Hyperdyne/Luxeon System comparison

[Darth_DevilGuy]

ok one last reply and I'll drop it or take it elsewhere, Jedibum, I never said or implied in anyway that I thought Jim was purposefully misleading people, read exactly what I said, if you still come away with that impression it's all you.

What I did say was that purposeful or not, Jim's promotional materials regarding other peoples products are not accurate, and this could give people the impression that he's trying to smear the compitition, that was my initial impression, and I'm still not completely sure it isn't the truth, my current impression is that he's not very good at community relations, or he just doesn't care, honestly I just think he needs better PR.

[Novastar]

Just TAKE it elsewhere, period.

I for one am going to come out RIGHT NOW and say--JEDIBUM... THANKS! Thank you, thank you! For being gracious and cool enough to make logical comments and post videos and weather the storm of some questions that don't always help the truth get out there.

I am also going to thank Edwin... BRAVO AND THANKS!! I mean, I do not have an electronic science background, so I'm glad his comparison is going to go into more depth than mine.

All that being said--I am glad we have Jedibum's video, my videos, AND Edwin's. I do not see it that "video X invalidates video Y". Everyone does things differently, and it is what it is.

BACK TO ON-TOPIC.

Edwin, whoa, so that Blue is a v2??! Holy cow, I got thrown off by the 7.2v pack it was wired up to... but that is good to know... I'll at least make a change in my descriptors on my video to show that it is actually a v2 board. But then... we have a bunch of v1 blades. Geez. lol Well... you could see where I'd get confused, especially not having any kind of manual available online(?? At least, I couldn't find one) stating an easy way to detect a v1blade over v2blade. At least Jedibum has pointed out that detection of the BOARD version is somewhat more distinct and conclusive.

As to the updating of Jim's website--well, sure he could stand to do that. I do not think it makes sense to say he is lying though, since the data on the site reflected (as stated in the thread previously) conditions PRIOR to any versions of CF... and I believe it was well before any K2s were around... or even before anyone was REALLY using Lux Vs in giant amounts. As it is... Lux V is not nearly as prevalent in usage for sabers as say Lux III or K2 or similar 3.6 or 3.9 volt forward voltage guys.

ANyhow... it seems clear that better instructions and details could help out??? I don't know... maybe I'm wrong.

[Eandori]

The board in the blue saber is V2, but I got conflicting information from Jedibum and Mark Cheng about the blade. Jedibum said V2 blade LED's are closer together, Mark said it's no different, V1 just has a different feature that he described over email. So... I'm not 100% sure what I have... possibly one of the blue blades is V1 and the other is V2.

This much does seem clear though. I think both V1 and V2 blades can be driven from a V2 board at 11v battery input. Is that correct Jedibum? That's what I'm going to do unless I hear otherwise.

Just for the record, I build 2 Crystal Focus 3.1 luxeon sabers recently. One for me with Green Luxeon V at 1 amp, and one for a friend with Green K2 at 1.5amps. After I finished my friends saber we had the two side by side (which I have never done before) and I gotta tell you it was a HUGE difference between the brightness of them. I'll have him bring his saber back soon, get both to full power on the same CF font/settings, and take a few pictures or some video to show. I want to make it very clear to all the sabersmiths out there how much brighter a luxeon V at 1 amp is then a K2 at 1.5 amps.

[Hasid Lafre]

YEs I am very cureious about this luxV vs k2 thing.

[Jedibum]

Hey guys! I agree, I would love to see pics comparing a K2 Green and a Lux V Green both driven at max! I always assumed the Lux V is brighter, but I've never actually seen a comparision.

Eandori - Yes, both the V1 and V2 Blade Boards are compatible with the V2 Driver ... and both can be used with the 11volt battery ... and both can achieve the same level of brightness. The difference is the V2 Blade Boards will look nicer than the V1 Blade Boards.

[xwingband]

To me there is a noticable step from Green III to Green K2 to Green V and Rebel. The Rebel is on par with the V but obviously different volts and amps.

[Novastar]

Ah, ***y cool, THAT clears it up. Thanks again! Now dangit... why isn't some of THAT stuff on the site or in some kind of document? Oh well, whatever.

As to Lux V vs. K2--I can certainly imagine that:

* Given excellent blade diffusion (therefore less "loss" of light)
* Given PROPERLY driven Lux V (that means not just barely @ 6.85v or even merely 7.2v)
* Excellent mirror, not too ridiculously long of a blade...
* Properly aligned optics (probably 5 deg)

...a Lux V should definitely be brighter vs. a K2--even when driven "normally" at 700ma.

If you are OVER-driving the Lux V (such as when Edwin is doing)... that will most CERTAINLY boost the light energy, and my guess is you'd be getting something like 190 to 210 lumens instead of the manufacturer's spec of 160 @ 700ma.

Granted, I do not know for certain. I'm sure Eandori can meter this kind of thing though! But yes, when talking 200 lumens (Lux V over-drive) vs. 130 lumens (Lux K2 normal-drive)... well... HELLO, that's starting to near a 50% increase when compared to the K2's numbers. That's a lot...

[Darth_DevilGuy]

sorry if I let my argumentative nature get the better of me, I'd like to see that comparison with the green blades as well.

[Novastar]

I *DO* have one single Lux V... I suppose I could try it one of these days, but... I really wouldn't have any other battery solution for a driver setup, and... I'd probably go direct drive (probably no resistor, or a really low/small one) with 7.2v (effective 8.4!!!! at full charge!) and see what happens. Why not use a resistor? Well, I'd sort of want to "cheat" an over-drive situation, and giving the extra voltage would yield extra current (since they are relational)... and pray I wasn't going TOO far. You know, like... hope it's giving it like 1A or something. Very scientific, huh? hahahahah

So, yeah, I've been reluctant because... I really don't know what 8.4v will do to a Lux V, hahahahah...

Now, if I went with pretty much ANY driver, there would be no point with 7.2v... I'd want to go to 9v or more since the driver would suck down 1v or whatever, and pretty much render the Lux V UNDER-DRIVEN while using a 7.2v setup.

Arg, I hate 6.85 fwd v. Sucks monkey nutbutter.

[Eandori]

THAT is exactly why I went with 7AAA's soldered together in a barrel roll type setup! Meaning it's about the same size as a single "C" size cell and fits in a MHS tube. It's effectively 8.4v (rated, up to 10.5v measured which is enough to forward bias the luxeon V at 1 amp). With 1000mAh cells I get about an hour of runtime. And finally since it's NiMH I can go right ahead and build clash flash into my lightsaber and not worry about yanking out an extra 5 amps when I want to.

I'm really loving this setup. Seriously, so much room for other electronics in the saber tube and I really appreciate the brightness of Lux V at 1 amp. 1 hour is plenty for ME, but if I wanted more I would use 7-8 AA's (at 2500mAh) for a clash flash lightsaber, or 3x 18650 Lithium Ions at 2400mAh if no clash flash.

EDIT: Added a picture.
Ok, here's a picture of the electronics going into my latest Luxeon Sabers. CF version 3.1, 7x AAA's at 1000mAh, Green Lux V, no clash flash ckt yet, no vibration motor yet, no blinking LED's yet.