Hey all. Sorry if I dig up old posts, I've been digging on here for a few hours now and I am not really finding what I am looking for...

I am curious about wiring LED's series and parallel. I am not sure exactly what this means. The last time I built a saber, single die rebels were the big thing. So yeah. A bit inexperienced. Not asking to be spoon fed, but I would love some insight.

I plan to build a pretty nice saber using TRI-CREE XP-E2, CF 7.5 or PC 3.5, with crystal chamber, and Cex or Pex depending on what I decide. I am pretty mechanically inclined so not worried about the fine details. What I am curious about is the differences in wiring and the level of brightness the blade will have. I would like this thing to really pump out the lumens. I initially wanted to use a Cex and mix, but I heard somewhere simply running two dice of one color makes for a way brighter experience.

I have a few questions.

1. My understanding is that parallel means two dice are wired together and therefore acting as one. I also understand when using GGW or BBW, wiring two of the same color together and using white for FOC makes for a very bright saber, with no color mixing. Correct? So am I to understand that if my board drives a main LED up to 2A, when wired parallel and driven at 2A, each die will get 1A and be safe (not in danger of frying)? Resistors required?

2. My understanding of series is that each die is wired and controlled separately, allowing for more finely tuned operation and drive current to each dice, such as for color mixing. Correct? Thats where my understanding fades. I'm not sure how or why I would wire these in series other than to mix colors?

3. Scenario. I have a color mixing saber and currently have die X and die Y going strong to make Z color. Is there a significant difference in brightness between a color mixing saber and a dedicated color saber using TRI-cree? I know to achieve certain colors, only one die will be running at a time, I am just curious what the difference would be. The only thing I have to gauge brightness against is my saber with single die red rebel running @ 700ma. It's kinda bright... Ish.

4. looking for a battery solution. I plan on using a 7.4v PCB protected pack. The largest one in the shop is 2600mah (2x18650). I know that means that it can run 2.6A for one hour. I've been looking around for larger capacity packs, but they're all huge. Even the 2600mah would be pushing it for size in my hilt with everything I want to cram in, but if it had a significantly larger capacity, I think I could justify it. My question is about building packs since I know you can't link to elsewhere where you could find a larger pack. If I take two 3.4v 3400mah cells and make a PCB protected pack, would it therefore be 6800mah or still 3400mah? Is it a pretty dangerous ordeal to make a pack? I know a fraction of an amp can kill, so I am just curious.

5. For poos and giggles, how would a tri-cree compare to a single rebel in terms of brightness? Pretty substantial?


Thanks in advance for any answers/insight. I'm trying to get back into this so bear with me. Wont be a Padawan for long. I learn quick thankfully.