Luxeon Stars for nav lights

tmbg · Post by **tmbg** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:39 pm

I bought a couple of them, as well as some little breakout boards. One of my favorite prototyping companies, http://www.sparkfun.com/ sells the LEDs and the little boards which make it easy to wire them up for tests as well as serving as a heatsink.

I don't have them yet, but I'll let y'all know.

I bought some red and green luxeon I's and a white luxeon III, and I'll mess around with them and compare them to the traditional nav lights on my cherokee, and I'll take some pictures and post them as soon I can.

I also bought an accelerometer chip from them; I'm working on designing a 2-1/4" instrument which will be a clock/timer/OAT/voltage/accelerometer.[/url]

Post by **bullojm1** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:46 am

Ian-

Very cool! I am planning on using the Luxeon stars for my wingtip nav lights as well. Jeff Bordelon made some SWEET nav lights using them. Most impressive about his is using the reflective backed acrylic to cover the "electronic" look of LED's (http://www.jeffsrv-7a.com/LEDPROJECT1.htm). My plan now is to mimic his design somewhat by putting a 100W 2" halogen landing light in the mix.

Looking at that website you mentioned, I noticed the screenkey graphical buttons:

That would make a pretty awesome annunciator panel.

tmbg · Post by **tmbg** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:33 am

yep, I've already been thinking of ways to incorporate screenkeys into SOMETHING

I've got a fair background in microcontrollers and digital circuits, and I am starting to design some experimental avionics that I hope there'll be a market for in the not too distant future

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:51 am

I look forward to seeing your pics Ian! I bought the LED navs from Jeff, and LOVE how they turned out installed.

tmbg · Post by **tmbg** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 12:12 pm

Chad, your lights look great! I want to put my landing lights in the tips as well, so I'll either be rolling my own or going with something like the creativeair kit. We shall seeeeee

tmbg · Post by **tmbg** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:53 pm

chad, are the LEDs on your kit Luxeon IIIs?

Post by **bullojm1** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:59 pm

Ian-

I can see from the pic on his website they are Luxeon Stars. Now, I don't know if they are I's or III's. Check it out:

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:33 am

I have no clue if they are I's, II's, or III's.

How can I tell?

briand · Post by **briand** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:14 pm

I'm taking a huge guess here, but is it the need (I) or no need (III)for auxiliary heat-sink?

I'll try to look it up to find out for sure.

Anyone want to split a sheet of mirrored acrylic with me?

Hey Chad, is yours a bronze color?

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:24 pm

The acrylic? No, it's silver mirrored. Not sure what you were referring to tho...

The heat sink is black...

briand · Post by **briand** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:27 pm

Your right, I was referring to the acrylic. Sorry.

I wonder if that is considered "clear". If so it is much cheaper than I expected.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/produc ... %5Fid=9926

briand · Post by **briand** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:38 pm

The latest thang for you grill.

http://www.luxeonstar.com/sub_category. ... nk_str=205

Who needs gold when you got blue.

Looks like the only dif. between the I and the III is brightness.

Chad, did you place (or was there already) a capacitor across the input terminals?

Speed3Guy · Post by **Speed3Guy** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:28 am

I rolled my own version of Jeff Bordelon's lights. I did pick his brain before doing it, so a lot of the credit goes to him.

I used luxeon stars, for the LEDs and 750mA buck pucks as the constant current drivers. The stars are wired in 2 parallel circuits of 3 LEDs in series. The back side of the aluminum mounting plate has 3 pieces of stiffener material riveted vertically to it to serve as cooling fins. My calculations (using Luxeon's data sheets) indicated that this would keep the LEDs cool enough at up to 130* F in the wingtip.

I'm using neoprene washers under the acrylic so that I define the three contact points and the mirrored surface (hopefully) doesn't get rubbed off. There are SS washers under the neoprene to set the distance between the aluminum backplate and the mirrored acrylic.

It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Luxeon Stars are electrically isolated from each other (and therefore the aluminum backplate.) The back surface of the Stars are not electrically isolated and since some of them are wired in series, they will not be at the same potential. I isolated mine by spacing them off with a small piece of 5 mil kapton tape in the center and then bonding them down with Arctic Alumina non-conductive thermal epoxy. If you don't electrically isolate the LED backfaces, they may work, but not for long.

The wires are bonded to the surface of the aluminum plate with clear silicone. This was to keep them from straining the solder joints or rubbing the back of the mirrored acrylic.

There are a few photos on my website. I've got more detailed ones upon request.

http://websites.expercraft.com/geprevo/ ... g_id=13694
http://websites.expercraft.com/geprevo/ ... g_id=13718
http://websites.expercraft.com/geprevo/ ... g_id=13174

Post by **bullojm1** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:37 am

Speed3Guy wrote:
It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Luxeon Stars are electrically isolated from each other (and therefore the aluminum backplate.) The back surface of the Stars are not electrically isolated and since some of them are wired in series, they will not be at the same potential. I isolated mine by spacing them off with a small piece of 5 mil kapton tape in the center and then bonding them down with Arctic Alumina non-conductive thermal epoxy. If you don't electrically isolate the LED backfaces, they may work, but not for long.

FYI, Although the normal Luxeon stars need to be isolated, the Luxeon K2 Stars do not need to be electrically isolated. See Link:

http://www.luxeonstar.com/sub_category. ... k_str=1431[/b]

briand · Post by **briand** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:38 pm

Did you use standard red and green?

Batwing or lambertian?

What was your total cost? I estimate about $150.

Can you post a pic of the "cooling fins"?

TIA.

Speed3Guy · Post by **Speed3Guy** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:47 pm

FYI, Although the normal Luxeon stars need to be isolated, the Luxeon K2 Stars do not need to be electrically isolated. See Link:

http://www.luxeonstar.com/sub_category. ... k_str=1431[/b]

Cool! When I built mine, k2's came in any color you wanted, as long as you wanted white!

Speed3Guy · Post by **Speed3Guy** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:50 pm

briand wrote:Did you use standard red and green?

Batwing or lambertian?

What was your total cost? I estimate about $150.

Can you post a pic of the "cooling fins"?

TIA.

I did use standard red and green lambertians. I think total cost was a bit more than that. There are lots of incidentals, ie. Arctic Alumina thermal epoxy, filter capacitors for the power supplies, etc. I'll try and remember to post a pic.

FWIW, I just noticed that Jeff has his for sale at a $100 discount at the moment. He's got a post on the other site.

briand · Post by **briand** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 3:28 pm

TIA.[/quote]

FWIW, I just noticed that Jeff has his for sale at a $100 discount at the moment. He's got a post on the other site.[/quote]

As much as I hate to, I'll go check it out.

I'll have to put on sunglasses first to protect my eyes from all those flashing ads.

briand · Post by **briand** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:33 pm

I got the plexi in the mail Friday. That was fast. You do want what they call clear. $15 with shipping is not bad.

Speed3Guy, Any progress on those pics.? I checked out Jeffs sale and he includes strobes and stuff. I already bought all that. In hindsight I might just go with his deal (at the reduced rate) but its too late now so.......

Speed3Guy · Post by **Speed3Guy** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 10:06 am

briand wrote:I got the plexi in the mail Friday. That was fast. You do want what they call clear. $15 with shipping is not bad.

Speed3Guy, Any progress on those pics.? I checked out Jeffs sale and he includes strobes and stuff. I already bought all that. In hindsight I might just go with his deal (at the reduced rate) but its too late now so.......

I'm gonna have to take some photos. I'll send an email to myself at home so I remember....

Guy