Ledil Seanna: need advice

Other Types of Lights LED Spotlights
1

Hi!

I started looking into DIY lights since basically yesterday, because I want to build a “light column” light source for party / entertainment / mood. I did some research and it seems the Ledil Seanna lens will give me a very narrow angle beam, so I ordered one.
For the light source, I looked at:

  • XQ-E 1.6 x 1.6 mm, 3W, 2.9 V, 334 lm
  • XHP35.2 3.45 x 3.45 mm, 13 W, 11.2 V, 1718 lm
  • XHP50.2 5 x 5 mm, 18W, 12V, 2654 lm

I don’t care much about illuminating something, but rather having a visible light beam (in foggy conditions). The Ledil datasheet suggests that the smaller the light source, the tighter the beam and the higher the max. intensity will be. Examples:

XHP50.2
LED XHP50.2
FWHM 2.7°
Efficiency 84 %
Peak intensity 128.7 cd/lm

XQ-E HD
FWHM 1.1°
Efficiency 92 %
Peak intensity 1460 cd/lm

So even though the XQ-E is just 334 lm vs 2654 lm of the XHP50.2, the light beam from the XQ-E seems to be more intense due to the smaller footprint? Which LED would you guys recommend? I’m tempted to order all three and see which one gives me the best results.

Also, I’m not sure I got the power source thing figured out. I have two sources available:

  • 12V 5A USB-C power bank
  • 48V / 40A eBike battery

Can I use the 12V power bank directly for the XHP50.2, or do I need to limit current also, which means I need to order a special driver?
Happy for any input, as I’m completely new to this.

2

Beam width is not the same as beam visibility. You may read Syniosbeam build which shows it nicely:

I strongly recommend SBT90.2.

3

That is a very nice build! If I ever do a v2, this might be the template. For my current project I’m not looking to beat records, and I want to keep costs very low, so I guess the XHP50.2 will be it.

I’ve seen that people “de-dome” their LEDs - is this also advisable to do for my purposes? Why?

4

Have you looked at Osram’s emitters?

CULPM1.TG or CSLPM1.TG might be what you want.

5

I haven’t. I figure the luminance is better? I’m not sure I’m interpreting the dimensional drawings right, but this would indeed be a huge difference:

XHP50.2:
max 2654 lm / (5mm*5mm) = 106

CULPM1.TG
max 2120 lm / (3,8mm * 1,8mm) = 309

6

Ok, I ordered some CULPM1.TG, constant current drivers and heat sinks. Hoping I can post beam shots soon.

7

> I strongly recommend SBT90.2.

This chip costs > 40€! But I bet it has decent throw, considering the tiny size. Efficiency is not great either, so cooling won’t be easy, so I think I’ll pass.

Anyone got opinions on the Cree XM-L U2?

8

So, I’ve finally got around to make some beam shots. Ledil Seanna, CULPM1.TG, 22W power:

For comparison, Astrolux FT03 SST40-W:

Overall I’m quite happy. It took more work than expected, but it performs well. Turns out that proper alignment of LED to lens is very important!

EDIT for some reason the pictures are not getting displayed, here again as links:

pic 1
pic 2
pic 3

Astrolux FT03 SST40-W

9

So I’ve just measured lux and distance, and calculated throw distance by using the method outlined here: https://www.instructables.com/Measureing-Lux-Flashlight-Beam-Distance-Throw-Rang/

I got 51900 lux in a distance of 460 cm, which comes out to a throw distance of 2.096 meters. Not bad!