White LED preference... XWing?

[strengthofrage]

I am drawing up my next MHS and want to use a white LED and filters. I have seen bits and pieces of the other LED's that are available but I am hesitant to order outside TCSS for these things. XWing has mentioned a few different LED's and places to buy them, I have also seen a video on his Purple Ani conversion, looked great. What I would like to know is what would you, Xwing, or anyone really, suggest for a white LED to use with filters?

[Lord Maul]

The Cree XR-E LED and its brother the Seoul P4 are the best white LEDs out there.

[strengthofrage]

Thanks Maul :) Do you know if they come on a star or something similar like the Lux's in the shop?

[Lord Maul]

You can get them on stars, yes. I've never worked with them myself, so I can't help you out much more than telling you that they are the brightest and most efficient.

[strengthofrage]

Thanks Maul, I will check them out :)

[xwingband]

yup, IMO go for Seoul. They are direct replacements for the Luxeons. There are loads of P4 sources out there... if you want to go for it they're just releasing R bins (meaning 100 lumens per watt, or about 300 lumens at 1A).

[strengthofrage]

Thanks Xwing. Do you have a prefered source for the Seoul's? Also, I have a couple general questions...

-What do you prefer to run them on battery wise?
-What do you prefer to drive them with?
-Are they compatible with CF (I don't think they are but I could definitely be wrong)?

Thanks again :)

[xwingband]

Thanks Xwing. Do you have a prefered source for the Seoul's? Also, I have a couple general questions...

-What do you prefer to run them on battery wise?
-What do you prefer to drive them with?
-Are they compatible with CF (I don't think they are but I could definitely be wrong)?

Thanks again :)

Nope, I've ordered from many sources: LED-tech.de, deal extreme, kaidomain, etc...

Anything that works with a III or K2 is fine. So follow the same you'd use for them on batteries and driver... they're direct replacements for III's so they'll fit with exactly what we've been doing except they'll kick out more.

Honestly, I've pretty much abandoned III's (except Red and Amber of course, whole 'nother ball of wax). I hardly use K2's and V's as I much prefer the Rebel and Seoul's.

[savyas]

I've ordered 2 batches of Seoul's from DealExtreme - $5.82 or so apiece with free shipping.. Once the envelope showed up in my mailbox, but the second time they send registered mail and I ended up having to go down to the post office to pick them up.

One thing I will say is that soldering is sooooooooooooooo much easier on a Seoul star than on a K2 star. And the Seoul is brighter, cooler, needs only 1A, etc.

[strengthofrage]

I consider myself 'sold' on the Seoul's lol

Thanks for everyones input, I appreciate it :)

[Marsupial]

yup, IMO go for Seoul. They are direct replacements for the Luxeons. There are loads of P4 sources out there... if you want to go for it they're just releasing R bins (meaning 100 lumens per watt, or about 300 lumens at 1A).


now that I got my Q5... :S

I have a pair of cree, bright little leds, star configuration, great deal. I'll upgrade when I see R bins somewhere, please keep us posted!

[strengthofrage]

I just checked out dealextreme and they had three different options...

-SSC Seoul P4 bare emitter (U-Bin)
-Seoul Semiconductors Z-Power LED Emitter (U-Bin)
-Seoul Semiconductors Z-Power LED Emitter (T-Bin)

... The 'bare emitter' is obviously without the star mount. Is there any significance to the 'Z-Power' thing? I want to make sure I am getting the P4's you guys were talkin' about.

Also... which Bin? (didn't see R-Bin)

Thanks again for the info, sorry so many questions... I feel like I am 'branching out' a bit, trying new things... being adventerous lol

[xwingband]

Second one. U bin not the emitter.

For the info Cee/Seoul has a track for their goals and it goes by letter and number. P5 is better than P4... It may be a bit before R's are readily available but I did see some CPF people selling/getting them.

Also the above are color bins not flux bins.

[strengthofrage]

Ok, so I want the '-Seoul Semiconductors Z-Power LED Emitter (U-Bin)' for this?

I am anxious to see how white + filters works... I know a colored LED will always be brighter, but I am anxious anyway.

[strengthofrage]

I ordered the "Seoul Semiconductors Z-Power LED Emitter (U-Bin)" from DealExtreme today... only $5.82 and free shipping. Not bad.

[Wu-Li Ruwashii]

Not to derail this thread, but has anyone utilized the P4 in warm white? i'd be interested to see how the warm white looks with and without filters...

[xwingband]

Their cool whites are somewhat warm by most standards. To me it's totally off putting to actually be a "warm" white. It's a sickly beige look.

[Jedi Master Taka]

Ok so, I’m thinking about giving the Seoul Semiconductors Z-Power LED Emitter (U-bin) a whirl for a couple of new sabers. Both sabers will be filtered to a Yellow or Orange, but from what I’ve been hearing about the Seoul it sounds like they should still be marginally brighter than the 3W amber. I just had a couple of questions about the Seouls. If I happened to miss the answer to one of these questions in another post, I would be grateful for a link. I try not to re-ask the obvious question.

1. What Optics are being used with the Seoul? Most of the places I’ve seen selling them offer reflectors. Is that the best option, or would you get better performance from a Luxeon Collimator and does the Lux 3/5 Lens holder fit the Seouls?
2. I am still very new to wiring. I plan on using a 4aaa battery pack. Am I correctly reading the resistor chart in that My Seouls will require a 2.2 Ohm 5 Watt resistor?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[Atomic]

Im my first MHS I have a Cree P4 (from Deal Extreme) with TCSS optics. I cut the little spars out of the bottom of the lens holder and it fit over the P4 just fine. I'm using a 2.2ohm 5watt resistor, and honestly, I am unimpressed with the results. They just do not light up the blade (with color disks) as well as a solid color LED does. I ordered a Q5 from Kai and we'll see how that goes, but I think I'm just going to stick with the Lux 3.

[BlackDOG]

Mars' filtered amber looked pretty good to me....on the video.

[xwingband]

Im my first MHS I have a Cree P4 (from Deal Extreme) with TCSS optics. I cut the little spars out of the bottom of the lens holder and it fit over the P4 just fine. I'm using a 2.2ohm 5watt resistor, and honestly, I am unimpressed with the results. They just do not light up the blade (with color disks) as well as a solid color LED does. I ordered a Q5 from Kai and we'll see how that goes, but I think I'm just going to stick with the Lux 3.

No one said it would match the brightness of a normal one. It can be awesome if you filter for a good color... like yellow. A yellow filter only blocks like 20%. While the really saturated colors will start to be 60-70% or higher.

Transmittance is key to it. Unless you absolutely can't decide on a color a white and filters should only be used when you know what you're going for that can't be achieved with the standard colors.

Trust me though the Seoul and Crees kick butt compared to most of what Luxeon is offering now. Only recently with the TFFC ones are they even equalling the output.

[Jedi Master Taka]

Well, I have tried the Amber 3w in the past, and I the results just weren’t very satisfying. What I wanted was a nice yellow. I got it… Unfortunately, the color was sickly weak. Even when using one of Ultras blades, I had a foot wide white spot in the middle of my blade. I don’t care about lighting up the whole room, or being seen from space. I just want a nicely color saturated blade. How much ambient light it throws off isn’t really that important to me.
The Red/Orange LED I tried was the brightest most beautiful red I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately it wasn’t Orange. From what I’ve been reading on this and other forums, these seem to be 2 of the more problem colors. Do you think that an extremely bright white LED filtered with the appropriate disc would give me the effect I’m going for? And is the 2.2 Ohm 5 Watt resistor the proper one for the Seouls with a 4aaa Battery Pack, or could that be part of Atomic’s issue with under performance?

[xwingband]

Yeah, to me a Seoul with a yellow or orange filter is more satisfying than the amber. Amber is neither orange or yellow to me and a frustrating color.

Also I forgot to mention it that a 2.2ohm resistor probably is too much. All the Seoul's I've handled are lower than the 3.9V of a III. I think the issue more likely what color though... like forget trying to filter for red. You need such a dark one to not get a pink and it's weak next to a normal red LED.

[Jedi Master Taka]

If you don’t mind my asking X, what resistor have you had the best luck with? And would you happen to know the forward voltage on the Seouls? I have pulled up their data chart a couple of times and I cant seem to make heads or tails of it.

[xwingband]

Haven't used a resistor for my main LED in months...

I do remember my last Seoul though was 3.4V. So with a 6V pack:

6V - 3.4V / 1A = 2.6Ohms

Bah, so a 2.2 is actually too little. Brain fart.

I guess I'd just say to temper your expectations. Everyone expects an amazing purple with a 240 lumen LED... not so. I use a 70% filter and it's actually 72 lumens, which is on par with other LEDs now, but nothing crazy.

Change it though to a 20% yellow and you have 192 lumens. BIG difference.

[Jedi Master Taka]

Thanks much for the info X!

[Atomic]

Yes! Very much appreciated X!

Jedi Master Taka, I have an Ultrasabers Stunt in Fire Orange and it's very orange. So yellow may not be possible, but I am very happy with the color on the orange end, but as I have read, that all comes down to binning.

Lit room, no flash:
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w302/JAWeinberg/Light%20Saber/P1070424.jpg

[Jedi Master Taka]

Ultra makes some great sabers. And I am a Long time fan of that paticular design. It looks like you got a really nice Yellow. I'm honestly not sure what happened with my 2 Amber Lux 3. They just didn't light up very well for me. I've actualy been talking to Todd over at Ultra Sabers about it for the last couple of months, and I'm going to give his reflector set up a try and see how it works. If My luck with Yellow holds, I may indeed pick up one of Ultras Stunts the next time he does a run of them.

[Jedi Master Taka]

Ooooops *L* I just reread your post and noticed that to the bare eye your saber looks Orange. Sorry about that. Strangely the Yellow it appears in your picture is exactly the one I'm looking for.

[Jedi Master Taka]

I just got my P4s in last week and finally got the 1st one wired up. I am just blown away. They are BRIGHT! I ended up using one of Tim’s Filters over a Lee filter to achieve the effect I wanted and it’s still the same brightness as my red 3w. And without the filters, it will definitely light up a room. Thanks much for all the advice and guidance.

JMT.

[Arm on Fire]

hey JMT, what did you end up using for voltage / resistor?

[Eandori]

This is what I found for the Seoul P4 white. Does anybody have a datasheet or know what it's max current and lumens is?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1445

I ordered some luxeon K2 whites with TTFC and they never showed up because stock was so bad. Does anybody know if these are actually in stock?

EDIT: I found the manufacturer website. Looks like 240 lumens at 1 amp? Can these be run at higher current?
http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en/product/prd/zpowerLEDp4.asp

What are your favorite color filters guys?

Has anybody used the Seoul P4 Green/Blue/Red ?

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

I found the manufacturer website. Looks like 240 lumens at 1 amp? Can these be run at higher current?

I'm running a white P4 on two 700 mA pucks wired in parallel for a total of 1400 mA, and it runs fine so far. I can feel the hilt getting a little warm around the area where the LED sits, but I guess that means that the heat sink is doing its job.

In this picture, I put it next to a Lux III Royal Blue on a resistor. In the top pic, I forgot to turn the flash off, but it still shows a good comparison. The bottom picture is as close to reality as I could get the camera to take it.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-1/1236148/Seoul_4.jpg


What are your favorite color filters guys?

For the filter, I cut a circle out of the lens from an old pair of ski goggles. To me, it's the perfect light yellow.

To prevent the filter from falling out every time I pulled the blade out, I put it on the inside, sandwiched between the lip in the blade holder and the lens. Stopped the lens from rattling around too.

I tried using a circle of red plastic cut from the box my Hasbro Vader came in, but the blade came out very pink. It's actually a nice pink if that's what you want.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-12/1126239/pink_blade.jpg


Has anybody used the Seoul P4 Green/Blue/Red ?

I haven't tried those colors in the Seoul, but I'm going to order some colored Crees, just to play with.

[Eandori]

That looks fantastic! I just ordered a few Seoul P4 U-bins. I also saw some RGB LED's that seem to have one emitting "bulb" and 4 leads. I ordered a few of those. Finally I also saw some 3.6v to 9v input, 800mA current regulation circuits that seemed to be VERY compact and cheap. Like $6 each and about the size of a quarter!

Here's a link to the RGB LED's with a single bulb: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4530

Here's a link to the 800mA current drivers that are very cheap and small: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3256

[xwingband]

I've run my Seoul at 1.3A no worries. It was in a CF 2.0 before 1.5A was an option. Just don't go to like 2A... it's color will shift blue (I know). :)

1A is the spec max though.

I got a Seoul Green and I'm reluctant to get the others because it wasn't as advertised. No way it was 180 lumens.

[LeMoel]

Just to answer some questions and ask some....

I've tested alot of atlas leds (270 lumens) with filters and these leds are brighter than the P4 currently but are less efficient.

But if you use a Okalahoma yellow lee filter it makes a crazy bright yellow. The pinks work well.purples are decent. Oranges are good ,go for the darkest orange you can find.The 240 lumen p4 should have close to the same affect

IF ANYONe knows where or how to purchase the Seoul R bins please let me know.Im dying to try one.

question for erv: I see you found some RGB leds but do you think they are any stronger than the prolight RGB led? which also has all the light coming from one led? and is there anywhere to get the lumen specs on that RGB?

[LeMoel]

thought I would show some Atlas led with lee filters example

Note: this camera is on my computer with a bright screen and a high flash so you could just imagine how bright this is in person

[Hasid Lafre]

Drive it to 2 amps and get almost a blue color? Now that sounds intresting.

[LeMoel]

No it's not a good blue or anything it mean's there's too much power to the led so its basically destroying it, I've seen it happen, not a nice blue either