Mag D, single LED Cree or Seoul?

All of the single LED Mag mods seem to use the Seoul LED instead of the Cree. I understand that the Cree requires a deeper reflector but isnt the Mag reflector deep enough? I havent kept up with the new LED's so I would appreciate it if someone could give a quick rundown on the pros and cons of both LED's:thinking:

Thanks:kiss:

The Seoul works better in a Mag reflector because of it's wider beam profile, the Cree has narrow profile meaning less light is culminated by the Mag type reflector into the beam.

Something like that…..

Later
Kelly

Anyone ? Nobody knows why they installed a Seoul instead of a Cree in their Mag ?:thinking:

For me, the Seoul emitter is MUCH easier to solder to than the Cree emitter. I've done both before and with my mediocre soldering skills I find that a Cree emitter is more difficult to work because of the smaller contact area. On the plus side, the Cree has much tighter lumen binning, so you know exactly what kind of brightness to expect, where as the Seoul it's much wider lumen spread.

e.g.
U-bin Seoul: 91.0 - 118.5 lumen @ 350ma (27.5 lumen range)
Q2-bin Cree XR-E: 87.4 - 93.9 lumens @ 350ma (6.5 lumen range)
Q5-bin Cree XR-E: 107-114 lumens @ 350ma (7 lumen range)

So a U-bin Seoul SSC could be as dim as a Q2 Cree or as bright as a Q5 Cree.

bhds said:

Anyone ? Nobody knows why they installed a Seoul instead of a Cree in their Mag ?:thinking:

Click to expand...

People have installed both and more. The reflector can be a major factor. If you use a ssc led, you can keep the standard reflector, but if you choose a cree led, you'll have to look for a reflector better fitting it. The reflector issue is probably why most people stick with ssc leds. Another reason, I'm going out on a limb here, is because ssc leds are easier to solder then cree leds unless they're on a star. The contacts are farther away from the actual led on a ssc led then they are on a cree led. Whether this is true or not is something I can't say.

bhds said:

Nobody knows why they installed a Seoul instead of a Cree in their Mag ?:thinking:

Click to expand...

supposedly a SSC are driven relatively as the same specs as a luxeon LED, making the installation very easy, while CREEs runs on different voltages and anyone who wants to mod an existing luxeon light will have to redesign the driver board to power a CREE.

the only drawback are

• the SSC emitter is 0.030" shorter than the luxeon emitter...so a spacer is needed to optimize proper focus.
• the heatsink on the bottom of the die is polarized, so it must be electrically isolated but thermally conductive during the retrofit, but from what I heard pre-assembled SSC stars don't have this issue

Thanks for the reply guys. Doesn't seem like there's any real reason not to use a cree except for maybe the seoul is easier install ?
I think I might have to try the cree. I like the idea of a brighter side spill and tighter binning.

My experience is that the Cree in fact DOES produce a small bright hotspot. HOWEVER there is a LOT of sidespill that's not concentrated into the hotspot. The beam profile I saw with the Cree (If I Recall Correctly) is a small hotspot with a dark ring around it, followed by a bright ring (about 1/4 as bright as the hotspot) followed by a lesser intense dark ring which fades into the sidespill.
The Sueol (sp) gives a beam a lot more like a Luxeon III except the hotspot is not as quite as defined, although brighter.
I hope this helps

I have a Cree aspheric mag and I decided to see what the cree would look like with the stock reflector and UCL lens... The beam was horrible with rings everywhere which were clearly visible using the light in my yard.