Easiest way to put 3 luxeon stars in a mag lite

[Bushman]

I am new at this and want to put 3 luxeon stars with optics in a 3d mag lite (although open to other case suggestions) What is the best and most cost efficent way to run these and get the best light output?
Do they have to be regulated or resistered or both?
will the optics cause the beam output to be three separate beams? If so i might want to consider just using the bare luxeons to get a more broad expansive "flood" beam. any input will be helpful but i need the most help on regulating the power and the proper way to hook them up... Thanks.

 

[lambda]

You will need to construct some kind of a heat sink like a disc to mount the Luxeons on, and that will need to pass the heat to the aluminum flashlight body. I've built several Luxeon lights (single) and they generate quite a bit of heat at maximum current. You can check out http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001432 for a discussion on this topic. Looking forward to see your light when done. I've been kicking the idea around also, one Luxeon works fairly well, but three would kick a--!

 

[Bushman]

lambda, you also might wanto to check out www.thelightsite.tripod.com (quickbeam) site he has a 3ls dorcy mod by aragon but this is the only one that i have seen using 3 ls's one of the big questions that i have for him is how did he regulate the power? or did he? He (aragon) is supposed to get back with me on that. I want the brightest, long lasting 3 ls out there and I don't think that can be done without power regulation, i just don't know how do do it.

 

[lambda]

Power regulation will be a major problem for sure; you'll need to control 1.05 Amps. Not a small feat without generating even more heat. Perhaps a constant current source would run cooler than a voltage regulator.
Anybody got ideas?

 

[papasan]

if they are run in series it's only 350mA, but at 9V ro so...step-up, baby...

 

[ElektroLumens]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bushman:
I am new at this and want to put 3 luxeon stars with optics in a 3d mag lite (although open to other case suggestions) What is the best and most cost efficent way to run these and get the best light output?
Do they have to be regulated or resistered or both?
will the optics cause the beam output to be three separate beams? If so i might want to consider just using the bare luxeons to get a more broad expansive "flood" beam. any input will be helpful but i need the most help on regulating the power and the proper way to hook them up... Thanks.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


You'll have a big job heat sinking these 3 Luxeons, but I think the MAG LITE should be able to do this, if you use an aluminum plate and sink the heat to the flashlight head and body.

I would suggest you use a 5 'D' cell flashlight,and use a step down regulator in a 'D' cell dummy, set at 3.2 volts. (I make a step down regulator that would do this.) Three Luxeons will draw 1.05 amps, which is reasonable, with a light output of 54 lumens, which is very bright. If you try a step up regulator, you'll have problems because of the high current requirements of 1 amp. With the step down, your light will be full brightness until the batteries voltage drops to 3 volts or so, which is 50% expent, which is also okay. Run the Luxeons in parallel and not in series. I think this would work, although the flashlight will be huge!

I did an experiment using just 2 Luxeons, with 8 AA batteries, and my step down regulator, and I thought it was really super bright. I just mounted the Luxeons on an aluminum plate, not a flashlight.

Three Luxeons would be totally awesome!!

Oh, the light from multiple Luxeons blend togehter beautifully, as one single bright focused beam.

Wayne

 

[Bushman]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wayne Johnson:

I did an experiment using just 2 Luxeons, with 8 AA batteries, and my step down regulator, and I thought it was really super bright. I just mounted the Luxeons on an aluminum plate, not a flashlight.


Oh, the light from multiple Luxeons blend togehter beautifully, as one single bright focused beam.

Wayne<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Wayne, were the luxeons that you used with or without optics. i'm not even sure that three ls with optics will fit inside the head of the maglite!?!?

Mike

 

[TrevorNasko]

well they do fit and quite nicely too remove the base though

 

[lambda]

Yes, trim the two conrners with the screw slots (careful - don't take out the power traces)and they fit. Use a 2" hole saw to cut an aluminum heatsink (hole in center ok - wires gota come thru somewhere). Use PR base to make +/- contacts with 2.5 Ohm resistor in base, and use 1" PC board with 2 circular rings on back of heatsink as 'slipring' to bring power from PR base contacts up trough hole to connect. Damn, no 2" hole saw....have to stop tomarrow and get one...can't wait..ughh

 

[ElektroLumens]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
Yes, trim the two conrners with the screw slots (careful - don't take out the power traces)and they fit. Use a 2" hole saw to cut an aluminum heatsink (hole in center ok - wires gota come thru somewhere). Use PR base to make +/- contacts with 2.5 Ohm resistor in base, and use 1" PC board with 2 circular rings on back of heatsink as 'slipring' to bring power from PR base contacts up trough hole to connect. Damn, no 2" hole saw....have to stop tomarrow and get one...can't wait..ughh<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Regarding cutting down the Luxeon Star heat sink, I have been cutting off even the power trace, but careful to leave enough copper close at the side of the optics housing. I solder a wire there, and thus am able to get the size of the heat sink down to almost the same size as the black optics housing. This has worked quite well for me and enabled me to mount the Luxeon star on a 1" aluminum disc. Be sure to scrape/clean off the copper before trying to solder.

Wayne

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

as far as BEAM
you asked if it will make 3 seperated beams , the answer is no.
if their own syncs are mounted to a single plate/sync (which mounts them all FLAT), they form a single spot that is no larger than the distance between them , the 3/4" that they are, so if at 20' away one formed a 4' beam, then 3 will form a 4' 3/4" beam.

now with that said, if you WANTED to spread the beam, it might just be smart, as ONE hitting 20' away is sufficient for walking down a path, and spreading might give more usefullness.
that and having 2 seperate switchings for them, like a single beam that would last 20hours, and a tripple that would fill a whole area more

 

[ElektroLumens]

Mike,

The Luxeons I used were with optics. I know 2 Luxeons with optics will fit a Mag D cell, but I would have to check and see if 3 would fit. The heat sink of the Luxeon would have to be trimmed off up to the plastic optic holder.

Wayne

 

[lambda]

Before I got too enthused, I straped together 3 Luxeons with optics using duct tape to a heat sink and wired them up to my 3D Mag with 2.5 ohm resistor (350-400ma) ea. Well, I'm really not impressed. Yea, it's bright, but really no beam. I much prefer the single luxeon in the homemade PR bulb base. Even with three luxeons I really couldn't see anything at the end of my yard (about 200ft). With the single luxeon focused with the Mag reflector I can easily light of the woods back there by the creek and see what the dog is doing. The three luxeons were more like an area light, or like a multi-led flashlight, no defined beam projecting anywhere. I think I'll use these Luxeons for something else more productive.

 

[Bushman]

well that is interesting...so can you think of a way to modify the mag reflector to accomatate three luxeons and still use some of the reflector??? Mike

 

[lambda]

Actually I'm thinking of just installing a good heatsink for a single luxeon and overdriving it. I've run one at 500mA with real good heat sinking without it getting warm or any problems, and it's real bright.

 

[ElektroLumens]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
Actually I'm thinking of just installing a good heatsink for a single luxeon and overdriving it. I've run one at 500mA with real good heat sinking without it getting warm or any problems, and it's real bright.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have also run the Luxeon at 500mA with a lot of heat sink (for a short duration), but I just wonder what the life expectancy is, and how long it is before the Luxeon begins to lose brightness. If the Luxeon can be run at 500mA, and last, that would be great, as it is extremely bright at this current. Let me know how it goes. If yours doesn't burn up, maybe I'll try it too.

I use huge heat sinks!

Wayne

 

[vcal]

For short use (less than 5 minutes or so), my DB 4-AAA white Luxeon converted flashlight, seems to have been OK with the measured 650mA draw, over the last 3 months of use.
The 3.6v option was obtained by using 3-2/3AAA NimH cells in one of the barrels-perfect fit, and makes my LW2000 look like a Mag. Solitaire by comparison..

Sharing your concern, I have also measured it's light output occasionally, to check for drop-off in brightness. So far, there hasn' been any

 

[lambda]

vcal; done the same mod to DB AAA, but I limitted the AAA double barrel with a 2.5 ohm resistor (about 300-250ma) and I just did a battery run test. Ran 5 hours straight without getting too hot, replaced the resistor (in dummy cell) and then went another 1.5 hours until it entered into 'nightlight' mode for the last 50 hours, with no decrease in light visible yet; about as bright as a regular nightlight if you point it at wall or celing. I'll let this keep running to see how long 'nightlight' mode will last. (Look for thread).

The lux I run at 500ma is just mounted to a big heatsink (with Artic Silver paste) and doesn't even get warm. Quite bright,

Also, found a Double Barrel AA (six battery) for conversion that now rivals my Luxeon in 3D mag light.

 

[ElektroLumens]

lamda & vcal,

Okay, thanks for the info. I burned up my first Luxeon, and since then I've been very cautious not to do it again. I suppose I could experiment a little. I also have about 5 Luxeon emitters I could also experiment with. I'm working on a PR base Luxeon bulb.

Wayne

 

[ElektroLumens]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
vcal; done the same mod to DB AAA,
. . .

The lux I run at 500ma is just mounted to a big heatsink (with Artic Silver paste) and doesn't even get warm. Quite bright,
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Regarding the Artic Silver paste, I have been mixing aluminum powder with 2 part epoxy (thin stuff), with very good results. This is a home brew cheap trick.


Wayne