Newbie : high lumen LED help please

[foolgene]

Folks,

new guy on the block..
I'm looking to fleabay purchase

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-Watt-White...hash=item360128443290&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177

for a wee DIY project to beef up the crappy front light on my motorbike.
Now the questions are;
what is a driver?
what does it do?
do I have to have one?
heatsinks?
top tips?

any help gratefully accepted

ta


the foolgene

 

[LEDobsession]

Drivers are all dependent on what you're going to throw at it voltage-wise, how many LEDs you will have, etc.. The driver is what regulates a constant voltage to your specific LED that it requires. You will most likely be using a 12 volt application (or maybe 6 volt if its an old or a small bike), so you will need drivers for this.

Heatsinking will be necessary due to the fact that 600 Lumens will put out some heat. I'm not sure how hot that LED will get, but I know that the SSC P7 puts out 900 and it warms up a bunch after being on for a while.

Again, both your heatsinks and drivers will depend on the number of LEDs and voltage input.

Hope this helps some.
Trevor

 

[foolgene]

Trevor,

thanks for the info.
Some more help would be appreciated.

I'm aware that the 'typical' LED requires a current limiting device - usually a resistor.
Now, the suckers listed in the first post are new to me.
I'm intending to run this/these (there may be space for two) in place of my motorbikes side light. Being powered from an alternator means no (realistic) limit to the current demanded and the system is electronically regulated to 12v.
Now, treat me like a clot - I'm still in the dark as the form and function of a driver, will the device listed need one? Or would connecting it direct melt it? I understand the need for the heatsink.

cheers matey

Andy

 

[LEDobsession]

You will need a driver. As to which one, I dont know. There are plenty of people on this forum that know a heck of a lot more than me and hopefully they can give you some advice as well. Sorry I couldnt give you more help.

 

[Ken_McE]

Now, treat me like a clot - I'm still in the dark as the form and function of a driver, will the device listed need one? Or would connecting it direct melt it?

A driver does somewhat the same thing as that resistor you mentioned earlier, but it does it better. The current on your bike will go up and down as you race and idle the engine. An incandescent bulb wouldn't care, it would just get brighter and dimmer. LEDs are OK with being underdriven, but really hate being overdriven. It cuts the heck out of their life expectancy.

I had a LED driver in my last car, I used it to run extra marker lights. It was made by the CPFer "Meteor". It was a custom one so I bought it as an exposed circuit board. It fit into an Altoids tin for a housing. It had two wires for 12 volt DC coming in and two wires for 12 volt DC going out. What it *did* was make sure that the outgoing power was always at the exact same current, no matter what the rest of the cars electrical system was doing. This meant they were always driven perfectly. A readymade one would come as a little box or disc with about four wires sticking out.

Heatsinks?

Any LED of one watt or higher will need a heatsink of some kind. If operated with no sink it will quickly heat up to the point where it kills itself.

top tips?

If you want you can mount them just as you buy them, or perhaps wih a protective piece of plexi in front of them. this will give you a big hemisphere of light coming out of each one. You can also get lenses and lense housings that pop on to the LED and give you a more focused and aimable beam.

Also, check the thread titled:

"HELP! 10 SSC P7 LEDs in offroad racing light"

 

[foolgene]

Folks,

thanks for the help - much appreciated
it looks like, I'm in the market for a 10W 12v driver

regards

Andy