An improved Oslon square

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

I tested an Oslon square led in december 2013, its performance was on par with the XP-G2, that is: up to 4A (the test was a 3500K 80 CRI Oslon Square, if extrapolated to cool white its output compares very well to XP-G2). The Vf was a tiny bit higher than the XP-G2.

Osram now announces a voltage lowering of 0.2V of the Oslon square, setting the voltage below that of the XP-G2. They emphasize on an improved efficiency of 8%, but for flashlight use the lower voltage has a much bigger advantage: it will be driven harder in single li-ion lights :-) . My guess is that this new Oslon Square in a direct drive triple flashlight will have very nice performance, not to mention that Oslons come in some nice tints.

(Oslon squares can be reflowed reasonably well on a XP-G board)

2

That does sound nice. Dropping Vf usually gets my vote.

The dome seems to magnify the die a lot.

3

Let’s hope that SinkPad will produce their 3-Oslon Square boards in copper. Although you can solder the Oslon Square to a XP-G board, I think it would be better for heat transfer and centering to have a dedicated board. By the way, you can estimate the die-size from the datasheet to be about 1.42mm x 1.42mm.

4

[Fake] Cree early 2014 press announcement:

"Today, Cree is proud to announce our future LED roadmap. Starting in the summer of 2014, our new technology will increase the forward voltage requirement of all of our existing 3V LEDs. All new technology for 2015 will be released at 6V and 12V, with 2016 transitioning our entire line to 12V+. Flashlight enthusiasts are expected to flock to other manufacturers waiting to fill the gap, but we don't care since they are such a small portion of our sales. Osram can take them, all they do is complain."

5

RMM must of missed part of the announcement from Cree saying that the 3 volt leds will also no longer to be able to be driven past manufacturers specifications. A built in explosive device is set to detonate the led into oblivion when the current supplied to the emitter is .00005 amps past the manufacturers spec. The reason for this is to negate warranty claims and to increase sales.

Edit. My insider information came from a Cree representative high up. He was standing on a very tall ladder.