3w Led Help

[skywarp181]

Whats the smallest Heatsink you can use for the 3w led?
and i mean smallest :D

[Hasid Lafre]

The ones the cutomsabershop sells, btw the ones thecustomsabershop sells also work perfectly for the 5w leds too.

[skywarp181]

Is there anything smaller i could use?

[xwingband]

You can use a small plate as long as it's connected to some other metal. What's the bare minimum... less than people would think, but maximizing it is never a bad idea.

[skywarp181]

im thinking like 3/4 OD and as thin as i can get it. It will be touching aluminum. Would anything like that work? How hot does this get? will it melt the wires connecting to the LED?

[xwingband]

As long as it's touching other metal technically the whole area is a "heatsink". The disc would be the passive part passing the heat to another part of the saber the "active" heatsink.

You can use whatever thickness you want as long as it's thick enough to be structurally sound. Like I've cut Tim's MHS heatsink to just the disk portion... that's maybe 1/8" thick.

3/4" OD for a star won't be enough. You can use an emitter but you'd have to do a bit more work and take a few precautions.

[skywarp181]

what about 7/8 OD and 1/8 thick on an aluminum emitter? would that work? also could i use a washer? or some disk type from a hardware store? what type of metal does the heatsink need to be made of?

[LAN-ED-TUL]

aluminum or copper works best.

[skywarp181]

aluminum or copper works best.

as far as what? the type of material to use for a heatsink?

[LAN-ED-TUL]

you asked" what type of metal does the heatsink need to be made of? "

so i answered.

[skywarp181]

cool, thanks :D

What other battery size could i use instead of the 4 AAA's?

[xwingband]

Depends on your driver what might be ideal... with out being specific? Any.

4AA, CR123's, 18650's/any li-ion variety, ER14505M's, etc...

Specifics please! Is this a resistored setup? Driven? Do you want maximum space or maximum runtimes? Rechargeable or not?

[skywarp181]

good question,

Right now all i have is the 3w royal blue i bought from here.
whatelse would i need to get things started? ive got minimum space

[xwingband]

In that case 4AAA and a buckpuck/resistor would be small. For the absolute smallest but the least ideal driving situation would be "direct drive" with a 18650 (rechargeable li-ion).

If you had the space a 4AA 2x2 vs the square would be much better on the runtimes. If you were thoughtful about you wires a puck on top of the pack would be doable.

[skywarp181]

well i'll see what i can do with what i have. Do they sell different drivers or just the one thats shown? what size is the width and length of the driver? just want to make sure before i buy it.

So i bought the 3 watt led what else am i missing?

[Novastar]

Most of these questions can be answered by the FAQ thread.