Fedex just dropped my samples off, more info and beam shots to come today. I'll be mounting one (on an XML-color sinkPAD) in my Jax Z1 and the other 3 (on a custom DPT heatsink) will be in my TN30. These are called LZ1 (for now) but are not the same as any version of existing LZ1, the 1x1mm did is under a beautiful glass lens (SBT-70 style), the emitter is good looking overall with clean edges everywhere and all came centered on their boards, clearly manufactured with very high level quality control. Without having one reflowed off yet they do appear to use a standard (single color) LZ1 MCPCB.
First update- the included copper boards are DTP! No SinkPAD needed.
Initial results are in! First thing I notices was it really cant be over driven! its rated at 3A max, at 4A there is significant blue shift, to much to run it at that current on this MCPCB. At 4.6A the light is almost pure blue and I’m not comfy running it more than a second or so cause I dont want to damage it. I’m actually not ok with 4A but I dont think that will cause much damage, >4A will definitely shorten the life, probably pretty quickly.
In my Z1 @ 3.5A (10x 7135) it’s putting out 387Lm and making 192,000Cd. At 2.45A (7x7135) it does 290Lm and 168kCd. at 3.5A it was reading 3.87vF, at the 2.45A test it was 3.22vF, that’s my favorite spec so far.
These are just initial numbers in the very first thing I could throw the emitter in (my Jax Z1), it doesnt seem to perform up to the “XM-L2 lumen output” I was originally told it could do, however in my mind this was always more on track with the XP’s, both G2 and E2, and it seems to be a pretty good mix of those two, combining good brightness with a tiny die for throw and like the XP-E2 it really doesnt like being over driven.
The blue shift is so severe, and happens such a small margin over spen it makes me wonder about the factory board,it’s definitely DTP but I’m not sure it’s the best performing, I still think I’ll mod a sinkPAD and see if that lets me drive it a little higher, or at the same 4A with no blue shift at least…
More / better data to come, probably not tonight but I plan to test this over the weekend. I’m especially interested in the vF, it looks amazingly low.
Additional pic’s of initial build in post 15 below.
Additional pic’s of LED and MCPCB in post 18 below.
Three images for now, much more interested in getting one in a light than worrying about taking pictures! I’ll have some beam shots (of the Z1) tonight if I can brave the cold.
Here's some more pic's, the copper DTP MCPCB front and rear plus it vs a non DTP LED ENGIN MCPCB to see how they did it. I couldnt get a pic but it appears the make these boards by drilling a threw hole then pressing in a plug (of another piece of copper, not just punching it up sinkpad gen1 style, IRL you can see the difference between the pieces of copper, I tried to sand it shinier to get a photo but couldn't.
Front and rear (mouseover)
Left is non DTP (a 365nm UV LZ1 came on it), right is DTP
close up dismounted (you can see the window a bit better in the mouse over image)
Pads
One thing I'm not happy about, the window isnt sealed, I cleaned the flux after reflowing onto this sinkPAD and some alcohol got under the window (see the air bubble, it's nearly full of alcohol). I was able to remove it with compressed air but I wonder if final production LED's will be totally sealed or the same as this. This is one thing I'll definitely be talking to them about.
Just like the 365nm LZ1's I've used it fits on a XML-Color sinkPAD without modification, using a regular XM MCPCB you'll have to make 2 small cuts in the anode and cathode pads to isolate them from the center slug, the center thermal pad overlaps the outter pads and you will short it if you dont cut them. With the XML-Color MCPCB the center pad still makes contact but it doesnt create a short cause the + and - pads are already segmented and only the center segments short. Just only use the top or bottom most wire pads and you're fine without having to make a single cut.
Those are DIY quads I built based on the parts stripped of Estes ProtoX’s. They have 7mm motors and 35mm props (both slightly larger than stock ProtoX parts) but all components on the boards are the same except the FET’s, (those are my own sourced parts). I fly them with my Devo 7E running the open source deviation FW.
BTW if anyone else is interested the larger quad is a LaTrax Alias clone that’s an amazing deal right now at GearBest, the Lishi L6052, on sale for $33 (about 1/5th the price of the Alias and nearly as capable) they fly great, tho not yet devo compatible (we’re working on that as we speak).
With the 7E
DIY ProtoX
Even with the giant 150mAh cell strapped on the high performance motors, most powerful / lower resistance FET’s I could find and aggressively pitched props make them perform like $150+ top of the line store bought quads and they do that for about $50 (for the pair). I get >5 minutes of flight per cell (I have my devos alarm set for 5 minutes and I haven’t yet hit the low voltage warning when I land when it beeps). It can climb faster than anything else I have and flies forward at about 15mph at full elevator.
