Luxeon Rebel LEDs - Underrated performers

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hey all!

Thought I’d share my latest project with you guys. I wanted to try and play with some of the Luxeon Rebel color LEDs. Cree makes color LEDs, but Luxeon’s color LED lineup is far more comprehensive than Cree’s lineup.

Parts:
Cyan Light:
Cyan LED
Convoy M1 Host
4x 7135 Driver
20mm Aluminum SinkPAD for Rebel LEDs

Deep Rep Light:
Deep Red LED
Convoy M1 Host
4x 7135 Driver
20mm Aluminum SinkPAD for Rebel LEDs

Now, I consider these to be quintessential ying and yang lights. Our eyes are made of rods [very sensitive to intensity, insensitive to color] and cones [sensitive to intensity and color]. This means that our eyes are most sensitive to a cyan around 500nm, and least sensitive to reds above 600nm. This is why hunters use Red flashlights—it does the least amount of damage to adjusted night vision, and most mammals are insensitive to red light. However, there is an even better solution, and that is a deep red LED. My deep red LED is above 660nm, and my preliminary research would suggest that there are mammals that cannot see this spectrum of light at all, making a silent hunter with a deep red flashlight effectively invisible to his or her prey.

The Cyan LED (range of 490nm-510nm), on the other hand, will absolutely wreck adjusted night vision. If you want to stun an attacker at night, there is nothing better from a biological standpoint than a light around 500nm. I consider this a defensive light. Even with only 1A coming through the LED, it appears extremely bright. Though, when run on the low mode, it will not destroy night vision. In fact, it is almost better than the deep red because your eyes are more sensitive to that range of light, and thus can pick up more detail. But again, that only applies on the low mode.

The M1 hosts are alright—I would have preferred a C8 host, but these work nicely with 20mm stars. Between the SinkPADs and the low current, the light is thermally excellent. Battery life is also great too. I have a little tweaking to do to the host to eliminate some rattles, but it’s very nice aesthetically, and the narrow/deep projector means the light is far more pocketable than a C8 host.

I’ll post up some pictures comparing the deep red LED to a traditional Red LED—the difference really is noticeable. There is truly an absence of orange or yellow in the deep red Luxeon, while it is surprisingly prevalent in the Luminus PT-54 and other red lights. Just need to wait for it to get a little darker.

2

looking forward to your pictures. I had a red LED light built for me (S3 host, Red XP-E, QLITE 7135*8 3.04, Noctigon XP16 copper MCPCB from Mountain Electronics) by Mountain Electronics. It definitely is red, but NOT the deep red you are talking about. On high mode, my light is bright, but seems bright other than red if that makes any sense.

thanks for your post….

patrick

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I actually just ordered some more powerful drivers, and I plan to populate each w/ 5x 380mA 7135 chips, to get the lights up to 1.9A.

My time got eaten up last night by another project, so pics will have to be tonight.

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subscribed.

5

I have a few lights with Rebel Neutral white emitters, and they have a really good tint and great output. comparable to XP-Gs or 219s.

6

We use amber evening lights (cured our late evening wakefulness, the “no blue light” approach).
I’ve been looking at the amber Rebels for this purpose, glad you’re doing it and giving guidance.

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nice project, looking forward to the builds!

I did an output test on a cyan LuxeonZ led here, I would not be surprised if the cyan rebel performes very similar.

Luxeon has recently even added a new colour to their already good range: lime (568nm).

8

Awesome! I look forward to the red beam shots.
Looking for an astronomy flashlight is how I discovered this hobby. Ironically I’ve not bought a single red light because they are all reflectors. My use is primarily for reading star charts without blowing my night vision so have been putting red emitters in zoomies. They all seem to come out a bit orange though… This emitter is new to me, thanks for the link.

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Lower amps (less chips on the driver) would correct any brightness issues of reflectors I would think. I dont know what amps would be optimum, but less is going to give you a more friendly close range light. Or use a lower setting on a multi mode.

I think…

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Thank you for the great info on night vision and red and cyan. Very interesting. Looking forward to seeing your lights.

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I believe you are correct. For my application a zoomie in flood mode puts out a light of even brightness with no hotspot which is more comfortable for reading. Rollinstone157 is going to be after that hotspot though if he’s using the light for hunting.

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Orange peel, or stippled reflector will kill any hotspot, and smooth it out nicely. As would an opaque lens.

Or a zoomie I guess. Could do the same with it too, lower the amps if needed. I dont like zoomies. No idea why.

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I’ll post my beamshots here, in about an hour

Hmm, so I only have my point and shoot camera with me, which offers very limited control of settings. The Cyan shot, however, looks pretty neat.

Cyan:

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That does look neat. I take it the camera is auto adjusting the brightness and thus hiding the spill?

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You’re correct—I just don’t have access to my DSLR at the moment so of course I’m a little limited. But the light has wonderful spill, a very, very smooth beam indeed.

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I am thinking that 3 x 7135s is enough for an led rated at 700 ma, even using a large host to take up the heat.
I am putting it in my UniqueFire UF-T20. Had to pry out the star, and melt out the driver. Need to file off 1 mm. from the deep red star. The driver fits fine.

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What is the best way to deal with the heat the 7135s give off from the low forward voltage of the deep red led? I have used lifepo4 or 2 NiNH 18650s in other applications where lower voltage was helpful.

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I used a 7135 based driver on a Oslon IR-led with very low Vf. I made some extra heatsinking for the 7135-chips and used a LiFePo battery, but the light also works ok with a normal Li-ion. It has become a bit long thread, sorry about that.

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I have not yet managed that, but it is on my radar so to speak. I’m thinking I’ll buy some synthetic diamond powder and mix it with some silicone (maybe GE Silicone II) to use for potting.

I am pretty comfortable with this level of current (and subsequent heat) because the Rebels are on Al SinkPads. The heat transferring qualities are excellent on these, and I saw no detrimental effects to running the lights on high for an hour (other than a manageable level of heat)

But to be honest, I think the max drive currents on Rebels are extremely underrated (700mA-1A, depending on whether it’s an ES or regular Rebel). Both lights performed like champs when running on high for an hour, with no recognizable negative effects. I mean come on, the XP-G2’s maximum drive current is 1500mA, and it can do a little bit more than that :wink:

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I tested a few other modern Luxeons (Q and Z) for output, voltage and current, and they go way over specs. I expect the newest Rebels have the exact same die as the Luxeon Z and Q, so the behaviour would be similar.