For those of you who stumble upon this instructable, a bit of history is mandatory in order to better understand my goals with this LED projector lamp. Therefore I recommend you first read the LED Projector Lamp v.1.0 instructable I posted a while ago. Check back when you’re done for this second part of my adventure.
For this version of the projector lamp I knew I had to find a way to at least double the amount of light on the projection screen. As high-power LED’s are very expensive parts around here (I live in Sibiu, Romania) I wanted to try making my own LED array. I chose the NS6W183T LEDs from Nichia. For those of you who don’t know, Nichia is a Japanese company that produces high quality LEDs and were the first to invent the high power blue and white LEDs back in the 90’s. These LEDs were available around here and the light output was tempting.
This instructable is not yet finished. Also the timeframe on this project is unspecified. I'm publishing its progress because I need other user's opinion on some matters in order to finish it. If you think you have something truly valuable to add to this project, be my guest and share you opinion in comments. I'll try to answer them all.
For this version of the projector lamp I knew I had to find a way to at least double the amount of light on the projection screen. As high-power LED’s are very expensive parts around here (I live in Sibiu, Romania) I wanted to try making my own LED array. I chose the NS6W183T LEDs from Nichia. For those of you who don’t know, Nichia is a Japanese company that produces high quality LEDs and were the first to invent the high power blue and white LEDs back in the 90’s. These LEDs were available around here and the light output was tempting.
This instructable is not yet finished. Also the timeframe on this project is unspecified. I'm publishing its progress because I need other user's opinion on some matters in order to finish it. If you think you have something truly valuable to add to this project, be my guest and share you opinion in comments. I'll try to answer them all.
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My choice for the NS6W183T LEDs was based mainly on the light output & size. These are SMD components and for their size they put out an amazing 245 lumens each (when powered with If=700mA). I had to settle for an array of 9 LEDs, mainly because of the price involved. My hobby budget is very limited. Even so I paid about 55 Euro or 66 USD on these LEDs. Expensive for Romania, cheap for everyone else. The main goal is filling the entire projector condenser lens with light and the array does just that. There’s a problem though. The SMD LEDs I got have the light beam spread at 120 degrees. I had no choice but to go with that, in hoping that I’ll find a way to focus this light somehow.
The cooler selected (see the Cooling step) was 87 RON, that’s 24.5 Euro or 25.5 USD. I got this one because no matter the outcome of this lamp project I’ll still have a future use for it. The rest are scavenged parts, not really worth mentioning. People in the DIY community knows the importance of dumpster dives.
Final cost of materials so far is around 100 Euro, give or take. One more failed project and I’ll get to hear my wife saying “you know, you could have bought that original lamp already, given the already spent amounts”. Now that’s what I call painful irony.
The cooler selected (see the Cooling step) was 87 RON, that’s 24.5 Euro or 25.5 USD. I got this one because no matter the outcome of this lamp project I’ll still have a future use for it. The rest are scavenged parts, not really worth mentioning. People in the DIY community knows the importance of dumpster dives.
Final cost of materials so far is around 100 Euro, give or take. One more failed project and I’ll get to hear my wife saying “you know, you could have bought that original lamp already, given the already spent amounts”. Now that’s what I call painful irony.
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221037245498
Still not sure if im going to buy it yet. i am currently at college with out my projector and i want to do some tests and measurements before i buy it. maybe by quadrupling the lumens it will actually work.
do you think its possible to have too bright of a light source?
but 200 bucks exceeds my budget, so in the meantime I'll go for this http://www.ebay.com/itm/FREE-SH-1x-100W-Cool-WHITE-LED-Lamp-5500-6000K-Bright-Light-High-Power-KD7-/300645874069?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45ffe3f995#ht_2846wt_956
Due to the nature of the lamp case of my projector (it comes with a collimator lens) I'm expecting not to have big problems on the light source focal point issue.
My only problem will be to fit the right cooling device on the small space that is left on the lamp compartment.
I'll keep posting my progress
Also, single high power LEDs are often packaged with a metal circuit board which will better transmit the heat to your heat sink on the back.
Another thing to consider with LED lighting is the spectrum that is output. It appears that you are using cool white LEDs, which output primarily in blue with a smooth curve between red and green. The problem is if you are filtering this into RGB digital output (is this the case?) then the LED spectrum may give odd or dim results (the spectrum notches may not line up well with the filters.) Worse, the color of LEDs change with heat and current and change over time. This is one reason why lighting with smoother spectra (halogen) is used for digital projection.
Also, I really like epolinda's suggestion about driving the LEDs only when the light is needed. That could help dramatically with heat dissipation and power consumption.
I wish you the best of luck for this project. Hopefully you'll fix the issues and come up with a working design. Thank you very much for sharing what you have so far!
I was searching for more components at ebay yesterday and i found this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-High-Power-50-Watt-White-Led-Light-4000LM-3336-/110786280582?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19cb607c86
This give you 4000 lumens in one single shot, and i saw some videos on youtube of this thing working, and i can say its just amazing.
I've the same problem as you my hobby budget is limited, much people use USD but in my country my coin its in devaluation.
Anyways, this led its incredible cheap, even shipping its free to ROMANIA :)
check it and write me back :)
First, if you use one of those high power LEDs, you don't have to make it work at full power. Some of them provide more than 10.000 lumens at full power, but you could drive it with a lower current, getting less light and dissipating less power.
The second point that someone could try is that the LEDs don't have to stay on all the time. If we drive the LEDs using a MOSFET and a small synchronizing circuit, we could keep the LEDs off during the blanking periods, we could reduce the power dissipation to a very lower level.
These are some ideas i have about this issue that I can't not test right now, but I would if I had the time and the means.
Best o luck with your project(or).
Emerson, from Brazil
I dont know about the lifetime about this, but im sure its long enough, but dont know about the fail on products, well, if fails before its suggested you can always claim refund as its an ebay user protect program, i dont see any necessary buying to locals (most of they win some commission on each sell) since you can buy yourself on internet and without pay shipping and rates.
What's your solution for the square light source?
IMO your tiny light source wont give much LUMENS
The housing on the old flashlights can take quit amount of heat.