Nav Lights using Luxeon LEDs

Andrew Sarangan wrote:
Hello

It was my impression that mounting the LED directly to the reflector
(flashing aluminum) will not provide enough heat sinking. A large
surface area is not the only determining factor because the thermal
conductivity of the metal will limit how far the heat can spread. The
thinner the metal, the worse the thermal conductivity. Flashing
aluminum is only 1/100" thick so its conductivity is not very high. One
could construct fins on the back side to increase the surface area, but
commercial heat sinks do that much better.


I think you have a beautiful design with good tradeoffs, Andrew.
However, if one were inclined to go fanless, there are heatsinks now
that are much lighter will provide much greater surface area. It uses a
much greater number of fins, and each is very thin.

--
This is by far the hardest lesson about freedom. It goes against
instinct, and morality, to just sit back and watch people make
mistakes. We want to help them, which means control them and their
decisions, but in doing so we actually hurt them (and ourselves)."