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Thread: Conversion LED question.

  1. #1

    Default Conversion LED question.

    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.
    Last edited by DumpsterJedi; 04-26-2016 at 04:51 PM.

  2. #2

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    What kind of LED do you have now? Do you have pics you can post?

    Since you're using 3 AA batteries, you're driving 4.5v, which is plenty for a bright LED. All of my sabers run at 3.7v and are very bright.

    I don't know what color saber you want, but this is my favorite one in the store: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Cu...ase-P1139.aspx
    Lens: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/18...Lens-P778.aspx
    Thermal tape: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/St...LED-P1143.aspx

    I don't know what the internal diameter of your saber is, so I can't recommend a heatsink for your LED. I'm sure someone here knows though.

  3. #3

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    Oops, thought I mentioned the led I'm using. Currently I have the luxeon rebel star led, keeping the blue blade. Internal diameter is about 24-25mm. Thanks for the lens, but 30 bucks doesn't seem necessary for a bright led. Are there other good tri leds for cheaper if I just want blue? Otherwise i'd still need a single lens, if I just go with a better single led.

  4. #4

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    What lens are you currently using? The 8.7 degree lenses for single LEDs in the store are commonly used for sabers.

    http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Co...ngle-P537.aspx
    http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Cr...lder-P999.aspx

    As well, you do have a resistor on your LED, right?
    Last edited by NanoRex; 04-26-2016 at 06:19 PM.

  5. #5

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    I have no idea why I couldn't find those. Thanks.

    And no? I just went off all the conversion tutorials and they all said all you need to add to the electronics are an LED and a heat sink. I figured I'm just swapping out different light sources, whatever else is required is already there? Do I need a resistor if i'm only doing a conversion instead of building a lightsaber?
    Last edited by DumpsterJedi; 04-26-2016 at 06:32 PM.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by DumpsterJedi View Post
    Oops, thought I mentioned the led I'm using. Currently I have the luxeon rebel star led, keeping the blue blade. Internal diameter is about 24-25mm. Thanks for the lens, but 30 bucks doesn't seem necessary for a bright led. Are there other good tri leds for cheaper if I just want blue? Otherwise i'd still need a single lens, if I just go with a better single led.
    $30 - $40 for a Tri-Cree is basically the going rate regardless of where you get them. Tri-Rebels are not as bright as Crees but are slightly less expensive.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by DumpsterJedi View Post
    And no? I just went off all the conversion tutorials and they all said all you need to add to the electronics are an LED and a heat sink. I figured I'm just swapping out different light sources, whatever else is required is already there? Do I need a resistor if i'm only doing a conversion instead of building a lightsaber?
    My bad, forgot this was a conversion you're talking about.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by NanoRex View Post
    My bad, forgot this was a conversion you're talking about.
    Maybe that's it! Maybe the board is taking most of the juice and not leaving much for the LED. I had a similar issue when wiring a Hasbro Bladebuilder board to a tri-cree.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by CET View Post
    Maybe that's it! Maybe the board is taking most of the juice and not leaving much for the LED. I had a similar issue when wiring a Hasbro Bladebuilder board to a tri-cree.
    Do you have to do the MOSFET setup with the Black Series? It is a string blade, so I would doubt its putting out anywhere near 1A of juice to the LED. But I have never converted one.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by FenixFire View Post
    Do you have to do the MOSFET setup with the Black Series? It is a string blade, so I would doubt its putting out anywhere near 1A of juice to the LED. But I have never converted one.
    Good point. It's probably only putting out 400mA, which is only 40% of what the LED can take.

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