Looks nice. 
Well, I have no idea how you were getting 42v out of your StratusLED driver since the only “official” documentation claims it is 34v out MAX which, I think is why mine is shutting down at 35v. I suspect they have it programmed for output over voltage protection at 35v. If I could get a copy of the datasheet for the AP80SY chip, then I could probably swap some resistors to enable higher output voltages and probably also fix their 6A/3.5A mixup. Sadly, I haven’t heard a thing from ShiWei Semiconductor and google translate isn’t up to the task.
I may try to reach out to Amazon to see if I can get a refund since mine blew up. Annoyingly, Amazon isn’t allowing me to post a negative review of the StratusLED driver even though I have a photo of faulty component.
I have no clue too… But tje other two I have is behaving similarly to yours. I’m at a loss.
Can you look carefully at yours to see if there are any differences? I have a 4-40x microscope and a macro adapter for my camera so it’s easy to work on and photograph stuff like this. I really should get the 0.7x barlow lens for my microscope since it seems I’m going to be doing more surface mount work…
I have to take the other one out of the enclosure. Thought maybe the pots were somehow bad but they both read close to 10kOhm. The resistor mod does zip. I was able to run 2 Vero29s in parallel daisy chained with the pot, but I added 4MOhm of resistors at the pot LOLOL… I’m thinking adding a resistor in parallel with the LED maybe?
Update: Just tested with my multimeter in series with the LED, with the Vero29, I was able to turn the dial on the pot up to 900mA. When I checked the voltage across the terminals I got 43.2V?! Wha?
Thinking back, that driver board was in a batch of 3 I got back when I started this thread. Wondering if I just got “lucky” with one board, or possibly it has something to do with the CREE versus the Bridgelux CoB.
Speaking of which, I thought about what you mentioned earlier and picked up the 68V version. 18,500lm @ 1.7A. I think I should be able to get it to 2.4A with my 6s battery setup.
Redid the adapter plate, now fit to the IceLED heatsink…
Added brass inserts for the LED screw mounting holes:
With the LED installed:
The Lenina reflectors seem like a really good option for a compact Vero29 setup.
Why brass inserts? Why not just thread the aluminum directly?
LOL… picked up the wrong drill bit for M3 tap…
I was thinking about the Battle Lantern more this morning and I definitely think these Lenina reflectors and a Vero29 are the solution. Since LEDiL makes lenses for these that snap onto the front of the reflector, it allows me to make a much more compact stackup and the smaller OD gives me more face area for surface area increasing features to improve thermals. The shorter depth also gives me a shorter thermal path to the front.
So, I guess I need to order a Vero29. I’m also thinking that since this light will be thermally constrained, I might as well go for a high CRI part as there really isn’t a huge difference in lumens when under-driving them.
For the lumen bazooka, I’m still looking into designing my own driver and I’ve found a few chips that I think are up to the task of pushing a 72v Vero29 to full output.
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LEDiL has a different base for Lena/Lenina reflectors… C15083 which is for Vero29 AND Vero29se! It is also much more compact than the giant C13867 which only works with Vero29.
If you design one I’d be willing to buy a few from you LOLOL.
I set up my Vero29 with my 6s2p battery config, and was able to reach 69.9V @ 2.4A. Way brighter than the previous setup. Glad I got the IceLED cooler because this thing does run a bit hotter.
Yeah, trying to keep something dumping ~200w cool will not be all that easy. I was playing around in CAD with using 3 cheap heatpipe tower coolers in a triangle with a single fan pulling air in the center since I know that once airflow goes above, ~5mph, there isn’t much additional cooling to be had. So, you’re better off adding more surface area and heatpipes if you have room.
Yes… That’s why i increased the depth of the pocket, so i can mount the housing directly to the adapter plate I made. Preliminary tests say it’s enough but that’s just by touch lolol. That said I’m not sure I believe IceLEDs claims of this suppirting up to 400W LEDs. Becausr if it can I might have to use it on my CPU lolol.
They’re probably assuming a steady state junction temp of 85C where the heatsink is up around 60C…
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One of my goals is to keep the COB…COLD.
Likely… but since I have it running at 168W, I think it should be fine. Having a 1/4” aluminum plate and the housing (which has to weigh about 3 pounds) should help a lot. Maybe once I get my rotary axis up and running I’ll make a new heatsink housing. But for now, this is fast and effective.
I do have another solution but saving that for my CFT-90 project…
Well, no new CAD models from LEDiL despite e-mailing them this morning. 
I suppose I could just measure some key dimensions on the Leninas I have and make some progress with that…
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Allegedly, my L6 will be delivered tomorrow so I guess I might waste some time disassembling that and figuring out what sort of stupid I can do with it. 
Got the Vero29 to max at 70.5V @ 2.43A… If I’m reading the current vs. luminous flux charts right I should be right around 25K lumens… Will try to take some outdoor shots this weekend.
Did another test with just one 5200 mAh 3S LiPo. Still achieved 66.6V(!) @ 1A. According to Bridgelux’s charts that should produce around 10k lumens!
So now I know this works, I’ll get a cheapie 250W CV/CC boost converter to run it. This 900W one is a bit big. The IceLED heatsink just so happens to fit in 4” PVC pipe so making a housing should be pretty easy. It does end up weighing a bit more but I don’t think that’s too much a concern for its intended uses. Already have ideas for making vehicle mounting and powering, that would still be easily removed for handheld or tripod use.
As to dimming… I’ve mulled over this for a while. Really not much of anything I could find in the 60-72VDC range. Then after looking through my miscellaneous parts I find these DC motor speed controllers - basically a variable current drive. I hooked it up to the output of the boost converter, and voila! Dimming! Only thing is that this adds considerable bulk.
So I’m back to the TaskLED HyperBoost. Since they recommend a max 7A input current, I should be able to use 6 18650s easily, but I thought I read documentation that the max amount of cells in series that can be used is 5? I know VoB used 8 in the GT mod; I don’t know enough to know why that limitation exists…
NOTE: Motor speed controller NOT in these pics…
You’ll have no problem using up to a 10S lithium ion battery pack with the hyperboost.
Thanks for that… I’d like to use at least 8S 18650s… though the only ones I have now are some Sony VTC6s. Would those work?