how hot is hot??????

So I finished up my latest project. 2 x 123 based light, 6 led's running at 330 ma. Machined from Titanium...hehehe GOD do I love Titanium...(pretty much a pain in the A$$ to machine but worth the effort. The led's are recessed into the titanium head.

Here's were I get a little worried. After the light runs for about 10 minutes it gets warm. My guess is the current limiting resistor. now it's not oh my god this is hot, but warm. I measured it with a pyrometer and it looks to hover right at 90 F. I'm wondering if I should pull everything out, and repotted the led assembly with some type of heat sinking epoxy.

My real question to everyone is how hot so your lights get after some runtime???

i dont think 90 is a problem. some lights (spotlights mostly) get up into 120+ and that can cause problems (melting things) ive heard of lights going into the range of 200 but never really seen it happen. as long as their is no risk of melting wires, reflectors ect you should be fine.

and titanium huh? great lights, but they do cost a pretty penny to make.

clicker,
Can you show us a picture of your "Hottie"?

Pics?

Yeah I'm trying to get some pics. My digital camera sucks....I think the guy who took the pictures of the lock ness monster and bigfoot must have used my camera!!!!

But until then....
Basically a cylinder, 6 6400 mcd Whiteys recessed into the head. Two piece construction (body and tailcap- my theory the less the joints the less less you have to worry about water leaks)
Overall length is 4.25 inches, diameter is .865, one of the things I am doing is actually recessing the tailcap switch. I absolutely hate when a light is accidently turned on, with it being recessed(actually a flange around the button) got no problems, plus it'll stand on end.....

Titanium rocks, the two down falls are as TSF said it's expensive.....about 3 x that of 7075 grade alum. and it absolutely hates being machined......I think I burnt up 3 1/2 inch drill bits trying to get the inital hole drill for the body. The trick (I figured out) is going slow......it usually only takes about an hour and a half to pump a light out of AL...but it took me about 4 with Ti.

Still I wanted a light that could go thru hell and back......I made one!!!

Thanks for the replies guys, keep checking I'll have some pics real soon.......

hey everybody, don't answer his question till he gets some pics up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

seriously though, 55ma to each led (330ma / 6) is pretty high. generally speaking, titanium is a very poor thermal conductor, so if you feel heat on the outside, there is likely to be a lot more on the inside.

and get those pictures up pronto! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif

My aluminum SF L4 got up over 160F after about 10 minutes.

Oh SURE....Fine be that way.....If I have to bribe everyone with some pics................ [image]c:\\windows\destop\lightinstand[/image]
This is the light placed inside an alum. stand I made
[image]c:\\windows\desktop\lightstand2[/image]
Another view of the light and the stand.
[image]c:\\windows\desktop\tailcap[/image]

Not the best pic of the tailcap, but it shows how the switch is protected.
[image]c:\\windows\desktop\front[/image]

Here's the layout of the 6 LED's
[image]c:\\windows\desktop\overall[/image]

Here is the overall length right at 4.5 inches. I threw a AA in for visual effect...... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

u can't link pictures from your local pc, you'll have to upload them to a webserver / picserver /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Yeah I just figured that one out...DOHHHHHHHHH

How do we get pics up if we don't have a server available???

Hot? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Actually, it hit 188degF before it started declining. A variant of that one is my EDC and I can sink it with my hand. Only dangerous if you forget and set it down. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Larry

Larry

clicker,

Check with your local ISP and see if they offer a free ftp site. Mine offers a free 5 meg ftp site or a free 5 meg web page to it's customers.