Joe21
Contributor
Where is is the best place to purchase led lights for a DIY canister light?
LED lights
- Thread starter Joe21
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Packhorse
Contributor
I prefer dealextreme to Kaidomain. But Kai do have some parts DX dont
OP
Joe21
Contributor
Which model or brand light do you prefer?
Packhorse
Contributor
Its a case of the right tool for the job.
XR-E's can give a wickedly tight spot when paired with a suitable aspheric lens.
SSC P7's and Cree MC-Es give off a lot of light in a small package ( 3 time + that of a XR-E) and are great for more of a flood beam. They simply will not allow for a tightly focused beam though.
You need to decide on what attributes you want from a light then think long and hard about ALL of the components needed to build it. EG LED, optics, heat sink, driver, battery pack, charger, body, seals and lens.
XR-E's can give a wickedly tight spot when paired with a suitable aspheric lens.
SSC P7's and Cree MC-Es give off a lot of light in a small package ( 3 time + that of a XR-E) and are great for more of a flood beam. They simply will not allow for a tightly focused beam though.
You need to decide on what attributes you want from a light then think long and hard about ALL of the components needed to build it. EG LED, optics, heat sink, driver, battery pack, charger, body, seals and lens.
DIWdiver
Contributor
I used Philips' Luxeon Rebels in my light, and am very happy. They are available from futureelectronics.com, along with Polymer Optics lenses.
I think all the name brands are good, SSC, Cree, Luxeon, and some others. It's more a matter of which one has the size, layout, lens/reflector availability, etc. that fit your application.
There are a couple of important things to look at when comparing LEDs:
1. Physical outline. If you buy 'stars' they just screw down and you solder wires to them. But they are big. Most of the others need to be soldered to a circuit board.
2. Lens or reflector availability. Some are for specific LEDs, and some are much easier to use than others.
3. Color. Best penetration of clear water is from 'cool white', as this is kind of toward the blue end of the spectrum. Best color rendition is neutral white. I've heard that best in greenish northern waters is 'that pea green color', which I'm guessing is what the manufacturers call cyan.
4. Lumens per watt. This is a measure of how much light you get for each watt input. Numbers vary from 50 to 180 or higher.
5. Maximum power. This is maybe the hardest one to get a good handle on. LEDs, especially higher power ratings, require good thermal design to run reliably at the rated power. Your design has to be able to get rid of the heat without allowing the LED die to get hotter than 125C or so. The big problem is knowing if you have a good design. Unless you have fairly sophistocated engineering skills, you have to rely on the experience of others and/or your own seat-of-the-pants skills. Once you have it built, even if you don't push the limits of the power rating, a bad design may fail within hours, minutes or even seconds of being powered up.
I think all the name brands are good, SSC, Cree, Luxeon, and some others. It's more a matter of which one has the size, layout, lens/reflector availability, etc. that fit your application.
There are a couple of important things to look at when comparing LEDs:
1. Physical outline. If you buy 'stars' they just screw down and you solder wires to them. But they are big. Most of the others need to be soldered to a circuit board.
2. Lens or reflector availability. Some are for specific LEDs, and some are much easier to use than others.
3. Color. Best penetration of clear water is from 'cool white', as this is kind of toward the blue end of the spectrum. Best color rendition is neutral white. I've heard that best in greenish northern waters is 'that pea green color', which I'm guessing is what the manufacturers call cyan.
4. Lumens per watt. This is a measure of how much light you get for each watt input. Numbers vary from 50 to 180 or higher.
5. Maximum power. This is maybe the hardest one to get a good handle on. LEDs, especially higher power ratings, require good thermal design to run reliably at the rated power. Your design has to be able to get rid of the heat without allowing the LED die to get hotter than 125C or so. The big problem is knowing if you have a good design. Unless you have fairly sophistocated engineering skills, you have to rely on the experience of others and/or your own seat-of-the-pants skills. Once you have it built, even if you don't push the limits of the power rating, a bad design may fail within hours, minutes or even seconds of being powered up.
OP
Joe21
Contributor
I checked out the Philips rebels and they seem to be what im looking for. Do you have any suggestions on wich circuit board to use?
DIWdiver
Contributor
I built my own, so I never paid much attention to what is available for it, but I have a customer who bought some boards from Philips, so it's worth checking to see what you can find.
I'll be happy to sell you one if it's what you want. It's 1.9" diameter, has room for 6 rebels in series, Polymer Optics lenses, a thermistor for temp sensing (which you can ignore), and is ready to be screwed to a heatsink with 6 #2 screws (or can be drilled out for #4 screws).
I paid $20 each for the boards, and would sell you one at cost.
There are two problems with it, however.
1. You have to cut it out of a larger board (I designed the LED, controller and battery pack boards all as one board, and cut them apart before assembly).
2. Due to the Polymer Optics data sheet being incorrect, the lens holder has to be cut out where it fits over the LED. The orientation of the LED cutout to the hexagon shape is off, and needs to be rotated 90 degrees. If there is interest in more than one board, I can fix this pretty quick and order some more boards.
D
I'll be happy to sell you one if it's what you want. It's 1.9" diameter, has room for 6 rebels in series, Polymer Optics lenses, a thermistor for temp sensing (which you can ignore), and is ready to be screwed to a heatsink with 6 #2 screws (or can be drilled out for #4 screws).
I paid $20 each for the boards, and would sell you one at cost.
There are two problems with it, however.
1. You have to cut it out of a larger board (I designed the LED, controller and battery pack boards all as one board, and cut them apart before assembly).
2. Due to the Polymer Optics data sheet being incorrect, the lens holder has to be cut out where it fits over the LED. The orientation of the LED cutout to the hexagon shape is off, and needs to be rotated 90 degrees. If there is interest in more than one board, I can fix this pretty quick and order some more boards.
D
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