat regardless of ambient temp.

There is no way that tape transfers 100% of the heat away from the LED.
SST's regenerate a huge amount of heat when driven near spec.

I would consider that reflector a flood type when used with a SST-90. I used one for a while with a P7.

Click to expand...

Pack:
I was thinking the exact same thing... Plastic is an insulator not a conductor. So even with a huge heatsink, you will be insulating the crap out of the LED. And yes, this LED runs HOT!!! So, even as a dive light, if insulated, I still think will end up FRIED!

Best way would be to use an aluminum housing with a heatsink that makes contact with the side.

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

i think you forget where I am diving ... 50 degree water , which is adsorbed and transfered through the PVC.. Ive built lights now for 3 years with no issues... The puget sound cools off the SST90..
Packhorse , i understand your thoughts , and doubts , as do most builders of flashlights , and dive lights here.. But i am the exception to light making, I dont have a Big Lathe set up, lots of delrin and a huge shop to fab parts and sinks... I am the guy that builds stuff that others dont beleive will work.. so I am not offended , its all perfectly fine and understanding

Here is the driver Mounted today


Looking down inside the light Head , there is plenty of alumin sinking , and a 1/2 copper coupling , all taped up... Very Nice , Ugly as hell , but it works great ..


another shot inside


Like I stated above < my stuff isnt Proffessional, Rather Ugly and Crude on the inside .... But the finished product will look great

PVC does transfer heat , and cold very well , If it didnt , my lights wouldnt work..So its been working now for 3 years and not a single over heat Issue with any of my built and sold lights to divers all over the world ...
the front lens is making contact with the alumin reflector , so when tis light hit the water , that cold 50 deg chill is transfered to the LED .. try putting a piece of PVC in a bowl of water filled with Ice cubes.. the Pvc is freezing cold , Just like Delrin
with the standard Proffesional lights , salvo , Light Monkey , Diverite ..etc..etc.. Being alumin and delrin , I get what you are both saying , But those companies have invested Big $$$ , to put out a top product for divers.. This SST90 light is my own personal light , so im not to worried about how it looks.. with a custom paint Job it will look great..

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

holy cow you didnt tell me you was building this(yes i finally joined)! i want to see it when you're done! But doc why not use a maglite body? It would make a toasty hand warmer for these cold waters

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

How much current are you running the SST at?

And no PVC does not transfer heat well. Your design may work but the LED will run hot and its life will be reduced as will its output over time.
You will also run into huge issues if used out of water.

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

Your other lights may still work but they dont generate a fraction of the heat as that SST-90 if they are LED. Even if it doesn't burn up which I think it will your Lumen loss from heat is gonna be very high.Just make a heat sink your obviously good at building stuff.

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

Packhorse said:

How much current are you running the SST at?

And no PVC does not transfer heat well. Your design may work but the LED will run hot and its life will be reduced as will its output over time.
You will also run into huge issues if used out of water.

Click to expand...

I think that Georges new driver I believe its 6.5A ++

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

6.7 amps ... on the multi meter today during a test burn ... Trimpot beyond 22.5K .. i ran the light out of water , for 20 mins with no ill meltdowns

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

How hot was the PVC on the outside and how hot was the LED?

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

the outside of the Pvc light head felt room temp.. the inside sink area was warm , but not Hot .. when i fired it up before i sinked it it was Burning hot and i could only run the led for about 4 seconds... I am letting everything dry up today and tomorrow ... and should have beam shots up by Monday night ....

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

H20doctor said:

the outside of the Pvc light head felt room temp.. the inside sink area was warm , but not Hot .. when i fired it up before i sinked it it was Burning hot and i could only run the led for about 4 seconds... I am letting everything dry up today and tomorrow ... and should have beam shots up by Monday night ....

Click to expand...

Well there you have proof that PVC is a poor conductor of heat. If it was any good the outside would be as hot as the inside.

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

probably won't be an issue, but if you cool the LED's a lot they can put out rather more light, and potentially cause damage to themselves with over-current, the driver should stop it, but it might be worth keeping an eye on it.

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

I guess he used this driver: http://taskled.com/h6cc.html
6.7A is the maximum output so I don't think he's overdriving the led.

I guess it might work with the current setup, but the led will most likely not run for the specified livetime of the led. But on the other hand, by then there are probably a lot more interesting leds to replace it with

Re: my 1 st SST90 dive light

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html shows thermal conductivity of various materials.

PVC is poor compared to most of the common metals.

Of course since this light is going to be used in cold water, that will help move more watts from the LED for a specified final LED/heatsink temperature.

I'd imagine even a single stainless bolt through the housing (with o-ring's etc) would transfer more heat from the LED to the outside water than several square inches of PVC surface area, given that even stainless has over 80 times better thermal conductivity than PVC.

Anyhow, I'd put a thermocouple on the LED heatsink and measure what the actual running temperature is, with the housing partially submerged in water...

Finally, it would be 'feasible' to thermal epoxy an NTC thermistor on the LED heatsink and wire it to the POT inputs of the H6CC. Choosing the appropriate thermistor value would allow dimming (current lowers) when the temperature reaches the chosen trip point.

cheers,
george.