My next project, a little help please.

[EFMax]

Can someone from here or MTB explain to me how to work out which LEDs (when grouped together) give better spread and which give better throw.. and how to work out their various real life colour on the ground (that is warmer or colder looking)

I am trying to overcome a few short falls which are minor but annoying with my current setup.

Previously I had a Lupine Wilma and a Trail Tech Eclipse 30w HID. Together they gave a good wide short range spread (Wilma) and very good long range (HID) but lacked a little in the middle ground.

Now, I still have the Wilma and a 7UP (XPE R3) now I still get the wonderful wide short range (and I love the colder colour) and really good mid-range (7UP – which is warmer in colour) but that long range has gone (by long range I mean 250mts plus).

I would like to drop the Wilma and keep the 7UP but wondered if it was possible to swap out any of the current LEDs that are in it so as to get the wider spread and colour of the Wilma and some of its (7UP) beautiful mid-range.. and then bring back in the HID for the more serious long range stuff..

So my question is really, is this practical, possible or just a waste of time… or should I look at a custom made LED setup which uses either more or different LEDs.. noting that at 30w my HID gets warm but never as HOT as the 7UP and I am conscious of the LEDs heat build up (even when moving quite fast).

Any help appreciated..

 

[PCC]

If you are just swapping emitters then it's not a bad way to go. The XP-E and XP-G have the same footprint so swapping just the emitters (if you have the soldering skills) is not that difficult to do and the results would be a wider hotspot and probably slightly brighter spill due to the XP-G having a larger die size. If you are thinking of changing emitters altogether (like wanting to put SST-50s in there) then you might as well buy a new light. Remember that most reflectors and optics are LED-specific so changing the LED to a different type typically requires that you change the reflector/optics as well.

WRT to the tint of the light, that's due to the color of the emitters themselves. You can choose different color LEDs to get different results. Warmer tints tend to be less bright while cooler tints are brighter. You should be able to choose these when you buy them if you are buying bare emitters.