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LANDING LIGHT BUILD

Gyrodoug

Well Known Member
Anyone ever purchased LED lights online and built their own landing lights? I'm particularly curious about 3D printing the mount and if so, which light did you use?

There are some very bright LED options online.

Thoughts? Pics? Files to share?

Thanks!
 
Duck works +Rigid

I put rigids into the duck works mount. It’s was nice to have the wing retrofit, Plexi and whatnot already worked out.
 
Home made

Landing & taxi lites. Plus newly installed FLYLEDS Position & Strobes.
0-B41-A9-EB-52-BC-4-F4-A-BAD2-76-E81-CEA03-BE.jpg


On approach, observers have said it looks like a 757 is landing. I’ve never seen em cuz no one else flies my plane.
 
I just finished building the FlyLEDs 7 star landing lights. They are actually a 6 + 1 in that the center LED light can be used as a taxi light with a defuser lens to increase the light arc to a 30 degree arc rather than the 8 degrees of the landing light lens.

Both lights went together in about an hour and a half. I'm in the process of installing them into the leading edge at the moment. Very easy build and significantly less expensive than the landing lights that I have seen for sale from vans or other companies.
 
FlyLED SixPack on RV-6A

I recently installed the FlyLED Six Pack into my RV-6A. Replaced 2 halogens. MUCH brighter. Hand cut an aluminum sign to make the backplate. Not the most pretty solution but it works.
 

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https://vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=105248

After looking at a number of more recent long beam flashlights (using HPX 70.2, 50.2) I came back to this from the above thread:
Trustfire 3T6 Detachable 3800LM Flashlight Integrated
Replacement LED Bulb 3 CREE XM-L2
for $19 on Amazon as the most reasonable solution (cost, weight, light) and ordered one to test, in spite of it being "old technology".

Here are some of my notes after looking at https://www.stratusleds.com/module

Easy to get carried away. One could use solenoid or servo controlled inlets in the wing LE ducted to the LED or its heat sink.

Their 140lumens/watt started me looking. Cree apparently achieved 303lm/W in the lab -- but a long way from the 135lm/W in the XHP 70.2. Theoretical limit for a white LED with phosphorescence color mixing is something like 260-300lm/W (40% efficiency).

Interestingly, comparing XM-L2 (10W) to CXA3590 (150W):
Maximum Efficacy at Binning Conditions: 175 lm/W
Maximum Efficacy at Binning Conditions: 150 lm/W
the XM-L2 is more efficient.
("Binning" is the manufacturer's sorting produced LED into bins of different efficiencies, colors, etc. Looks like binning conditions are about half the power the LEDs are rated for and LEDs can be over driven to deliver more light at cost of more power and more heat to be gotten rid of.)

At $19 a pop, it's easy to mount, easy to double or triple or ...
and you get lens, reflector, LED and heat sink all in one.

If anyone has corrections to the above numbers, please do post them here.

Finn
 
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Anxiuos awaiting test results

I built a XHP30 X3 LED using a meanwell power supply and although its bright I dont think its as bright as 3800Lumen. My biggest concern with the DIY LEDs is the RMI that can occur with the wrong setup.
Let us know how this tests goes and setup.
As a side I was looking at https://tinyurl.com/y3bt7b5e as my option for future testing.
 
I did that - built my own leading edge lights from bright PAR 36 LED bulbs I bought online. The first airplane I did that on worked fine. The second one I did the same way made all kinds of noise. I replaced those PAR 36 bulbs with 2 aero-lites bulbs and the noise was gone (as promised).
BTW - I have 2 PAR 36 LED landing light bulbs I can sell you. $25 for both.
 
Your not building it yourself unless you get COB (circuit on board) leds , heatsinks, lenses/reflectors, and you're making your own led drivers...............


:D
 
Wing skin as heat sink?

Might say the most critical thing for LED life and high lumens output is conducting heat away from the LED.

That usually means attaching heavy heat sinks.

Could we save weight by using the wing skin as a heat sink?

I understand it would present problems in adjusting (pointing) the light.

But, could we bond/attach the LED to a (alum?) plate that is then bonded/riveted/screwed to the wing skin?

Let's say we use a 100W LED (~13,000 lumens). We'd have to remove 70 to 80W of heat from the LED. LED doesn't like more than 150°C and it would be better to keep it cooler. LED area 34x34mm.

I don't have a good grasp of thermal conductivity (conductance?). How thick would the mount plate have to be? How much area would be needed where the mount plate contacts the wing skin (using some kind of heat sink compound/adhesive between the plate and skin)?

Am I right in assuming the plate has to be thickest were the LED is mounted and then taper down in thickness as it expands out in width and height?

Perhaps tapered layers of carbon fiber (with thermal epoxy) would be better as the LED mount plate? (After a diamond, graphene or graphite has the best thermal conductivity.)

Any (thermal) engineers here that could enlighten me?

Finn
 
First post after lurking for a year and half. When I bought my 7A, the lighting had some issues and the strobe controller was wrecked in heavy turbulence so I set out to build my own. Started with the nav/strobe lights all replaced with a scratch built LED setup. Basically, 3 - 3 watt LEDs, red and green respectively, along with 2 - 5 watt white ones on the forward facing part of the wing notch. On the outboard facing side, I mounted 2 Rock lights I got off amazon that run 9 watts each. The nav portion are wired in series with a load resistor. The white ones and rock lights are wired to a controller I got from Strobes n more for $25 USD. The landing lights were next, I took the reflectors out of the Duck works setup that was installed and replaced that with a plate of .065 aluminum with LEDs attached. Used 3 - XM-L2 with 5 degree collimators I got off ebay. JB weld to hold the LEDs to the plate, and epoxy to hold the lens to the chips. Same series load resistor setup. Bright as all get out at about 3000 lumens, but I wanted more. Went with 2 XHP 70.2 and 2 XHP 50.2 with 5 degree lens or the 70s and 25 degree on the 50s and a total of around 12000 lumens per side. I used double sided thermal tape to attach the chips to the plate. Same load resistor setup, zero radio noise and its like daylight when light with a total amp dram of 7 amps per side and so far absolutely no issues with heat even after a 3 hours flight. With the wig wag on, they only run 50% duty cycle and the heat is easily dissipated into the wing. Small heat sinks are attached to the back of the plates to help and they do get warm on the bench but don't seem to in flight. If I can figure out how to attach pictures I'll put some up later. Get everything you need on ebay, but I'd recommend going with the XMLs or 50.2s because the 70.2s are hard to find with an aluminum base.
 
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The wig wag system from the Duckworks kit would not drive the LEDs, so I made my own with a 3 pole electronic flasher, a common automotive relay, and a DPST switch that kills the ground to the relays along with the positive which prevents feedback when running "Steady ON" on both sides
 
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and

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on the pictures



404. That’s an error.

The requested URL was not found on this server. That’s all we know.
 
Just attach the pictures

Note that you can now attach pictures to your post.

Finn
 

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I just purchased a couple of Baja Designs Squadron Pro LED lights for my landing lights. They come in a surface mount version so they will mount nicely to the Duckworks mounts. These lights are not cheap but they look very durable and they are very bright given accounts here. I'm still waiting on some parts before I power them up myself though.

Building your own landing lights have some difficulties in that the LED beam needs some sort of lens/reflector to focus the beam. These can be obtained but I've decided to stop getting off track on these little side projects and try to get the plane in the air. As far as NAV and Taxi lights that is a simpler area for DIY and I still am investigating my own solution for those.
 
... a plate of .065 aluminum with LEDs attached. ... around 12000 lumens per side....

So the 1/16" thick plate was enough to conduct away the approx 70 watts of continuous heat and transfer it to the Duckworks mount plate?

Did you have a temperature sensor on the plate the LEDs are mounted on?

Obviously your 50.2 and 70.2 LEDs didn't burn out, but I'd like to know how close to the 150C max LED junction temp you get with your setup.

BTW the Trustfire 3T6 Detachable 3800LM Flashlight Integrated
Replacement LED Bulb 3 CREE XM-L2 I mentioned earlier in this thread does not put out the rated 3,800 lumens. The internal (one-mode) driver limits it to about 15 watts, or less than 2,000 lumens. If could bypass the driver it should be able to put out 30 W x 130 lm/W or 3,800. I suspect the driver limits it due to temperature issues.

Finn
 
So the 1/16" thick plate was enough to conduct away the approx 70 watts of continuous heat and transfer it to the Duckworks mount plate?

Did you have a temperature sensor on the plate the LEDs are mounted on?

Obviously your 50.2 and 70.2 LEDs didn't burn out, but I'd like to know how close to the 150C max LED junction temp you get with your setup.

BTW the Trustfire 3T6 Detachable 3800LM Flashlight Integrated
Replacement LED Bulb 3 CREE XM-L2 I mentioned earlier in this thread does not put out the rated 3,800 lumens. The internal (one-mode) driver limits it to about 15 watts, or less than 2,000 lumens. If could bypass the driver it should be able to put out 30 W x 130 lm/W or 3,800. I suspect the driver limits it due to temperature issues.

Finn

No I didn't put a temperature sensor on them. I did attach 2 heat sinks on the opposite side of the plate that are about 2x2. Now to be fair, I do run them pretty much all the time in wig wag mode, so they are only running 50% duty cycle. LEDs are quite efficient so the 70 watts is not really an accurate number for heat dissipation. Without getting into the math, its closer to 20 watts, and even less in wig wag made. They only stay on continuous mode for a few minutes as I only use that mode once I've turned final in daytime, or at night as soon as I enter a control zone. Bench testing at room temperature with no airlfow said they only get to about 80 Celsius after about 5 minutes of continuous use, so I figured they wouldn't even get to that inside a moving wing. The longest I've run them continuously is about 20 minutes and that was in the heat of summer and about 40 Celsius on the OAT probe, so I suspect the chance of over temp is pretty low. Just thinking now, an easy way to protect them would be to use a thermal fuse on the positive lead like they use in industrial coffee makers. They are available for pennies and just about any temperature.

When I was running the XM-L2s, I did run them continuously for several hours without issue.

The drivers built into flashlights are set up to limit current on temperature rise, and that's largely done for liability reasons. A flashlight head at 100 C would be a lawsuit waiting happen.

If you want to run a driver, the ones you get off Wish or Ebay work well, but some will give you radio noise. Its a bit of trial and error which is another good reason to run load resistors instead. I converted my XML setup to drivers to try them out and ended up installing them on my truck as backup lights and the brightness was about the same.

This is a video of those running on the wigwag when I was first building that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvxoD8gzzb8

The phone camera doesn't do them any justice
 
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Thanks Mike. Good info.

I guess the "easy" solution is a 12V fan with a thermistor or thermal switch in series.

The "best" solution would be the lightest. In my mind that would be transferring the heat to the wing skin. However, I my case (two SG90 servos aiming the LEDs) that's not all that easy and a fan is probably the solution. Will be replacing the bracket with two holes for two 3-LED TrustFires with one for a 9-LED bike light. Hopefully, unlike the 3-LED one I have, that will have the 9 LEDs individually wired so I can connect them in series.

Finn
 

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For me I thought keeping it simple was the most important part. Once aimed, I figured I would forget about them. At the end of the day, the heat will transfer into whatever they are mounted to. Fans add complexity that I wanted to avoid. Larger heat sinks are a better way to go and the weight in minimal. The load resistors also add a fair bit of surface area for heat and aren't affected by vibration either. They may not be pretty, but they work really well so far. EDIT: the picture attachment worked!!! :)
 

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My Parts List

From Arrow Electronics

CXB-0000-000N0HU430G - Cree LED module
50-2101CR - Chip-Lok holder
50-2100MR Reflector Adapter
C13085-MIRELLA-50-S-PF - reflector

Cost $39.86 with tax and shipping (for two units each)

From Mouser Electronics

418-MB012HEATSINKKIT - Heat Sink
709-LDH-65-700W - LED driver

Cost $63 w/tax and shipping (for two units each)

3812 lumens per unit. A 100 watt incandescent is about 1600 lumens.
Each lamp unit is under 1 pound.

By my calculations this heatsink should be good for passive cooling (no fan) at over 100 F ambient temperature.
 

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I wonder how bright they would look if the video was more lined with the landing light aim axis..............
 
I wonder how bright they would look if the video was more lined with the landing light aim axis..............

Well, they are pushing about 12,000 lumens each, o pretty darn bright I'd think. I asked the tower once when I was 5 miles out and they said they were very visible. So I'm good with that.
 
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