RGB suggestions/help

[lamppost]

Hello everyone. I have been searching the forum for a few days but I'm still in a grey area as far as some of my build will go.

I'm looking at putting a RGB LED in a saber and I have a few questions about what potentiometers I should use. I would really appreciate links to pots that would work, from anyone that has done a RGB build in the past.

I'm looking at putting in the Prolight RGB and from the reading I've done here, it seems as though the regular lense/lense holders sold here at the store will work with the Prolight.

I would also like to know what battery set up would work best in ths build.

I had planned on using the board from my master replicas mace windu saber in conjunction with the Prolight and potentiometers, but am not quite sure what my wiring diagram would look like. If any of you would be kind enough to help me out in regards to a diagram, it would be greatly appreciated. The only diagrams I have to work with at this point are:

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j283/lamppost30/lukesoundwiring.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j283/lamppost30/rgb_wired.jpg


If you see anything that is missing, please feel free to jump in and let me know.

I really appreciate this forum and the knowledge shared here, and I'm glad to also have moved out of the lurkers club. Thank you in advance for your help.

[xwingband]

Well... pots really are up to you. I'd go in the 250K to 500K range. There are literally 100's to pick from. Put in those values at a place like mouser.com and browse until there is one the size and style you want.

Batteries... go for the typical.

Wiring. Those diagrams will lead you right. On the one I'm working on (and have been for a while) I actually took two of the six neg leads for each R,G and B. It's a bit of a novelty in that it lights in sequence, lol.

[Dark Navel]

I guess I'll dig up this old thread. I have been doing a lot of reading on Pots but I haven't really seen any diagrams other than the one in the first post of this thread.

Are there any diagrams out there that have a bit more detail? I have the info on what to use for pots but how do you wire em up? I know there's three leads coming off the pots but in his diagram it only shows one wire from the RGB and the other going to the battery. What about the 3rd leg on the pots? Does the LED get soldered onto the middle leg on the pots and then just pick one of the other 2 legs to go to the battery?

Another question: I know that the buckpucks have the wiring for a pots...would I need a puck for each pots? (3 pots = 3 pucks?)

Any info would help...Diagrams are even better.


LOL puck, pots...Sounds like I'm going to go wash dishes

[xwingband]

Look at the spec sheet for the pot. One will be a ground. The others are the input and output, you want those. A pot is literally a variable resistor so the input is the original voltage and amps... the output is what you are sending to the LED.

Your question on the buckpuck seems to be backwards though... a puck does not need the pot. Neither does the pot need the puck. If you want to use a puck for the dimming you'd need a pot for each, but otherwise a pot could stand alone. By having only the pot you are increasing the resisitance to the LED and dimming it.

[Dark Navel]

Ok..Makes sense but I will still need to resist the RGB correct? (Jeez I suck!)I know that Red overpowers the other colors but I also know that the red can be dimmed via the pots thats going to the red RGB.

In a 3 watt RGB is each color 1 watt. (1w each x 3 led's = 3watts?) I'm thinking a sw-616 board for sound and a 3watt RGB. I know I need enough to drive the RGB and the board but I don't want to go over 6V so I don't fry the soundboard, that's why I'm thinking a buckpuck somewhere in the mix.

I'm going to steal this phrase but, "I'm electronicly retarded"

[xwingband]

Well...

The "joe jedi"/sw-616/whatever already runs a "3W RGB". So already I think you're off track. You wouldn't need to give it more than the 4.5V is uses stock or even get another LED.

The trick in that case would be color changing with pots. Rather than talk a lot about that I'll just let that idea digest.

[Novastar]

lmapost and navel:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vV_9bTS0zlk

Grayven's vids would probably be of MUCH help to you two. Granted, who knows where lamppost is.

[Dark Navel]

Yup..Seen all the vids...The RGB in that saber..Ummm..Sucks. Is that the brightest they make an RGB??

I tried a thin walled polycarb with 6' of celophane wrapped in it and let's just say I wasn't impressed.

I hope there's some other RGB that someone has had good brightness and luck with. The one in there is poor to say the least.

Can someone point me in the right direction..Obviously with an RGB with good visual output. (I think the one in that saber is 1 watt but I may be wrong)

[TroyO]

How about a 10W RGGB?


http://www.ledengin.com/ledengin_products.html

R) 115 Lumens
G) 280 Lumens
B) 40 Lumens

I don't know why the two greens, or how well the colors balance. They do also have an RGBA which is Red, Green, Blue, Amber that may have some advantage. My guess is that Amber lets you get closer to a white output.

In any case... 3X Buckpucks (One for each color) and 3X Pots (5K, low power pots.... sliders maybe?) and you could have a color changing saber with brightness in the range of a Lux III.

You'd probably have to run 8 batteries (9.6V) but as a bonus the 5V output of 2 of the the buckpucks combined (Yellow wire) is strong enough to handle a MR 616 board, so no need for extra voltage regulators or anything fancy. :-)

[Dark Navel]

That one sounds good but 1 major problem..Room! All that stuffed into a 1.5" hilt with maybe 8" max...Hmmm I don't think it will cut it unless the saber is really long. I think the pucks are about 3/4" each + the batt pack the the soundboard..Ugg, going to be real tight.

Without having all of the exact dimentions and not knowing how much room would be behind the pots once installed I think that's going to be a close call based on room constraints.

I guess it's back to my question. Is the RGB in the 616 a 3W RGB or a 1 watt? Or is it 3W total (1W x 3 colors equalling 3 watts total)

I know that there is a Prolight 3Watt and a Prolight 1 Watt, just not sure which one is in the SW-616 hilt.

[TroyO]

I'm pretty sure the LED is a 1W Prolight, and I think that's total... 300 MA-ish per color. As designed, the MR 616 only runs one color at a time so I think 300 MA is about what you could expect for output.

You could fit 3 buckpucks "flat" in the hilt, they would take up about .43 per puck, so you'd have about 1.5 Inches for drivers, total.

I have 2 buckpucks driving a 10W green, so basicaly I could just add .5 inches to my hilt, which is just about 12 inches now. It's doable in a largish but still normal size hilt.

It might just be my next project... after finishing building my kitchen cabinets, remodeling my kitchen, and building an iron man costume for next year.... errr, who am I kidding! LOL.