Making Nichia 119 mcpcb - THE EASY WAY!

Hi, new member here :slight_smile:

Can this mod also be done with copper sinkpad and 119?

Should work just as nice there.
Ill try with a Noctigon some time… Ill try a drop of fujick into the trace/traces that were cut.
Should improve heat transfer a tad, and also make it more short circuit proof. Ill assume it will handle the heat when re-flowing, not 100% sure though…

I looked up the Noctigon seem to be same as the sinkpads.
This is good news as I still have a few 119 samples left and couldn’t find a good copper base.

Thanks RaceR86!

I built up two today, using this method. I used an Xacto knife to scrape off the center pad, leaving behind the dielectric layer. Basically the same result, with a different method. To be honest, I was too lazy to go (20 steps) to the workshop and break out the Dremel :stuck_out_tongue:
I put one in a C3 that has been sitting around for a while waiting for a change. The result is a ringy high CRI beam. I think I need to adjust the emitter height, or swap the reflector (has an XM-L reflector right now).
The other went into a BBQBuy SK68 clone. The pill was solid, so the star has a good seat. The beam is near perfect, although the output is a little lower than the XP-E it replaced. The tint is waaaay better. It has a nice smooth flood with great color rendition.
I have three more 119 emitters on hand. I have some small hosts kicking around that might get a high CRI upgrade. :slight_smile:

bit of an old thread, but I was wondering what peoples views are on the tint with these 119s from FT? I’m thinking of building a cheap light bar for my garage/ workshop with a 3-5x1-2W 110V driver (any ideas on that front?) and these would be a great option.

They’d also work well for small closet lights too, another thing the wife has been bugging me about :slight_smile:

Tints are subjective, but I really like the tint, its WW but not super warm. Its not that yellow/orange looking as the typical 3000K Cree emitters. Color rendering is good.
I like it. They are so cheap that you might as well just buy one and try out it, buy in quantity if you like them…

They are a quite nice tint, warm but not overly yellow. I have bought 10 so far (I get them five at a time) and have plans for them in flashlights and other projects.

sweet, thanks guys! I have a couple of WW XR-Es that are just too yellow for me, so knowing that these are not overly yellow is a big plus. I might as well get 5 and have a play :slight_smile:

did the reflow last night after cutting out the centre thermal pad on my XP-G stars (10 for $1.xx from FT!) and it worked a dream. I could even grind off the copper trace but leave the dialectric layer intact. All 5 lit up fine, now I just have to make the light bar. Thanks RaceR86!

coming from the giveaway thread (big props for that) - how did you get the pill out? I have an XP-G2 5B from FT coming that I wouldn’t mind sticking in the M5 that I have to try out. Do you press it out from the front/ lens?

Glad to be of help mattthemuppet. :)

The head on the M5 is a 2-piece design. Just unscrew the front of it to accesses the emitter. There is no pill making heat transfer very good. Pictures in this review done by djozz.

you know, I even read that review and still didn’t remember :oops:! Thanks for the reminder. Should make it an easy swap. Or I could just put a 119 in there like you did, as I have another 10 coming :slight_smile: Hopefully I’ll get time tonight to put the ones I already have on stars into their lights. I’m looking forward to checking out the tint, especially compared to the pus yellow XR-E I have in a work light.

managed to complete my garage light build the other night and I’m really impressed with the Nichia 119. The ones I have are more NW than WW though, at least compared to the yucky WW XR-E (bletch) that was in my desk/work light and the CFL in there. I’ll have to compare it to the Nichia 219 and XM-L2 3C torches I have. Still, I’m very happy with them, so a big thanks for the star making tip!

As soon as I’ve glued on the LED-DNA optics (bought a bunch of 10, 25, 45 and 60deg ones for 34c each!) I’ll post a build thread.

I have tested this method and it has superb thermal transfer…

Just glued copper shim on a piece of aluminium, under one side kapton tape then I soldered it on with a bit of flux and 400°C soldering iron not beautiful but it works good.
Can’t wait for my other emmitters to arrive…

Nice werner.. Reminds me alot the more "fiddly way" I did here though..

What are you going to use it for?

Lol I first cut a piece of copper too but it was so soft it bend and then I looked around and saw this copper shim… was very fast to build as everything is self adhesive.

I plan to use it in my closet,I have a pir sensor light which will detect when I open the door to switch it on….

I have some ledstrips laying around but these are so ugly blue I wouldn’t find the right trousers….

:)

Cool..

I recently scored some Nichia 119’s… offered here for cheap: Nichia 119's for cheap (also Cree XLAMP-7090's)

I have some of the XP-G parallel triples from IS:

https://illuminationsupply.com/led-mcpcbs-c-52_43/20mm-triple-xpg-mcpcb-parallel-p-250.html?zenid=30fb800bb1b6dd0a42fa9ab64e239170#.UnPMBvk_sno

and wanted to confirm that the mod in the OP of this thread should work ok with those also, right?

Also, after gouging out the middle pads from the board, does reflow work “normally”, i.e., put some solder paste on each pad then heat up the board (with a small torch, in my case)?

Yes, it should work just fine. Another possibility is to use some thin Kapton tape on the center pad.