Air cooled SSR90 with crystal chamber

[Sunrider]

After an epic failure at an attempt to obtain a CF5 I shall attempt to redeem myself by posting what I have learned about the high power SSR90 LED.

After getting my green SSR90 I found that the sweet spot for lumens vs current was about 4.5 to 5 amps. With the normal heat sink the blade holder would reach an uncomfortable 32C in 3 or 4 minutes. So the air cooling began.

After a failed attempt at adding fins to a mhs heat sink I successfully did just that & came up with this



Also a small fan and vents were needed so it ended up like this.



It turns out the air cooling setup works well with my crystal chamber. Air goes in the big holes & out the small holes.



I also tried a number of plastic lenses & aluminum reflectors. The best thing I found to focus the light was a narrow aluminum reflector from a led flash light I had that was the right size & depth. I ended up having to drop the reflector down through the top of the blade holder & jb welding it. This is also good to keep the reflector from hitting the led dome.



Pics of finished crystal chamber.





Pics of green laser.





Now for the power up stuff.

All the light output measurements were made with my simple analog light meter. With no reflector the led output is as on the spec sheet measuring about 1300 lumens at 4.6 amps.

I was impressed to find that with a good reflector (and positioning is very important just as with lenses) the output reached 5000 lumens straight out of the blade holder!







Keep in mind the lights & tv are on it is daytime & the window is open!

Chamber



Now heat is still an issue but this setup will run for about 12 minutes before getting too warm but when blade effects are added it should go a little longer.

[slothfurnace]

Now THAT is impressive!

Props to you, my friend. That thing looks awesome!

[ARKM]

Very cool (and bright) saber. I'm also digging the crystal chamber.

[DJMoonbass]

SABERS!!!! WITH FRIGGIN LASERBEAMS ATTACHED TO THERE FRIGGIN CHAMBERS!!!

dude awesome. man i just love green lasers. i recently just bought a pair of Venue DMX 10mW green laser lights for my DJ set up. they are so awesome. what mW is your laser youre using? man i cant wait to see this thing lit up. this will be the brightest saber in SABER HISTORY!

[Sunrider]

The laser is putting out about 25mw I think. I don't have anything to measure it. I'm not using the original driver.

[cannibal869]

WOW... I mean... wow... picking jaw up off the ground...wow..

[Rafalema]

Now THAT is awesome! That will make super bright saber.

[Invisas1979]

Just out of pure curiosity. Why would you want an led so powerful it needs a heatsink with fins and a fan...... to make it last a whole 12 minutes?

That is mind boggling.

Cudos to the work but that seems like a whole load of effort.

[Shadar Al'Niende]

I wanna see it with a blade on it.....

[Sunrider]

Just out of pure curiosity. Why would you want an led so powerful it needs a heatsink with fins and a fan...... to make it last a whole 12 minutes?


I like lumens & want a bright blade, chamber, blinky ect. Call me obsessed if you want. I guess I'm trying to make a unique saber that reflects what I like. Maybe I like a challenge, or maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. I don't know which. Yes it's true I have at least 30hrs of failed attempts at parts & have spent over 100hrs on this saber so far. This bothers me not because I like what I have done & believe it or not working on my saber is therapeutic for me.

Oh & it's not like it runs for 10 minutes & it's dead. The battery pack will run it for an hour it just needs to cool off for a minute now & then.