Five AA batteries!

[iainm]

Firstly, thanks for the LED, driver and emitter assembly. The wiring diagram on this site suggests five AA batteries for the Luxeum and driver board. Can you suggest a way to mount five batteries? If I used a 9V battery instead how could I reduce the voltage to 7.5 volts for the board? Would sticking a small LED in the way do this or would I need another resistor, if so what size? As an aside, how do you stop all the electronic parts from rattling around inside the hilt?

Duct tape is like the Force: it has a dark side, a light side and it binds everything together.

Duct Tape is like the Force: it has a dark side, a light side, and it binds everything together.

[the_steve]

You could get a 6 AA holder that stacks the batteries like so.

12
34
56

Fill all of the slots with batteries except for the "1" slot. Instead of a battery, put a piece sof small wire or other conductive material (such as a small bolt) from the spring to the small dimple. That will give you 7.5v.

Either that or find a way to fit a 4AA holder and a 1Aa holder n series in the hilt.

As for the rattling problem, most people just stick some foam, such as pipe insulation or from a pool noodle, around the parts to pad them and keep them in place. Even just wadded up tissues or toilet paper will work.

phat lewt=kash munni

[Madcow]

It's also posible to get a 4 AA holder, and attach a one AA holder to the underside with hot glue and wire them together. It may need some minor shaving to fit inside the tube.

You can also but tiny connectors (like plugs) to avaid having a tangled bunch of wires. it takes time, but what a difference!

MC



You want to go home and re-think your life

[DACOTA]

i was wondering tim said that 9 volts dont have enough current for the 3 watt leds can someone explian the difference between current and voltage and also why are the 4aaa battery packs baetter than a 9 volt. sorry if this is a little off topic.

"aaah general kenobi you are a bold one."-general grievous

[xwingband]

To get the full potential out of an LED you need two things: proper voltage and meeting or exceeding the rated amperage. For a 3W LED (greens and blues) the forward voltage is 3.9 and the typical amperage is 700ma (you can max it at 1000ma). For the reds and yellows the voltage is slightly lower and you can push nearly double the amperage through.

The hitch is too much or too little of either will screw your LED. 9V's are too high on voltage and pretty low amperage-wise. Too much voltage is bad, but extra amperage is something you can deal with. The amperage of AAA or AA's is 2400mah and that just equates to longer runtime.

The only case a 9V is worth it's salt is on a 5W where you can run them in parallel to boost the amperage and the high voltage isn't going to fry your LED.

If you more mean what those numbers actually mean it's hard to explain. I'd equate the voltage to the push it needs to light then the amperage will determine how bright it will be for how long.

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[DACOTA]

so what do you recomend for 3 watts? 5 watts?

"aaah general kenobi you are a bold one."-general grievous

[james3]

<font size="6"><font color="red">AAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!</font id="red"></font id="size6">

Is this for real?

<center></center>

[xwingband]

D'oh... this really makes me feel like I haven't accomplished too much with the explaination. Look at the spec sheet at any nuber of luxeon sites or Lumileds itself. Find the min and max voltage, your battery setup should be between those (it varies a bit for all the LEDs). Find the typical amperage, on both 3W and 5W this is 700ma (it can be pushed brighter though), and pick a battery that is above that. The more above that the longer it will run.

So... there isn't much of a "recommended" setup. Whatever fits in your hilt and meets both of those will work fine. I can tell you the typical is 4AAA or AA's for a 3W and either a parallel 9V or li-ion setup for 5W.

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[DACOTA]

thanks i get it know ill just stick with 4aaa with the 3,and 5 watts. maybe 9 volt for the 5 watt.

thanks x wing.

"aaah general kenobi you are a bold one."-general grievous

[todd4566]

Definitely go parallel 9v for the 5w. The difference in brightness is very noticeable.

My collection:
02' MR Anakin AOTC
05' MR Anakin ROTS
05' MR Luke ROTJ
06' MR Maul TPM
MHS 5w Luxeon(RylBl/Grn)