Who uses CREE MC-E led's for your headlights?

I just bought a drop-in module from DX. It's a Cree MC-E, with a 3-mode driver rated at 410 lumens. I have a 3.3v supply off my dc-converter, which falls right in the middle of the rated voltage range.

I already have a light body, which takles a 35mm reflector. so, I will be converting the drop-in module to a larger 35mm reflector. I will also be using an aluminum pill base, instead of brass. I think the aluminum pill will dissipate heat to the larger reflector better than the brass.

I have a bit of rewiring to do, so this will take a week or so of ocassional tinkering to get it done. I don't have it yet, but apparently it's in the mail. My current CREE R2 is pretty nice, but it has a pretty tight hot spot in the center, with lots of throw, but not much flood. Apparently, this MC-E drop-in has alot more flood. I'm hoping the combo will give me a good balance.


Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone on here is using the MC-E for their headlights. If so, what are you driving it with, and how bright have you gotten it?

Hi Patriot,
I am interested in using the Cree MC-E or something brighter for headlights on my E-Trike. I have considered using 5 watt halogen bulbs. I want to mount them in a scooter headlight housing. I attached a photo of the headlight housing. The opening in the housing for the headlights is 19 mm dia. The opening for the turn signals is 13 mm. I have a 12V-7AH battery for lights and a 72V-12AH battery for the bike motor. I previously ordered some LED lights from http://www.superbrightleds.com however the bulbs are too large to fit in the 19 mm dia opening and they are not bright enought. I am ready to order parts from http://www.DealExtreme.com but I need some advice.

1. What part number did you order?
2. I found SKU16843 MC-E for $17.33. It's max dimension is 9mm. I think it is a surface mount device. I have never soldered a surface mount device. Is it practical to solder it with a 40 watt iron?
3. I found a serial star connection SKU 16544. Should I use this to solder the MC-E to? I assume I can cut the edges of the star connection to fit it in the 19 mm dia. hole in the light housing.
4. What is the best way to connect my 12 V battery to the LED?
5. Do I need a driver or can I power the LED direct from the battery?
6. What do you recommend for a DC to DC converter from 12V to 3.2V?
Thanks
Don

Your light housing looks kind of odd, and may be problematic in converting to LED. Usually, the LED's require a decent reflector, that is made of some kind of alloy, instead of plastic. Mainly because it requires something to conduct the heat away from the LED, or it will be damaged. Halogen bulbs can use the plastic housing, because they can get hot, and it doesn't hurt them.

Mine is a 26mm dia. drop-in unit made for flashlights/torches.

To answer your questions.

1. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21037
2 & 3. I found no products in a search for those #'s.

4 & 5. You need to have a driver for your led. It balances the current going to the led, so it won't fry the poor thing. You also have to have a star or alloy mount to dissipate heat. Usually, the mount then gets glued to a pill or other alloy base with silicon thermal adhesive to dissipate heat further. Temperature is a big issue with these high powered LED's.

6. Search on ebay. There is tons of small dc-dc converters that will get the voltage to where you want it. You may be able to tap into your pack at a lower voltage, just for 3v. Or perhaps if you have a high voltage system around 36v, then there is lots of converters that go from 36v or 48v input down to 3.3v.

- There is also an R2 drop-in module at DX which will take an input of 12v. I have one on my bike, and it has alot of throw. Two R2's in your housing side by side, would really light up the road. The module is made for flashlights, but you may be able to cut into and convert you housing to hold it. The module already has the star mount, driver, and reflector all in one. All you need to do is hook up the voltage supply.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11836

Thanks,
I plan to order 2 of the R-2 12v LED modules. I tried to place the order but PayPal keeps asking for my bank account number. I want to pay PayPal with a credit card. I don't trust PayPal with bank account numbers. Were you able to pay PayPal with a credit card?
Don Gerhardt

I've got about 10 MC-E's left from a CPF group-buy. I've got a bunch of the highest available bin P7's sitting as well.

Why are they just sitting rather than being used?

Because the SST-90 is so much better for my applications.

It's a 3mmx3mm die size, giving 9mm^2 for emmision area. One could easily think it will never have the surface intensity to lead towards making a proper beam from a reasonable sized reflector. However, it has GREATER die intensity than the MC-E, as it's able to maintain over 2,250lm from it's 9mm^2 of die area, resulting in 250lm/mm^2 of specific intensity VS the MC-E true emmision reigon reaching 6mm^2, which even when driven to output 900lm, it's still only 150lm.mm^2. This makes it the first >2,000lm LED that is not some 20 dice equipped 50-100mm^2 emmision area useless rubbish.

It's the first LED device not using Cree dice that has been worth buying in the last 3-4years. lol I'm sure Cree will catch up soon with something to beat it though.

I still haven't had time to make a headlight from a pair of SST-90's yet But I will try to get around to it in the next couple weeks.

Datasheet:

http://www.luminus.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/49fb13dd1ecd06ba454cc7714a96b032/misc/pds_001342_rev_03_sst_90_w_product_datasheet_illumination.pdf

I am with liveforphysics,
The SST-90 would work better for an ebike light since you can use a large reflector. A handheld flashlight, the MC-E would be better unless you like a flood beam. The question is how to dump the heat from a 40 watt LED? Think a heat pipe equipped monster heatsink for those quad CPUs would do it? Maybe a thermally controlled fan on the sink to fire up when the bike is not moving?
I am waiting for the XP-G myself, use it for a helmet light running at around 2 watts.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=487467

XP-E's seem pretty good as another option.

Yea, I'm using the R2 drop in, works great on 12v

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11698

The Oct. 2009 issue of Car and Driver has a photo on page 30 of the LED headlights for the 2010 Audi R8. The twin high beams on each side have four LEDs their arrays. The single low beam generator uses 14 LEDs focused through three lenses. The LEDs are cooled by fans to keep the temperature below 300 degrees F. The output is 60 lumens per watt. A strip of 24 LEDs forms the daytime running lights and turn indicator lights. The European price for the option is about $5000.00.
Don Gerhardt

There are also quite a few options in LED driving lights for 4X4's etc - pretty impressive outputs from those too!