Tri-Cree PC 3.5 wiring question

[deager4]

Hey all. I've built basic sabers in the past, (stunt etc.), but I now want to build one with a PC 3.5 and have a few questions about LED wiring. If I have tri-cree (lets say a GGW), would I wire the two greens in parallel or series? I know I would hook the white up to the flash on clash pad through a power extender, but I'm a little confused about the greens. Thanks.

[Silver Serpent]

Series is probably the best option. It will give you a longer runtime.

[deager4]

But wouldn't that decrease brightness?

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

But wouldn't that decrease brightness?

No, it wouldn't.

[Silver Serpent]

Not at all. In fact, you could even overdrive it more easily for additional brightness.

Two green Cree LEDs run in series will need 1000mA of current. You can overdrive that to 1250 or whatever you're comfortable with. Don't go too far, or the LED goes *pop*.

If you run them in parallel, you'll need a total of 2000mA of current to get the same brightness as running the series @ 1000mA.

Since you're using the PC, you should be using a 7.4v li-ion pack. That's more than enough voltage to run both LEDs in series without issue. If you were planning on doing the single-cell hack to your board, then you'd need to switch back to parallel.

[deager4]

Thanks for the replies. That makes sense. I was thinking so, but I wanted to double check.