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View Full Version : Info about 10W LedEngin Green LED (A couple of pics)



TroyO
04-23-2008, 09:40 PM
I don't have a bunch of time, but wanted to shoot up a couple of pics. I will try to get a comparison show with whatever LED blades I can get a hold of, but for now I tried just doing some from a distance so maybe you can guage the "throw" of the light and get some idea from that.

2X 700 MA Buckpucks @ 9.6V driving the LED Engin 10W green LED on MCPCB (Star) using a K2 Optic assembly. BIN number unknown.... Mouser didn't include any specific info about it.

Observations... hot enough after 20 minutes I turned it off to cool for a while. I don't think it was melty hot, but I tried to hold on to it tightly and got to a count of 15 before having to let go for fear of an actual burn. Cooled down OK in like 5 minutes.

Using a sink tube adapter, and MHS type 1 emitter/blade holder. It really does a great job pulling the heat out to the tube! The back end of the tube is warmish, as you get closer to the emitter it gets hotter. As above... I don't think I'm in any danger of melting anything, but it's hot enough I started worrying about the health of the LED. Livable... with some common sense.

Visually... it's a lot brighter than my memory of my red Lux III, but it has a better blade design, is a different color and I haven't seen the red one in over a year, LOL.

In a fully lit room, it's bright. In the dark, it almost hurts. Outside on an overcast day (But full day) it looks good, but not great. I haven't had a chance to see what full daylight is like.

Ummm... more to come? Any questions so far?


http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/4843/blade1zq2.th.jpg (http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blade1zq2.jpg)

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7161/blade2wx1.th.jpg (http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blade2wx1.jpg)

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9391/blade3rj7.th.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blade3rj7.jpg)

LeMoel
04-23-2008, 09:49 PM
wow thats bright

Kant Lavar
04-23-2008, 10:11 PM
Wow. That is bright.

My two concerns would be heat and battery life. If this sucker is pulling a decavolt, that's gotta be killing the battery, unless you've got some serious mAh on it. (Granted, I'm still learning the whole "electronics" thing, so take that as you will.) The other concern is heat. Sure, for a lot of the time, 20 minutes is plenty. But at major cons (Dragon*Con, I'm looking at you!) you might want or need the saber on for longer periods of time. If the holder is that warm to the touch after that long, I'd wonder if there's not a way to cool it more. Maybe drill out some holes around the blade holder right above the LED to get more air flow? (I'm pretty sure liquid cooling isn't an option here. :rolleyes: )

Malaki Skywalker
04-23-2008, 11:58 PM
I FREAKIN Love this, now that is bright!! Need... To.. get... 10 watt green with CF v4!!! :shock:

DARTH KALEL
04-24-2008, 12:18 AM
actually I think it's perfect, i'm not worried about heat at all, hardly ever leave it on for more than 20 30 mins. i'm trying to do a p7 on a mcpcb and custom filters I really like the green too, such a break from the normal blue. My p4 will be yellow and I got a p7 that will be purple.

Malaki Skywalker
04-24-2008, 03:41 AM
If thats a U bin, its pumping out more then 700 Lumens!! :shock:

Eandori, we need a bigger heat sink idea! ;)

SWAT Strachan
04-24-2008, 04:16 AM
Here's an idea... If you use a 4"-7" double-female extension piece with holes drilled at both ends (for airflow), with one of THESE (http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=0191913) sandwiched in the middle using a couple of pieces of PVC sink tube or glue to hold it in place, would that be sufficient to reduce the heat? Being 20x20x10 I think it would fit easily too (probably a bit loose to be honest!).

As it's only a 5v / 400mAh fan you'd only need a resistor to wire it to the battery, and I'd imagine any noise the fan might make would be drowned out by the saber itself (even though it does run at 5000rpm :shock:).

Kant Lavar
04-24-2008, 04:47 AM
Not a bad idea, but remember -this is a 10v LED. Which means that you're trying to pull 15v out of a 9.6v battery. You might be able to do it with buckpucks (I think), but if it worked at all, it would murder the battery.

LeMoel
04-24-2008, 05:47 AM
man I wouldnt try a purple filter with 700 lumen led,it will just wash it out, ive tryed an led at 350-400 lumens and it just washed most of my filters out. You should purchase an R bin seoul like xwing has been talking about. 300 luemens, would be perfect

Malaki Skywalker
04-24-2008, 06:36 AM
man I wouldnt try a purple filter with 700 lumen led,it will just wash it out, ive tryed an led at 350-400 lumens and it just washed most of my filters out. You should purchase an R bin seoul like xwing has been talking about. 300 luemens, would be perfect

What sorta LED was that? Seoul? And what did you use to get 350-400 lumen?

TroyO
04-24-2008, 08:06 AM
Couple of details.... guys, when I say hot I mean black car on a sunny day hot, not "ohhhh crap, something is gonna melt!" hot. I think, when I turned it off it had reached kind of it's max heat.... where the heat displaced equaled the heat generated. I don't think it would have gotten much, if any hotter. I could hold and use it easily, as long as I held the handle end and not the emitter. ;) I was a little worried if the emitter was that hot the actual LED might be a lot hotter and I didn't want to break my new toy on it's inagural run.

It's a LED Engin green, BIN unknown. I'm guessing it's the midlle bin. Mouser has it listed at 425 Lumens, presumably at the nominal rating of 700 MA. It's on a typical star base, except it has solder pads for each of the 4 LEDs seperatly. That is important, it allows you to get to each one individually. As ERV pointed out, that could mean uber-cool things for RGB or RGBA sabers!

Voltage.... the rated forward voltage of the LED is somewhere between 12.8 and 15.7V with all 4 of the LED's connected in SERIES. To let me get away with a feasible battery pack, I have 2 sets of LEDs connected in series. Each Buckpuck drives only 2 of the LEDs, with a forward voltage of 6.4 to 7.85 volts. Well within the range of an 8 cell NiMh pack.

The batteries themselves... fairly conventional. 8 Cell NiMh AA sized batteries, 2600 MAH. I'm using a flat 4 battery pack, and a square 4 battery pack like the ones from Radio Shack to hold the batteries. The two packs are just for placement issues... the sound board and my Op-amp Buckpuck controller are on top of the flat 4 battery pack.

Link to the LED spec sheet:
http://www.ledengin.com/products/10wLZ/LZ4-00G110.pdf

Link to the MCPCB spec sheet, shows how you can solder to each LED inividually and run any series/paralel config you want.

http://ledengin.com/products/appnotes/LZ4-2xxx10-MCPCBapNote.pdf

So... I'm only claiming 425 lumens on this one.

Now, the next one... well, LOL I have some ideas. ;-P

(How about driving with a CF at 1 amp, and using the Power Extenders to activate a buckpuck @ 1 amp for the second set?) 2 Amps @ 7.2V (Average FV for this) and you'd be putting out 14.4 Watts..... Booyah! Might need a fan for that, though. ;-))

Marsupial
04-24-2008, 10:04 AM
man I wouldnt try a purple filter with 700 lumen led,it will just wash it out, ive tryed an led at 350-400 lumens and it just washed most of my filters out. You should purchase an R bin seoul like xwing has been talking about. 300 luemens, would be perfect

What filters did you use?

there are Lee filters that I believe would do good results.

You know, some are ment for way stronger lights then leds.

LeMoel
04-24-2008, 10:34 AM
I used a Luxeon endor rebel white, i think it was like 400 lumens, I tryed all the normal purple filters, medium purple,rose purple, magneta, deep purple. It made the darker purples look better but honestly if you want a good filtered purple I would go with the Seoul P4(240 lumen) or the Lamina Atlas led(270 lumen)

use either the ultra blade or Tim's style or xwings nylon might look decent also.

240-300 lumens is the best for filtering Ive found.

But if you really want to make a purple saber I would go with the prolight RGB led, its a true purple. And its a full purple. Its as bright as a 3 watt I think its the best right no untill there's optics for the endor rebel RGB, here's some pictures

Note : this is with a crappy diffusion blade that comes with the MR construction kit. the blade would be even brighter and fuller with an ultra

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1263.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1264.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/robodragonsdf1/StarWars/100_1265.jpg

Marsupial
04-24-2008, 10:56 AM
I have a Cree Q5 (220 lumens?) and all I got was washed out purple... or not bright ennough.

Maybe you're right. I should try lesser leds. lol.

Zero Unit
04-24-2008, 01:15 PM
Heh, that's awesome. Glad to see that those LEDs I found turned out alright.


Now, the next one... well, LOL I have some ideas. ;-P

How 'bout one of those 10W UV? :p

Hasid Lafre
04-24-2008, 01:23 PM
You willneed a uv reactive blade where the blade will glow. Normally it will less than a luxIII filtered.

Theres a discussion at fsxabers about this.

Malaki Skywalker
04-24-2008, 01:35 PM
Heh, that's awesome. Glad to see that those LEDs I found turned out alright.



How 'bout one of those 10W UV? :p

UV is also dangerous, even with LED's...

Zero Unit
04-24-2008, 02:00 PM
You willneed a uv reactive blade where the blade will glow. Normally it will less than a luxIII filtered.

Theres a discussion at fsxabers about this.

True, and I have read the thread over at FX with great interest. However, the 10W UV LEDEngine LEDs are about as bright as the current Royal Blue LED (750mW, I believe, for the K2), which means a UV reactive blade isn't entirely necessary, just one with a coating to block the UV rays (I like to keep my eyes too).

LeMoel
04-24-2008, 04:24 PM
I have a Cree Q5 (220 lumens?) and all I got was washed out purple... or not bright ennough.

Maybe you're right. I should try lesser leds. lol.

Well I get good results from the240-270 lumens, try the magical magneta lee filter #795 its good or decent, purple is just a tough color to acheive, I like the RGB purple

LeMoel
04-24-2008, 04:43 PM
Heh, that's awesome. Glad to see that those LEDs I found turned out alright.



How 'bout one of those 10W UV? :p

Now UV isn't Purple, Its a dark blue with a tad bit of purple in it, Now im not saying that it isnt a good color but its not purple

check out my UV my practice saber with 10 5mm UV leds

Zero Unit
04-24-2008, 06:22 PM
Personally, I love the color. It's nice and saturated, and would be perfect for future plans I have in mind for down the road. :twisted:

LeMoel
04-24-2008, 06:30 PM
well give me ur address and i'll send you some 5mm UV leds if you like.. unless your going to use a 1 watt or 3 watt or even 5 watt

NEW! Prolight Power LED UV (Schwarzlicht) 180mW
http://www.led1.de/shop/index.php?cName=prolight-power-leds-prolight-power-leds-1-watt-c-8_39

3 and 5 watts
http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Ntt=*uv*+*led*&N=1323038&Ntx=mode%2bmatchall&Ns=P_SField&OriginalKeyword=uv+led&Ntk=Mouser_Wildcards

Zero Unit
04-24-2008, 07:46 PM
Lol, I need to get a hilt ready first. I'll keep your offer in mind though, thanks. :)

LeMoel
04-24-2008, 09:32 PM
haha k let me know cuz i bought a bunch of them off ebay for cheap

Ok this is my luxeon Rebel high bin 175 lumens aprox ,driven by a 1000 ma buck puck wi Ultra blade

NOTE: again this camera i'am using is from my computer that has a bright screen and a very bright flash , the reason i am showing you these pictures is to show you how the brightness of the led made it so hard and made some weird things happen in the pictures.

Picture 1 Lights off-I dont even know where the blue in the back ground came from haha

picture 2 Lights off - again with the blue in the background

picture 3 picture of the led it self

Picture 4 with lights on

The white part of the blade is actually green brightness in person, a picture with no flash would be nuts

LeMoel
04-24-2008, 10:58 PM
Oh ya i forgot to tell you that when I get a camera with No flash i will post

Mad Hatter
04-25-2008, 10:25 AM
BIN number unknown.... Mouser didn't include any specific info about it.

That seems dangerous.... The spec sheet shows pretty different power requirements for different BIN#'s... How do you know how much voltage is needed/too much?

TroyO
04-25-2008, 12:58 PM
I'm using buckpucks, so it doesn't really matter. They regulate the current. I could hook up a 30V pack to run a 5V LED. As long as you have a voltage greater than the needs of the LED it should work fine.

Mad Hatter
04-25-2008, 01:41 PM
Unfortunately I have to direct drive the clash flash. And I'm tapping the main CF output to run a motor and an LED for the crystal chamber...

Guess I'll have to experiment and try not to blow anything up. :)

Novastar
04-25-2008, 01:49 PM
Both of your sabers are going to be WICKED cool though, heheheh!

TroyO
04-25-2008, 03:13 PM
Mad Hatter... why direct drive? You could use a resistor, or a buckpuck on the direct drive output I believe. Erv is 'Da Man! for those questions, but I don't see why you couldn't.

Mad Hatter
04-25-2008, 03:46 PM
Sorry, I meant resisted. I just need to figure out the voltage in order to determine the value for the resistors.

Novastar
04-25-2008, 05:19 PM
"It is USELESS to resist!"

Sorry... I... uh... couldn't resist... *gasp*, *ugh*

lol... d'ohhh

savyas
04-26-2008, 06:11 AM
I ordered an RGGB one on a whim this morning..

Mouser Part# 897-LZ420MC10
ledtech part# LZ4-20MC10
Colors RGGB
wavelengths 620/525/460
lumens 91/267/36
power 10 W
Voltages 2.2/6.4/3.2
current 1000

I opted for the dual green rather than RGBA for some unknown reason, although I almost ordered one of each.

I'll let you know how the experiments go!

TroyO
04-26-2008, 11:25 AM
Sweet! I'm real curious how the RGGB or the RGBA works, if you get too much color varience through the optics or what.

What's the advantage of the RGBA vs the RGGB? My guess is that the RGBA would let you get closer to "white" output. Since for a color changing saber I think you'd want more saturated colors the RGGB is probably a better bet.

Lux III/V brightness AND color changing would be a pretty cool step in sabertology!

savyas
04-26-2008, 11:57 AM
my thoughts in ordering the RGGB were that that the two G's are brigher than a lux V.. and perhaps I could use the blue as a clash and lockup visual effect and the red as a blaster deflection flash. Perhaps.. It'll be a while before I have the electronics to give it a try though.

savyas
04-27-2008, 06:17 PM
my thoughts in ordering the RGGB were that that the two G's are brigher than a lux V.. and perhaps I could use the blue as a clash and lockup visual effect and the red as a blaster deflection flash. Perhaps.. It'll be a while before I have the electronics to give it a try though.

hrm.. after reading in detail the clash and lock as well as blaster deflection sections of the CF4 manual, it looks like the same LED will be activated for either effect (as in, only one contact pad goes high). So it doesn't look like I'll be able to do exactly what I had planned on. Oh well... I can still play around with a combo of red/blue I guess..

On the other hand -- there ya go for an idea for CF V5, Erv :)

LeMoel
04-27-2008, 10:16 PM
Whats an RGGA? red green blue whats A stand for?

and how could these RGB's be any brighter then the prolight or rebel RGB's?

Novastar
04-27-2008, 11:02 PM
Amber .

LeMoel
04-28-2008, 02:07 AM
oh duh haha siorry for the dumd question, so is this 10 watt rggb gonna be bright than most rgbs?

Star Struck
04-28-2008, 06:06 AM
TroyO, that's one fantastic saber and has inspired me to join the forum. For months I’ve been the voyeur - watching but not joining in! Anyway, is there any chance you can provide a bit more info on how you built this.

You say you have a separate set-up for each pair of the led's (1 * 700ma puck and 4 pack of batteries for each). I can visualise this but i'am struggling with regards using just one switch to activate both (forgive my limited understanding).

I'am thinking of going the same route for my first saber, but without sound. Picture a Luke ep6 type hilt, all constructed from Tim's supplies. Did you use the standard heat sink that you got with the blade holder or something more robust? Also, what's the approximate length of your saber (so i can get an idea for battery fitment etc.
Thanks.

TroyO
04-28-2008, 09:27 AM
Not quite... what I have acts like single, 8 X AA battery pack. It puts out 9.6V. I'll post more details (Hopefully today.) I made it using 2 packs, but electrically it's like a single battery pack.

I drew up a wiring diagram, but I was on another PC and never got a chance to post it. I'll try and copy it, or draw up a new one.

But, basically I have both buckpucks hooked up to the single battery pack. The output of the buckpucks drive 2 LEDs each. As far as switching it on, it can be as easy as a switch on the positive wire that goes to the positive on both buckpucks.

I did it a little different, though.... I am using an MR616 (Radio Shack lightsaber kit) soundboard. So what I did was hook the buckpucks up so they are always connected. Using a little electronic circuit I connected the LED output of the MR616 to the CTRL input on the buckpuck. Now, when the MR616 is turned on, it signals the buckpucks to turn on (Or off) using that Ctrl input.

The downside of how I did it is that there's a little bit of current running all the time About 40 MA, including the power LED. That's not a lot, but it would theoretically drain the batteries in about 5 days.

So... I used a recharge port and hooked it up to cut all power when I have a dummy plug in there.

The heatsink/emmitter is just a basic type 1 from TCSS. The only special precaution was to put heatsink paste on the the base of the LED, AND where the heatsink seats in the holder, and where the holder contacts the sink tube. It probably wasn't neccesary but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Overall length is just a tad over 12 inches. I would have preffered it be closer to 11, but I just couldn't figure a way to stuff it all in and have a resonance chamber too.

TroyO
04-28-2008, 09:46 AM
This may help.. basic visual block diagram of where the parts are.

Don't let the fact that there are 2 battery packs fool you.... they are connected together to run as a single battery pack. The only reason I used 2 physical packs is so it would all fit.

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7193/hiltlayoutqi1.th.jpg (http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hiltlayoutqi1.jpg)

Star Struck
04-28-2008, 11:45 AM
Thanks,... time for me to place an order with Tim and Mauser.

TroyO
04-28-2008, 03:25 PM
OK... more info. I'll probably do a couple of posts to break it up some.

The most basic wiring using 2xBuckpucks to drive 2 of the LED's each... 2 buckpucks, one battery, one switch.

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8127/lsbasicwiringat8.th.jpg (http://img297.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lsbasicwiringat8.jpg)

A slight variation... which I didn't think of until after I had wired mine.... so it hasn't been tested but it should work. The advantage? A single quick connector instead of 2 quick connectors. Saves a little space.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9677/lsbasicwiringaltxn4.th.jpg (http://img294.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lsbasicwiringaltxn4.jpg)

This is basically running the 2@700 MA buckpucks in parallel to put out 1400 MA (or 2000 MA with 1000 MA buckpucks). That MA is then split through 2 sets of LED's. So, still 700 (1000) MA per LED, just wired a bit different.

TroyO
04-28-2008, 03:58 PM
On to the more advanced stuff.

The Buckpucks have a 5V output, along the lines of 20 MA. One isn't enough to power the MR616 board. (At least, mine couldn't) BUT... using the output of both Buckpucks 5V ref (Yellow wires) still yeilded 5V, but with more MA. It IS enough to power the MR616! yay... no voltage regulator needed!

So, I'm stealing that Ref voltage for something useful, and saving a little space. Whoot!

Here's a diagram of my saber, but I'm almost out for the day so I may have to fill in details later.

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3586/wiringguidelx3.th.jpg (http://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wiringguidelx3.jpg)

What's the magic box? I'll have to fill in those details tommorow as well, but it's just a pretty simple inverting OP-amp.

**This was an incorrect drawing of the circuit, corrected in next post**

savyas
04-28-2008, 07:23 PM
oooooooooooh you dirty rat.

I've been toying with the idea of hauling out the multitude of left over op amps (351, 740, etc) from classes long, long passed, but have avoided it till now. My biggest concern in doing so has been the worry of electrically isolating them (the op-amps and ancilliaries). I don't want to have to stick a breadboard into a hilt, nor do I want to create a spaghatti ball.

So... I'm most curious as to how you'll package it all into a hilt. Pictures would be nice ;)

DarthFender
04-28-2008, 09:57 PM
I got probably a stupif question, Troy. Since you are using the MR's LED output for thr CTL for the Pucks, does it fade in and out like the MR ones?

If so, that'll be the most awesomest thing I have read in a little while.

TroyO
04-29-2008, 08:43 AM
Darth Fender.... ehhh... not really. Fade out is OK, but the fade in is too fast. It's perceptible, but not really right.

OK... additional notes. Looking at what I drew up for the magic box... I screwed up. Fixed circuit is here.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6857/chipwirefm8.th.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chipwirefm8.jpg)

Note that the resistor values are what I calculated.... but ended up using something different. If I remember correctly, I dropped the POT and used a 33K resistor where the 47K is listed. I was so happy to see it working I just left it, LOL.

Second note.... the 741 is a crap op amp for this application. I shouldn't have used it, but it's what Radio Shack had. The 741 nominal spec is 10V, and it's not even close to rail to rail. If I had taken the time and effort, I would have used something like the BA10358N. (That guy is 3V to 32V.. well within range foir the app) I'm an electronics novice, so don't quote me on any of this! LOL. Anyway, with that Op-amp you might be able to run the whole thing from the 5V out of the buckpuck.

As a matter of fact, regarding the fade in/fade out issue... I drew up a circuit in Spice (Electronics modeling software) that looked beautiful. It was adjustable... for both total ramp rate, and to shift the ramp towards extend or retract, so you could dial in exactly what looked right for your blade and the relative speed of extend and retract.

It didn't work.

I still don't get why, or what I was missing conceptually or practically but what I was getting from the Spice analysis software bore no resemblance to reality at all.

It's frustrating when trying to figure something out and by the numbers you have it all works in theory but isn't quite right in practice. Which is why the resistor values I used are different then what's in the picture.

Anyway... I wouldn't take this as a "Wire it this way" guide. It's more a starting point that I hope someone can refine a bit.

Star Struck
05-04-2008, 01:22 PM
Troy O, thanks for the diagrams.

I've ordered two leds for mauser - the 10w mcpcb in green and i thought, what the heck i'll get the 10w red as well! The red doesn't have the same lumen output as the green but still well above the norm. The plan is to have a quick connect system for led change. I ordered some parts from Tim including two different bladeholders (plan to interchange both to give different sith , jedi themes).

I've also went for two aa packs that i will solder in serial to make 9.6v in total with two 700ma buck pucks (How unoriginal can i be!)

Not bold enough to attempt anything with sound at the moment and want to save every ounce for the led(s).

Do you think there will be any issues with the red in this set up? Power quoted at 0.8w higher than the green with VDC 2.8 less than green.

I was reading your reply to Erv in the CF4 post. When you mention, "jumper the pads to connect each die" i know you are are refering to the fact that there are seperate cathodes and anodes for each die, but what do you mean by this and is it a simple soldering job? A diagram would help! :P

Infact, anyone's help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

TroyO
05-05-2008, 03:05 PM
No problem. The jumpering of the pads means putting a wire or solder joint between two pads to connect them. It's moderate as far as soldering.... not as easy as joining 2 wires but still fairly basic. I made a little bit of amess out of it my sirst time, but luckily nothing a little cleaning up and re-soldering couldn't fix. :-)

I'd recommend using a fine guage single strand wire for connecting the pads. Solder blobs are tooo.... well, blobby. Try to keep the wire towards the inside, if on the outside of the pads towards the edge it tends to get in the way of mounting the optic.

Pretin a section of wire, cut it and bend the end to the shape you want. I soldered my jumpers in place, then cut the excess wire off with a razor blade after everything was in place. (Using the extra wire as a handle.)

After burning myself a few times, blobbing up a few joints with too much solder and trying again I managed to get it.

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/1437/ledjumperwire1uu6.th.jpg (http://img361.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ledjumperwire1uu6.jpg)

DARTH KALEL
05-05-2008, 03:37 PM
actually I used an old pair of hippy sunglasses to get purple it's a great color and bright but I still need to cut the lense to fit. here is a makeshift pic with low batteries. this is a P4 240 lumens, first pic with one filter second with two, I get a really good color with the glasses but hard to take a pic of this is with Tim's filters and low batts as I said.

savyas
05-15-2008, 06:39 AM
So I finally got around to testing the RGGB 10W http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Ntt=897-LZ420MC10

I hooked up the two green's in series using a 1A buckpuck.. to get it to pull 1A, I had to up the voltage to about 8.1V. I also hooked it up with a 700ma buckpuck, and to get it to pull 700ma current across both green's I had to up the voltage to somewhere around 7.8V.

So I'm not believing the datasheet's 6.4V claim for green at 700ma.. worse, it doesn't look like I'll be able to drive both greens and a blue (or even red) for clash flash on a CF4 card.

savyas
05-15-2008, 10:22 AM
2 greens and blue in series at 1A drew 11.8V. so blue adds 3.7V (spec says 3.7)
2 breens and red in series at 1A drew 10.5V so red adds 2.4V (spec says 2.6)
and the 2 greens at 8.1V (spec says 7.6)


so at 10.5V, I might could make a sickly orangish-green blade.. but 11.8V for a blue-green is going to be more of a challenge.

thejedilestat
05-18-2008, 11:48 PM
that looks cool Green is my fave color i prolly wouldent have ben as impressed if it was another color


is that a vader shroud over the emiter?


verry cool great work

TroyO
05-28-2008, 09:23 AM
Sayas, The 7.6V is Typical... it does list 8.8v as the max@700 MA. That's a bummer... if you'd had a chip that leaned more towards the lower side you would have been fine. With the CF, If you used K2 mode @1.5A you could maybe wire the 2 green LEDS in parallel, so each would get 750MA@4.1V?

I keep coming back to the idea of using 5K sliders to control 3 or 4 buckpucks. (2X Buckpuck for green, one each Red and Blue.)

Lestat, that is a vader emiter shroud, hijacked from the MR616 construction set. I was more concerned with the tech aspect of it, so I went kinda lazy on detailing it, LOL.

savyas
05-28-2008, 07:50 PM
indeed. I ended up wiring the two green's in parallel powered by the primary LED output of a CF4 at 1.5A and the blue and red in series powered by a power extender from the clash flash output of the CF. It looked really cool the way the blue and red quickly flashed and then the light turned to a white... but the CF card's clash output was shorted somewhere (most likely in the PIC) - so it's headed back to Erv for some repairs.

I'll post details pics and wiring diagrams when the CF returns.

Vardarac
07-10-2008, 07:04 PM
Wow. That is bright.

My two concerns would be heat and battery life. If this sucker is pulling a decavolt, that's gotta be killing the battery, unless you've got some serious mAh on it. (Granted, I'm still learning the whole "electronics" thing, so take that as you will.) The other concern is heat. Sure, for a lot of the time, 20 minutes is plenty. But at major cons (Dragon*Con, I'm looking at you!) you might want or need the saber on for longer periods of time. If the holder is that warm to the touch after that long, I'd wonder if there's not a way to cool it more. Maybe drill out some holes around the blade holder right above the LED to get more air flow? (I'm pretty sure liquid cooling isn't an option here. :rolleyes: )

What if we stuck a little polycarbonate tank of water in there capped with a piece of metal and stuck it on the heatsink, then cut some air holes and stuck a miniature fan rigged to sound like a lightsaber when turned on to point at this contraption inside? :D

savyas
07-25-2008, 06:02 PM
I did say I'd post some wiring diagrams and such.. I admit it, I'm a lazy bastard and haven't done so..

but.. being a lazy bastard, I can at least show you some bench testing pics of how I wired up the ledengine RGGB, and an extremely crappy video of the results.

Wiring:
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~rick/sabers/IMG_4458.JPG
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~rick/sabers/IMG_4460.JPG

Video: (ignore the giggling baby in the background. I should really just mute the sound, but again, I'm too lazy for that).. flash in this video was triggered by blaster deflect (CF Aux), but clash flashes the same. Blade lockup, unfortunately, does not trigger the red and blue LED's through the extender.
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~rick/sabers/ledengine.mov

I ended up powering this with 2*18650's Li-Ion. When I gave it more voltage, the clash/blaster deflect was just too red/purple.. and sticking a third or fourth Li-Ion was just too space intensive. I'll probably end up sticking a POT inline on the blue-red chain to tune things a bit more to my liking in the long run, but this video shows it as is on my first attempt.

You might need to refresh the page to get the pictures and movies fully loaded. It's a crappy webserver, but heck... it's free.

Novastar
07-26-2008, 12:29 AM
Pretty darn cool to ME! :)

Nice work Sayyas... 10 stars out of 10 in my opinion!