Best mounting for 3W PCB LEDs?

Hi all, anyone have a preferred way of mounting these high power LEDs into projects? I need to install quite a few of them onto alu flat bar for a project, so I'd prefer to avoid multi-step mechanical connections. JB weld? Epoxy? Their on-time in the project is very low but I'd like to be able to keep them lit for longer intervals during trouble shooting, so using the alu bar as heat-sink extension is important. Thanks!

aaaannndd never mind :slight_smile:

Or thermal glue (tube).

wallup:
aaaannndd never mind :slight_smile:

https://www.amazon.com/BCP-Adhesive-Thermal-Conductive-Heatsink/dp/B01MSL64XG

The tape is kinda lousy as a thermal conductor; I would recommend:

Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive or Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive, and be sure to press them down good when gluing them down (you want the layer of adhesive to be as thin as possible). (those are the search terms to use in Amazon etc to find them)

Super glue (cyanoacrylate) will work better for heat conduction (but more brittle mechanically - not great for
lots of vibration alas).
Super glue can be squeezed down to a very thin film, and with flat surfaces this means good heat conduction
(emery paper the LEDs and bar first for best results).

Its relatively easy to pry off again and rework if you have to.

I'd suggest soldering the LEDs together first, otherwise your iron will be fighting the heatsinking,
destroying the glue and generating cyanide fumes.

For high vibration use bolts and nylok nuts.

I'm pretty sure plain old superglue is worse for thermal conduction compared to thermal epoxies. It might work, but it might not - you can always test it out, 3W LEDs are cheap, so if you burn one out, no biggie.

I use high temperature liquid steel glue/epoxy.

Hey all thanks for all the thoughts on this. I will definitely try to Arctic products next time around, and will give the CA glue a shot this time as well as the cheapo thermal tape. Short on-times should protect me from too much regret :slight_smile: