Just a bit of advice, when applying thermal paste it's best to put a small pea sized blob in the middle as once it's applied and put on the heat sink it will spread out by itself. If you spread it out it can cause air bubbles between the diode/CPU and heat sink.
FINALLY Somebody explained the boost converter I have. I tried to set it up correctly but had a lot of issues, now I finally managed. Thanks a LOT Julian!
Julian, I made the 10 W LED driver from a 12 v source to begin with. I used a sheet of aluminium of 4" x 4"x 2 mm thick, and fixed it onto a 12 v fan. That way it kept cool and nice. The 100 W LED has come in, I am now waiting for the Boost converter and Lens to arrive. Once again, thanks for the 100 W Video. I will be using 3 nos x 100 w LED;s and 3 nos. of Boost converters. I will be fixing it to another aluminium sheet 48" x 19" x 4 mm thick sheet, bent into a square with two fans (12 v) at either ends. Trust the aluminium sheets holds up. Will begin with one LED first and then increase it to 3, Thanks once again for the wonderful video.
I have just recently bought this exact booster and have not been very successful in getting the current adjustment made. This video is just what I needed !! Thanks !!
Hi Jilian, just a quick comment. Your videos, both picture and sound (also high tech zoom) are some of the highest quality on YT. Good job and thanks for sharing them.
Julian Ilett Haha, what a coincidence. My father bought this camera a few months ago. Great value for money. Probably the highest value for money for this price range.
I just want to say this is one of the best videos I've ever seen when it comes to LED lights and LED building thank you so much I cannot thank you enough
This I exactly what I want for a friend's project. I have a surplus PC that has a 95W CPU heatsink and a PSU with a 15A single 12V rail, so we need only the DC/DC boost converter. If he ever wants to make it portable then we also have access to 12V AGM batteries. My workplace recycles UPS batteries following a planned maintenance schedule. Most of them have plenty of capacity left if they don't self-discharge too quickly after they are removed.We're very fortunate to live in an age where such things are possible.
Honestly this video was excellent. Just plain excellent. This was exactly what I needed to help me figure out what I was doing wrong with my project. Thank you for this instructional man.
I made a strobe light using 6 of these 100W panels and a rather large capacitor charged by the 400W digital boost converter you showcased, controlled by an Arduino. It was scary at times because the wires leading to each panel would jolt about because of the sheer current causing a strong magnetic field. I was running it at 60V through each panel because the duty cycle was immensely short. I also made it controllable with my phone (just strobe on/off). Even at 100 microsecond bursts per half second, the panel array got really hot as did the MOSFETs. I should work on that again and show you. I plan to work on it and expand the power of it, but I need to find a design solution. Maybe one of those metal suitcases and implement tons of ventilation and electronics all in it :D keep up the good work, Julian.
Fun fact about the fan on that heatsink cooler. The little blue prong sticking out on the outlet side is a thermistor which will regulate the speed of the fan depending on the temperature. This can be overridden by using PWM and demanding a higher duty cycle, but if you only drive it with 12v you'll never get the full speed unless it's really toasty by the fan (Y) I believe the PWM of these fans specs around 20-25Khz and 2-5v peak rise if anyone would wonder, but a quick fix would be to short out the legs of the thermistor if you just want speed.
very well explained!!! Thank you for the effort on this one... I have that boost circuit, and I didn't realize, that the current was a "MAX" allowance setting. I guess I did, but the way you explained it, just makes so much more sense. Keep up the good work, Bossman!
Ive built a 100w torch using one of these LED's and a smaller 150w boost converter. Ive managed to fit it into an old computer PSU case and im using a 16 cell Li-ion battery to power it, its got a Delta tri-wing fan cooling everything. Ive still to get a couple things like a battery protection circuit and a charge circuit. It currently will run for about 1hour and 30mins on a full charge. Hopefully Ill put up a video in the next few days!
Thank you so much for your help I have the same module and I had no idea how to set the current correctly and how to measure the amps, your guide helped me 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Julian, Great DIY on this 100w LED project. I have an issue with a set of 3 100W LED's & 3 Boosters exactly as you have. My problem is powering them up. I have 1 relay sending power to 2 Boosters then onto the LED's, also have one relay sending power to the other Booster and onto the LED. They all run on a common ground. I can get the single to come on as well as the 2 others (separately) but can't get all 3 on at the same time when power is sent to all 3 Boosters. I'm not an electrician by any means and I'm sure it's something quite easy, but I can't figure it out. Really could use your expertise on this. Thank you
Great video. I'm trying to suss out how to power up 400 leds from a 12v battery, and this kind of information is very useful. Thanks. I have a 400 LED solar charged (3.6v) fairy light set that I measured was upping the voltage to 47V but I nearly chucked them in the bin since they were so so dim even when batteries where fully charged (eliminating the question of the solar panel being the cause), However, I cut one LED out of the series, put 3V through and saw how potentially bright they were. Amazing smile appeared on my face when I saw that. So running the series off a High Amp Hour battery should do the trick once I've sussed out the necessary. Keep up the excellent videos :)
Thanks Julian for the wonderful video. Quick question: How is the boost controller holding up ? Can in connect 3 x 100 W LED's in parallel to one boost converter (600W) ? Thanks again.
I used an aluminium frypan approx 350 mm diameter with the 100 watt Led module pop rivetted to the centre of the pan [used paste] . It can run all day with no fan needed and doubles as a room heater on cold days !
Hi, great tutorial by the way. Im planning on building a 100w high power mobile flashlight running 12v of course. What would be the best way to power it in terms of batteries, normal re-chargeable ones or some kind of Li-Po set up? All suggestions welcomed. cheers
Ive just started getting in to these little circuits and thought I was doing something wrong, ive just found out I bought a pile of shit haha Thank you, your vids are really helping me :)
Hi Julian, i have just watched this video and you made it a very simple installation which every person can do, thanks for your video. i have two doubt, 1)Does using this 600w boost converter with a 12v output from a car battery causes any problem like killing the battery or reducing life of battery ?? 2)I go for a lot of off roading so i want to install this set on my car, can we use this in rain too or does it cause any short circuits because of water.
cool project! I've been working with LED cooling myself and have yet to find a practical use for the two CPU heat pipe assembiles I have. I believe they are water in vacuum. One thing about using heatsinks with heat pipes is if they are not orientated so the fluid inside the pipe is properly percolating, they don't work much better than if were just pieces of empty copper tubing. A heat pipe's internal ability to wick the fluid "uphill" seems to be highly limited. They only work good if the hot side is down and cooling fins are up.
Not quite. A dense oil would also be Convection. As the hottest part of the oil rises, the cold oil would fall. It's not limited to air. The Reason a heatpipe works is that the liquid inside vaporizes, rises quickly, then gets wicked back to the bottom as a liquid (quite literally). Its easiest shown in a diagram :) upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Heat_Pipe_Mechanism.png
Like the idea of using the AMD heatsink and fan. A load of good 18650's lithiums wired in series (12 maybe?) through an 8A stepdown, and you have the ultimate portable sun that will last 3/4 hour on full power. Change the trimmer pot for a 1 turn and a tap resistor to limit lower voltage output, then it's dimmable too. Recharging each cell to 4.2V could be a major wiring/control pcb issue though :)
hi there great videos. i have tried to use my pc 12v to run my 50w led cob but have realized i need a dc boost converter, can you tell me if i get the 600w boost converter will i be able to run 6 50w cob led's like all out of the same led output, hope i am making seance, thanks and keep up with your great informative video.s
Nice job! Hey Julian Ilett in the descriptions of that 600w boost says that max power output is ''F.Voltage x 10 a''. Does that mean you can only have 120w from 12v input? I'd like to build a 200w led panel from a 12v pc power supply. Ty for sharing!
I made a portable version last year and thought to do it again exactly like yours using the same converter but a different computer fan/heat sink, following your instructions initially and the device failed to give the right level of brightness, replaced the 100w led for a more expensive one in uk and still poor output. I put a watt meter on the car battery side and it said 38watts @12.65v and 3 amps. On the led side after the converer it said 28v. What ever way I adjusted it the thing would not go brighter and at that level I wasnt needing a heat sink to stay cool. resetting, adjusting screws way out and turning cloackwise back in would not help me get the brightness or overall draw up. Any ideas where I am going wrong or could it be the converter is duff?
thank you for sharing your knowledge I watch your videos all the time. so I purchased a 600watt boost like yours and I have 4 100 watt led light that I want to use I connected all the led together and I attached the 12 volt ac/DC plug and attached it to the boost, but It doesn't look very bright what voltage DC power supply should I use ??
What a great tutorial, explaining every detail as you went along. Considering the size of that heatsink makes me wonder if the passively cooled 50W floodlights on the market are massively undercooled. I'm thinking of using the 50W floods as video lights, but ... Based on another YT video, the person had moved the (one inch) 50W chip to a 10W (0.5 inch chip) housing to reduce the size of the lamp. (Can't help wondering how long those chips will last - although they're cheap enough to replace) What would you reckon to that idea, but with the 10W housing actively fan cooled? I've also wondered about headlight LED's in a 300W worklight housing. (How can those modules with 4 LED's get away with tiny heatsinks and fans at the end, yet consume 55W and throw out just as much light??) ** Just your thoughts. I won't hold you to any disclaimers!
Hi fella, great videos........ would this set up be sufficient to run my all in one pc, from a 12v supply, to 19v @ 4.74a? It's for a van conversion......
This helped so much! Im trying to understand how to get the initial config up setup. even knowing the voltage drop and wattage it hasnt been easy to understand how to set the volts and amps up.
It blows my mind how much the cost of high powered LED lighting solutions is just dropping like a stone. It's time for me to build another mega flashlight!
Just completed my 100w led torch and remember paying about 11 pound a year or so ago for the led and now you can get one for 2.99. I say completed but I keep trying new reflector designs.
Thanks for these videos , Julian . I'm a builder but like to play with small electronics . In my caravan I've fitted some one to two meter LED strips . Solar + batteries + lm2596 buck module . I'm thinking I may need a module with current limiting as well as voltage . Would I be right in thinking this or does the resistor every three LEDS sort this out ? Keep up the good work . Bill
I know this is an older video but there is so much capacitance on the output of imported boost converters that I do not recommend giving the voltage limit a "margin" as the large output capacitor can dump that much more energy in a short time into your circuit. Current peaks much higher than OCP setting for up to a couple of seconds depending on load and margin used.
Hey Julian .Thanks fro great info mate.I have bought a DC to DC Boost converter.I put 12 v from a PC power suply and and i conect an 100W Led .I connot output more then 30 volt 1.5 amps.Why is that? I must meantion that the 12v wires from pc atx power suply are in paralele si i got about 22 Amp on the input of the Booster. I have the same booster like you.
Hi Julian, I'm trying to construct my own LED grow light and have been watching your videos. They are really helpful by the way. One thing I'm stuck with, maybe you can help. In the LED grow light industry lights are often quoted as being say a 400W light when the actual wattage drawn from the socket is around 230W. The explanation that I have come across for this is that LED's should not be driven at 100% of their full potential as they will burn out rather quickly. The standard is for them to run at about 50 or 60% of the chips max potential. How does this all factor into your 100W chip here? Is this chip marked 100 already had that calculation factored in or when setting this up in a lamp should one be looking to only drive it at 60% or so to get the full 50 000 hour life cycle. thanks for any help.
Nice video Julian. Do you have any recommendation on one of these ebay china power supplies,, I'm looking for one with a amp/volt display for my projects. ranging from 3.3v to 12v and usually around 1amp.
I also like AMD heatsinks, they have big surface for mounting components and a good power dissipation, suitable for mounting various power devices on them.
Julian another question sir, I see you use a cigarette plug from the car battery to the LED. Would it be possible to just plug the in input wires directly into the car battery???
Hey, great video ;) Have just build one my self and it`s working great. Used a stock intel cpu heatsink with built on fan that ive press fitted into a empty coke bottle, stuck the driver in from the back to get cold air sucked passed from the cpu fan, look`s like crap but works like magic. But I ran into a problem with the wires from the battery to the converter. WARNING!!!! (Looong text with bad spelling coming up...) Got all connected to getter and I adjusted the converter to 2.92 A and left it there. Then I thought I would need a longer wire/cabel from the battery to the converter so I could move around a bit more without moving the 70Ah car battery I use as power supply. Tried first around 2 meters of 0,75mm wire and checked to find out the amp out of the converter was just 2,3A and the volt going in on the converter was just 10.2V while the battery is around 12,15 volts on load. The converter was not able to put out more than 2,6A then started flickering the led and making bad noises due to the low input volt. Have fiddled alot with electronics in the past and I just remember how much of a resistens (OHM) there are naturally accouring in wires. Too much amp trough a thin wire generates heat and the ohm inside the wire rises even more, making a significant volt/amp drop. Didn`t think this would be too much of a deal since it`s not thaaaat big of a current, but apparently ive was wrong since we dealing with just 12volt. Atm im using around 50 cm of 2,5mm wires from the battery to converter and I still loose 0.22 volts, but that`s ok since the wires doesn`t get any hot and the volt is stabil. Next thing now is to find even thicker wire, perhaps 5-10mm just to check how long it can be before the volt drop is too much out of margin to make the converter not work. Don`t know if anybode else had this problem or discussed this topic but please comment if you will;) Ive noticed in the video that you had to adjust up the current on the pot as the rig got hot. I had to do the opposite when my led and driver got hot and adjust down ca 0.10mA because it suddenly got up to 3.08A after a while of run time. Don`t know if this is due to cheap converters, or can it be the fact that you mayby using too thin wires from your power supply and as they got hot, increasingly ohm gave lower volt and you had to adjust up the pot? The pots btw are extremly heat sensitiv. Ive tried blowing on them just to cool them a little while testing and the current dropped about 0.05mA before rising again to a steady 2.96. I belive this is due to the way the pots regulate internally and even the smallest temp increase/decrease of ca 10 degree makes the metal extract or withtract enough that it makes a little adjustment of it self due to the metal "groving" or "schrinking" tiny nano mm inside the pot. It`s not of a big deal but maybe worth checking if the driver is used in surroundings with big variance in temperatur. As I have learned, as the driver gets warmer the current/volt it`s putting out is also rising, this is not so good if the driver is set spot on, ex 3.00A in a cold surrounding and then brought to a place where it`s ex 20 degree warmer, the driver suddenly can give 3,10A, maybe more and that will kinda overclock the led to a quick selfdistruct. If you read this and try some experimenting on this, please let me know, would be great to get some feedback on this subject. Have also noticed some comments here around the topic using 18650 batteries for power supply and I was thinking of it myself. But I dont think they are capabel of doing the job since they have a "huge" volt drop during discharging. Ex, 4 fully charged 18650 cells holds 16,8 volts, but when empty they are just 12.0volts. Thats a loss of 4,8 volts just from discharging and the converter would have to be adjusted all the time to keep a steady volt/amp going out. And then we have the wires again, they will have to be verry short and verry thick to handle the current, and how many batteries are then needed to make enough mAh so it would be usefull for more than just some few minutes of real 100w light? Would have to be way to many in a special build batterypack and still not work good enough for a practical purpose. I think it would be better to use 1 or maybe 2 motorcycle batteries in a 12 or 24 volt configuration, 10++Ah pr battery and some heavyduty wires (5mm minimum) to minimize voltdrop. That`s next on the project board here. After that ive will rather try some ac-dc stepdown converters or just a standard 100w led driver from ebay for my 2 other 100 w chips just so the volt/amp drop from 12volts wouldnt be a issue ;)
This is a well-made video and even though I don't know you I'm proud of you for making that light I myself have an old UFO light that broke that had a series of a bunch of little one watt lights and I figured out that I can gut it and add a hundred watt chip that comes complete with its own heatsink and fan and driver and I'm pretty sure I can make it all fit in the original housing of my old light which will make for a very professional-looking awesome light
Great stuff Julian! This is exactly the information I'll need to start my own flashlight project here. My idea is to use some of these same components to build a liquid cooled portable floodlight that has a dimmer control. Would you have any suggestions for modifying this circuit for idiot proof current control? I assume that to control the brightness you would want to adjust the current regulation and not the voltage?
I have a couple questions. Would I need one 600w booster for each 100w led? Any tips on making the booster(s) waterproof? I'm trying to rig a night fishing (Flounder Gigging) set up on my boat. I'm planning to use 4 100w leds (already waterproof), powered by a 12V marine grade battery. I'm stumped at the booster part, because they're so big.... especially if I need 4. Also I'm going to be in salt water, so I will need to secure them in a waterproof container while allowing heat to escape. Thanks for any help I can get!
This is awesome, thanks for the video! This looks like a really fun project to try. One question: would it run OK from series 18650 batteries? For example, 4 x 18650s in series would provide 12.8V - 16.8V. Using good quality, high-max-amp discharge 18650s? (Although with 4 cells, each would only need to be capable of 2.5A or so. I have loads of 20+A 18650s for vaping purposes!) With a protection circuit in line to prevent over-discharge (or just protected cells, although I don't have any of those and I believe protected cells generally aren't available in high amps, although 3+A should still be fine I'd guess.)
Nice job, There are some aviation male/female bulkhead connectors on eBay that handle 15amps. I find them useful for projects. Several vendors handle them. 16mm 2pin.
Because very small voltages cause large current variations of LEDs in parallel, it is a good idea to solder your leads to opposite corners of the LED, not to nearest corners. You might try measuring the voltage drop across the edge of the bus (the difference between the nearest lead entering the device and the furthest lead from the solder connection) when the LED is lit.
Hi Julian, I really like your videos. Keep up your good work! But I have a question. I have a similar boost converter like you do, the BST600w. I also tried to configure it for CC mode, just like you in the video. The strange thing: I first cranked up the voltage to about 40V like you did, then the Amps. Somehow I only measured about 50mA with my ammeter, until I reached a point where the Amps suddenly boosted up to 5A, then I hade a strange "wiggle", the boost converter changed from CV to CC every few seconds which killed my LED :( The stepup works with my 20W LED like a charm, but somehow I couldn't set it to 3A for the 100W LED. Do you have any Idea why this occured? I think that the margin between CC and CV was not enough with 40V. I ordered a new 100W LED and want to try it again, but this LED needs 3,5A @ 30-34V. Let's see if it works.
I want to rig up a couple of 100 or 150w leds to light my horseshoe pit in my yard. I have wal-warts (DC converters that I use for my guitar pedals, etc) that are anywhere from 9-18 volts. Could I use them and just plug into a wall outlet? I would need two of the round (black) connectors, I guess? Could I direct the light as a floodlight by mounting in an old headlamp assembly off a car and screwing that to the heat sink? Thanks. Good 150watt led floodlights are $150 in my catalogue.
Man I'm just trying to build a gigging light. I'm boosting 12v to 48v with a step up driving two 100w led cob epoxy to heat sink. Step ups are pushing as high as 8A rating. I'd had them wired in parralel and I think just destroyed everything. I've got $200 in less and boosters and now idk what's fryed or not....but I know it's not flounder. Anyone have recommendations for reading material as I clearly don't have an endepth knowledge as I thought. I appreciate the video. I like the clear articulate information man.
Hi, thanks for the video, If I wanted to run say 3 or 4 of these led lights would I need a dc booster for each one, or would one be able to drive multiple lights?
Hi, I'm trying out this for myself but just wondered if one of the newer lithium-ion car starters would work instead of a bulkier lead-acid battery as a power source?
Could you power 2 identical 100W LED's from the same Boost Converter or would you need 2 converters and what settings would be needed for Voltage and Amp's if powering by a single boost converter. Thank you
Hu Julian , I have 2 x 50 watts Led can I assemble series for those 2 Led 50 watts ? and can I use Boost converter 150 watts yes for those 2x 50 watts ? also from boost converter connect to 12 volts dc power supply yes
I've just bought a 100W LED and i want to power it from a computer power source, probably from the 12V / 12A output. But the step up dc dc booster that i will purchase cannot be current regulated, only voltage regulated. It supports up to 6A output, so the question: the LED will draw only the 3A that it needs?
Does the LED only take as many volts as it needs? I see you raise the voltage higher than is called for but you say the amps is limited before the voltage. Well my LED is a 50W Blue, so it's 33V max 1.4A max it and my booster will need to get up to at least 37V to reach 1.4A in my case so that would mean the voltage would need to be limited before the Amps in my situation? So I don't apply too much voltage to my LED? Or the LED burns up the extra 4 Volts easily and doesn't care? I did raise my voltage slightly so it runs at 1 Amp and im guessing it's at about 36V. So my 33V max Led doesn't care it's at 36V as long as the amps don't go above 1.4A?
Have you tried running 2x100W LEDs on on this one? If yes, how did it manage? Also, which way is best to dim the LED current or voltage adjust? Thx for a very interesting channel!
If I regulate the correct output voltage, can I drive 20 3w LEDs in series ? What's the difference between this and a proper LED driver, my question is, why it's so more inexpenseve ?
I bought one of those boost converters. The current regulation doesn't work... Turning the current POT does absolutely nothing. I even took it off and checked it and the it's fine... I don't know what could be wrong..
What if I set it at 32V and don't limit the current? Will it work? It's because I ordered a DC-DC boost converter that doesn't limit the current. I only paid it $4.39 but I want to make sure it'll work or I'll have to purchase that 600W boost converter.
Looking some some advice.... I have a 1200w booster trying to connect it to my ebike. The connections are all done right (negative to negative positive to positive on both ends of the booster ) every time I connect the battery to the bike the battery percentage goes way way down and doesn't want to turn on. My battery voltage is a 48v amd the booster has a rating of 24v to 60v in and up to 100v out. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
The thing about heat pipes they only work properly when the heat source (evaporator) large copper heat sink is at the bottom and the cooling fins (condenser) is at the top). The large copper plate will help dissipate the heat but those heat pipes won't help much. These were designed to work well to cool a processor, as the heat pipes would go straight up into the cooling fins. There is a small amount of liquid in those heat pipes and they boil at lower temperatures and the vapor rises and condenses in the fins and drains back down to the copper heat sink. But the heat pipes cannot function when upside down with the heat source at the top. So as long as you don't have the LED running long, it would give the impression that it is working.
This reminded me of an experiment I was going to conduct yesterday, how far can you push that 100W LED, answer smoke. So I just did it, setup: 1x 100W LED(cheap ebay) 1x 40mmx40mm blue aluminium waterblock(cheap ebay) 1x thermal adhesive(cheap ebay) 1x bucket of water(5-10 litres) 1x pump(size of two thumbs)(cheap ebay) I ended up getting to ~300W(36.7v @ 8.3a), then something was starting to smoke... The water was ~32C with the LED plate at ~46C, with other temp readings placing the LED's are at about 10-20C on top of the LED plate, so 56-66C, still in operating temp. So by that logic the LED's are still perfectly fine and could go higher, unfortunately I couldn't identify what was smoking, too bright a light and it's stops smoking the instant it is turned off, along with no visible damage. My theory is the protective coating above the photosphere and surface contaminants are being heated super high by photonic heating. ie: the light itself was so intense that anything close REALLY heated up. So I tried it, I place the multimeter temp probe on the LED while running at around 200W, in a few seconds the probe was reading 220C, rising fast and starting to smoke and a second later smoke heavily. The temp probe was fine if a little singed and the smoked heatshrink residue from the probe cleaned off the LED easily. My conclusions, with good cooling the LED's themselves can be pushed very far past the rated specs, what cannot be pushed is the protective coating, with the LEDs pushed to ~300W there is so much light that the coating absorbs a small amount, gets over temp and smokes. This is backed up by the fact that higher watt LEDs 150W+ are spread out over a larger area, this would reduce the amount of photonic heating per area of phosphere and protective coating, as well as letting you cool it more easily.
At a certain point it doesn't even make more light just heat so there's no point in overdriving these unless they are crappy mismatched LEDs because those deserve to be destroyed
Great tutorial ! Can you measure current straight across the output terminals without the LED connected as you can with the smaller cv/cc controls? Just curious as I do not have one this size.
stonesouls To get a regulated current into a near dead short, the output voltage must be near zero. Boost converters cannot produce an output voltage less than the input voltage, so shorting the output of a boost converter will result in a loud bang.
Hi there im planning to use this led idea in a modded projector what dc power supply do you think i could use to run a 100w led though the 600w boost ?
Anton Babiy Fortunately the LED mounting holes missed the heat pipes by a millimetre or two. I originally thought the pipes were solid copper, but seems they're hollow and liquid filled.
Julian Ilett yep, they are filled with a solution basically of water and alcohol. The inside of the pipes have many ridges so that the liquid can raise through capillary action even if the heatsink is upright.
***** if the led uses 100w then the input of the converter would be slightly more because of the ~85% efficiency. If you're using a step up converter then the input current would be higher and if a step down then the input would be lower than output. Any battery with enough power would work. Search "100w Sunblaster" and the first video that pops up has a detailed explanation how to build a 100w flashlight.
***** Generally any sealed lead acid or power tool battery would be enough. Though I would use lithium if you can. Lithium batteries are specified in "C". (Ex.2200mah 11.1v 25c The C rating is multiplied by the mah. So 25x2200= 55000ma or 55A is the max current of this battery) Hope this helped :)
can I connect 11.1 volt lipo battery and get out 54 volts ? I connecting 4 led strips to 11.1 volt lipo and power is to low to get them to be very bright if I connect 2 x 11.1 volt lipo they are very bright but wires getting very hot after short time trying to find solution or boosting power from 11.1 or reducing, What you think ?
Help Please, I've built this same set up but mine flickers after 3 minutes? I'm using the same booster only my battery drains quick (12v18Ah). What am I doing wrong?
hi do you know the mosfet part number on this unit,,,,just burn up mine after 6 years,,how ever i have some mosfet around here and i am try to repair it but cant see the number,,,any help
julian, this heatsink can handle ANITHING you can there. he handle a 200+watt processor, so, you can put 2 of these LED's and be happy, cuz they do not will produce 200w of heat (diferently of AMD processors).
Just a bit of advice, when applying thermal paste it's best to put a small pea sized blob in the middle as once it's applied and put on the heat sink it will spread out by itself. If you spread it out it can cause air bubbles between the diode/CPU and heat sink.
FINALLY Somebody explained the boost converter I have. I tried to set it up correctly but had a lot of issues, now I finally managed. Thanks a LOT Julian!
kennyfication88 Cheers Kenny
Julian, I made the 10 W LED driver from a 12 v source to begin with. I used a sheet of aluminium of 4" x 4"x 2 mm thick, and fixed it onto a 12 v fan. That way it kept cool and nice.
The 100 W LED has come in, I am now waiting for the Boost converter and Lens to arrive.
Once again, thanks for the 100 W Video. I will be using 3 nos x 100 w LED;s and 3 nos. of Boost converters. I will be fixing it to another aluminium sheet 48" x 19" x 4 mm thick sheet, bent into a square with two fans (12 v) at either ends. Trust the aluminium sheets holds up. Will begin with one LED first and then increase it to 3,
Thanks once again for the wonderful video.
I have just recently bought this exact booster and have not been very successful in getting the
current adjustment made. This video is just what I needed !! Thanks !!
Hi Jilian, just a quick comment. Your videos, both picture and sound (also high tech zoom) are some of the highest quality on YT. Good job and thanks for sharing them.
Danny Johnston Thanks Danny. The Nexus 4 phone is pretty good, but I am looking at other cameras now. Currently liking the Sony A5000.
Julian Ilett
Haha, what a coincidence. My father bought this camera a few months ago. Great value for money. Probably the highest value for money for this price range.
I just want to say this is one of the best videos I've ever seen when it comes to LED lights and LED building thank you so much I cannot thank you enough
This I exactly what I want for a friend's project. I have a surplus PC that has a 95W CPU heatsink and a PSU with a 15A single 12V rail, so we need only the DC/DC boost converter. If he ever wants to make it portable then we also have access to 12V AGM batteries. My workplace recycles UPS batteries following a planned maintenance schedule. Most of them have plenty of capacity left if they don't self-discharge too quickly after they are removed.We're very fortunate to live in an age where such things are possible.
Honestly this video was excellent. Just plain excellent. This was exactly what I needed to help me figure out what I was doing wrong with my project. Thank you for this instructional man.
I made a strobe light using 6 of these 100W panels and a rather large capacitor charged by the 400W digital boost converter you showcased, controlled by an Arduino. It was scary at times because the wires leading to each panel would jolt about because of the sheer current causing a strong magnetic field. I was running it at 60V through each panel because the duty cycle was immensely short. I also made it controllable with my phone (just strobe on/off). Even at 100 microsecond bursts per half second, the panel array got really hot as did the MOSFETs. I should work on that again and show you. I plan to work on it and expand the power of it, but I need to find a design solution. Maybe one of those metal suitcases and implement tons of ventilation and electronics all in it :D keep up the good work, Julian.
Fun fact about the fan on that heatsink cooler. The little blue prong sticking out on the outlet side is a thermistor which will regulate the speed of the fan depending on the temperature. This can be overridden by using PWM and demanding a higher duty cycle, but if you only drive it with 12v you'll never get the full speed unless it's really toasty by the fan (Y)
I believe the PWM of these fans specs around 20-25Khz and 2-5v peak rise if anyone would wonder, but a quick fix would be to short out the legs of the thermistor if you just want speed.
very well explained!!! Thank you for the effort on this one... I have that boost circuit, and I didn't realize, that the current was a "MAX" allowance setting. I guess I did, but the way you explained it, just makes so much more sense. Keep up the good work, Bossman!
Ive built a 100w torch using one of these LED's and a smaller 150w boost converter. Ive managed to fit it into an old computer PSU case and im using a 16 cell Li-ion battery to power it, its got a Delta tri-wing fan cooling everything. Ive still to get a couple things like a battery protection circuit and a charge circuit. It currently will run for about 1hour and 30mins on a full charge.
Hopefully Ill put up a video in the next few days!
Great! Thank you for the information.
I am about to do a similar project with a 30W COB led, and a less powerful boost converter.
Thank you so much for your help I have the same module and I had no idea how to set the current correctly and how to measure the amps, your guide helped me 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Fine experiment and a great presenter,always. Julian we thank you.
Julian, Great DIY on this 100w LED project. I have an issue with a set of 3 100W LED's & 3 Boosters exactly as you have. My problem is powering them up. I have 1 relay sending power to 2 Boosters then onto the LED's, also have one relay sending power to the other Booster and onto the LED. They all run on a common ground. I can get the single to come on as well as the 2 others (separately) but can't get all 3 on at the same time when power is sent to all 3 Boosters. I'm not an electrician by any means and I'm sure it's something quite easy, but I can't figure it out. Really could use your expertise on this.
Thank you
Great video. I'm trying to suss out how to power up 400 leds from a 12v battery, and this kind of information is very useful. Thanks.
I have a 400 LED solar charged (3.6v) fairy light set that I measured was upping the voltage to 47V but I nearly chucked them in the bin since they were so so dim even when batteries where fully charged (eliminating the question of the solar panel being the cause), However, I cut one LED out of the series, put 3V through and saw how potentially bright they were. Amazing smile appeared on my face when I saw that. So running the series off a High Amp Hour battery should do the trick once I've sussed out the necessary.
Keep up the excellent videos :)
I've now received my 600W DC-DC convertor off ebay for £9.49 including shipping as seen at 07:00 Exciting.
That was the correct bit of info I have been looking for to put all the other stuff together. THNX
Thanks Julian for the wonderful video. Quick question: How is the boost controller holding up ? Can in connect 3 x 100 W LED's in parallel to one boost converter (600W) ? Thanks again.
I used an aluminium frypan approx 350 mm diameter with the 100 watt Led module pop
rivetted to the centre of the pan [used paste] . It can run all day with no fan needed and doubles as a room heater on cold days !
That's brilliant. The pan works like a reflector. Not quite parabolic, but effective I bet.
Hi, great tutorial by the way. Im planning on building a 100w high power mobile flashlight running 12v of course. What would be the best way to power it in terms of batteries, normal re-chargeable ones or some kind of Li-Po set up? All suggestions welcomed. cheers
Ive just started getting in to these little circuits and thought I was doing something wrong, ive just found out I bought a pile of shit haha Thank you, your vids are really helping me :)
Hi Julian, i have just watched this video and you made it a very simple installation which every person can do, thanks for your video. i have two doubt,
1)Does using this 600w boost converter with a 12v output from a car battery causes any problem like killing the battery or reducing life of battery ??
2)I go for a lot of off roading so i want to install this set on my car, can we use this in rain too or does it cause any short circuits because of water.
cool project! I've been working with LED cooling myself and have yet to find a practical use for the two CPU heat pipe assembiles I have. I believe they are water in vacuum. One thing about using heatsinks with heat pipes is if they are not orientated so the fluid inside the pipe is properly percolating, they don't work much better than if were just pieces of empty copper tubing. A heat pipe's internal ability to wick the fluid "uphill" seems to be highly limited. They only work good if the hot side is down and cooling fins are up.
Not quite. A dense oil would also be Convection. As the hottest part of the oil rises, the cold oil would fall. It's not limited to air. The Reason a heatpipe works is that the liquid inside vaporizes, rises quickly, then gets wicked back to the bottom as a liquid (quite literally).
Its easiest shown in a diagram :)
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Heat_Pipe_Mechanism.png
This is great tutorial. Thank You. I am just wondering, what will be the proper way to do a stroboscope from this?
Like the idea of using the AMD heatsink and fan. A load of good 18650's lithiums wired in series (12 maybe?) through an 8A stepdown, and you have the ultimate portable sun that will last 3/4 hour on full power. Change the trimmer pot for a 1 turn and a tap resistor to limit lower voltage output, then it's dimmable too. Recharging each cell to 4.2V could be a major wiring/control pcb issue though :)
Isn't regulating voltage sufficient while handling those big leds? It worked for me.
hi there great videos. i have tried to use my pc 12v to run my 50w led cob but have realized i need a dc boost converter, can you tell me if i get the 600w boost converter will i be able to run 6 50w cob led's like all out of the same led output, hope i am making seance, thanks and keep up with your great informative video.s
Nice job! Hey Julian Ilett in the descriptions of that 600w boost says that max power output is ''F.Voltage x 10 a''. Does that mean you can only have 120w from 12v input? I'd like to build a 200w led panel from a 12v pc power supply. Ty for sharing!
I made a portable version last year and thought to do it again exactly like yours using the same converter but a different computer fan/heat sink, following your instructions initially and the device failed to give the right level of brightness, replaced the 100w led for a more expensive one in uk and still poor output. I put a watt meter on the car battery side and it said 38watts @12.65v and 3 amps. On the led side after the converer it said 28v. What ever way I adjusted it the thing would not go brighter and at that level I wasnt needing a heat sink to stay cool. resetting, adjusting screws way out and turning cloackwise back in would not help me get the brightness or overall draw up. Any ideas where I am going wrong or could it be the converter is duff?
thank you for sharing your knowledge I watch your videos all the time. so I purchased a 600watt boost like yours and I have 4 100 watt led light that I want to use I connected all the led together and I attached the 12 volt ac/DC plug and attached it to the boost, but It doesn't look very bright what voltage DC power supply should I use ??
What a great tutorial, explaining every detail as you went along. Considering the size of that heatsink makes me wonder if the passively cooled 50W floodlights on the market are massively undercooled.
I'm thinking of using the 50W floods as video lights, but ...
Based on another YT video, the person had moved the (one inch) 50W chip to a 10W (0.5 inch chip) housing to reduce the size of the lamp. (Can't help wondering how long those chips will last - although they're cheap enough to replace) What would you reckon to that idea, but with the 10W housing actively fan cooled?
I've also wondered about headlight LED's in a 300W worklight housing. (How can those modules with 4 LED's get away with tiny heatsinks and fans at the end, yet consume 55W and throw out just as much light??)
** Just your thoughts. I won't hold you to any disclaimers!
Hi fella, great videos........ would this set up be sufficient to run my all in one pc, from a 12v supply, to 19v @ 4.74a?
It's for a van conversion......
This helped so much! Im trying to understand how to get the initial config up setup. even knowing the voltage drop and wattage it hasnt been easy to understand how to set the volts and amps up.
It blows my mind how much the cost of high powered LED lighting solutions is just dropping like a stone. It's time for me to build another mega flashlight!
Just completed my 100w led torch and remember paying about 11 pound a year or so ago for the led and now you can get one for 2.99. I say completed but I keep trying new reflector designs.
Thanks for these videos , Julian .
I'm a builder but like to play with small electronics .
In my caravan I've fitted some one to two meter LED strips . Solar + batteries + lm2596 buck module . I'm thinking I may need a module with current limiting as well as voltage . Would I be right in thinking this or does the resistor every three LEDS sort this out ?
Keep up the good work . Bill
I know this is an older video but there is so much capacitance on the output of imported boost converters that I do not recommend giving the voltage limit a "margin" as the large output capacitor can dump that much more energy in a short time into your circuit. Current peaks much higher than OCP setting for up to a couple of seconds depending on load and margin used.
Hey Julian .Thanks fro great info mate.I have bought a DC to DC Boost converter.I put 12 v from a PC power suply and and i conect an 100W Led .I connot output more then 30 volt 1.5 amps.Why is that?
I must meantion that the 12v wires from pc atx power suply are in paralele si i got about 22 Amp on the input of the Booster.
I have the same booster like you.
awesome, this is exactly what i needed, is the fan really needed to cool the LED when running?
Why did not made this video before?
I bought a driver for led 100w at 12v but is fixed and much more expensive.
this is much better and has more uses.
Proyectos LED Been meaning to for a while - just so many other exciting things to do!!
@@JulianIlett hi julien please can you give an item like in your video thank you
Hi Julian,
I'm trying to construct my own LED grow light and have been watching your videos. They are really helpful by the way. One thing I'm stuck with, maybe you can help.
In the LED grow light industry lights are often quoted as being say a 400W light when the actual wattage drawn from the socket is around 230W. The explanation that I have come across for this is that LED's should not be driven at 100% of their full potential as they will burn out rather quickly. The standard is for them to run at about 50 or 60% of the chips max potential.
How does this all factor into your 100W chip here? Is this chip marked 100 already had that calculation factored in or when setting this up in a lamp should one be looking to only drive it at 60% or so to get the full 50 000 hour life cycle.
thanks for any help.
Nice video Julian.
Do you have any recommendation on one of these ebay china power supplies,,
I'm looking for one with a amp/volt display for my projects. ranging from 3.3v to 12v and usually around 1amp.
I also like AMD heatsinks, they have big surface for mounting components and a good power dissipation, suitable for mounting various power devices on them.
Those copper pipes look like water cooling, cool stuff :)
Julian another question sir, I see you use a cigarette plug from the car battery to the LED. Would it be possible to just plug the in input wires directly into the car battery???
Hey, great video ;) Have just build one my self and it`s working great. Used a stock intel cpu heatsink with built on fan that ive press fitted into a empty coke bottle, stuck the driver in from the back to get cold air sucked passed from the cpu fan, look`s like crap but works like magic. But I ran into a problem with the wires from the battery to the converter.
WARNING!!!! (Looong text with bad spelling coming up...)
Got all connected to getter and I adjusted the converter to 2.92 A and left it there. Then I thought I would need a longer wire/cabel from the battery to the converter so I could move around a bit more without moving the 70Ah car battery I use as power supply. Tried first around 2 meters of 0,75mm wire and checked to find out the amp out of the converter was just 2,3A and the volt going in on the converter was just 10.2V while the battery is around 12,15 volts on load. The converter was not able to put out more than 2,6A then started flickering the led and making bad noises due to the low input volt. Have fiddled alot with electronics in the past and I just remember how much of a resistens (OHM) there are naturally accouring in wires. Too much amp trough a thin wire generates heat and the ohm inside the wire rises even more, making a significant volt/amp drop. Didn`t think this would be too much of a deal since it`s not thaaaat big of a current, but apparently ive was wrong since we dealing with just 12volt. Atm im using around 50 cm of 2,5mm wires from the battery to converter and I still loose 0.22 volts, but that`s ok since the wires doesn`t get any hot and the volt is stabil. Next thing now is to find even thicker wire, perhaps 5-10mm just to check how long it can be before the volt drop is too much out of margin to make the converter not work. Don`t know if anybode else had this problem or discussed this topic but please comment if you will;)
Ive noticed in the video that you had to adjust up the current on the pot as the rig got hot. I had to do the opposite when my led and driver got hot and adjust down ca 0.10mA because it suddenly got up to 3.08A after a while of run time. Don`t know if this is due to cheap converters, or can it be the fact that you mayby using too thin wires from your power supply and as they got hot, increasingly ohm gave lower volt and you had to adjust up the pot? The pots btw are extremly heat sensitiv. Ive tried blowing on them just to cool them a little while testing and the current dropped about 0.05mA before rising again to a steady 2.96. I belive this is due to the way the pots regulate internally and even the smallest temp increase/decrease of ca 10 degree makes the metal extract or withtract enough that it makes a little adjustment of it self due to the metal "groving" or "schrinking" tiny nano mm inside the pot. It`s not of a big deal but maybe worth checking if the driver is used in surroundings with big variance in temperatur. As I have learned, as the driver gets warmer the current/volt it`s putting out is also rising, this is not so good if the driver is set spot on, ex 3.00A in a cold surrounding and then brought to a place where it`s ex 20 degree warmer, the driver suddenly can give 3,10A, maybe more and that will kinda overclock the led to a quick selfdistruct.
If you read this and try some experimenting on this, please let me know, would be great to get some feedback on this subject.
Have also noticed some comments here around the topic using 18650 batteries for power supply and I was thinking of it myself. But I dont think they are capabel of doing the job since they have a "huge" volt drop during discharging. Ex, 4 fully charged 18650 cells holds 16,8 volts, but when empty they are just 12.0volts. Thats a loss of 4,8 volts just from discharging and the converter would have to be adjusted all the time to keep a steady volt/amp going out. And then we have the wires again, they will have to be verry short and verry thick to handle the current, and how many batteries are then needed to make enough mAh so it would be usefull for more than just some few minutes of real 100w light? Would have to be way to many in a special build batterypack and still not work good enough for a practical purpose.
I think it would be better to use 1 or maybe 2 motorcycle batteries in a 12 or 24 volt configuration, 10++Ah pr battery and some heavyduty wires (5mm minimum) to minimize voltdrop. That`s next on the project board here. After that ive will rather try some ac-dc stepdown converters or just a standard 100w led driver from ebay for my 2 other 100 w chips just so the volt/amp drop from 12volts wouldnt be a issue ;)
This is a well-made video and even though I don't know you I'm proud of you for making that light I myself have an old UFO light that broke that had a series of a bunch of little one watt lights and I figured out that I can gut it and add a hundred watt chip that comes complete with its own heatsink and fan and driver and I'm pretty sure I can make it all fit in the original housing of my old light which will make for a very professional-looking awesome light
Will I need a watt booster for this light that I'm making
The symbols are actually for the pads just below them. You feed the wire in from the back at the hole on the bottom of the tab and solder it there.
Julian, great tutorial, you made it so easy. One question: where would you put dimmer? Before or after booster? tnx
Great stuff Julian! This is exactly the information I'll need to start my own flashlight project here. My idea is to use some of these same components to build a liquid cooled portable floodlight that has a dimmer control. Would you have any suggestions for modifying this circuit for idiot proof current control? I assume that to control the brightness you would want to adjust the current regulation and not the voltage?
First time on this channel.So far......very good !!
Tom OConnor Thanks Tom
I have a couple questions. Would I need one 600w booster for each 100w led? Any tips on making the booster(s) waterproof? I'm trying to rig a night fishing (Flounder Gigging) set up on my boat.
I'm planning to use 4 100w leds (already waterproof), powered by a 12V marine grade battery. I'm stumped at the booster part, because they're so big.... especially if I need 4. Also I'm going to be in salt water, so I will need to secure them in a waterproof container while allowing heat to escape.
Thanks for any help I can get!
This is awesome, thanks for the video! This looks like a really fun project to try.
One question: would it run OK from series 18650 batteries? For example, 4 x 18650s in series would provide 12.8V - 16.8V. Using good quality, high-max-amp discharge 18650s? (Although with 4 cells, each would only need to be capable of 2.5A or so. I have loads of 20+A 18650s for vaping purposes!)
With a protection circuit in line to prevent over-discharge (or just protected cells, although I don't have any of those and I believe protected cells generally aren't available in high amps, although 3+A should still be fine I'd guess.)
Nice job, There are some aviation male/female bulkhead connectors on eBay that handle 15amps. I find them useful for projects. Several vendors handle them. 16mm 2pin.
Because very small voltages cause large current variations of LEDs in parallel, it is a good idea to solder your leads to opposite corners of the LED, not to nearest corners. You might try measuring the voltage drop across the edge of the bus (the difference between the nearest lead entering the device and the furthest lead from the solder connection) when the LED is lit.
Hi Julian,
I really like your videos. Keep up your good work!
But I have a question. I have a similar boost converter like you do, the BST600w. I also tried to configure it for CC mode, just like you in the video. The strange thing: I first cranked up the voltage to about 40V like you did, then the Amps. Somehow I only measured about 50mA with my ammeter, until I reached a point where the Amps suddenly boosted up to 5A, then I hade a strange "wiggle", the boost converter changed from CV to CC every few seconds which killed my LED :(
The stepup works with my 20W LED like a charm, but somehow I couldn't set it to 3A for the 100W LED. Do you have any Idea why this occured? I think that the margin between CC and CV was not enough with 40V. I ordered a new 100W LED and want to try it again, but this LED needs 3,5A @ 30-34V. Let's see if it works.
I want to rig up a couple of 100 or 150w leds to light my horseshoe pit in my yard. I have wal-warts (DC converters that I use for my guitar pedals, etc) that are anywhere from 9-18 volts. Could I use them and just plug into a wall outlet? I would need two of the round (black) connectors, I guess? Could I direct the light as a floodlight by mounting in an old headlamp assembly off a car and screwing that to the heat sink? Thanks. Good 150watt led floodlights are $150 in my catalogue.
Man I'm just trying to build a gigging light.
I'm boosting 12v to 48v with a step up driving two 100w led cob epoxy to heat sink. Step ups are pushing as high as 8A rating.
I'd had them wired in parralel and I think just destroyed everything.
I've got $200 in less and boosters and now idk what's fryed or not....but I know it's not flounder.
Anyone have recommendations for reading material as I clearly don't have an endepth knowledge as I thought.
I appreciate the video. I like the clear articulate information man.
Hi, thanks for the video, If I wanted to run say 3 or 4 of these led lights would I need a dc booster for each one, or would one be able to drive multiple lights?
Hi, I'm trying out this for myself but just wondered if one of the newer lithium-ion car starters would work instead of a bulkier lead-acid battery as a power source?
Lovely made flashlight ;) Now you can work on you car even in total darkness :P Thanks for sharing!
Could you power 2 identical 100W LED's from the same Boost Converter or would you need 2 converters and what settings would be needed for Voltage and Amp's if powering by a single boost converter. Thank you
What identifies the Voltage and Current pots? I have a 600w boost that is similar but layed out differently. Are there identifying marks?
Hu Julian , I have 2 x 50 watts Led can I assemble series for those 2 Led 50 watts ? and can I use Boost converter 150 watts yes for those 2x 50 watts ? also from boost converter connect to 12 volts dc power supply yes
Is this really drawing 9 amps. I would be able to use my 4,7Ah battery only for half an hour
I've just bought a 100W LED and i want to power it from a computer power source, probably from the 12V / 12A output. But the step up dc dc booster that i will purchase cannot be current regulated, only voltage regulated. It supports up to 6A output, so the question: the LED will draw only the 3A that it needs?
Does the LED only take as many volts as it needs? I see you raise the voltage higher than is called for but you say the amps is limited before the voltage. Well my LED is a 50W Blue, so it's 33V max 1.4A max it and my booster will need to get up to at least 37V to reach 1.4A in my case so that would mean the voltage would need to be limited before the Amps in my situation? So I don't apply too much voltage to my LED? Or the LED burns up the extra 4 Volts easily and doesn't care? I did raise my voltage slightly so it runs at 1 Amp and im guessing it's at about 36V. So my 33V max Led doesn't care it's at 36V as long as the amps don't go above 1.4A?
You said you needed 9 amps rating to the power cord. But what is the actual amps going to the booster before going to the led?
I know this might sound stupid, but can't you place the led on a flat stone to serve as a heat sink ?
Thanks for a great video. Really appreciate the step by step for us dummies....ha,ha.
Have you tried running 2x100W LEDs on on this one? If yes, how did it manage? Also, which way is best to dim the LED current or voltage adjust?
Thx for a very interesting channel!
To do that, I'd run them in series, and crank the voltage up.
Julian, Can you please do a updated version of this project please ?
If I regulate the correct output voltage, can I drive 20 3w LEDs in series ? What's the difference between this and a proper LED driver, my question is, why it's so more inexpenseve ?
I bought one of those boost converters. The current regulation doesn't work... Turning the current POT does absolutely nothing. I even took it off and checked it and the it's fine... I don't know what could be wrong..
What if I set it at 32V and don't limit the current?
Will it work?
It's because I ordered a DC-DC boost converter that doesn't limit the current.
I only paid it $4.39 but I want to make sure it'll work or I'll have to purchase that 600W boost converter.
Julian if I run this setup at 0 Celsius (winter operation) would I need to use a fan? heatsink?
Looking some some advice....
I have a 1200w booster trying to connect it to my ebike. The connections are all done right (negative to negative positive to positive on both ends of the booster ) every time I connect the battery to the bike the battery percentage goes way way down and doesn't want to turn on. My battery voltage is a 48v amd the booster has a rating of 24v to 60v in and up to 100v out. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
Great tutorial thanks, You turn the pots anticlockwise for the lowest volts/current, Is this correct for all pots?Thank you... :)
+John Berry Not always - sometimes the pots are soldered in the wrong way round
+Julian Ilett Ok thanks for reply :)
The thing about heat pipes they only work properly when the heat source (evaporator) large copper heat sink is at the bottom and the cooling fins (condenser) is at the top). The large copper plate will help dissipate the heat but those heat pipes won't help much. These were designed to work well to cool a processor, as the heat pipes would go straight up into the cooling fins. There is a small amount of liquid in those heat pipes and they boil at lower temperatures and the vapor rises and condenses in the fins and drains back down to the copper heat sink. But the heat pipes cannot function when upside down with the heat source at the top. So as long as you don't have the LED running long, it would give the impression that it is working.
MOST computers dont have the MotherBoard mounted horizontally so your cooler will never work as you wish.
Excellent video. I was wondering how to wire one of these up.
awesome video. how big solar acumulator do i need to run 10 of these 100W leds. i have 2*250 A .
and if i buy 1200W boost conwerter, can i connect 2*100W led on it?
just made the 18v test... looking good, 3A with easy, no noises too.
if the Booster doesn't have curent regulator , will the led pull in more than 3 A ? is there anyway to do it without using it ?
This reminded me of an experiment I was going to conduct yesterday, how far can you push that 100W LED, answer smoke.
So I just did it, setup:
1x 100W LED(cheap ebay)
1x 40mmx40mm blue aluminium waterblock(cheap ebay)
1x thermal adhesive(cheap ebay)
1x bucket of water(5-10 litres)
1x pump(size of two thumbs)(cheap ebay)
I ended up getting to ~300W(36.7v @ 8.3a), then something was starting to smoke...
The water was ~32C with the LED plate at ~46C, with other temp readings placing the LED's are at about 10-20C on top of the LED plate, so 56-66C, still in operating temp.
So by that logic the LED's are still perfectly fine and could go higher, unfortunately I couldn't identify what was smoking, too bright a light and it's stops smoking the instant it is turned off, along with no visible damage.
My theory is the protective coating above the photosphere and surface contaminants are being heated super high by photonic heating.
ie: the light itself was so intense that anything close REALLY heated up.
So I tried it, I place the multimeter temp probe on the LED while running at around 200W, in a few seconds the probe was reading 220C, rising fast and starting to smoke and a second later smoke heavily.
The temp probe was fine if a little singed and the smoked heatshrink residue from the probe cleaned off the LED easily.
My conclusions, with good cooling the LED's themselves can be pushed very far past the rated specs, what cannot be pushed is the protective coating, with the LEDs pushed to ~300W there is so much light that the coating absorbs a small amount, gets over temp and smokes.
This is backed up by the fact that higher watt LEDs 150W+ are spread out over a larger area, this would reduce the amount of photonic heating per area of phosphere and protective coating, as well as letting you cool it more easily.
At a certain point it doesn't even make more light just heat so there's no point in overdriving these unless they are crappy mismatched LEDs because those deserve to be destroyed
Nice vid, very thorough explanation
I'm late watching this video but non was as helpful but this one. Completely helpful to my question... Thanks
Great tutorial ! Can you measure current straight across the output terminals without the LED connected as you can with the smaller cv/cc controls? Just curious as I do not have one this size.
stonesouls Yes on buck converters - absolutely not on boost converters!
stonesouls To get a regulated current into a near dead short, the output voltage must be near zero. Boost converters cannot produce an output voltage less than the input voltage, so shorting the output of a boost converter will result in a loud bang.
Julian Ilett LOL, thanks Julian.
Hi there im planning to use this led idea in a modded projector what dc power supply do you think i could use to run a 100w led though the 600w boost ?
Julian, what is the blue screw-driver-like implement you use to adjust the potentiometers? Did you get it on ebay?
joelie83 search eBay for Bourns H90 or H91
Julian would this: exact same setup work if I switched to a 50w led chip?
Great tutorial! Just remember to not drill through the heat pipes cause then the heatsink will become useless!
Anton Babiy Fortunately the LED mounting holes missed the heat pipes by a millimetre or two. I originally thought the pipes were solid copper, but seems they're hollow and liquid filled.
Julian Ilett yep, they are filled with a solution basically of water and alcohol. The inside of the pipes have many ridges so that the liquid can raise through capillary action even if the heatsink is upright.
***** if the led uses 100w then the input of the converter would be slightly more because of the ~85% efficiency. If you're using a step up converter then the input current would be higher and if a step down then the input would be lower than output. Any battery with enough power would work.
Search "100w Sunblaster" and the first video that pops up has a detailed explanation how to build a 100w flashlight.
***** Generally any sealed lead acid or power tool battery would be enough. Though I would use lithium if you can. Lithium batteries are specified in "C". (Ex.2200mah 11.1v 25c The C rating is multiplied by the mah. So 25x2200= 55000ma or 55A is the max current of this battery) Hope this helped :)
fantastic. Please talk me , where are shopping the driver led to with video ? tank tour answer te question
can I connect 11.1 volt lipo battery and get out 54 volts ?
I connecting 4 led strips to 11.1 volt lipo and power is to low to get them to be very bright if I connect 2 x 11.1 volt lipo they are very bright but wires getting very hot after short time trying to find solution or boosting power from 11.1 or reducing,
What you think ?
Help Please, I've built this same set up but mine flickers after 3 minutes? I'm using the same booster only my battery drains quick (12v18Ah). What am I doing wrong?
hi do you know the mosfet part number on this unit,,,,just burn up mine after 6 years,,how ever i have some mosfet around here and i am try to repair it but cant see the number,,,any help
So a booster is equal to an LED driver? Or did i misunderstood something?
Thank you so much for the explanation, really clear
how to build the driver is the real deal.a circuit schematic with a parts list would be a bonus or do you know a location for this information.
How many of these LED’s could you connect to this power supply?
julian, this heatsink can handle ANITHING you can there. he handle a 200+watt processor, so, you can put 2 of these LED's and be happy, cuz they do not will produce 200w of heat (diferently of AMD processors).