Overdriving a Lux III

[DarthFender]

Does anyone have an approximated lumen rating for a blue or green lux driven at 1500mA? As I was a little disappointed with the standard 40 lumen of my blue luxIII, i was thinking of overdriving it, but I don't want to do it unless I can get at least 60 lumen out of it. Any thoughts?

[Arm on Fire]

the LED Resistor chart on the store website lists the lumens for the different LED's based on the target mA's your talking about

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/resistor.aspx

hope this helps

[Novastar]

Arm, you might have missed that he was talking about OVER-driving... so... NOT using the "max continuous current" specifications that the manufacturers recommend.

There is something to be said for over-driving, it's true. But... to a certain extent. In SOME cases, over-driving an LED simply will not do very much... and if you over-drive TOO far, all you will do is REDUCE the light output due to having too much heat.

HOWEVER, what is really being asked is:

"How can I 'dial in' my LED to be at maximum brightness, and thus, the 'best' current setting... while not destroying the LED... yet with no regard for its lifespan... since who cares if it goes from 100,000 hour usage to 50,000???" AKA -- THE SWEET SPOT!
The answer is kind of simple... it's all about getting a dedicated power supply where you CAN 'dial in' current, voltage... and literally WATCH what the LED does while installed into a hilt, with optics, blade, diffusion, mirror tip, etc.

This way--you will ALWAYS know how to find the Sweet Spot of any particular LED.

Finally, this does NOT mean that you can then record such findings and apply it to other LEDs with similar manufacturer's specifications: like so many things in this world, no two are alike. Some LEDs have a fwd voltage of 2.95v... one with the exact same name may prefer 2.82v. Another may be a cwazy wabbit and shimmer its best at 3.09v. And then there is current. Also relatively "random", within a reasonable range.

THE ENTIRE POINT of manufacturer's specifications... is simply the AVERAGE of millions of manufactured components that are the same model. If you have:

Lux III Red-Os: 2.95vF, 2.90vF, 2.80vF, 2.82vF, 2.87vF, 3.01vF, 3.05vF, 2.94vF, 2.97vF, 2.81vF, 2.99vF, 2.95vF, etc. ...

...you can't possibly expect a manufacturer to sit there and SPECIFY that for EVERY single LED they sell!! That would be stupid, ridiculous, and a waste of money and time.

BUT, you also can't expect them to just say: "Oh yeah. Just use something like, I don't know... 2.8v to 3.2v should be OK." Because what if it is NOT on a certain set of LEDs made? What if 1000 LEDs fail because you give them 3.2v? What if the manufacturer had specified it to be "OK"? They'd look like little goombas, and you might sue if you were a giant company, bought 50,000 LEDs, and most all of them failed under the "quasi-specs".

So... anyhow. Enough of all that. And remember--current can vary too. So... you'd need a power supply like X-wing has or like Eandori. *I* don't have one. I cannot "dial in" my LEDs.

But... I also think that trying to squeeze a few more lumens out of an already bright LED... is a LITTLE overboard in the long run. Unless you're only making ONE saber, and you want it to be "maximized" in every possible way, no holds barred, no stone to be unturned.

[DarthFender]

Novastar,

As usual you have a great knack for prose. Ok, no shortcuts. I'll just have to get a dedicated power supply. I just wondered if anyone thought it was worth driving a blue lux at 1500. Cause to quote you "Damn.... I mean, just.... Damn!" That's what I said when I fired up the blue LuxIII the first time. I'm gonna do every diffusing trick in the book cause blue is a cool color and what this looks like now ain't cuttin' it. But, O well. I'm sure I;ll grow to like it or sell it. One or the other.

P.S. You should have som money coming your way for fonts/BOPIII. It ain't much, but It is definitely well deserved. I hop it's not too long before BOPIII is out. I can hardly wait.

[Novastar]

Well, I can tell you... you may want to directly ask Eandori. He has overdriven a Lux V green, and he has found that taking it from 700ma to 1000ma is a significantly noticeable (and GOOD) effect!

However, he didn't find similar results with some K2s, although I'd have to ask him more about that.

Finally, Yoda and I--when working on those sabers that day, which I showed a brief amount on when we met up--were ALSO playing around with some Lux Vs, and he liked to also take them from 700ma to something around 1000ma.

So... ASK X-wing and Eandori. They may be able to help you before you go out and buy a power supply (which can be expensive).

Again, as for me... sometimes I just think WAITING for the "new" LED that's around the corner is just as well. :)

[DarthFender]

you could be right about that. Heinz, Heinz.... LoL

[Arm on Fire]

sorry, my bad i, missed that you were trying to overdrive. :(

[DarthFender]

No worries, Arm.