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Thread: How to increase voltage?

  1. #1

    Question How to increase voltage?

    I recently received a HFx Count Dooku FX saber, and I'm already planning to convert it.

    To any of you electronic experts, what would be a small device/circuit that would amplify the voltage from the MR board to like 12v what a LEDengin 10 W red needs?

    Also, I would need to know what would be the best 10 W red since there are many on Mouser.

    Thanks..

  2. #2

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    You would probably need some insane 12v battery and a high voltage transistor, same as the 2010 Hasbro board.

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  3. #3
    Jedi Knight cannibal869's Avatar
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    First question should be:

    for that 10W LEDEngin, would you like to use all four dies or just 2 or 3 of them?
    If you want to use all 4 in series, then get this one:

    http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...smrDjXKNib8%3d

    If you want to use only 2 or 3 of them at a time, then get this one:

    http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...QJbVkhN3wnw%3d

    Now why would you want to use "only" 2 or 3? The basic question comes down to your battery power choice and what driver are you using?

    For instance, if you used two of the rechargeable trustfires (for a total of around 7-8V) you could probably drive 2 or 3 of the dies (depending on your setup). If you wanted to use all 4 dies, you would probably need a different battery solution since you would be aiming for somewhere around 10-11V.

    Keep in mind that we talk about properly driving or overdriving LEDs here to get the best result - and that means that you have to make sure that the LEDs get the optimum amount of current (which in this case is at least 1000mA).

    I haven't tested this theory yet and I'm sure someone else will chime in, but a single properly or over driven LED would probably be brighter to the eye than 2 underdriven LEDs... So I guess what I'm saying is that if you can properly drive or overdrive 2-3 of the dies, it would be brighter than underdriving 4 of the dies. [EDIT: you'd probably need a light meter to really tell any difference though]

    *that said, even underdriving the 4 dies is ungodly bright and could potentially blind you so wear protection*
    Case in point - I built a Seoul P7 saber that is underdriven, but is probably one of the brightest sabers I have ever seen.

    I'm starting to ramble on now, so I'll stop... but it would help us advise you if you listed what kind of batteries you wanted to use and what driver (as well as how many dies you want to drive). I'm steering you towards the 636nm LEDs since those will seem brighter to the naked eye.

    -C

    EDIT 2:
    I should also point out that you'll probably need to use a different driver than the stock MR board... A buckpuck will suffice for your needs, but this is going to be much more than just a simple conversion.
    Last edited by cannibal869; 08-15-2010 at 05:31 PM.
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  4. #4

  5. #5

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    Thanks for all your answers..

    I thought of using all four dies of it, the way all +'s and -'s are connected (Just forgot the word) and I'd really like to keep the MR board.

    Sunrider, that's awesome, but I don't know do I have enough space and because MR scrolls I believe it would take at least the first 3 negatives for the driver to kick in..

    Maybe if I can score a CF, I could try using the original battery/speaker combo (MR speaker replaced with premium) with 3 x 3.7v Li-Ion?

    But as I said, I really would like to keep the MR board.

    Thanks.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by cannibal869 View Post
    First question should be:

    for that 10W LEDEngin, would you like to use all four dies or just 2 or 3 of them?
    If you want to use all 4 in series, then get this one:

    http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...smrDjXKNib8%3d

    If you want to use only 2 or 3 of them at a time, then get this one:

    http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...QJbVkhN3wnw%3d

    Now why would you want to use "only" 2 or 3? The basic question comes down to your battery power choice and what driver are you using?

    For instance, if you used two of the rechargeable trustfires (for a total of around 7-8V) you could probably drive 2 or 3 of the dies (depending on your setup). If you wanted to use all 4 dies, you would probably need a different battery solution since you would be aiming for somewhere around 10-11V.

    Keep in mind that we talk about properly driving or overdriving LEDs here to get the best result - and that means that you have to make sure that the LEDs get the optimum amount of current (which in this case is at least 1000mA).

    I haven't tested this theory yet and I'm sure someone else will chime in, but a single properly or over driven LED would probably be brighter to the eye than 2 underdriven LEDs... So I guess what I'm saying is that if you can properly drive or overdrive 2-3 of the dies, it would be brighter than underdriving 4 of the dies. [EDIT: you'd probably need a light meter to really tell any difference though]

    *that said, even underdriving the 4 dies is ungodly bright and could potentially blind you so wear protection*
    Case in point - I built a Seoul P7 saber that is underdriven, but is probably one of the brightest sabers I have ever seen.

    I'm starting to ramble on now, so I'll stop... but it would help us advise you if you listed what kind of batteries you wanted to use and what driver (as well as how many dies you want to drive). I'm steering you towards the 636nm LEDs since those will seem brighter to the naked eye.

    -C

    EDIT 2:
    I should also point out that you'll probably need to use a different driver than the stock MR board... A buckpuck will suffice for your needs, but this is going to be much more than just a simple conversion.
    hey, with the MCPCBS that are independently connected PCBs, you can still use all four dies. there are three larger soldering pads on it, but there are two smaller ones as well. i have 2 10 watt blues, a red, and 2 greens on my desk. when i bought my first green that time i got serial connected. big mistake. i mean the voltage was so steep and the run time was YUCK!
    i can properly drive an independantly wired 10 watt LED with fairly decent run time with an 18650 and even better with two. my shockwaves RGBAs are driven at max and run off of a single 18650s and i got very good run time. with all four dies on i got about 45 minutes.
    Last edited by DJMoonbass; 08-15-2010 at 11:48 PM.

  7. #7

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    DJ, which 18650's are you using? FYI: The blue Trustfires only put out around 3 Amps max draw, 2.8 Amps in most of the tests I've seen, so you would not be driving all four dies at max. I know that it's still around 700mA per die, but it's still not driven at max. That is why I use AW 18650 cells. 5.2A max draw.

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  8. #8
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    700 x 4 = 2800 < 3000 and since tims are 2400 mah not 2800 i get a little under an hour.

    trust me im driving these at max. ive researched the built in PCBs on tims 18650s and its a 3-5 amp draw. so if it can get any brighter you wouldnt notice it. nothing of mine comes close to these. im certain (short of actually measuring) that im driving at full capacity.

  9. #9
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    The only way you can tell if you are driving them at their max current is to measure them with a multimeter. You can't really go by documentation as almost every vender stretches the truth to make you buy their product. When I post info that people are looking to be precise, I ALWAYS measure the values. You would be surprised at how much battery manufactors stretch the truth on their products. This goes for LED drivers too. I have found some of them to be way off of what they say is their output current is.

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  10. #10
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    ill look into testing it though. but seriously they are so dang bright i dont really care. lol

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