LED brightness help

[Sith91]

Hello all. I purchased a bunch of parts from TCSS. Got my saber working using a board from a Hasbro Darth Vader lightsaber. It sounds awesome and works great but the LED doesn't light up my blade very well at all. I looked up a few tutorials here and there and can't seem to find the problem. It may be because I'm not using any transistors or a buckpuck but I'm still pretty new to working on electronics so I'm not sure.

I'll explain my circuit. I connected a 18650 battery to the board in place of the 3 AAAs. I removed the 3 leds and soldered the Rebel Star LED from TCSS and the LED part of my switch, left one blank. I wired the other two wires from the LED to the switch and replaced the speaker with one I bought from TCSS. Still using the original swing and clash sensors. That's pretty much it. I plan on learning how to add a crystal chamber and charge port later but until I get extensions or chokes this is all I can fit in the saber for now.

The base of the blade and the reflector at the tip light up well enough, but the middle of the blade tube remains clear.

[FenixFire]

Well your driving you led at the same amperage of the original led. For instance the single led board I used only put out 20mA. From what is was told you will need to use the transistor trick to put full battery voltage to the LEDs.

[FenixFire]

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...ighlight=Vader

[Darth Nater]

The TIP42 transistor is what you need to make this one work. With that in place, you would see quite a difference there.

[Sith91]

I'll try the transistor then. Very helpful responses. I greatly appreciate it. Thanks everyone!

Edit
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It worked!! Thanks everyone. I happened to find a TIP42 at Radio Shack and it works great. I'll probably buy some chokes and add a charge port and maybe a crystal chamber next. Also do you guys have any experience with the different blade types from TCSS? I bought two clear ones, one thick and one thin. Do the white ones have better glow? Are the color discs good? Blade diffuser?
Thanks again!