New Luxeon fever...

Robocop

Moderator, *Mammoth Killer*
Joined
Nov 13, 2003
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2,594
Location
Birmingham Al.
I have been playing with various 5mm LED lights and mods for some time now.I grew tired of the low power of these and began looking at Luxeons.Thanks to fellow member Chop I now have some spare Luxeons to experiment with.
I recieved a few of Chops bare emitters to experiment with and began by simply attatching the Luxeon to about 4 volts direct drive.
Wow....what a major difference this is.These little things are very bright to me as I only knew the output of a 5mm LED.I am hooked and will probably never own anything in the future unless it is a Luxeon.I quickly learned that even with a 5 or 6 second burst these little emitters get very hot.
I now plan to begin learning the basics with Luxeons starting with heatsinks.I can only imagine the output of a much better Luxeon such as the L4.I do not yet know how I plan to use these spare parts I have received but I am sure it will be much fun learning.
Thanks Chop if you are reading this and thanks to all other members for your great advice in the past.
 

Chop

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
3,635
Location
Louisiana
Robocop,

I used a bunch of those low domes to modify tap lights.

Do you have a DMM? If not, you should get one. A decent one can be had for about $30 from Radio Shack or even Sears.

If I remember correctly, I drove the low domes by resistoring down until I got to about 200mA on 4XAA's. The run for like a week before they completely go out.

BTW, if you have an NX05 laying around, the low domes do alright with these optics. After all, Surefire considers this combo good enough to sell in their KL1's and L1's.

If you need an NX05, I can look in my junk drawer and see if I have one left over that wasn't fit to sell, but more than fit to mess with. I may even have a couple of turned down Fraen optics that the holder slipped on in the lathe. Again, not fit to sell, but more than fit to mess with. Let me know.

I love seeing a modder in the making.

BTW, I'm not being cheap by not offering new ones. I just don't mess with optics too much anymore and don't keep any in stock. I'm concentrating on reflectored lights these days.
 

Robocop

Moderator, *Mammoth Killer*
Joined
Nov 13, 2003
Messages
2,594
Location
Birmingham Al.
Thanks for keeping up with my progress Chop.I have not yet tackled the theory nor use of resistors however I know I must learn if I continue this modding.I also do not have a DMM nor would I know how to use it if I did.I have basically been playing with these emitters using direct drive between 3.5 and 4.5 volts.
I did manage to attatch one to the heat sink you sent and then wired a dorcy AAA board to it.It runs very good using a 123 cell but I do not know what the board is boosting it to.....I guess that is where that DMM would come in handy.
I really do like the LED over the incan. lights and I just can not seem to stop thinking up new ideas to use these parts you sent.
I think the first thing I learned about these Luxeons was the heat they generate vs a 5mm LED.I never realized how much a good heat sink could help.
I used the heat sink you sent and the Dorcy board running from a AA cell also.I managed to fit it into a home made body cut down with a clickie switch.It is very small but powerful however it does get a little toasty.
Just give me a little time and I will slowly get better tools and more know how on this Luxeon stuff.....Who knows maybe I will come up with the next big thing in LED lights..haha
Actually yourself and others like MrBulk and McGizmo just amaze me with there creations involving Luxeons.This entire craze is very facinating to me.
Thanks again Chop and I have really put your donated parts to good use.I will take the advice and get a good DMM and some optics as soon as I can figure out the difference between all the choices.
 
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