modding a Minimag w terralux ministar II, I WANT MORE!

ok so long a go i jumped on the Luxeon bandwagon an paid a whoppping $50 US for a 1W drop in module. now its a side emitting lux I. what can i do to boost the output? are there other drop ins in the 3W range?

Turbo_E said:

ok so long a go i jumped on the Luxeon bandwagon an paid a whoppping $50 US for a 1W drop in module. now its a side emitting lux I. what can i do to boost the output? are there other drop ins in the 3W range?

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Sandwich Shoppe has 3 watt drop in's. http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=d6a0f87f2001ee841f72af360ab8f45b

Only have 2 in stock, Madmax Plus Sandwich Module kit Wide Open Lux3 UX1K FF2 and Nexgen 750mA UX1L Sandwich Kit.

It's pretty easy to replace the Luxeon on the TLE-5 module. Just mark the positive side (the small tab of the Luxeon should be closed; the negative is open), then unsolder and pry off the old side-emitter.
I use a toothpick under the legs to lever them up when the solder melts. There's some sort of adhesive holding the emitter in place - it's not very strong, and a bit of prying should pop it off.

A good R or S binned Lambertian should definitely increase the brightness; a lower Vf may increase the runtime, I'm not sure how the circuit works.

Add a dab of flux to the old solder blobs, a bit of heatsink compound to the center, place the new emitter and carefully tack the leads down. You may need to bend them a bit to get good contact, but it's not critical. Once the solder's cooled, you can carefully press the black portion of the emitter down, to ensure good contact with the circuit board.

Reinsert in the mag and test - if it doesn't light up either way, the emitter's backwards. Do try to avoid this, as I'm not sure the circuit's protected.

I'm sure this voids the warranty, but if your module has the side emitter, I bet it's run out anyway.

The sandwiches ought to be brighter, but it's a shame to discard a good circuit.
Best,
Jon

Turbo_E,

In my humble Dummy Reference Guide to Minimag modding, there was a section that mentioned how to swap the side-emitting TLE5 with a lux III or lux I to improve the performance, along with a minor reflector mod to make it perform even a little better.

As for 3w drop-ins, I found the Shoppe's RY0J MM lite sammie to be a good buy, and depending what you like for the output, do check out the guide for beamshots and reviews. Hope this helps.

AuroraLite said:

Turbo_E,

In my humble Dummy Reference Guide to Minimag modding, there was a section that mentioned how to swap the side-emitting TLE5 with a lux III or lux I to improve the performance, along with a minor reflector mod to make it perform even a little better.

As for 3w drop-ins, I found the Shoppe's RY0J MM lite sammie to be a good buy, and depending what you like for the output, do check out the guide for beamshots and reviews. Hope this helps.

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where can you get a lux III or lux I ?

this is something I would like to try.

There are few sources which one could their lux, some that I have dealt with in the past was Sandwich Shoppe, CPFer PhotonFanatic and TnC products.

For swapping out the side emitter, a nice TxxJ binned lux III or a decent bin of lux one(RxxJ or even SxxJ/SxxH) will out perform the original side emitter considerably.

Good luck with your mod!