Hi all,
Just for s**ts and giggles I got a Cree bare emitter to mod into something. I'd like to put it in an ARC LS if possible.
I'm aware of the mechanical and reflector issues... my question is, will it work electrically?
Thanks,
Rich
Yes it will work electrically. The stock drive voltage is 333ma I think, so you'll get at least twice the brightness or more, with potentially longer runtime, depending on the bin of your original Luxeon. BUT... you're much better off buying a Seoul P4 (aka SSC P4) U-bin and replacing the stock Luxeon with that. It's literally a straight drop in (with some soldering of course), might be a good idea to buy a 17mm Khatod smooth reflector to go with the SSC so you don't have to sand down an IMS 17mm reflector to get it to focus properly. I've got a couple of LSes where I've swapped the Luxeon for a SSC and replaced the stock optics with Khatod 17mm. Waaaay brighter than stock and slightly longer runtime because of the lower Vf of the SSCs that I bought.
If you like a real challenge then go ahead and use a Cree. You'll probably want a McR 17XR reflector to go with it. Do a search for threads started by
mosport, chimo, and bombleman in the Homemade and Modified section. They've got very nice picture rich threads showing how to mod a LS with a Cree. I think most of the Cree mods used custom heatsinks and a FluPIC driver board, not the stock board. Soldering a trimmed down Cree is not for the faint of heart or shaky hands. I've personally done 2 Cree emitter mods so far (not in an Arc LS) and man... I should have bought more SSCs is all I can say.
