help with upgrading LEDs, a bit rusty on info

Hi everyone, havent been back for 1 year and technology has passed me by.
I was wondering if anyone could help.
I want to upgrade my McLux lights with the new SSC or CREE emitters
and would like to know

1. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the SSC emitter is not isolated, so I have to isolate it right? was there an emitter that was made that was isolated? i cant seem to remember.

2. I can drive the SSC with my existing DB750? planning on using 2 x RCR123

3. I got one of arcmanias turbo head adaptors. thinking of running either a SSC or CREE or traditional 5W, do you have any recomendations,
would like a decent amount of light with some throw. And recomendations on driver too please, i can run 3 x 123 or 4 x 123 or 3 x r123

thanks very much
best regards
des

1. The Seoul P4 has a positive base, if the heatsink is anodized or if you have a layer of Arctic Alumni thick enough to insulate the LED, then you should be fine. The stars are isolated but they are probably too big.

2. The Seoul is pretty much a direct replacement for any Luxeon I and III. A thin copper shim might be needed to get it at the right focus point.

3. The Seoul might be good for this task, the Cree has a narrower emitting angle so less light would hit the reflector, unless the reflector is deep, then you could have a higher bin Cree(Q5 or R2) and the output would make up for the lesser percentage of light hitting the reflector. I haven't seen the head(or seen it but didn't know what it was called at the time, is it your avatar?) so no concise answer.

How much output are you looking for?

The SOB 1000 might be a good driver for this.

Hi Gunner12 thanks so much for the advice

1. ok great, sounds like i need some way to isolate, i got both arctic alumina thermal epoxy as well as kapton tape if needed.

2. oh wow, SSC is really stepping up to the bat, i have a bunch of heads with lux IIIs in them and they are in need of replacement, coupled with the fact they are running old DB750s, i can just keep my current battery config too

3. arcmania turbo head adaptor is a pedastal that fits into the turbo head of the surefire, e.g M3T and M6 that turns the incan into a LED solution, uses the turbohead reflector so basically a long throw solution
the pedastal itself is the same shape as a surefire lamp,
i believed AW was also selling them after he got the plans from AcrMania last time
man, technology really passed me by, i see so many new boards at theledguy.com, i have lots of readin to do but looks like the SOB is a good candidate,
i am looking at 1000mAh so i can drive the SSC at spec, i know i wont get more than 300 lumens from the LED,

thanks so much Gunner for your help.
If others read this thread and have more ideas, please chime in
i am open to many configurations

this forum and its people is still the same as i remember
good to be back

best regards
Des

1. A very thin layer is all that you need from what I've heard. There was a thread that showed you how to do it. I think it was this thread, too bad the pictures are gone.

3. Oh that one, I've seen a few pictures. The Seoul should work well for this. 1000 mA would be around 200 lumen at the emitter.

I'm glad I could help. There are also a newer sites for cheap material. Dealextreme and Kaidomain. The are on Chinese New year vacation right now and products usually take two weeks to a month to arrive.

I'm glad I can help.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back!

I've been replacing all of my Lux 1 or 3 lights with a Seoul (direct physical replacement) and getting at least 2X light and better tint. The beams will be different, so I am also changing optics to IMS or Khatod 17 or 20mm smooth reflectors and liking them much better. For some reason, all my lights have the optic sit right on the LED, so shimming under the LED doesn't apply. If you don't like the beam, you need to shave one or both ends of the reflector.

A little disc of Kapton tape and thermal paste or epoxy should be just dandy to isolate the slug of bare metal is underneath. SSCs seem to generate less heat than a Lux at the same current.

I have a Mag mod with an SSC, Khatod 20mm reflector, Downboy 1000 driver, 6AA to D adapter, and my educated eyeball tells me it's probably about 150l.

Yes, welcome back. I have been here lurking for about the same time you have been gone and yes, things have changed alot for the better.

I have completed a number of LED mods in M@gs, and I must also tell you I prefer the Seoul LED for its overall nice character vs. the Cree which is a much narrower beam out of the emitter. The big hint here is that Gene Malkoff used Seouls for his wonderful drop-ins, and I prefer Seouls for general flashlight useage, except when using the crees for that max throw situation or especially with an aspheric lense.

As far as drivers go, if you are looking for something good, the shoppe and George's www.taskled.com are excellent places for good, quality drivers. I have used George's drivers and his tech support and prebuy support, especially the stupid questions before you buy support is great. He can give you the exact info you need particularly when you have the exact battery setup with you. I have never regreated purchasing a driver board from George. How many places can you say that about!

Of course there are many other drivers out there that are much cheaper, but in some cases I get the feeling you get what you pay for although many use Deal Extreme exclusively. Check them out.

I generally put a very thin layer of Artic Alumina Epoxy on the base of the Seoul, let it get hard, then put another layer on while gluing it on my heatsink.

Bob E.

I just saw that Photon Fanatic...under dealers has new SSC led's that have an electrically isolated base! Cost a bit more.... I've converted a bunch of my lights to the SSC..great improvement.

What a coincidence. I just got sucked backed into CPF too after getting away for a few years.

I noticed a number of my light with Luxeons have degrading emmiters. The chrome around the die is fading & on some have completely faded to black. No big deal, they still seem like they light up fine. I still have a whole lot of luxeons that I never used but I'll probably still won't won't use them after reading on the SSCs.

I'm going to drop a SSC in one of my Arc LSs first. Then after that I'm going to start swapping in SSCs on all 11 of my McLuxs. Damn I can already feel my wallet getting thin. :shakehead

Lighthouse one said:

I just saw that Photon Fanatic...under dealers has new SSC led's that have an electrically isolated base! Cost a bit more.... I've converted a bunch of my lights to the SSC..great improvement.

Click to expand...

Thats great, can you remove the emitters from these stars using the old Luxeon technique, or bending the starts and popping off the emitters?
Cheers
All my planned builds and replacements only require the emitter, not the star

Lighthouse one said:

I just saw that Photon Fanatic...under dealers has new SSC led's that have an electrically isolated base! Cost a bit more.... I've converted a bunch of my lights to the SSC..great improvement.

Click to expand...

I think you are talking about the SSC stars, which Photonfanatic sells for $1 more than bare emitters. The emitter is preglued to the star and preinsulated, so the star itself is electrically isolated. If you took the emitter off, I think you still have the problem of the emitter slug (metal base) still being electrically hot.