Luxeon Questions

[Rothrandir]

I have a few questions, they shouldn't be all that hard to answer:

*what is Lambertian?
*what is side emmiting?
*what is up with that board on the bottom of the Luxeon Star? a heatsink?
*is the thing on the bottom of the Luxeon star necessary?
*is a luxeon emmiter the same as a luxeon star without the bottom thingy?
*what is the ideal voltage for a luxeon?
*if i am making a flashlight, can i run the (-) through the body and connect it to the (-) "arm"?
*where is the best place to get the best color luxeons?
*what is the difference between a hd and a ld (besides the obvious)?
*does ne one have any "real size" photos (compard to a us quarter or something)?
*would anybody like to donate one or two to a fellow cpfer at need?

thank you

 

[Doug S]

Originally posted by Rothrandir:
I have a few questions, they shouldn't be all that hard to answer:

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Go here
http://www.luxeon.com/products/documentation_index.html

And download DS23, DS25, and AB05. Much will be revealed!

 

[Rothrandir]

actually, i was hoping for some plain answers=) i have no clue what at least half of that is saying.

furthermore, i have thought of some more questions:

*batwing, radiation pattern?
*what is up with the big square boards? can they be removed to make the unit smaller?
*is the diamand on top the "side emmiter"
*why call it a side emmitter? it is on the top...

ok, am i correct in assuming that batwing is just a name for low dome, whereas lambertian is just a name for high dome?

 

[Doug Meister]

You know - - I thought those were good questions. Most of them I understand cuz I've been hanging out here for a little while. But I could see where a newbie

might not know and might want to ramp up on his info profile quickly. Now to answer I'd hafta dig for a while.

HD = high dome . . . tighter spot
LD = low dome . . . more spread
LS = Luxeon Star = type of really super bright LED come in 1w or the new 5w which tends to explode.
Side emmitting is a side emmitting LED - I think the light from which can be focused with some sort of reflector. I''d like to mod one into a xD cell Maglite. Dont know if they are out yet.
Mod = modify (CPF speak)
Modding = modifying (CPF speak)
--Ðøug

 

[Rothrandir]

lol, thank you doug, you answered some questions that were there...and some that weren't!

i have been viewing this site for about 4 or 5 months now, but only somewhat recently signed up.

by the way, those are some scary smiley things...

 

[PsycoBob[Q2]]

HD= Lambertian/tight-beam
LD= Batwing (named because of the way the brightness/angle graph looks- I think) wider-beam
Side-emmitter= Mimics normal incandescent bulb light-patterns

The LD and HD's both need collimators (lenses) instead of reflectors like a normal incandescent uses. Yes, the one with that funky-shaped lens on it is the side-emmitter. In THEORY, you can use a side-emmitter with a focusable-reflector flashlight mod, like in a Minimag or legend LX. Likely need to enlarge the bulb-hole, and/or place the LED on a slight pedistal.

The aluminum Printed Circuit Board the LS is mounted on isn't required (you can get bare emmitters, LOTS safer than de-soldering a pcb and trying to remove the emmitter w/o breaking it) BUT you'll need to mount it to some kind of a heatsink if you want to put more than ~30mA thru it. I don't remember if the 1w LS has an electrically-neutral base on the emmitter, but the spec-sheet for the 5w says that the 5w definitely doesn't.

You can trim the PCB down with a file or a dremel, if you want. Then you just need to solder directly to the emmitter's leads, instead of those nice, safe solder-pads.

LS's vary a LOT on the voltage. some of them are as low as 3v, others as high as 5.7v (to reach the spec'd 350mA, I mean). It's one of the problems with making arrays with them- I assume Lumileds matches all the LS's on their arrays.

You can run the - terminal thru the flashlight casing, IF whatever power-supply allows you to. The simplest, 3+ alkaline batts and resistors to keep the amperage safe, will work with that. More complex items, like step-up/down regulator circuits might not like that, depending on the exact design.

 

[Rothrandir]

thank you psycobob, that was very helpful. do you know of a website where i can get detailed instructions on how to solder an emmiter onto a heatsink. also, i don't have any regular led's, and am tired of reading post where people say all of the cool things they have done with them, does anyone know where i can get some nice white 5mm leds reletively cheap? preferably nichia's. I would like to get a lot of luxeons, but money certainly does not permit...i shouldn't be buying the one that i will be...

 

[Rothrandir]

also, where is the best place to get around 20 5mm 25degree or less, 6000+ or more leds? preferably nichias i suppose.

 

[Doug S]

Originally posted by Rothrandir:
do you know of a website where i can get detailed instructions on how to solder an emmiter onto a heatsink.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Actually, you probably cannot solder an emitter to a heatsink without distroying it. Go to the link below and download AB10 for guidence.

http://www.luxeon.com/products/documentation_index.html

 

[Rothrandir]

does anyone have any really nice colored and smooth beamed white luxeon stars with the new colminaters lying around that they would like to sell? i want some, or at least 1, but i don't really want to order from a retailer because there is no way to assure good color quality and beam consistancy. I think that someone could potentially make some money by buying them in somewhat large quantities, and selling them at varied prices according to beam color, intensity, smoothness, etc. I certainly would be interested in such a service.