New here- couple Q's about Luxeon Stars

New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Hi im new to these forums and Im still learning about some amazing LED's

I have made this taillight for my ATV using 2 Cyan Luxeon Star-O's



Well my friend liked them so he bought them off me, and my new goal is to make a brighter one.

I was interested in purchasing the Red Lambertian Star-O's rated at 44 lumens, but I have been recently told that the batwings will be brighter because the optics are designed around them. So I'm not sure which ones to order. How bright will the 25 lumen Red Batwings compare to the 30 lumen Cyans I am using in the picture?


Thanks for your help, and I can't wait to learn more about this stuff.

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Opps did i post this in the wrong forum?

Can someone move this to the LED forum instead?

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

n00b. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Welcome to CPF, Justintoxicated.

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Well, I would consider an ATV tail-light with 2 stars a definate MOD.
Jeff

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

yea, thats why I asked it to be moved...

Thanks for the welcome /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Can someone fill me in on why the High Dome Star-O's won't put out as much light as the low dome Star-O's

I know the high dome red is rated 44 lumens vs the low domes at 25, but someone told me the Star-O optics are designed for the low dome, thus the 25 lumen ones will be brighter?

You all know im using this simply for a taillight, so are the 25 lumen low dome LED's my best bet? Im supposed to order them tomarrow so if anyone can explain please help a newb out!

Also to do underlighting on my ATV in blue, the 3 watt starts without optics will be my best bet correct?

The power source is a high powered race ported 2 stroke engine that can put out 200 watts of power with my modified stator of which I am only using a little more than 150.

Thanks in advance,
JI

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Ok, So I went ahead and searched through the forum...I found lots of info on highdome vs low dome.

NONE of which answers my question...All I could find was on white LED's use for flashlights.

Since im using it for a taillight im not sure it would matter low vs high, however, the high is still rated much higher in lumens than the LD...

None of the information found regaurded using the stock Star-O optics either...

So it just brings me back to the question above...I just want the brightest possible. Should I maybe just go with 3 LD Red Star-O's?

I know im a newb but I do have some experience. The AC power my ATV makes is very unclean and ranges from 3V to 14.3V and the current varies also...I have already fixed the issues with a current limiting circuit.

Hopefully someone knows the answer to my questions above, as it is the only thing holding me back form compleating this project. I know im new but I just need a little assistance with my purchase. Surely someone has purchased a Red HD and a Red LD with the stock optics and could tell me the visable difference between the 2.

thanks again,
JI

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

For a tail light, you probably don't want to use any optics at all. Optics are for focusing a beam of light so you can use it to illuminate things you want to see. Tail lights are intended to *be seen*, so you want wide coverage and you don't really care about lighting up any particular object with it. Low domes do have more of a flood pattern than high domes, but with the bare emitter I don't think it will make that much of a difference. I'd go with the high dome just because they seem to be higher quality, brighter, and more consistent than the low domes.

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Well I kinda like the way the optics on the Star-O's focus the beam (to some extent), but I do see your point. The reason being that for underlighting I want a compleat flood, but for the taillight I like the beam it casts (although I do not want it too narrow)...Nothing Like light up a star-O then dragging up the hills at night. My friends said they could see me from far far away, and when I go to fast they don't even have to wonder where im at cause as I do down a sand dune the beam points upward. For people racing me, that get too close on my tail, it just might keep them away lol.

So if im going to use optics it almost seems that the low dome would give me a wider spread? With the stock Star-O optics, are the LD's just as bright then?

Im definately taking your ideas into consideration, but when I was playing around I felt it looked slightly better with the optics on it (it looks rather bare in the daylight too with just the LED). Im thinking about just going with 3 LD red with optics instead of 2 since they are only like $6 anyways. I think it would probably be more than bright enough with w/ O's. Future-Active seems to be out of the HD's, but if there is a huge difference with the optics on them ill wait untill they get more in stock.

I have tried other kinds of lighting such as strobes, but LED's are much better in dealing with vibrations and landings when I catch some air.

My biggest concern was that the HD reds are rated more than 2x as many lumens as the LD reds, but if its not visable light or the wrong beam pattern for a taillight then ill go with the LD and add more of them.

What do you think?

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

HD's with optics will work just fine. A bit different beam pattern but nothing you will notice for this application..

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

[ QUOTE ]
IsaacHayes said:
HD's with optics will work just fine. A bit different beam pattern but nothing you will notice for this application..

[/ QUOTE ]

Will there be much of a difference in brightness between the 2 for this application even though one is rated 44 and the other 25?...Future has no more HD'so should I just go with the LD instead or should I wait till they get more HDs?

Thanks,
JI

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

not sure why the difference in brightness is so severe. Did you check dat2zip's shop for any HD's?

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Im not sure where that is heh, I know im a dman newb /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
got linkage?

There is a huge difference in lumens between high and low dome red's.

would this lense help with the HD?

is it a direct replacement for the HD star-O's?

or is it the same thing the O's come with?

I was thinking about going with the LD ones cause they are only $6 each and 3 would probably be pretty bright no?

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

i shall ban you no0b , welcome to CPF. I was planning on typing something up, but i feel lazy
the Nx-05 is the standard optic in the O's.

There isnt any lumen difference between high and low, it depends on Binning.

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

I can at least give you dat2zip's link:
http://www.anlighten.com/shop/
Having tried both high and low dome reds for bike taillights,
I certainly prefer the highs. Bare, they give a wider flood than the low domes, and yet they also respond better to collimators/reflectors.
I very much like the combination of 2 bare high domes + one high dome with a 30° collimator from Fraen (fraen.com, sold at various places).
By the way, what's an ATV?

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

ATV = All Terrain Vehicle (Quad Bike)

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I might be able to get the high domes without optics for a decent price. dat2zip's store doesn't seem to have ny in stock either. I am able to pickup several Star-O's with the optics elsewhere at $6 each but they only have the low dome LEDs

I like the idea of using 2 without optics and 1 with, although I can't find any HD's that some with optics. I don;t want to spend alot of time making a fancy optical mount because its going on and ATV and should I break it I woudl rather be able to just pop a new one on. The Fraen optics sound promising as they look to be a direct replacement for the NX-05, but im only able to find the LD's with the optics anyways.

The thing that concerns me with just using the LED's without optics is simply for overall looks in the daytime. I also like the somewhat focused beams the cyan LD's were putting out, they made for a great taillight. Those Cyans are really bright too but I want to do red this time.

Im tempted to just buy 3 LD Star-O's for a total of like $18 to help compensate for the difference of not getting 2 HD's with the Fraen optics. at $6 each its hard to turn down teh LD's and if there is not a huge difference after using stock Star-O optics they will probably work out fine.

Perhaps Ill even go with 2 HD's without optics and 2 LD's with optics as an alternative, but im thinking this may be too bright. There are no lights out in the middle of the sand dunes so everything seems brighter than it really may be.

dukeleto, you said you had played with both lights, are the HD's noticably brighter than the LD's as indicated by their specs?

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Well I talked to my friend who was riding behind me. He told me the 2 Cyan LD's were a bit too bright, So I think ill try
either 2 Red LD's with optics or else possibly 2 HD's without optics. But I do liek the beam the optics give even though its for a taillight, it just looks trick, with the smoke pouring out of my pipes behind me and the Roost of sand the paddle tires kick up you can really see the beam.

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

According to this pdf document, the red HD does have a significantly higher Lumen rating (44 vs. 27).

For an even brgihter one, look at the red-orange HD rated typically at 55 Lumens it's one of the brightest 1w HD.

I would recommend the HD over the LD. The red LD will give a very similar pattern to a HD red or red-orange through an NX-05 optic because there isn't any difference in the LED itself, only in the top case. However, you need to look at price differences between the two to ultimately make the choice.

A 44 or 55 Lumen point source for a taillight is very bright, not to mention multiples of them, and I sure as heck wouldn't want to be riding behind you if that is what you had installed on there. For visibility purposes though, they would be pretty dang good!

You might consider using optics on a couple, and then also leaving one or two others bare for a good combination of collimated and flood light. Technically speking, without optics, the HD is a much better flood than a LD (look at the pattern graphs in the pdf sheet).

***edit***
Look {url=http://www.lumileds.com/pdfs/protected/DS26.PDF]here[/url] to see what the optics do to the radiation pattern of the LS.

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

Buy enough to experiment with. Heck, they're cheap enough, right? Then you'll have spares if you trash what you use to begin with...

If you use the Fraen optics, just be warned that they have a fairly narrow beam, all things considered (you can get them at dat2zip's shop). Don't use the LDs with Fraens, though, because they will hardly do anything (when compared to the NX05, so just use the cheaper NX05 w/the LDs).

What current are you planning on driving these things at? I'd say you should overdrive them a bit... make everything brighter, as long as you heatsink the properly (a little Arctic Alumina epoxy to hold the star to whatever you're using for a heatsink). Run them at 700mA or something...

What are you using to regulate the power? I would recommend the National Semiconductor LM317 (free samples), or one of it's bretheren. That way you protect against voltage spikes and the like that you wouldn't protect from with a simple resistor. Just use it in current regulated mode... it's dead simple - just a single resistor.


You do remember that lumens are a measure of total light output, not spot brightness, right? You'll have much better luck with the higher lumen outputs if you can get them.

Re: New here- couple Q\'s about Luxeon Stars

[ QUOTE ]
LEDmodMan said:
The red LD will give a very similar pattern to a HD red or red-orange through an NX-05 optic because there isn't any difference in the LED itself, only in the top case.

[/ QUOTE ]

A fine point, perhaps, but the red and red/orange LD and HD actually use different LED dice. The LD uses traditional rectangular dice and the HD uses TIP dice. This detail is not revealed on the datasheet. The only hint of it is that they have differing thermal resistance from die to case.