New LEDs for Old Mace Windu Conversion [Archive]

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TrypWyr

05-31-2012, 10:10 PM

Howdy TCSS'ers, been a long time!

Way back in 2007, I received some wonderful help in this forum with converting my Mace Windu saber. I used a Lux K2 green LED with great results!

Now, I'm finally looking to buy either a Kit Fisto or Yoda (if I can find one) saber soon and will probably keep the stock blade for a while (monetary concerns...). Since these are both green, I'd like to update my old Windu saber to a new color, but I've been out of the scene for quite a while and have no clue about these new LEDs. I've done some reading but haven't figured it out completely...

I'd like to swap out the K2, mount, and lens for a new (bright as possible) LED with a JST connector for easy swapping later. I'm thinking I want to pick up a blue and red LED to have both handy. So, questions:

1. Probably the most basic: which LED would be best for these colors?? I didn't need a resistor for my K2, would any of the LEDs currently in the store need one? (I'm hopeless with electronics, but I can follow a diagram! :D )
2. What's the difference between "red" and "deep red" LEDs?
3. (Completely off topic) Dude, what happened to the Yoda saber?! I finally look to buy one and can't find them anywhere, short of eBay for ~$200 or more. Any rumor of a removable blade version coming down the pipe?

I know the answers on probably already posted on the forums somewhere, but I'm not having luck with my searches... I appreciate any assistance you guys (and/or gals?) can provide, this is confusing to me after 4+ years away (not that I was very experienced back then)!

Tryp

Silver Serpent

06-01-2012, 05:11 AM

1. "Best" is a subjective term. For ease of use, either a Seoul P4 or a Rebel LED is wonderful to work with. The P4 is generally more tolerant of overdriving. Rebel reds should NOT be overdriven or they go dim quickly. For resistor calculations, see this link: http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz Use the value of your battery pack, and get the other information from the TCSS store page for your particular LED.

2. "Red" covers a range from red to reddish orange. "Deep Red" is a little further down the spectrum and doesn't have an orange tint. Deep red may appear dimmer to your eyes, though it's quite a lovely color in my opinion.

3. Dunno, I haven't heard any news about Yoda sabers. Someone else will have to speak up about that.

Welcome back to the saber-building hobby! Take your time to catch up to speed on all the changes, as there have been quite a few major developments lately.

TrypWyr

06-01-2012, 07:33 AM

Thanks for the response, SS!

Any idea how much voltage a stock MR Mace board is putting out to the LED? In some searching, I found broad statements to all MR boards but I'm not sure if that's accurate. I could tear down my saber and meter it, but I'm trying to avoid that as my son likes to play sabers just about every hour on the hour! (4 years old... incidentally, his birth coincided with my last saber mod... figure that one out. Just bought him a Ultimate FX Vader and he's loving it. Nice little sabers. Sorry, off topic! :D ) I know it has 6xAA, but I'm not sure it that means 9v to the LEDs or 4.5v (half to LED, half to sound, as I've read).

So for pure color, you'd recommend the Seoul LEDs over the Rebels? I'm VERY casual about my sabers, this is really just something I play with my kid, sit on a shelf in the man-cave, and use with my Jedi costume on Halloween, so I'm not concerned about it being absolutely perfecto... that said, "if you are gonna do it, do it right", no?

I guess the biggest confusion for me is the resistors. Since I didn't use one on the original mod with the K2, this has thrown me for a loop. Thanks for the link to that calculator, it was very helpful! I think once I get my head around them, I'll be ready to rig up a couple LED setups with connectors for quick swap.

Tryp

EDIT: Mind if I ask a couple of random questions? I don't think these really warrant new posts...

1. The pommel on the Mace is threaded, any chance it could be replace with a new pommel from the MHS? (I know, probably not but can't hurt to ask!)
1. Anyone tried upgrading the speaker in an Ultimate FX saber using the premium speaker in the store? I would like to see if I can get better sound out of my son's saber.

Silver Serpent

06-01-2012, 08:12 AM

Overdriving an LED is when you give the LED more current than it is rated for. For example, running a P4 blue (rated at 1000mA) at 1200mA or more. This is done to get more brightness at the expense of reduced battery life and LED lifespan. LED lifespan is already ridiculously long, so it's unlikely you'll notice an issue. You will notice decreased runtime from your batteries.

If you're not a brightness junkie, and are content to run LEDs at their rated specs, just grab whichever LED is in stock with the color you want. Seoul, Rebel, they all work great. These LEDs are plenty bright for most of us without overdriving. If you want to try overdriving them, then avoid the "warm" Rebel colors (Red, Orange, Amber).

TrypWyr

06-01-2012, 11:46 AM

Jay-gon Jinn

06-02-2012, 11:24 AM

So here's a thought... I've been reading about the LEDEngin 4 RGBA LEDs, and I'm intrigued! I've seen posts saying that an MR board can't run it and other posts saying it can. The real kicker was this beautiful piece of work right here: http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?11781-Luke-ROTJ-Hero-Style-RGBA-color-changing.

Just... WOW.

After seeing his wiring diagram (HERE (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/rb7IwRc6YU3xhWQc7LPAMw?feat=embedwebsite)) using a Yoda MR board, I'm wondering if I can just replicate the same setup with a Mace board (minus the accent LEDs)? Whaddaya think?
An MR can run a LedEngin, it just won't fully power it, so the blade may not be as bright as it would be on a CF or PC. It also depends on how you wire the main dice for the led. With an MR running on 4.5-6v, you'd likely need to parallel the two main dice, red and blue if you're going for purple with a resistor on the red. There's no reason the Mace board wouldn't be able to be wired like the Yoda in Matt's diagram, either. The boards are identical in function, one is simply much smaller.

TrypWyr

06-02-2012, 01:51 PM

An MR can run a LedEngin, it just won't fully power it, so the blade may not be as bright as it would be on a CF or PC. It also depends on how you wire the main dice for the led. With an MR running on 4.5-6v, you'd likely need to parallel the two main dice, red and blue if you're going for purple with a resistor on the red. There's no reason the Mace board wouldn't be able to be wired like the Yoda in Matt's diagram, either. The boards are identical in function, one is simply much smaller.

Awesome, Jay-gon, I think that would suit my need for colors greatly!

One more question: so if the MR board won't fully power the LEDEngin, would that explain the lack of reisistors in Matt's diagram (With the exception of the ones on the red and amber, for color choice reasons...)? As in, no need for them since the board couldn't supply enough power to burn out the LED?

Jay-gon Jinn

06-04-2012, 07:35 AM

Awesome, Jay-gon, I think that would suit my need for colors greatly!

One more question: so if the MR board won't fully power the LEDEngin, would that explain the lack of reisistors in Matt's diagram (With the exception of the ones on the red and amber, for color choice reasons...)? As in, no need for them since the board couldn't supply enough power to burn out the LED?I would only be guessing, because I've never attempted it before myself, but I'd have to agree that is likely the reason. The battery voltage is pretty close to the maximum for those led's, as is the current output of the board, no no resistor required for the blue and green dice.