Another-Nocturn
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2010
- Messages
- 5
Hey Gang; I am working on a new project and would like some friendly advice. You guys have worked and played with LED's far longer than I; so maybe you can help me shorten the learning curve and avoid a few mistakes along the way
I am designing a new product whose goal is to be placed into mass production. It's a specialized flashlight with both UV (for specialized work tasks) and also plain old white light (for general work tasks). The power source will be 3 standard D size cells, but could also be 4 AA cells (in a cartridge) if needed. In my testing, white-light output that is on par with a mini maglight should be enough to get the job done. Likewise, the light output from the 12-20 LED UV flashlights (the ones we have all seen on eBay) is also enough to do the job (although a little more UV output would be nice) The product will be designed with some level of "intelligence", so it wouldn't be difficult to also add a voltage regulation feature to "normalize" the output power from the cells.
My requirements are as follows:
The output of this bundle seems to do the trick but i'd like to make sure Im not overlooking a better solution or walking into a problematic design.
Here are my questions:
Q1) Before I tell you my own doubts, what do you think of the plan as shown above?
Q2) I've read mixed reviews of those 10mm light cannons based on the fact that at full power, they overheat and die, is there a way to avoid that fate by reducing the loads; or are they really a dead-end design that should be avoided?
Q3) would it be better to explore the PCB-mount designs (like Cree) instead of through-hole LED's? If so, wouldn't those also require special drivers, reflectors and heatsinks?
Q4) I've seen Maglite retrofitted with Cree-style UV bulbs, but they are always very expensive and I think those bulbs are hard to find. It seems like this approach wouldn't be smart for a production model with a low price point…agree?
Again, I really appreciate all of your help; and fully plan to update this post as the design evolves
I am designing a new product whose goal is to be placed into mass production. It's a specialized flashlight with both UV (for specialized work tasks) and also plain old white light (for general work tasks). The power source will be 3 standard D size cells, but could also be 4 AA cells (in a cartridge) if needed. In my testing, white-light output that is on par with a mini maglight should be enough to get the job done. Likewise, the light output from the 12-20 LED UV flashlights (the ones we have all seen on eBay) is also enough to do the job (although a little more UV output would be nice) The product will be designed with some level of "intelligence", so it wouldn't be difficult to also add a voltage regulation feature to "normalize" the output power from the cells.
My requirements are as follows:
- The cost of the raw parts needs to be very low (when purchasing in volume)
- The overall footprint of the circular LED PCB should be as small as possible, hopefully not much bigger than the diameter of a D cell.
- If emitters other than the standard 5mm are used, their "reflectors" must also be accounted for in this size limitation
- Device may be used up to an hour at a time, probably switching frequently between light sources (UV or White)
- [16ea.] standard 5mm UV Led's, (These are typical UV diodes in the long wave-UV family)
- [1ea.] 10mm White LED within the footprint of a D cell. (The single white 10mm LED contains 5 chips, draws 100ma and puts out 265KMCD in a 40degree beam)
The output of this bundle seems to do the trick but i'd like to make sure Im not overlooking a better solution or walking into a problematic design.
Here are my questions:
Q1) Before I tell you my own doubts, what do you think of the plan as shown above?
Q2) I've read mixed reviews of those 10mm light cannons based on the fact that at full power, they overheat and die, is there a way to avoid that fate by reducing the loads; or are they really a dead-end design that should be avoided?
Q3) would it be better to explore the PCB-mount designs (like Cree) instead of through-hole LED's? If so, wouldn't those also require special drivers, reflectors and heatsinks?
Q4) I've seen Maglite retrofitted with Cree-style UV bulbs, but they are always very expensive and I think those bulbs are hard to find. It seems like this approach wouldn't be smart for a production model with a low price point…agree?
Again, I really appreciate all of your help; and fully plan to update this post as the design evolves