easilyled
Flashaholic
Looks like it will conduct heat away from the SST50s pretty well then!
1st build started today Quin SST-50
- Thread starter Curdog92
- Start date
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pavithra_uk
Newly Enlightened
A new way to high performance flashlight heat sink design.
thats very rugged design
thats very rugged design
Nice test run! Are you going to tin the pads with solder, or do you have solder paste to use? Either should work fine. If you can get a handle on the overshoot that you'll get with the stove, then you should be able to solder it easily. I.E. heat it to ~100 C, let it get a steady state, place your LEDs, then turn up the burner, let it rise to ~150C (or whatever you determine is good), then turn down/off the burner, and let it overshoot to 200C and reflow the solder in the process.
Yes, I do have solder paste...and now I have a K-type thermocouple for my multimeter after my experience with the grill thermometer. One thing the picture does not show very well is that several bubbles formed in the JB Weld over solder joints in other areas--not where the beads formed. After confirming that I still had continuity, I was still concerned over the bubbles. I used a dremel to get the JB Weld out around the solder joints and found air pockets! Makes sense--air expanded with the heat--my theory is that the expanding air pushed solder out of three joints, and just created bubble like bulges in the JB Weld on a couple of the others. I refilled the holes being very careful to ensure no air pockets remained. Hopefully after an overnight cure, I can re-test tonight with a much slower ramp up in temperature to keep from overshooting so badly.
FRITZHID
Flashlight Enthusiast
sorry bro. sh!t happens, you'll get it fixed. we all make mistakes.:hairpull:
pavithra_uk
Newly Enlightened
Made a bonehead move tonight...see anything wrong with this picture???
I guess "4 outta 5 ain't bad?"
Talk about feeling like an idiot!
oh 1 LED in wrong polarity.
Between these two options, what would you guys do?
1) reheat and reflow the one LED (which means they all take a heat beating), or
2) dremel out the JB Weld, then cut the leads and cross them over each other
How many trips to 217C can an LED take?
1) reheat and reflow the one LED (which means they all take a heat beating), or
2) dremel out the JB Weld, then cut the leads and cross them over each other
How many trips to 217C can an LED take?
FRITZHID
Flashlight Enthusiast
well.... i'm not gonna claim to be an expert on LEDs but i'd hazard a guess to say they could take 1 more trip to that temp... i've re-flowed LEDs 4-5x before failure so i think they can take it. you may want to pre-heat or even supplementary heat that side with a small torch so it heats faster saving the rest from totally heating.:thinking::shrug:
Thanks for the advice...reflow completed. Finally done with getting the LEDs like I want them. I guess I'll work on heat management now. Driving at 5A, it took 5 min/40 sec to go from 24C to 50C. Using ceiling bounce for comparison, it's noticeably brighter than a Jetbeam 3-XML, but much more floody. I was hoping to create something with more throw than what I achieved with these reflectors. So, now I'm on a search for better reflectors! Any recommendations? This setup will handle reflectors up to 32mm in diameter.
If you can find them, Carclo 10391 plain tight 26.5mm optic might give you more throw. With an SST-90, it gave me a 14 degree beam(if I remember right and if I did the math right, I'll measure again if I get a chance). The SST-50 will be smaller. with it focused you'll get a square projection of each die, with your multiple dies you might want to defocus it a tad. They will have next to no spill at all though.
Thank you CKOD! After trying multiple options, some SST-50 specific, some not, the Carclo 10391s were exactly what I was looking for. They turned this massive 5000+ lumen flood light into somewhat of a thrower. Here's a few pics to update the progress:
Carclo's sitting directly on the dies...
The entire gang of misfits...
Jetbeam RRT3-XML at 1950 lumens for ceiling beamshot comparison...
Ledil spot reflector for SST-50. Jetbeam on right, Quin SST-50 left.
Olight 20mm reflectors bored to fit SST-50 dome.
And finally...success with the Carclo's. Killer hotspot, can't wait to get these mounted up and get outside.
I'm not real proficient with the camera on anything other than auto. The beamshots don't do the first two pictures justice as to the floody nature of what's on my ceiling. I think the hot spot of the Jetbeam becomes the focus making the floodiness of the Quin-50 much less visible. The Carclo beamshot does capture what I'm seeing accurately...two great hot spots, one much larger than the other.
I've still got alot of work to do on heat management. I ran this at 5A for about 10 minutes while swapping reflectors, taking pictures, etc. The head reached 73 C, lots of room for improvement there.
This leads me to a question for the pros on this forum... With a variable power supply, I am essentially running these direct drive/constant current/constant amperage, no PWM/no duty cycles. Does the H6Flex use PWM or a frequency/duty cycle that will relieve some of this burden and possibly lower my operating temperature?
Thanks again for all the input...especially CKOD...those Carclos are awesome!
Carclo's sitting directly on the dies...
The entire gang of misfits...
Jetbeam RRT3-XML at 1950 lumens for ceiling beamshot comparison...
Ledil spot reflector for SST-50. Jetbeam on right, Quin SST-50 left.
Olight 20mm reflectors bored to fit SST-50 dome.
And finally...success with the Carclo's. Killer hotspot, can't wait to get these mounted up and get outside.
I'm not real proficient with the camera on anything other than auto. The beamshots don't do the first two pictures justice as to the floody nature of what's on my ceiling. I think the hot spot of the Jetbeam becomes the focus making the floodiness of the Quin-50 much less visible. The Carclo beamshot does capture what I'm seeing accurately...two great hot spots, one much larger than the other.
I've still got alot of work to do on heat management. I ran this at 5A for about 10 minutes while swapping reflectors, taking pictures, etc. The head reached 73 C, lots of room for improvement there.
This leads me to a question for the pros on this forum... With a variable power supply, I am essentially running these direct drive/constant current/constant amperage, no PWM/no duty cycles. Does the H6Flex use PWM or a frequency/duty cycle that will relieve some of this burden and possibly lower my operating temperature?
Thanks again for all the input...especially CKOD...those Carclos are awesome!
Last edited:
mikesantor
Enlightened
- Joined
- May 25, 2011
- Messages
- 308
Most bad *** "first build ever"s?
You did get the holders to go with the Carclo optics right? makes mounting so much easier, as you cant glue/epoxy to the conical surface as it spoils the internal refraction.
And IIRC the H6 flex adjusts the current from 1-6A, but for outputs under 1A, its a 1A signal PWMed to get an average current for < 1A, to comply with the Luminus tech note that some 50's/90's may not function with < 1A currents. Ive never seen a LED that wont barely illuminate with tiny currents (including the -90's and -50s ive handled), but perhaps its analogous with the "minimum lasing current" for laser diodes.
makes mounting so much easier, as you cant glue/epoxy to the conical surface as it spoils the internal refraction. And IIRC the H6 flex adjusts the current from 1-6A, but for outputs under 1A, its a 1A signal PWMed to get an average current for < 1A, to comply with the Luminus tech note that some 50's/90's may not function with < 1A currents. Ive never seen a LED that wont barely illuminate with tiny currents (including the -90's and -50s ive handled), but perhaps its analogous with the "minimum lasing current" for laser diodes.
Oh....now you mention the holders! haha After seeing the notches in the optics, I looked them up and ordered today. I also ordered the 30mm Carclo's optics with holders to give them a test run.
Your note about internal refraction made something click that I couldn't explain. I made temporary standoffs out of aluminum tubing to get better focus and found that I had a very bluish tint around the edge. This picture is with 4 of the 5 LEDs covered so I could get the right distance for focus. Do you think that bluish tint was a result of the optic sitting on the aluminum tubing? I chamfered an inward edge on the tubing so that the optic fit nicely and make a good seated contact (for what I thought would be gluing at the time.) With the optics sitting directly on the LEDs, there was no blue tint around the edges, but no focus either. Makes sense that the contact with the aluminum might possibly interfere with refraction.
Your note about internal refraction made something click that I couldn't explain. I made temporary standoffs out of aluminum tubing to get better focus and found that I had a very bluish tint around the edge. This picture is with 4 of the 5 LEDs covered so I could get the right distance for focus. Do you think that bluish tint was a result of the optic sitting on the aluminum tubing? I chamfered an inward edge on the tubing so that the optic fit nicely and make a good seated contact (for what I thought would be gluing at the time.) With the optics sitting directly on the LEDs, there was no blue tint around the edges, but no focus either. Makes sense that the contact with the aluminum might possibly interfere with refraction.
nope, the bluish tint around the edges is normal, on mine with the holder, I have the exact same sort of projection from the die, if I defocus it just a touch, the lines across the die blur, and the blue edge isnt as harsh.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/47cbbf5f.jpg
SST-90@ 6A vs 3C mag with mag LED drop in (K2 iirc)
in this light
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/1e8fdf3a.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/f4352bd4.jpg glow mod, around the holder, not touching the optic at all.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/47cbbf5f.jpg
SST-90@ 6A vs 3C mag with mag LED drop in (K2 iirc)
in this light
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/1e8fdf3a.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/f4352bd4.jpg glow mod, around the holder, not touching the optic at all.
its just epoxy and GITD powder mixed up, and laid in between the holder, and the reflector that i was using as a filler ring with a dispensing syringe. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/38bb6b37.jpg the backside of the reflector and the holder, sits on top of the britelumens heatsink http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y204/CKOD/lights/4bd2d36d.jpg
