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More LED nav lights

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FrankK90989

Well Known Member
I "got er done" following Pete H & Jeff B;s lead I made a set of nav lights.
I used 4 on each side Luxeon K2 stars driven by 700ma power pucks mounted on the end wing ribs. Took a few fittings to get the acrylic mirrors to fit under the lens. My bench test showed the aluminum backing plate/heatsink
ran at 168F/76C @14.2 volts (65F ambient), IMO they are more than bright enough even from side angles. they cost me $115.09 total. Parts came from LED supply, Good folks answerd all my questions. and Ebay for the 12"X12" X1/8 mirrored plexi.
Its hard to get a good photo depicting the intensity of these LEDs
img1153szp2.jpg
 
Nice job!!!

Frank, looks good man! But tell them how much time it took you so people dont think Im supporting my family on what I offer. Time = $$$

-Jeff
 
Instructions

Hey those look great. Someone should put this together as a package with installation instructions and a parts list.
 
RV_7A said:
Frank, looks good man! But tell them how much time it took you so people dont think Im supporting my family on what I offer. Time = $$$
-Jeff
Click to expand...

Jeff,

I am sure that you are offering a great value for people that value time more than money. Right now I am trying to figure out how to pay for a finish kit, avionics, and an engine and have the time while I raise the funds for those items so I am going to roll my own. You have a wonderfull package and price seems to me!
 
Fantastic Job!

Brantel said:
Jeff,

I am sure that you are offering a great value for people that value time more than money. Right now I am trying to figure out how to pay for a finish kit, avionics, and an engine and have the time while I raise the funds for those items so I am going to roll my own. You have a wonderfull package and price seems to me!
Click to expand...


Frank,

I hope you didn?t take my post as if I were knocking your efforts and thinking you should have just bought them from me. No way man, I applaud you. I am just like you and love to tinker and experiment and my time is far more plentiful than my money. I encourage people to "roll your own" all the time. It?s not rocket science for sure and with a little time spent the outcome is very rewarding and something to be proud of. A friend once told me, imitation is the highest form of flattery. Many people have inquired about my lights with a landing light built in and I honestly just haven?t had the time to give that a try. I hope many builders follow your form.

Keep on rockin'!


-Jeff
 
Brian: 4 in series,

Jeff: It did take about 8 hours of puttering but thats what I like to do. I did not think this post would hurt your sales (after some thought) making your own lights dosent have much of a following judging by the amount of posts.

Pete Thanks
 
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Northern Run

Frank,

I still need to fly up to say hello. I'll see if we can get a few planes and head to the top of the midwest this winter.
 
alpinelakespilot2000 said:
What kind of wattage are your strobe bulbs? I'm seeing a lot of 40 watt, 60 watt, and 90 watts available. Which is most appropriate for our purposes?
Click to expand...

alpinel,
I think it is a 60W power supply with a "M" type tube, The power supply came from Ebay it is set to low power because I heard that the Whelan tail light combo wont last long set on high. That being said I think 60W is enough?
 
FrankK90989 said:
Brian: 4 in series,

Pete Thanks
Click to expand...

Wow, I was worried that the total of the foward voltage on 3 in series plus the overhead of 2 volts for the driver would be too much for standard aircraft voltages. Looks like they must overstate the requirements!

If you ran 4 in series on 14v, I should have no problems with 3.

Great job!
 
FrankK90989 said:
Take a peek here.
http://www.ledsupply.com/02008b-700.php

PowerPuck Application Note
Click to expand...

Saw that one before, I noticed that they did not show the K2 stars and this had me concerned due to the fact that the K2's have a higher forward voltage than the I's.

Have you tried the green ones yet? They have a higher average forward voltage than the I's.

According to the literature:
Reds = 2.95vFtyp x 4 = 11.8 + 2 (driver) = 13.8 volts required
Greens = 3.42vFtyp x 4 = 13.68 + 2 (driver) = 15.68 volts required

If the greens work fine, they must really overstate the vF on these things.

I really like the K2's due to the isolated base plate!

The PowerPuck seems to be better than the BuckPuck at driving these at the voltages we need.

Please let me know if you tried 4 greens in series.

Best regards!
 
Brantel said:
Have you tried the green ones yet? They have a higher average forward voltage than the I's.

According to the literature:
Reds = 2.95vFtyp x 4 = 11.8 + 2 (driver) = 13.8 volts required
Greens = 3.42vFtyp x 4 = 13.68 + 2 (driver) = 15.68 volts required

If the greens work fine, they must really overstate the vF on these things.
Click to expand...

I did some measurements on my LEDs when I was playing around with them. The forward voltage was as advertised. I think if you're short on volts like the green example above, the current out of the driver will likely be lower and thus the LEDs will be less bright.
 
MTBehnke said:
I did some measurements on my LEDs when I was playing around with them. The forward voltage was as advertised. I think if you're short on volts like the green example above, the current out of the driver will likely be lower and thus the LEDs will be less bright.
Click to expand...

The manufacturer says the drivers will just drop out if they cannot provide their rated current. I am not sure this is true, that is just what they said.
They are not simple voltage dropping devices but instead DC to DC converters with constant current circuitry.
 
Brantel said:
Saw that one before, I noticed that they did not show the K2 stars and this had me concerned due to the fact that the K2's have a higher forward voltage than the I's.

Have you tried the green ones yet? They have a higher average forward voltage than the I's.

According to the literature:
Reds = 2.95vFtyp x 4 = 11.8 + 2 (driver) = 13.8 volts required
Greens = 3.42vFtyp x 4 = 13.68 + 2 (driver) = 15.68 volts required

If the greens work fine, they must really overstate the vF on these things.

I really like the K2's due to the isolated base plate!

The PowerPuck seems to be better than the BuckPuck at driving these at the voltages we need.

Please let me know if you tried 4 greens in series.

Best regards!
Click to expand...

The K2, are the same as the III's voltage wise.
I bench tested the greens and reds till I got blue! (jusy kidding) about one hour runs, they didn't drop out until about 9+/- volts. my system (9A) ststic is 12.1V, running is 14.2V, changing the voltage shifted the intensity and temperature 12V=130F 14.2=168F the most draw 1000ma per4 K2's.
but even at 12V they will burn your eyes out! I like to bench test rather than do all the jibber jabber math. I'm always testing something mostly glue.
 
Thanks Frank,

This tells me my plan is good to go.

Best regards and enjoy your cool looking lights!
 
Plenty Bright

These things are plenty bright even when underdriven. Still way brighter than standard nav lights. I used a bigger current limiting resistor to reduce temps and give a bit of headroom on voltage. Plenty bright at reduced voltage. Hard to capture with a camera.

hangardance033qm7.jpg
 
petehowell said:
These things are plenty bright even when underdriven. Still way brighter than standard nav lights. I used a bigger current limiting resistor to reduce temps and give a bit of headroom on voltage. Plenty bright at reduced voltage. Hard to capture with a camera.
Click to expand...

Thanks Pete,

I am planning to use a constant current driver instead of a current limiting resistor. I will however be using a current less than the max for the K2.

Yours look great as well!
 
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