3D MagLite Luxeon Direct Drive Mod

I've posted the 3D MagLite Luxeon Direct Drive Mod. Note this mod has only been tested so far on the lately discussed "puke green" white Luxeon. Testing of earlier shipping white/grn and blu/wht Luxeons underway.

I'm looking for someone who may have a current regulator that can supply 500 to 750ma to improve this mod. Anybody got one?

See the mod at: http://lambda10.tripod.com/

Ok, with tears in my eyes, I ripped a wht/blu Luxeon out of my DB AAA and mounted it on one of the heatsinks. Used 3 fresh D cell batteries, and initial current with 1 ohm resistor was 732ma.

It must be the heat sink, because it too runs cool. Bright as hell, the brightness difference with the color temp difference make it seem many times brighter than the puke green ones. The greenies are just, well green. They start to kinda get a white color at 600ma+, but still really pea green.

The best Luxeon I've got is pure white, with a light pea green halo. It's in a DB AAA and gets everyday use. So, I don't think it's a phosphor mix problem, it's just on them way too thick in the recent shipping ones......

That's really cool how the reflector reflects the LS so nicely. Nice job!

YC

Woo Hoo!!!

I am excited about this one!!!! Thanks alot lambda.

Eric

BTW I still have one good color luxeon left.

What color?

lambda, please let me know when I can purchase a heatsink from you. Also, how did you keep the LEDs from shorting on the heatsink. Sis you just bend the leads up???

Eric

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
I've posted the 3D MagLite Luxeon Direct Drive Mod. Note this mod has only been tested so far on the lately discussed "puke green" white Luxeon. Testing of earlier shipping white/grn and blu/wht Luxeons underway.

I'm looking for someone who may have a current regulator that can supply 500 to 750ma to improve this mod. Anybody got one?

See the mod at: http://lambda10.tripod.com/<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have 2 things that might help in such a test. One is a LM35 ambient temperature sensor. It can be glued right to the heat sink, and the temperature can me monitored with a DVM. I also have a thermal fuse, which will blow at 100 centigrage, thus sparing the Luxeon. I will have to do this test, and monitor the temperature. I have some extra LM35'S if you want one.

Wayne www.elektrolumens.com

Wayne,

Thanks for the offer, but if I need temp measurements I'm luky to have a spare temp sensor on my computer's motherboard and just run the thermister to the item to be tested and monitor on the computer screen. This keeps the meter free to monitor current at the same time.

For this particular mod, I just started out at low current (250ma) and kept raising it little by little and checking for heat every 15 min, then raise current some more. I haven't even bothered to hook up the probe beacuse I can barely feel any warmth using my lip as a sensor.

The orginal prototype of this mod with a 'puke green' Luxeon was made with a no resistor. A second I made, has a two ohm resistor, that light has been running for 26 hours straight on time now, and still not even warm. I know it's had to dim down some, but can't really tell yet.

Today I'll put together another 3D mod using the wht/blu Luxeon I pulled out of one of my DB AAA mods. I mounted it to the heatsink last night and just ran it for 30min after letting the epoxy set a couple hours, and it didn't get warm either with the heatsink sitting on an alum cookie sheet. Now that the epox has setup enough, I'll do some long term testing with it in the flashlight.

Too bad the current Luxeon's are such a crappy color, I've got the Fire Dept and otrher people pestering me for flashlights, but nobody is very trilled with the 'jolly green giants' of Luxeons.

So, this, and many other projects will come to a screething halt in the next few days, unless somebody other than Future can be found as a source of Luxeons.

I don't think the green ones are anything special. I did the same mod with a wht/blu tinted one, and it takes 700ma without getting warm either. You just gotta get the heatsinking right, and then higher currents are no problem.

The wht/blu seems twice as bright as the greeny, and much better color.

Pea green is not a pleasing color either...

Perhaps an aquarium light; the color is just so bad, I can't think of any use beyond testing thermal heatsinking designs, where color is not important. But, once the design proves itself out, there's no white Luxeons to be found.

Just for info, I did end up putting a one ohm resistor in the bulb base of the 3D Mag I put the wht/blu Luxeon in. It would draw 700ma (drops to 650-ma in few minutes) on a new set of batteries with 1 ohm, and I decided not to push the envelope so hard with the last white luxeon I had.

Lightspeed asked
"Also, how did you keep the LEDs from shorting on the heatsink. Sis you just bend the leads up???"

Yes, just carefully bend up. When everything is working 100%, I usually put a drop of epoxy on the legs to add a little strength to the connection.

Lightspeed,

Email me your address and I'll mail two heatsinks and a rubber tire to you for free.

I posted the info for where to buy them online on the web page. They cost $0.50 ea, but there's a $6.00 shipping charge. I bought 25, and intend to try and make them available to CPF members at cost with lower shipping price.

If I send two to you, I'll know how much to charge everybody for shipping. I think they will fit a padded postal envelope, probably costs buck to mail??

Daniel, your right, I should stop refering to the epoxy as five minute stuff, as it's great for proving things out in principal, but in actual production, the slower setting epoxy should be used. However, in this particular one, with barely any heat, this prototype may not have any problems for years. But if I make anymore, I'll certainly use the better stuff.....good point! I'm going to delete any reference to 5min epoxy in the mod instructions.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
I've posted the 3D MagLite Luxeon Direct Drive Mod. Note this mod has only been tested so far on the lately discussed "puke green" white Luxeon. Testing of earlier shipping white/grn and blu/wht Luxeons underway.

I'm looking for someone who may have a current regulator that can supply 500 to 750ma to improve this mod. Anybody got one?

See the mod at: http://lambda10.tripod.com/<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You guys got me wondering about this matter of how hard I can push the Luxeon emitters. I just gotta try it. The more I look at the emitters I have, I now notice they do have a green hue to them. I guess it just didn't bother me. Anyway, I do have some huge heat sink, and I want to see how hard I can go. I will monitor the temperature, and we can know exactly what it's doing. ??


About patents, one thing I found out is that once a idea of ours is made public, you can no longer put a patent on it, because it is no longer a new idea. If you have something you want to patent, you gotta keep quiet about it, until it is 'patent pending', and then make the anouncement.


Wayne www.elektrolumens.com

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daniel Ramsey:
So then I guess we must find some use for these somewhere, I may be taking this stock and making some portable emergency lamps in some simple project boxes with 3 D cells and a slide switch, nothing pretty just a long run time emergency backup light module for power outages where the color is not important, with a double pole isolated switching relay and hard wired to my house current and a photocell these will switch on automatically when the power is out and when its dark or can be turned on manually. Or just be simple light boxes.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Daniel,

I need to get a few emitters. If you want to off some to me, let me know, and how much you want for them? Email me. I need some for sacrificing, uh, er, testing with.

Wayne www.elektrolumens.com

Yes,

Basically the patent process is:
1. Tell no one
2. Pay the lawyers
3. Wait, keep paying the lawyers
4. Repeat step 3 until patent is recieved (several years)

Sounds real bright.

Hmm, maybe 4 puke green white Luxeons in a light might be bright enough to forgive the color..........

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
Yes,

Basically the patent process is:
1. Tell no one
2. Pay the lawyers
3. Wait, keep paying the lawyers
4. Repeat step 3 until patent is recieved (several years)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

5. Once patent is received, spend million$ defending it from "the big guys".

I don't say this to discourage you from your flashlight building, but to save you some money in the long run.

IMHO, patents are for suckers if you are not "one of the big guys". Better to spend the money on continuous innovation and marketing.

In the end, only the lawyers win in a patent fight.

The "big guys" have lawyers on staff and on retainer, so it doesn't bother them a bit to go after a little guy like you.

I can just about promise you if you try to patent something based on a Brinkmann or a Maglite (etc.) product that they will go after you. And in the end, if you are really lucky, you might get them to pay you a few thousand dollars for your innovations. That ought to pay about half of your legal bills for the fight.

It just doesn't make sense to me to have to spend millions to protect a business that is unlikely to gross more than a hundred thousand or so per year.

Now, If you come up with a circuit that will run ten Luxeons off of a single AA cell or two for ten hours, DEFINITELY PATENT IT.

Sorry to be such a "downer" about this.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daniel Ramsey:
No fooling brother, maybe its the Sagittarus of me to share and not be selfish with ideas, after my sign is all about illumination and its also my rising sign. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm a Sagittarius as well, so there must be something to that!

Oh no, so am I ????

Is this our curse?