Mounting these (*&$^* lamina modules

Just spent a frustrating afternoon trying to make four little tiny holes spaced accurately as per Lamina Ceramics guide for mounting their BL2000 RGB modules.
Doh....ripped another head off a screw as I try to thread a tiny little hole.....
Anyway, I gave up and just used some epoxy on the sides to hold it down, with some heatsink (silicon) compond underneath. Hope it works.....methinks the epoxy is going to melt!
Also I'm trying an experiment where I mixed heatsink compond with epoxy. In roughly 50/50 proportions, a 7805 is expoxied/componded to an old damaged heatsink (from another lamina mounting attempt).....I'll report on the results.
Anyway, the question to the group is have anyone come up with an easy solution to mounting these little modules that doesn't require specialist equipment or tooling methods?
rgbphil

Might I suggest a tapping kit? They can be had for a relatively small amount of money. Since you'll only be tapping aluminum it should be relatively easy to do. But don't forget to use a lubricant, preferably a cutting oil designed for the purpose. Should let you tap those holes in a jiffy. The epoxy will indeed likely melt. Most epoxies have a relatively low delamination temperature unless you specifically use a high-temp rated epoxy.
Good luck. Keep us posted.

I've read (here and other places) of using heatsink compound in the center with superglue around the outer edges with good results.

If I were you, I'd ether get a tap set and oil, or some Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive.

what about using a nut and bolt? or does the heatsink not allow that?

If you were in Perth rgb I coulda helped you out with the tapping I think - we got some small taps here at work...

Pity it'll cost freight to get it here tho. Someone out your way would do it for 5 or 10 bux cash surely??

Tim.

Whatever compound you utilize, at some of the power levels of the Lamina Ceramics, such as the BL-3000, keep the layer thin, thick layers decrease the thermal transfer. Some of the colors produce upwards of 140 Watts as I recall.

Master Bond makes some decent thermal epoxies designed for "high" heat.

AI Technology Inc. makes some enhanced silver thermal compound that is better than your average computer jockey arctic silver. If you have the money, they do make diamond thermal paste... But these materials are more for the absolute purist.

I prefer a thin layer of thermal grease in center, then super glue on edges only.

been mounting emitters and stars this method. makes emitter removal without damage possible.

Hi All,

Thanks for the advice, I was thinking of a proper tapping kit when trying to use teeny screws and machine oil as makeshift tapper.........takes a lot of patience, having to unscrew every so often to tap out the threads....it's the screw heads that are the problem, they're just not made for the torque needed to tap the holes...I'll price around and invest if I do some more of these.

As for the glue....didn't even think of superglue. A quick google has picked up a some articles. If the expoxy melts.....I'll try the superglue or high temp glue.

So far running at 1/3 power it's OK.....seems the heatsink actually feels warmer than the LED, so somethings working....mind you, it's only just warm as yet...waiting for high power darlingtons to crank to full power.

phil

Well haven't finished all tests on the epoxy/heatsink compound v bolting it in, but here is a pic of the Lamina module and heatsink I chose that might help others using these units.

Note the temp 47.6C was measured at the common terminal of the array and the unit had been running at full power for about 1 hour. Ambient temp 22.1, no moving airflow.
This was using silicon heat sink compound, glued at the edges with normal houshold epoxy. It doesn't feel soft at all when hot and the unit is stable and secure, though I might move it to a bigger heatsink and use silver compound.

In purely subjective terms they're roughly equivalent to a 10-20W decorative lamp. Enough to light a room at night, with some perceivable secondary illumination softening the normally sharp shadows of LED lamps..certainly great mood lighting....but I wouldn't be doing my maths homework under it unless it was right above me. A wide diffuser makes the shadows even less noticable in the room...but does drop light a bit....at least it only takes one lamina unit to illuminate a diffuser about 500mm long.


phil