First Attempt at mag mods did I goof?

Hello all! Love this forum! Need some guidance......

So I finally got all my parts together to build a couple of mag mods.... One XML AWT and one Xre-r2.

Aluminum heat sinks and 3 amp driver to XML and 1.2 amp driver for the r2.

Hooked them all up used the 2 part artic silver paste. The problem is that they seem to have a blue tint to them, moreso on the r2 and I don't know if it's from any heat damage from my rookie soldering skills :shrug: or if they are just slightly blue. I would post some beams but I am out of town and on my iPad with a crappy camera.

How could I tell if I ruined the LEDs? Is angry blue just a phase before the POOF or can they maintain an angry blue color for a while? The r2 with the cheap 50" aspheric out throws a hs802 I had lying around..... If I haven't figured it out by the time I get back I will post a couple of picks to show the beams. Future thanks to any tips or advice!

I figure I will post pictures of the mags when I'm completely done and if anyone has a question on items I used let me know!

Hello and welcome to CPF

If the LED comes on white then quickly becomes more blue; it's improperly heatsinked or excessively overdriven. Make sure you press the LED down hard onto the heatsink while the epoxy is drying. This is to squeeze out the maximum amount of thermal epoxy to maximise thermal conductivity. The thermal epoxy has much poorer thermal conductivity than aluminium but much better than air. Its function is to take up all of the microscopic air pockets between LED and heatsink, not to create a barrier between the two.

If it comes on blue straight away and the colour stays the same, then it's something else. I don't think it's solder damage, but to be on the safe side, use old fashioned lead/tin solder as this has lower melting point than newer lead free stuff. Order from somewhere that lets you choose the colour bin of the LED e.g. cutter.au

Thank you for the quick response. Good idea on the solder I didn't look much at the different types I just grabbed one that said electric..... Funny how picking up a new hobby like this quickly becomes expensive..... The color tint on the Led was WG but I guess it could have a hint of blue. For being a beginner would you suggest bare LEDs or star mounted?

Star mounted.

What batteries are you using, and what are the Voltage inputs for your drivers?

I definitely agree with the star mounted for newbies. My first mag mod is in process and trying to solder the bare emitter takes some practice. It's just too bad I practiced on a $40 sst-90 I did finally get it done, but it ain't pretty.

The drivers are 3.4-9v input 1.2 amp for the R2 with 4 regular dcells and the XML is running 6-18v input 3.0 amp on 5 regular c cells. By regular batteries I just mean 1.5 volt energizer alkies. I appreciate the help can't wait to fully understand what I'm doing!

Try posting some pictures of the lights for us.
specifically, the LEDs, and heatsinks.

My initial thought is that these are in direct drive.

Well good news..... My expensive aspheric lens came in and wow!!! Night and day difference and the bluish hues went away also.... I will still take pictures and show tomorrow, as I just got in tonight. I also will have to address some issues I ran into as I finish these lights. Will take and post some pictures tomorrow

Added Photos
I bought an aluminum heatsink and ground off the post as it was for a P7, and stuck the R2 onto it. Here is the picture of it. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/dsc01744wp.jpg/
I didnt grind the post off the heatsink for my XML light which probably would generate much more heat..... would you worry about doing that to increase surface area contact with the star to the heatsink or should it be ok?

Here is my rookie soldering skills on the R2.------ http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/840/dsc01753a.jpg/
Here are the two lenses MelsG lens in black head and DX in blue head----------- http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/dsc01757fu.jpg/
Beamshot from MelsG (cant see how awesome the LED die is shown)------ http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/dsc01759w.jpg/
DX Beamshot (not a good LED die and blueish, get what you pay for....)---------- http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/402/dsc01758kt.jpg/
Also I want to get the Mels G lens more secure into the head. I used 2 o rings and was able to get at least 1 rotation of thread from the screw...... in order to play with it sooner i used....... ductape....:duck: I really dont want that lens falling out.... I also added a couple of those anti roll rubber slip ons and they are pretty nice. I think they could be doubled up somehow to create a rubber bezel extension....
Anyways this is my work in progress, I appreciate your guys feedback and am all ears on any advice or improvements.