I'm a newbie at the luxeon star LED, though quite experienced with 5mm LEDs. First question, why is it that Lumileds offers the LXHL-LW6C for about 19.25, but most other sites charge about 30-37 dollars for the LED (am I mistaken?)? Is this the best Luxeon V LED or are there alternatives? How much typical luminous flux can be expected from this LED (with 10 degree collimation)? Should I use an LED driver such as the BuckPuck (1000 mA)or is one not necessary to achieve full brightness (I don't plan on requiring the ability to dim the LED)? Can I up the current if heat can be reduced with an efficient heatsink or even thermoelectric cooling? I don't really want to make a hand held flashlight, just an insanely bright LED circuit (so I can use bench power supplies, bulky converters, and large cooling). Any other info would help. Like I said, size and power supply aren't really limits, I would just like to have max brightness using one LuxV (or even LuxI or LuxIII??) for hopefully under 50 bucks (collimator, LED, driver if necessary). Sorry about all the questions, but I appreciate the help, info, and other helpful information. Thanks--
Luxeon V light project
- Thread starter mapfing
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GarageBoy
Flashlight Enthusiast
there's only one luxv, in emitter and star form. you gotta get bin numbers
wquiles
Flashaholic
mapfing,
Welcome to the forums !!!
You have some good questions. The LuxV comes in various "bins" depending on their voltage (vf), their color (or ting), and their output (lumens). This page has some excellent information on bins:
Bin Codes Explained ...
You want to know the bin of the LuxV before you can really determine how much is a fair price or not. The higher bins (X bin) are the brightest at any given voltage/current, but these are extremely hard to find and therefore comand a higher price (supply vs. demand).
As to how to drive these, for constant brightness and long life, constant current is best. Assuming that you have a good heat sink, you can do between 1000mA and 1500mA at the higher end, with about 650mA being the "nominal" value.
The LuxV tends to give you more of a flood type of beam while the LIII gives a more focused beam. Then of course, the optics/reflectors will have a significant effect on the actual output.
Use the search function - you will find TONS of posts with great information on LED's. Good luck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Will
Welcome to the forums !!!
You have some good questions. The LuxV comes in various "bins" depending on their voltage (vf), their color (or ting), and their output (lumens). This page has some excellent information on bins:
Bin Codes Explained ...
You want to know the bin of the LuxV before you can really determine how much is a fair price or not. The higher bins (X bin) are the brightest at any given voltage/current, but these are extremely hard to find and therefore comand a higher price (supply vs. demand).
As to how to drive these, for constant brightness and long life, constant current is best. Assuming that you have a good heat sink, you can do between 1000mA and 1500mA at the higher end, with about 650mA being the "nominal" value.
The LuxV tends to give you more of a flood type of beam while the LIII gives a more focused beam. Then of course, the optics/reflectors will have a significant effect on the actual output.
Use the search function - you will find TONS of posts with great information on LED's. Good luck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Will
