Luxeon III Lambertian Bins

Hey guys, I'm having trouble learning about this binning system. I have read most of the stuff at Lumileds, but still dont understand. Before, the first letter after LHXL- was the Flux(lumen range), second & third letter Tint, and fourth forward voltage. But if you go to www.ledsupplys.com the have it different. Example: LHXL-MW1D-R for an R bin. Whats the deal here can someone please explain this too me and or direct me to somewhere to read about this. It seems every website I go to explains the Lumileds binning system differently.

Thanks, Dark Knight

The bin coding is as you described:
first letter=lumen rage
second and third=tint range
forth=forward voltage range
But the example you show is only the part number, not the bin code.
Most Led suppliers don't list the whole bin code, they just give the part number and some specs for Vf and color. Buying LED's is what we call the Luxeon lottery.
Check here: http://home.comcast.net/~theledguy/bin_codes/

darknight,

What you are reading there, on the LedSupplys website, is not the bin code, it is the part number that Lumileds/Future uses.

You do have the gist of the bin code correct in your description.

If someone is selling a generic, white, Lambertian star, they would refer to it as the LXHL-MW1D, and most likely they would not let you choose a specific bin.

If you are looking for specific bins, then you will have to convey that to whomever you are buying from, or just accept what they have in stock.

HTH.

O, I see. So is the bin number on the emitter somewhere? Can you give me a quick explanation of forward voltage? So the absolute best Luxeon III would be one with the bin code XW0and the desired Vf. X- highest output, W0-6050K(whitest) Is this right?

Thanks, Dark Knight

P.S. Sorry about all the questions, I'm fairly new to this and just trying to get my facts straight. Thanks again.

darkknight said:

O, I see. So is the bin number on the emitter somewhere? Can you give me a quick explanation of forward voltage? So the absolute best Luxeon III would be one with the bin code XW0and the desired Vf. X- highest output, W0-6050K(whitest) Is this right?

Thanks, Dark Knight

P.S. Sorry about all the questions, I'm fairly new to this and just trying to get my facts straight. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

The bin code is not usually on emitters but it is on the back of stars though.
The Vf is the voltage rating for witch the emitter should be ran at to achieve the specs that it was listed at. That doesn not mean the battery voltage, it means the voltage supplied to the LED after the converter/regulator if there is one. If there is no conv./reg. then the led is being fed battery voltage (DD or direct drive) In that case battery voltage should be within the Vf range at least with fresh batts. Some cheaper light will use resisters to put the batt voltage within the Vf range. If you under drive a LED the tint may change from what the specs say it is and of course it won't be in the same lumen range either. Overdriving the LED cone be done with proper heatsinking, but the lifespan will be shorter and there is alway the chance of killing it (letting out the magic smoke)
WO is usually the whitest tint. I say usually because I have seen some XO tints appear whiter than some WO's. That is beacuse the tints are a range, therefore a high XO may be better than a low WO.
Yes, X is the highest lumen rating for a luxIII so far, but don't expect to find those very often.
Hope this helps.

Actually, there aren't any X-binned Lux IIIs yet... I think the highest are U-bins. UW0Js are considered super desirable. A UX0J would be nice as well. There may be UW0Hs, but I don't think I've ever read about one. Honestly though, I have two regulated lights with U-bins, one has a UX1L at 937ma and the other has a UW0K at up to 1000ma and the UX1L at 937ma is clearly brighter than the UW0K at 1000ma.

The Lux Vs range from U-X and the X-bins are quite hard to find.

In my opinion, the very most important thing to keep in mind about all the binnings is that they are all 'ranges'. I mean, the U-bin Lux IIIs range from 87 to 113 lumens. I mean, that's a pretty HUGE range. That means, you could buy two 'indentical' U bin emitters, drive them each with the exact same power source at the exact same current level, and one might be almost 30% brighter than the other one. Same thing with tint... I've seen TW0* stars or emitters that didn't look like TW0* emitters, and I've seen them that have nearly perfect color rendition.

Bottom line, if you're super picky and you want the very best, you should probably buy about 5 or 10 of whatever you're looking for, try them all and keep the best.

It can be VERY frustrating.

Where can I get new binned Luxeon IIIs? The only site I can find that has binned Luxeons is www.ledsupply.com and they only have binned Luxeon I's. Is there any other retailers that will sell binned luxeons? More retailers should, I mean I'm sure lots of the people on this site alone would pay premium prices for these better bins. I would gladly pay a high end flashlight maker more money for a specific bin like a UW0.... Luxeon III. Fenix is the only company other than customs that I have found that give you a choice, is there any more? HDS will guaranty the tint but not the flux. I sure hope more companies start to do this because it sure sucks when you and a buddy buy the same light for premium prices and his is much brighter than yours. At least if more LED retailers sold binned LED's you could buy a new one and swap it out if you got a dud

Dark Knight

Photonfanatic and the Shoppe.

Ryan

So if I wanted to mod a Fenix L1P by uprading the led to a higher bin Luxeon III instead of the Luxeon I R-Bin that is in it what would be the best voltage forward to use just running a standard 3 volt CR-123A? And if I changed it to a T-Bin Luxeon III without doing anything else would it be noticeably brighter?

Thanks, Dark Knight

darkknight said:

So if I wanted to mod a Fenix L1P by uprading the led to a higher bin Luxeon III instead of the Luxeon I R-Bin that is in it what would be the best voltage forward to use just running a standard 3 volt CR-123A? And if I changed it to a T-Bin Luxeon III without doing anything else would it be noticeably brighter?

Thanks, Dark Knight

Click to expand...

I don't 100% understand what you are asking in your first sentence... actually, I just don't understand the reference to the 123A cell.

As far as swapping out the R-bin for a T-bin, you aren't likely to notice a considerably upgrade in brightness. How it works is, an R-bin Lux I is sort of like a T-bin Lux III... and an S-bin Lux I is sort of like a U-bin Lux III.

Running an R-bin Lux I is going to result is *about* the same brightness as running a T-bin Lux III at the same current level. These are ranges, and no doubt, if you bought 10 T-bins, installed them in the Fenix circuit, and tested them in an integrating sphere, no doubt, probably 3-7 of them would be measurably brighter than the R-bin.

If you are really intent on swapping the emitter out, I'd probably suggest you look high and low for an S-bin Lux I. These are quite difficult to find and one member has had a thread looking for one for over a month now. But they are out there... one vendor or member sold 30 of them a couple months back as I recall.

If you wanted to run a T-bin, I'd personally use a TW0H or TX0H... something with an H Vf. I'm not offering that as advice, but that is what I would do. Personally, I'd just use the Fenix as is. Between the relatively low current drive level and the floody reflector, it's not like you're ever going to end up with tremendous throw.