H6W with a Cree XR-E

bfly

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Sep 7, 2007
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I am thinking about making a H6W with a Cree XR-E. I am planning on using this:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3393

and JB Welding it to the top of a H6W bayonet.

The question I have is how many amps can I drive this without it getting too hot? I was thinking about driving it around 700mA but am not sure if that base can dissipate enough heat.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
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May 19, 2005
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Seattle, WA
If you're going to be connecting it directly to 12V you will need some electronics to keep the current within spec, or at the very least, a resistor. DX has some regulator boards, but I don't think they'll handle 12V input. What is your application? (Interior lighting, signal lighting, ...)
 

bfly

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Sep 7, 2007
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If you're going to be connecting it directly to 12V you will need some electronics to keep the current within spec, or at the very least, a resistor. DX has some regulator boards, but I don't think they'll handle 12V input. What is your application? (Interior lighting, signal lighting, ...)

The H6W is the 'city light' used in the headlight assembly. I use it as a day-time running light and would like to get a little more light from it.

I think a regulator board would be overkill for this application. A simple resistor should suffice. My only real concern is the heat it might generate. I don't want to melt anything. That is why I was asking if running a P4 or Q5 at 700mA would get too hot.
 
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I wouldn't run one in a headlamp assembly with no cooling, even at 700mA it's going to generate plenty of heat, and I doubt that the JB Weld or old lamp base are going to conduct any of it away. That board is meant to be mounted to more conductive metal like aluminum or copper, and will work best with some air movement around it.

If you could create some kind of aluminum mount, and stick the board to it with some Arctic Silver Adhesive, you might might be OK with 700mA.
 

bfly

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Sep 7, 2007
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I wouldn't run one in a headlamp assembly with no cooling, even at 700mA it's going to generate plenty of heat, and I doubt that the JB Weld or old lamp base are going to conduct any of it away. That board is meant to be mounted to more conductive metal like aluminum or copper, and will work best with some air movement around it.

If you could create some kind of aluminum mount, and stick the board to it with some Arctic Silver Adhesive, you might might be OK with 700mA.

That is what I was afraid of. I might just leave things as they are, with incan bulbs. I would hate to melt something in a $300 headlight assembly.

Thanks for the help.
 

rik

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Sep 6, 2006
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How close is this to other heat sources, like your main headlamps? If it's too close, will this cause your LED lifetime to drop significantly...
 
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