white LED with disc vs. colour LED

[Reaver]

I could not find any info about the comparisons of the white LED with interchangable colour discs, to the coloured leds. to me the colour disc version would be the way to go, but alot of people seem to be buying the coloured leds.
I know that buying a simple small white led from an electronics shop uses alot more power than say a red one that uses the least power of all colours, so does this apply here too?
thanks, just before I go ahead and buy a white one.

[xwingband]

Yes, a colored LED will outshine the filter one all the time. Note: That only counts if you compare the same wattages. Like a K2 White or 5W White might beat say a blue.

<center>Read the FAQ (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=552) or x-wing won't be happy. :(
Before posting did you check the Thread Index (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=577)?.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6703/xwing8az.gif</center>

[Jedibum]

Hi Reaver! A little while back I bought a 5Watt White LED and a set of colored discs. I did some comparing with my 3Watt sabers.

Basically what I determined was for brightness the 5Watt White with a Colored disc still remained slightly brighter than a standard 3watt (note: this was using a Duel 9Volt set-up ... using anything less could bring down the brightness to match a 3Watt). Of course this means that you probably can't ever use a sound module with it (X-Wing can tell us if there is any way).

As far as color goes, it really depends on the disc you are using. For me, I liked the yellow, amber and orange discs the most. They seemed to keep some really good color saturation while remaining very bright. Most of the other colors did not hold up well with a 3watt of the same color. The green and blue discs have a lot of white saturation in them dulling the color and appearing like a very light green or very light blue. And Red was nearly impossible for me to achieve. The red disc when hit with white comes out Pink. In my opinion, if you are using colored discs and you want yellow/amber/orange colors you will be very happy. If you really want it because you want to be able to have green/blue/red colors you might not be so happy. Keep in mind I only have a 5watt White ... I have not experimented with a 3watt white. But I would imagine a 3watt white with a colored disc would definitely not be as bright as just the colored LED itself.

Here are some pics:

This one is just to show you most of the colors. Take a good look at the Blue, Green, and Red colors.
http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=allcolorsgk8.jpg

Here is a Green comparision shot. On the left is a 3Watt Green, the right is the 5Watt white with Green disc. Try to focus near the top of the blades and you can see a distinct difference in the colors. I also want to note that this difference is even more obvious in person.
http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01270qm9.jpg

[JediMcD]

Reaver I just really think it comes down to what you like to do. If you think you are going to want to change out colors all of the time then go with the white led with colored filters. If you really have one color you like (like green) then I would say just get that color led. If your favorite color is one that there is no led for (like purple)then the decision is pretty much made for you. You would have to use the filters. There is no right or wrong answer to it. It just depends on what you like. I have done both, and I believe you will not be disappointed with either.

Of course there is one other option out there, and that is using the quick change kits that the store carries and have a seperate led and heatsink combo for different colors. That is what I am doing with a 5watt saber I am currently woking on. You would probably have to stay in one color family like the greens and blues versus the reds and ambers. That is due to the different operating specs of the different leds. Someone can correct me if I am wrong about this. This is just one option that can work for you.

Sabers are cool and stuff

[Lord Maul]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">and that is using the quick change kits that the store carries and have a seperate led and heatsink combo for different colors.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

but if you are doing a MR conversion you can't do it cause you would have to take the whole saber apart every time you wanted to change colors [:(]

<center>http://film.onet.pl/_i/news/duze/d/darth_maul_1.jpg

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/starwars/star-wars-smiley-026.gif At last we will reveal ourselves to the jedi, at last we will have revenge. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/starwars/star-wars-smiley-026.gif
</center>

[xwingband]

There are options for 5W sound... it's just very hard.

If you were straight resistoring the LED you would be stuck with the same color family. The exception would be with some sort of a driver. You'd sacrifice the full brightness of the Red/Yellow family in that case.

<center>Read the FAQ (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=552) or x-wing won't be happy. :(
Before posting did you check the Thread Index (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/sabers/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=577)?.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6703/xwing8az.gif</center>

[Do-Clo]

If you use a sound board and a relay you can make sound on a 5 watt luxeon fairly easy. Check the circuit I used for the el with sound and use a six AA pack instead of a 12 volt pack and instead of a el converter use a resister to control the current to the led or my favorite a buck puck led driver.

<center>http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/Do-Clo/DoCloSig.jpg</center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Darth Technous Sith Lord</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>
<center><font color="red"><font size="4"><font face="Comic Sans MS">Give yourself to the Dark Side</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size4"></font id="red"></center>

[Ryma Mara]

I have a question about the color disks.

Are they helt into place or are they just sitting in there?

[xwingband]

They get sandwiched between the blade and lens. They aren't held in by anything. When you take the blade out you can just turn the hilt upside down and it will fall out.

[Ryma Mara]

ok...thanks