Which one? P4 or Rebel star?

[Master Valon]

Hey, I was wondering- I am planning on making a Sith saber with 4x AAA Ni-MHs and a Maul FX board. So, 2 questions- 1.) which led should I get, a P4 or rebel star, and 2.) for whichever I should use, could I run the led directly off my board? I've read the threads on P4s vs. Lux IIIs, and it sounded like if I went with a P4, I would need a buckpuck as well? If I did, how would that work? Thanks a lot!

[Darth Enab]

1.) which led should I get, a P4 or rebel star? I'd go with a P4, it's just...better than the rebel.

2.) for whichever I should use, could I run the led directly off my board? I've read the threads on P4s vs. Lux IIIs, and it sounded like if I went with a P4, I would need a buckpuck as well? If I did, how would that work? You're right, if you go with a P4 you'll need either a 2.7 ohm 2 watt resistor or a 1000ma buckpuck. (Correct me if I'm wrong-I've heard red P4s can handle up to 1000ma without blowing up.)

Hope this helped.

[Master Valon]

Ok cool thanks a lot, I'll go with the P4 then. Are there wiring diagrams for this kind of setup?

[Azmaria Dei]

i would go with the P4 as well. as for running it directly off of the MR/FX board, it puts out 3.5V @1000mA, so you need to base your resistor calculations off of that, which will give you 1 ohm 2 watts for your resistor value. as for running a buckpuck off of it, that's both overkill and a bad idea. the buckpuck (a constant current driver) needs 5V minimum and the MR board (also a constant current driver) will underdrive it like crazy, which is bad. on top of that, you really can't have 2 constant current drivers stringed together like that. and even further, some people have blown the P4 red with 1000mA...

sooo.... you either use a red or red/orange rebel at full power off of the MR/FX board, or use a red P4 with a 1 ohm 2 watt resistor. (and besides that, a buckpuck is just adding extra cost you don't need anyway)

as for wiring diagrams, there's a stickied topic in the schematics and wiring diagrams area with all the MR/FX boards in it.

[Master Valon]

*Wipes sweat off brow* Wheew! Thanks a lot, I was kind of freaking out at the prospect of that nightmare of a wiring diagram involving an MR board AND a buckpuck! So the 1 ohm 2 watt resistor would just be wired in between the P4 and the board on the positive side?

[Darth Enab]

So the 1 ohm 2 watt resistor would just be wired in between the P4 and the board on the positive side?

Resistors can be wired in either the positive or negative side. I have a habit of wiring mine in the positive side, but that's just personal preference; you can put it on whichever side you want.

[Master Valon]

Ok cool thanks!

[Azmaria Dei]

i tend to put mine on the positive side too, but yeah it doesn't really matter.