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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Group Buy: High Power 95 CRI LED Chips

This is interesting. For many of us one of the first questions is: how do I do this as a fixture. I found this DIY thread:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/general-4x4-discussion/1073515-diy-hight-powered-led-light-bar.html
Personally I'd be interested in building an array of bright high CRI LEDs in an ideally weather tight fixture pulling 12-14 amps at 120V.

Won't replace an M18, but it would be a lighter, cheaper alternative to an Aadynetech Punch Plus. Last years model was only around 85 in CRI and I returned mine because they were too green on skin tone.
 
4-6 of these would have quite a punch in a single fixture
 
I have been busy with making prototypes for some time now and although I am not finished with my design I do have working prototypes and learned a lot on the way.

There’s a few things you need to make something working:

1. Heatsink
High power LED’s need a lot of cooling. Best to go with a heatsink with a fan attached. Do a search for 100w LED heatsink on Ebay. Complicating factor is that the fan works on 12V while the LED needs about 36V so you need a step-down electronic circuit. Good thing is once you have a circuit you can control the voltage which means the speed of the fan and you can set it to a level that is not too noisy but still cools well

2. Driver
You need a dedicated LED power supply (driver). The Meanwell drivers seem to be really good and some models have a dimmer built in. But to get the dimmer working you need some electronic skills as it is not that straight forward.

3. Dimmer
If you choose a driver without dimmer than you probably want a dimmer circuit between the driver and the LED. Do a search for a pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit that they use for electric motors. It’s a bit hit and miss which ones will work good with your driver but I have been able to find one that works fine. The higher the frequency of the pulse the better it works with high speed shooting.

4. Housing
Laser cutting and folding of aluminum is a good way to go. Relatively inexpensive and you can cut the screw holes as well so if you’re smart you just have to assemble it when you get it back.

5. Reflector or lens or spacelight
The LED chip spreads light in a 120 degree angle so it’s going everywhere without some reflection or lens. There’s lot’s of cheap light modifiers in the photography world though.

All in all not something you put together in one afternoon. But if you like to tinker with things it’s a rewarding project to do. Firing up the light for the first time is really magic.
 
sander kamp said:
1. Heatsink
High power LED’s need a lot of cooling. Best to go with a heatsink with a fan attached. Do a search for 100w LED heatsink on Ebay. Complicating factor is that the fan works on 12V while the LED needs about 36V so you need a step-down electronic circuit. Good thing is once you have a circuit you can control the voltage which means the speed of the fan and you can set it to a level that is not too noisy but still cools well
Click to expand...

The Cooliance Coolstrate heat sink has a fan attached along with a converter that works from around 12-56 volts if I remember correctly. You just wire it in parallel with your LED circuit. These are about $40-50 each if I remember right.

I just bought some 160mm heat sinks without fans that I'm going to attach my own 140mm fans to. These were $21 each.
 
This group buy is ending soon. Please ask questions or provide me with the numbers of chips that you would like to purchase.

If we can get more people interested, perhaps a kit can be offered around summertime as we gather knowledge?
 
Hi Scott and Sander and everyone else who is experimenting with a DIY LED solution;
- have you found optics to use with the CREE CXA3590?
- For the Ideal CXA chipholder I see that Newark.com has the recommended ones in stock- looks like they sell small quantities.
- Mean Well driver- I ordered a HGB-160-48B. On Mean Well's site this driver was recommended for stage lighting- it has a dimmer circuit built in. I'm surprised how large and heavy this driver is. In general I'm surprised how heavy bright LED lights are.

-Heat sinks- I have a Cooliance active heat sink picked out. Has anyone experimented doing a 3-4 chip array using one large heat sink?

It would be very helpful if this thread continued here, or at another venue, as these projects develop.
 
Karl Kim said:
Hi Scott and Sander and everyone else who is experimenting with a DIY LED solution;
- have you found optics to use with the CREE CXA3590?
- For the Ideal CXA chipholder I see that Newark.com has the recommended ones in stock- looks like they sell small quantities.
- Mean Well driver- I ordered a HGB-160-48B. On Mean Well's site this driver was recommended for stage lighting- it has a dimmer circuit built in. I'm surprised how large and heavy this driver is. In general I'm surprised how heavy bright LED lights are.

-Heat sinks- I have a Cooliance active heat sink picked out. Has anyone experimented doing a 3-4 chip array using one large heat sink?

It would be very helpful if this thread continued here, or at another venue, as these projects develop.
Click to expand...

I haven't used any optics with the chip but rather fire them into PLM umbrellas.

I think that multiple chips could be used on a 160mm heat sink if you had a powerful enough fan. If you didn't care about fan noise then a 2000 RPM 140mm fan might do the trick. If you want it to be silent then a slower fan with more heat sinks would probably be in order. I haven't experimented with this yet but I intend to.
 
I have updated the chip count and wanted to make sure that nobody got missed.

Jon Carr, Terry VerHaar, and Mike Harrington, do you want to be added? I apologize if you already gave me a number and I missed it.
 
Thanks everybody, I'll get the purchasing information from the vendor and contact you soon.
 
I have a few ideas, but not enough chips! lol Before I go overboard, I'll experiment with a few thoughts and see if I can retrofit an LED emitter to a liko, and fresnel. Another is a small array, a cluster for some serious output. If they work out, then I'll certainly welcome a round two gb :)
 
I have sent ordering instructions via PM. Thanks
 
Thanks again for arranging this GB Scott! I bumped my order to 10 chips, I have a large cyc planned that's in need of a wash! lol
 
Michael Ou said:
Thanks again for arranging this GB Scott! I bumped my order to 10 chips, I have a large cyc planned that's in need of a wash! lol
Click to expand...

Looking forward to what you put together. I recently took delivery of 8 x 160mm passive heat sinks that I am going to attach fans to.
 
Scott Pultz said:
I have updated the chip count and wanted to make sure that nobody got missed.

Jon Carr, Terry VerHaar, and Mike Harrington, do you want to be added? I apologize if you already gave me a number and I missed it.
Click to expand...

not for me at this time....juggling too many things at the moment

I may be interested in the future if it ever comes up again.

Appreciate your effort....hopefully it works out for everyone
 
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