Just built up a triple with the newer nichia219b that I ordered from RMM (super fast shipping!). I’ve been looking for another reputable source for awhile now since IS was having issues with selling them individually.
CRI is high on these newer nichias but, personally, I don’t like the tint as much. The older nichia219 has a little more red and colors pop more. The newer 219 is just ever so slightly cooler and colors are slightly muted. The difference is very small. I have the newer nichias sitting on a noctigon and at 2.8A, it is brighter than the older nichia’s running at 3.04A sitting on boards with a dielectric layer. This is just based on a ceiling bounce test, no concrete numbers.
The difference in tint is only noticeable to me when comparing side by side. I’ll have to use the light more to better feel out differences in tint. I’ll likely be using the newer emitters for future builds since they are brighter and have a lower Vf. I don’t believe the tint difference will be noticeable in everyday use, but I’ll see.
EDIT: Some poor photos but thought it would be better than no photos.
Had to notch out the sides of the board because the heatsink has no center hole for the wires. Reflowing went surprisingly well considering I had 3 LEDs and 4 little jumpers to place. Ran into more problems with my previous triple build.
V1 (older nichia/more homemade/lupodrv) on the left, V2 (newer nichia/silver plated heatsink/lucidrv) on the right
Applied some solder paste with a toothpick and placed the components with a tweezer. Then I put the star on top of a piece of copper and used a small butane torch to heat the copper. It’s slower than directly torching the star but I feel like it’s safer and I’m less likely to overheat or heat too fast etc. Once I see the solder melt I also give each LED a small bump down to ensure a good flat bond.
Picked up the heatsink triple blank from Mattaus who is a member here. He used them for the triple unit he was producing but I wanted just the blank to use the LED and driver of my choice. I also just like putting things together myself vs. buying a preassembled unit.
I may end up letting this one go and building a harder driven quad. Craving a bit more power.
Matt’s second version was professionally plated, very very nice shells! They add some heft to a light, making it feel more substantial…a dead giveaway there’s some copper up in there spreading heat around!
Yep, heatsinking is great. Especially with the copper star.
After using this light a bit more, the slight differences in tint is not noticeable. In fact, I would say the newer nichia219s would be preferable to the older ones because they produce a more balanced color to everything. I personally prefer tints in the 5 region for CREE leds which is why I enjoy the slightly warmer nichia219A but these nichia219Bs are just as good but more “neutral”.
