RGB LED help

[aviator84]

Hi, I had a couple of questions about the prolight leds. After reading through the posts I think I would like to try my hand at one. What I want to know is since this isn't a luxeon led(at least I don't think) do I still need to use a 5 or 10 degree lens? Also as far as wiring goes could I just use one resistor before the switches, or would I need 3 resistors? I ask this because in order to get certain colors(such as purple) you would need to turn on two switches, right? Any help would be appreciated. This will be my first saber that I am going to build, I have an El vader saber(using a heiland flash) but it was half completed when I bought it. Also, just wanted to thank Strydur for having such an awesome site![]

[meiv4]

your still going to need the lens. and your going to need to use a resistor on each color/switch. thats the very short answer there. i would go find out the values for each resistor... but im lazy. maybe one of the less slackers here can help on that.

hmmm hmmmm whooosh hmmmm whooosh crackel

[aviator84]

I think I read somewhere that the prolight leds are like three 1 watt leds in one package. Is that right? And if so, which resistor should I use for a 1w led? Thanks! OH, and now that I think about it you would need to now the source voltage right? I was going to use the 4 aa battery holder Strydur offers so that would be 6v.

[aviator84]

Ok, I think I've finally figured out the resistance calculator I found in a different post. After checking the stats for the led I want to use It says the red is 2.2v, Blue is 3.5v, and Green is 3.5v. The forward current is 350mA. So according to the calculator I need to use a 1.5w resistor for Red, and a 2w resistor for Blue and green. Is this right?

[aviator84]

Maybe I didn't figure it out. After taking a closer look at what the calculator returned I would need a resistor rated at 8.2ohms, but Tim doesn't sell one that has that rating. Did I do something wrong, or does Tim just not sell the resistor I need?

[james3]

Ok, slow down and take a deep breath. I like your name so I'm going help you out a little here.

EDIT FUNCTION- After you post there is a little pencil and papaer thingy above your post so that you can come bace and add, delete, change, etc... We all make a double post every once in a while but much more then that and you run the risk of either a xwing on your tail with guns blazin' or a drop in by the elite forces of the De-Railment Unit. Keeping the edit handy makes everyone happy.

Now on to bidness[]

You will want to use pots so that you can "tune" the current in order to get the various colors. You could do like Tetematek and use a switch for each color but they do not blend the way that Gelu's saber does.
For the resistor issue Tim may not have in the store the right resistors because he doesn't carry the Prolights and it doesn't seem like Luxeon.
Give me a sec on those calcs...

OK-








This is a few options and once you know what setup you want you can hit the electronic stores or online to get what you need.

BTW, welcome to the boards.

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[aviator84]

Thanks for all the help and the welcome James. I don't post on forums alot so I didn't realize there is an edit button, I'll keep that in mind for the future; I'd hate to have xwing come in guns blazing.[] I think I'm pretty close to you, I live in chesterfield which is close to Richmond. But to stay on topic, you mentioned pots. After checking on some potentiometers most of the ones I found are rated at 500 ohms and 1/4 to 1/2 a watt. Would this take the place of the resistor or would I still need resistors and pots? Also, if I need both would I place the resistor before or after the pot? Oh yea, I was looking at the 500 ohm pots b/c that is what Gelu said he used in his saber.

[Firebird21]

Glad I could help!




Oh wait... I had nothing to do with it...


Oh well, welcome anyways!



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[Do-Clo]

I would suggest to use both, figure your resister to set your current at max rating of the led, then put your pot in to vary the current and if you should turn the pot to 0 ohms you will not fry your led.

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[aviator84]

Ok, so for Blue or Green I would use an 8.2 ohm 2 watt resistor so that the current going to the led would be 3.5v at 350mA. Would the pots I was looking at work? They are rated 1/2watt at 500 ohms(they are the linear taper kind). Or would I need pots rated at 1watt at 500 ohms? Darn, I wish I had payed more attention in high school when we were learning about circuits[]