Luminus SST-40, a N4 BA bin tested

Luminus is an american company as far as I know.

You could answer your own questions and order one or a few SST-40 leds, for most people they do not cost a year’s salary.

What I found about beams produced by the SST-40 is that they produce nice, even tinted hotspots without ugly corona’s.

My biggest concern, I guess, is my low current, by this community standards. Would they be green at 150, 350, 700 mA? I am not talking 150 ma, by slamming the led with high current of like six amc7135, then pwm down to 150 ma. (Actually, I would be pwm 700 mA, or just going a straight 340 ma, using one amc7135, on a single cell build).

Consider a TIR? 20mm is most common, but people who did off-road lights got some narrow-spot TIRs in >30mm sizes.

Most come with or at least have available, a “shoe” which keeps the lens perfectly placed over the LED. Most even have mounting holes to hold the lens to the (usually 20mm) mcpcb as well.

A 30 mm with low loss gets my attention—-My tir experience is that

1. I can use the aluminum reflector as part of the heat sink. (rather than using a centering ring, I lift the aluminum reflector into place with my avid fingers, then use thermal epoxy to bridge the reflector onto the pcb, then epoxy the electrical contacts for water proofing. the bezel has plenty of air inside to cool the inside of the “bezel” and reflector”

2. My tir (limited manufacturer) experience is: yes they can throw a bit more than an smo, but coronal spill is less and a lumen absorption, beyond an aluminum smo and ar lense (I am fighting to get every bit out of 700 mah, aka my .1C drain goal…… Before the xpg, I was a fan of tir and focusing lights because the 3 aa and efficiency wasn’t enough. After the 4aa and xpg and 2x 18650, I didn’t want lpw trade for just throw. however, in single cell xpl v6, a 30 mm tir, at .1C sounds like a winner. Not sure it would beat an xpl hi v5, in a 26mm. I have no use for even 20 mm tirs, at least for work lights, with limited capacity of the 18650 and 21700s (I suppose an xpl hi at 700mah off 2s 18650, but no point, as in a single cell where tir makes sense, .1c is 300 mah to 420 mah with amc7135 loss.

I haven’t met a single cell light I like yet—driverer loss, limited mah batteries, small optic on the right angle lights. I liked the imalent hr20, but even it falls about 3.5 x short of anything more than a belt emergency light, when I forgot the real work lights.

TLDR - Can someone tell me a synopsis of the SST40 LED. I see it’s got a low vF and better output than an XM_L2 (and darn close if not better than an XP-L), but how does it compare in actual use? Does it throw better than an XM-L2? Is throw and beam width about the same as an XM-L2? Does it throw less but have a wider beam? Beamshot comparisons between other emitters (LEDs at same current levels and same TIR’s or reflectors preferred) would be great! I’m interested in trying out some emitters in a dual LED bike light (20mm optics - probably 10º) and looking to maybe try SST40’s and SST20’s (right now I’m not too impressed with SST20’s, but that’s seeing them in a Sofirn IF25A quad). I’m not looking to direct-drive them for max current; they’ll probably be running at about 2.4A each.

Thanks!
-Garry

The 5000K SST-40 is one of may favorite LED's now - lots of power, nice consistent beam pattern - no crazy tint shifting.

Not aware of any head-to-head compares, but in throw, it's probably about the same as an XM-L2 for the same lumens output. Of course you can slice SST-40's to get more throw, close to double the kcd if done well. I don't think it's an advantage over XM-L2's or XPL's (same really) of output per amp, just that you can get more amps out of them because of the low Vf.

djozz's test in the OP shows they perform similar, but all depends on binning of the LED's being compared I'm sure.

Thanks Tom! In bike light use I’m very interested in the low vF yielding higher output for longer.

-Garry

Oh, quick question - does the SST40 fit in typical XML sized optics without any modding or anything? What about using the SST20 in the XML optics - does that work out okay (with spacers or something) or should XPG sized optics be used instead?

Thanks!
-Garry

Yes - I've never had SST-40 problems on 5050's. Dome sure looks the same size/shape as XM-L or XM-L2.

For 3535's, SST-20's have same issue as XPL's, 351D's, and all other 3535's. I can usually get away with the 45 deg thing to position a 3535 LED in a 5050 reflector centering piece. Other optics may need a 3535 to 5050 converter, which they sell (somewhere), maybe on KD.

I prefer 351D's over SST-20's mostly, but SST-20's throw better. The high CRI SST-20's don't throw all that good though - lower output as well. All the classic tradeoffs - for high CRI, lose lumens and throw.

3535 to 5050 adapter: http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_82&product_id=242

I agree. Sst40 is one of the best currently out for flashlights. Great output, efficient, cheap, fits into lights with xm-l and xml2 and xm-l optics and reflectors, and has nice tint in 5000k (and no tint shift or corona). No high cri though…

But only low CRI so far. :frowning:

Hello. Is there a reliable way to completely remove a sislicon lens from a diode (dedom)?

What worked for XM-L2 did not work for the SST40, that is precisely the problem.

Yes you are right. The diode is lost, I do not advise wetting … It holds on to the dome better than to the podium. In my opinion, only cutting. The dome did not soften at all. The emitter itself is glued to the podium with glue that has dissolved.

I wanted to swap out some of the old XML2 for a light fixture and thought a SST40 would fit. I wonder if it has the same hue shift as XML in this thread?

Not as much

Thank you!

Unless you have convincing evidence otherwise, I must disagree. The SST40 is also a domed emitter and from most photos I've seen, the amount of angular tint shift is comparable to XML2. It is more likely to be green than XM-L2, too, and when it gets green it can be VERY green. See this thread for how green it can be!

If you want no angular tint shift, you really need a domeless or dedomed emitter.

sst40 has less angular tint shift than xml2. You want to dispute it?
I have enough experience with sst40 and xml2. Nothing can compare with cree rainbow.
Green or very green can be any emitter.
It is obvious that ideally one should use domeless led.

G3s (and whichever XHPs are made up of quad G3s) are among the worst I’ve EVER seen. Even as a mule, they’re downright hideous, and just shining it near a white wall has the hideous green/yellow/white bullseye pattern.

That said, just as with all my LuxPro lights that came with G3s, a slathering of diffusion film evens out the light pretty nicely. I turned all mine into very floody area lights.

Also, I got one of those LED stick-lights that replaces T-whatever fluorescent tubes, and they had that annoying snot-green fringing, so I cut long strips of diffusion film and covered the length of that as well. Definite benefit is not having “echo shadows” anymore (ie, from dozens of point-sources) as well as way better color-mixing.

Seriously, diffusion film is like the push-up bra of the LED world.