Anything new on the 5mm LED front? Any brighter and better tints?

Still waiting for my ultimate compact long runtime light - E1e with a 5mm LED installed on the stock lamp module. I would LOVE to see a 5mm cut-down emitter on the stock LA with like 20 lumens and sick runtime.

A Cree XR-E will have a better tint and be more efficient when ran at those levels, not to mention have a better beam pattern.

Why use 5mm in a light meant for something else?

KDOG3 said:

Still waiting for my ultimate compact long runtime light - E1e with a 5mm LED installed on the stock lamp module. I would LOVE to see a 5mm cut-down emitter on the stock LA with like 20 lumens and sick runtime.

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x2... IMHO we need more Nichia marathon runners, and whiter tints to go along with that. I really like my Inova X1-V2, 8-9 hours of solid output, and double digit candle-output after that. Too bad they discontinued it. IMHO we also need more DC circuits designed to run Cree emitters at really low current.

KDOG3 said:

Still waiting for my ultimate compact long runtime light - E1e with a 5mm LED installed on the stock lamp module. I would LOVE to see a 5mm cut-down emitter on the stock LA with like 20 lumens and sick runtime.

Click to expand...

like this?
http://dmcleish.com/CPF/E1E-NewBeam/index.html

it would be awesome if some third party did manage to integrate a single 5mm or better yet a SMJLED with a boost circuit in the space of a MN lamp:nana:

I get a broken link error on that url.

Copy-paste the link to your browser, then remove the nana smilie tag from the end.

The link looks nice, but what's the point of using 123s to power three 5mm LEDs?

The most efficient 5mm l.e.d.s I can think of are Nichia GS. They are 150 lumens/watt at 20mA. They are also 9 lumens at 20mA. You can't get 20 lumens out of one while staying efficient. They would have to be over 300 lumens/watt to obtain 20 lumens at 20mA. A Cree l.e.d. can get a decent efficiency at that low of a drive current (probably about 50 mA with a Q5 or R2 would be about 20 lumens).

Hooked on Fenix said:

The most efficient 5mm l.e.d.s I can think of are Nichia GS. They are 150 lumens/watt at 20mA. They are also 9 lumens at 20mA. You can't get 20 lumens out of one while staying efficient. They would have to be over 300 lumens/watt to obtain 20 lumens at 20mA. A Cree l.e.d. can get a decent efficiency at that low of a drive current (probably about 50 mA with a Q5 or R2 would be about 20 lumens).

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Got that a little flipped around. At 20mA, a Nichia GS is about 95 lm/W, where a Cree XR-E R2 bin is about 145 lm/W (with an infinitely better tint also)

I´ve made a simple drop-in with a Super MJ-Led some time ago (Link).
It works even better with the newer 5mm 1/2 Watt Leds (Link).

Energie said:

.
It works even better with the newer 5mm 1/2 Watt Leds (Link).

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Details man, details! Are they brighter than say, standard 5mm LEDs' or even SMJLEDs? Direct drive? I see they have a "warm white", have you tried them? Does the dome need to be cut down to work with the reflector? I'll take 2 or 3!

You can get the details by clicking on the Led-Type (or see here).
The data-sheet says 18 lm at 100 mA.
Vf is approx. 3,4 V. You can drive them direct with a rechargeable Lithium battery (3,7-4,1 V)
and a resistor approx. 4-6 Ohm.
Runtime with AWs RCR123 (750 mAh) 5-6 h.

I´ve tried several and they are quite bright, not comparable to a Cree or
Seoul, but far brighter than other 5 mm Leds.

Can you direct drive them off a primary? Would I need a resistor then? How hard is it to make one and get the right focus? ( I like throw ). Do you charge to make them? I just ordered a black E1e....LOL.... If I can get one of these with the output/beam pattern I'm looking for, I'll throw my E1B on the chopping block. I am VERY interested in these!

Oh no you don't! This thread ain't dyin on me now! I've got a E1e on the way just begging to get this mod! Now spill it people! How do you do it! LOL

What about a nichia power LED, there not as bright, but they are less expensive:twothumbs

Well my E1e should be here today. Any more info there guys?

luckily the height of the 5mm LED die within the plastic dome can't fit through the hole of an MN lamp and that when sat on top of the lamp "neck" the dies height is roughly equal to the filament height.

the easiest method would be to grab an unused MN03 [MN01s are in short supply, I'll be happy to take it off your hands ]

Find a piece of scrap wood, drill a 1/4" hole with minimum of 2" deep, you could srill all the way through if you want, it is of no importance other than a lamp holder

grab your MN03, flip it over. Unlock the "helmet" positive contact cap from its seated position, you will notice that both contacts are spotwelded so you'll have to cut them and twist them around.

use a dremel if you have one to drill off the white potting mix from the rear of the lamp assembly now facing up until you hit grayish matter. Trim legs as necessary.

once you have most of the potting grinded off take any screwdriver than will fit the lamp width stick it on top and give it a few light taps with the hammer...the lamp should fall out

from this point on what you do is up to you. I have a DX 5mm LED sealed up in one of my lamp assembly bases without a resistor...E1e hurricane light project..

1xcr123A
5mm LED, no resistor...not all that bright but should last for quite sometime. If you want to set the current to 25ma... an 1/8W 5 ohmer oughta do you fine

If your gonna use it in the E2e [which I don't see why you would want to...its like putting the nite-ize 1 LED in a 6D I guess]
use a 100ohm 1/8W for 3.6V 25ma +/- 5% for the LED:nana:

I left the legs as long as possible for heatsinking purposes
the "helmet" is steel so forget drilling and it can't be soldered. I simply tapped a hole with a nail and put the positive contact of the LED through it, then potted the LED with elmers glue:nana:

EDIT: Heres the pics
Left MN03, Right "E1e Hurricane LED"


Inside the E head


beamshots using rcr123A, very round and white beam 6 inches off table [unfortunately the webcame looks way too saturated on both]


color rendering being 8 inches off the table, again with way overexposed pics
E1e Hurricane versus Fenix E01


the current issue is I soldered the LED negative pin to the bottom of the - ring instead of the top, so I can't screw the head in completely...but fitting the lamp hole is no problem

Its an easy mod and NO, I will not do it for you

Ahhh, thanks for the pics. I just got my E1e today and am reminded why I like LEDs' better now. Whats the vf of 5mm? It seems like people are using rcrs' with them. Would the cut down SMJLEDs work better with the reflector?

an suitable driving range is around 3.3-3.6V 20-45ma for most 5mm whites

Not sure what smjled covers but it does have 4 emitter dies and a different encapsulation form:candle:

Illum_the_nation said:

an suitable driving range is around 3.3-3.6V 20-45ma for most 5mm whites

Not sure what smjled covers but it does have 4 emitter dies and a different encapsulation form:candle:

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Wow, the vf is that high? No wonder people are using rcrs'. Hmmm. I'll have to look around.

well you could drive them as low as 1.5V, but your not going to have a very usable beam

4.5V will kill it in a matter of hours, 4V is the upper limit in my opinion
a 70% rcr123A will be around 3.9V...perfecto