willie
May 25, 2012, 7:16pm
21
PCC:
Just a bit more info about copper. For the best performance you need to go with C101 copper, which is 99.99% pure. I use C110 copper, which is rated at 99.9% pure. That 0.09% purity difference equates to almost double the cost and only a 2-3% improvement in performance. Hardly worth it, IMHO. The thing, though, is that copper with less purity drops in performance quickly from there. That's why I cringe when I see folks building high power setups using hardware store copper fittings of unknown quality. You really don't know what you are getting and you don't know how it's going to perform as a result. You will probably get only slightly better performance than aluminum going this route.
Oh, yeah, bigChelis had a monster 4D Mag made using three top bin SST-90s wired in parallel, direct soldered to copper, and the stock switch wired to a FET to avoid melting the stock switch. That thing was insane. Estimated at 6000 lumens, that light would get scalding hot in less than two minutes. Every light in my collection seemed like a Mag Solitaire after that!
A fet is the way to go with high amps. I have been using IRLB3034 on builds and button cell powered remote switches. All of these have been positive ground due to the PT copper base. Max power rating on the PT120/121 is 36A making these the largest single die emitters available.
viktori
May 26, 2012, 1:06am
22
Got any links with details or pictures?
What exactly do you mean when you say remote switches?