Conversion LED question.

[DumpsterJedi]

First, the obligatory "i'm new and have been browsing around the forums for awhile but haven't quite found what I need" so please forgive me if I sound redundant or stupid. I just did a conversion of the Luke ANH black series lightsaber, and all went well except that i'm not satisfied with the brightness of the luxeon rebel star led. The bottom of the blade lights up nicely but it quickly dissipates and barely lights up the rest of the blade. I understand that it's possible I don't have the right lens, which is the other question Ill bring up, because I wasn't sure exactly where to find them, and I found a bunch of lenses for super cheap and put in the one that lit up the blade the best. However, even without the blade in the hilt, the led doesn't seem to be all that bright. Also, these lightsabers are only powered by 3 AA batteries, and I'm not too sure how electronics work, so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it. So my questions are, what kind of LEDs do you guys like to use and what would be best for my situation, and where do you get them and lenses and lens holders. I know this site has a store, but half the things aren't in stock so it's not that viable of a place to shop. Thanks for the replies.