Luxeon String

[Blazemann]

Has any one tried to make a string of Luxeons? Not of course that many, but like 6-10 at once?

I have 10 White Luxeons gathering dust, wondering exactly how many AA batteries it would take to run them simotaniously.

[Sohryu76]

which White Luxeons?
Lux III? Lux V?
10 Lux V... would require more than 60 volts... minimum of 68.40 Volts...

46- AA Batteries...
8- 9 volt batteries...
you might want to look at another way of juicing that many bulbs...

[DarthFender]

Has any one tried to make a string of Luxeons? Not of course that many, but like 6-10 at once?

I have 10 White Luxeons gathering dust, wondering exactly how many AA batteries it would take to run them simotaniously.

You can wire them all in parallel (Each LED Gets its own + and - to the battery) and it will only require 3.9 volts. You would need to resistor each LED for a 4.5 - 6v battery pack. Keep in mind that you are going to getreally crappy run times. Also I'm going under the assumption that you want to make an LED strip similar to the MR blades? Your problem is likely to be Heatsinking. 10 3w Lux's are going to put out a lot of heat. It's kinda hard to sheatsink on an LED Strip.

[Sohryu76]

You can wire them all in parallel (Each LED Gets its own + and - to the battery) and it will only require 3.9 volts. You would need to resistor each LED for a 4.5 - 6v battery pack. Keep in mind that you are going to getreally crappy run times. Also I'm going under the assumption that you want to make an LED strip similar to the MR blades? Your problem is likely to be Heatsinking. 10 3w Lux's are going to put out a lot of heat. It's kinda hard to sheatsink on an LED Strip.

doesnt the Lux V require 6.8 volts of juice?
or were you speaking about the Lux III?

and we're talking Very Very Very crappy runtimes if you put 10 Lux Vs in parallel on a 7.2 battery pack...

[DarthFender]

Yeah, I was referring to the LuxIII. And runtimes will depend on how many batteries you have parallel. You can wire 6 - 1.5v 2600 mAh Cells into a 4.5v 5200 mah battery pack. If you wire in series you add the voltage together. If you wire parallel you add the capacity together. Assuming that you use an amp an hour per lux. That's 10 amp/hr for all.

5200 mAh for a battery pack should drive that for just about half an hour.

I'm sure some math/electronics major can put some real numbers to this ans how how it would go with various drivers, but My point is this:

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
Darth Fender: Or even why they would?

[Sohryu76]

you have a very good point...
I was just checking my knowledge against yours...
and yeah... i didnt think about parallel...
course 46 batteries powering a series would still give a nice long run time... lol :)
but that is a huge flippin hilt!

[Blazemann]

They are III's. Now I have decided to use 9-volts for power. How many LIII's could a single 9-volt battery run? And if the Luxeon III's almost maxed out the 9-volt, would it need an inverter?

I am very excited to begin building it, but for curiousity, how much bang could a Luxeon take?

[Marsupial]

you also need to take into consideration the discharge rate of the battery pack... or "can the battery pack deliver that current?"

if you plan on running them in parallel, I bet your batt won't hold.

as an example. if you run a lux III directly from 4 AA alcaline, they might supply up to about 1 amp, but will most likely start to heat up. most AA batteries in 4-pack generally can't supply anything above 1Amp.

If you're going Li-Ion packs, keep in mind there's circuitery to prevent too quick or too deep discharges, and overheat... leading to a maximal current output depending on your pack. Again, I don't think 6 lux III in parallel will hold.

when I think more then 2 lux III, I think AC adapters... but I don't say its impossible, just hard to achieve within the size of a hilt and mostly impossible with anything like a decent runtime.


If you're thinking 9V battery... you need to keep in mind that a 9V battery is essentially the same as 6 AAAA batteries (AAAA like smaller then AAA batteries. try to dismount a dead 9V pack, you'll see there's (most of the time) 6 cell smaller then an AAA)
now, those 9V batteries aren't stronger then AAs, they are just more convenient for several applications.
Look at rechargeables...
a good Ni-MH AA is 2000 to 2500 mAh. if you have a 6-pack of them (7.2V) you have the same as a 9V equivalent Ni-MH battery in term of voltage, but the 9V-lookalike battery runtime will be a mere 700-to-900 mAh compared to the 2000-to-2500 mAh of the AA 6-pack.
I doubt you can properly power more then 1 or 2 lux III with a 9V alcaline, and the runtime will suck like a vacuum cleaner.

Hope this helps.

[Novastar]

Mars is precisely right.

Maximum (safe) current draw from any particular cell is often either ignored or unseen by the buyer. Personally, I have NO idea how to determine the maximum current draw of a random alkaline 1.5v battery cell. I know that it can't be all that much.

However, I *DO* know the maximum amp draw ratings on the Li-Ion cells that I much prefer for my projects. They last a hell of a lot longer too.

Just to clear any confusion: the "mah" rating is *NOT* the amp draw rating!

[Ghostbat]

but for curiousity, how much bang could a Luxeon take?

I am going to guess not a lot. Using this for a saber blade is going to have some issues, durability being a big one, the other being the directional nature of a LUX on a star/heat sink.

I have seen big multi-lux art projects though and they are spectacular so I would love to see what you come up with!

[Blazemann]

I have drawn a design. I will be upping it soon!

[Novastar]

If protected, the Luxeon (along with many other LEDs) are fairly impervious to shock. There are no moving parts!

However... like the systemic failure of Force FX sabers... it is not the LED ARRAY that is the problem... oh no. Not at all.

...it's the FLEXION of the solder joints/connections that may cause the wiring of the array--to fail! When shock or flexion occurs... which btw--is going to be a MUST if you want your saber blade prop to survive (unless it's made of steel or high-grade aluminum!!!)... the wiring gets taxed.

I mean, look at it like this. Take a lamp that has a floor cord. Now bend the crap out of the wire, twist it, crimp it, crush it, weaken it. Eventually--the lamp will fail. BUT... is that due to the ELECTRONICS failing? or the switch failing? The power? Or even the bulb? No, none! It's the break in the wiring.

You might say... well, I doubt I could break the lamp cord. True--it would take a lot of work...

...but what LED array blade has THAT kind of insane thick wiring protection in there? Not a one.

... yet. :)