No more soldering on those LEDs
 

Found this at rapid LED.

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-...or-CREE/Detail

I'm excited again about LEDs :)

Doh! Doesnt work with lenses. Do you need lenses? I notice the Vertex unit doesnt have any.

To heck with the optics. Just the fact that you don't need to solder will allow much easier building of different arrays, not to mention the risk of frying your premium Cree everytime you get close with a soldering iron. I reckon they'll come up with suitable optics at some point anyhow. Kind of makes you wonder why it's taken so long for someone to design this connector for LEDs.

I've been waiting for the common screw in base LEDs in high power versions to become more commonplace, but with these connectors I might just be convinced to do a DIY LED array.

Interesting little gadget.
But i like the lenses as it narrows the light to any angle i need.and for being permanent connection that doesn't sound too good for me as i will have wire connection between each led instead of this

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1302064050
I still prefer the soldering job, but i do understand for some of us not so good with soldering.

You can get LEDs with 90 degree spread as appose to 120 which eliminates the need for optics for most applications. However keep in mind these connectors may only work with certain LEDs and require a drilled an tapped heat sink. Unless you're buying a pre-drilled heat sink it'll be much easier to solder the LEDs and use a thermal adhesive. Soldering isn't difficult at all if done properly, anyone can learn very quickly. Tapping many holes on the other hand will become very frustrating, especially once you bust off a tap :lol:

leds
 

use a self tapping screw to start your holes then put your final in

Aluminum is one of the softer metals out there, I haven't had much of a problem with tapping it and have yet to break a tap. It's like most procedures, provided you pre drill the pilot hole whith the proper size drill bit, the tap should do its job quite easily. As for permanent wire connection, there are plenty of splice options available should the need arise to rearrange things or replace one of the LEDs. Also not sure why these particular mounts would have to use the screws rather than using a thermal adhesive. You likely have the option of doing that either way, just like the solder type LED mounts.

Somebody order some of these things & let us know how they work!! Maybe I will.... price is reasonable, but I was leaning more towards the 10 or 20 watt LED arrays available these days, with multiple 1watt LEDs arranged in rows on a larger form factor. Not Crees I think, but more than likely sufficient light for many applications. I think I saw a lighting company marketing a couple of 100 watt versions with some kind of lens for megabucks.

Aluminum is definitely one of the easiest metals to drill and tap however when I worked in electronic manufacturing the amount of taps our production staff would break off was astounding. No mater what material once you get into the smaller size taps like 6-32 or smaller it's very easy to break them off, often it's just a result of a little twitch or slip. I myself also rarely have issues but for someone with no or little experience I wouldn't recommend drilling and tapping 100+ holes for the sake of avoiding some soldering.

I do like the idea of using self tapping screws though! I also like the idea of using this type of connectors but I'm not sure it's actually the easiest and quickest route.

I was going to use these but I decided against them as it would have added close to $200 to my build which I figured wasn't worth it to avoid soldering. I mean realistically the idea of LEDs is never to replace them and even after you've drained their life I'm pretty confident the same LEDs will be obsolete. Seeing how these only fit a certain type of LED I'm not sure I see a huge advantage. Again good idea, just not sure it's worth while.

I hear you on the obsolescence issue, things are really moving fast on the LED front these days. Probably end up doing the edison base screw in floodlight bulb scenario after all.

there was a lot of problems with them, when people were trying them a few months ago. but for my self, I don't know if I would concider them as there are air gaps all over that salt creap and such could work its way into a cause problems. now weather my concerns are justified of not who knows. but thats my stance regarding them as I find there is normaly a trade off fo simplicity. I would rather tap 200 LEDs myself, but I have 20 years of tapping experiance and to me it is kinda relaxing.

Steve

Great concept, but maybe a 'luxury' item...?

Personally, I'd stick with the manual work as I enjoy the challenge.