My new 3Watt "LUXEON" MXDL Torch

So, after some waiting, my new torch finally arrived. Its a 3Watt "Luxeon" LED torch. But I am not sure if the LED is the real McCoy but then again, if it was, the price would not be that cheep (cheep). Anyway, I got this from a guy (neosaint99) via Lelong.com.my for RM80. (Actually, it cost more because my Mom went and gave the POSlaju guy a tip)

Having gained some experience from my Lightsaber project, a Luxeon LED, when it is driven straight on, can get quite hot pretty fast. So, fearing for the worst, I unscrewed the torch to test if my theory was right. Yep, the Luxeon LED is secured with only a metal disc, and also to the barrel which both acts as a heatsink. After playing with it for a few minutes, the torch felt a bit warm.

Luxeon LEDs have a very wide angle spread of light radiation and therefore, you need a collimating lens or a refector to focus the light. Still, its bright enough for my job.


This is what I got today, the 3w LED MXDL torch and a holster


Side to side comparison with my old 9-LED White Torch


Front view


When disassembled, they looked almost the same, except the MXDL Torch has a slightly larger barrel


The 3W LED is stuck in the barrel (you cannot take it out) while the 9-LED is wedged inside the torch's head


A closer look at the solder solder side of my old 9-LED torch


A closer look at the 3W MXDL LED


5 feet side by side test. The 3W MXDL Torch is brighter
My old torch only managed to make a "dim" spot (bottom left)


5 feet side by side test. The MXDL torch is on the left and my old 9-LED torch is on the right


The MXDL torch against my 3W LUXEON Cyan lightsaber


[Update 29.10.2005]
I saw one at ACE Hardeware in Ikano selling for RM166.90 but I am not sure if its 1Watt or a 3Watt version. I am guessing its a 1Watt because the packaging said its 10 times brighter than a LED (the brightest could be about 1 Lumen) since a 1Watt Luxeon gives about an average of 10 Lumens.

[Update 06.10.2005]
Just got more spare time today, and I managed to pry off the LED part. So, if I wanted to, I can replace the 3W LED with a true Luxeon just to put my mind at ease. But I prefer not to. Still, instead of using a colour filter, I can actually order a BLUE Luxeon or even a RED one if I am sick of the White. Then again, sometimes, its better just to keep my itchy hands in my pockets.


The 3W LED is soldered to a terminal under it.
The whole assembly is stuck to a piece of metal which acts as heatsink.


Once its overturned, you can see the fibreglass PCB.
*The metal heatsink is shown as the inner ring after the plastic piece at the edge


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, is there a good heat path from the luxeon to the aluminum barrel?

CFC said...

As far as I know, there is only one small little metal tab which connects to the barrel from the metal plate. So, this is the only heat path.

But I did not try to use it for more than three minutes since the opportunity did not present itself.

Anonymous said...

The tab doesn't look like it will cut it. Maybe there's a way to improve the heat path?

These luxeons are very hot.

Also is there a resistor in the circuit? or are the batteries directly connected to the luxeon? If no resistor the luxeon might burn out...

BTW I have made a luxeon flashlight attachment for Ericsson phones. Wanna see it?

Anonymous said...

hey i have one of those too. except when i take off the bezzle the led coms off too. i cant get it to work in candle mode . if you can find fix post it
thanx