Amber Lux III

[Malaki Skywalker]

Hey guys and gals, I've got a taste for Amber Lux's III's ATM, are they worth it, how bright are they? Are they comparable to other LED's brightness wise?

Cheers!

[Hasid Lafre]

IMO amber is brighter than the red luxIII but thats to my eyes, others will say otherwize.

Just get it and if you dont like it then I know someone you can sell it to. possably.

[Jedi-Loreen]

My first LED saber was just direct driven, with a resistor. I was always kind of disappointed in my amber LED, it was the dimmest of the five I have (the others are royal blue, green, red and white).

But I just built a new saber using a 1000mA Buckpuck and it's brighter in that saber.

So I would say, if you're using some kind of driver, it will be plenty bright.

[BhujangiJedi]

Funny timing, this post - I was just about to add another post about amber to an older thread.

I should preface my statements with the fact that my saber experience is fairly limited - 2 blue MR Anakins and 2 MHS sabers (both identical) with sandblasted TCSS battle blades (thick-walled with diffuser tube) and 1000mA buckpucks.

That said... I'm not sure I'll ever use my ambers again. Like to buy em? When I first got them, I was really disappointed. Sandblasting my blades improved the diffusion a lot and they looked much better... the color is very nice, but the brightness is underwhelming. I eventually replaced them with some green K2's which I have been enjoying for a while now. I decided to pop my ambers back in for some variety and was shocked. They're just so sad and dim compared to the K2's.

So... if you really want that nice fiery orange color, maybe go for it... but you might be better off with a really bright white (P4?) with a filter. The amber Lux IIIs can be a real let-down - maybe they're good if you have an optimum setup: a full 1540mA and really good blades.

I'd post some pictures for comparison, but it's a major pain to swap out LEDs (even though I'm using the quick-connects - there's just not much space in the 7" hilts for 4xAA, buckpuck, push-button switch, and LED heatsink).

I'm building two new sabers with 1.2Ohm resistors and red-oranges - I'll probably hook up the ambers to them, which should put them closer to 1540mA, and I'm also using thin-walled blades with Corbin's film and some poly wrap inside, so maybe I'll get some comparison pics up soon.

[Eandori]

I have never tried the Lux III amber, but I have tried the K2 amber. Very disappointing, very dim in comparison to others. I'm not sure if Hasid Lafre had a really crappy red lux III, or an amazing amber... but every red lux III I have tried has been FAR FAR brighter then my amber could ever dream of.

I have to agree, a white P4 + filter might be better for amber light.

[Count Malik]

I have never tried the Lux III amber, but I have tried the K2 amber. Very disappointing, very dim in comparison to others. I'm not sure if Hasid Lafre had a really crappy red lux III, or an amazing amber... but every red lux III I have tried has been FAR FAR brighter then my amber could ever dream of.

I have to agree, a white P4 + filter might be better for amber light.

I going to need some help in this part too. Because I'm going to build a saber for a friend. And he wants amber. I'm actualy going to send him some of the parts. While he is makin money for a CF. But would amber be powered better if it is CF powered?

[Barmic Rin]

I really wanna try what I call a 'US' Amber compared to my TruOpto 'UK' Amber as mine in brighter than my 3w White.

Sid, if you get a chance, can u do a comparison between the two if you have a 'US'?

[Eandori]

I going to need some help in this part too. Because I'm going to build a saber for a friend. And he wants amber. I'm actualy going to send him some of the parts. While he is makin money for a CF. But would amber be powered better if it is CF powered?

1 amp in a LED from a resistor is EXACTLY the same as 1 amp from Crystal Focus, or Ultraboard, or a buckpuck, etc. 1 amp is 1 amp.

What changes between different current drivers is special effects like "flicker" and how the LED Current maintains it's value as the battery drains. A resistor setup will get dimmer and dimmer as the battery drains. A current regulated system will stay at the same current until the battery drops below the voltage of the LED.

As of right now, I think the best amber you are going to get is with a Seoul P4 white + filters.

[Hasid Lafre]

Unfortunatly I hav eneather, Just going off what I have seen, Ive been dissapointed with luxIII red but wasent dissapointed with a luxIII amber. the red was resistor driven and the luxIII was on an mr vader board.

The luxI red on a mr mace was niceer than the resistor luxIII red.

[Eandori]

Unfortunatly I hav eneather, Just going off what I have seen, Ive been dissapointed with luxIII red but wasent dissapointed with a luxIII amber. the red was resistor driven and the luxIII was on an mr vader board.

The luxI red on a mr mace was niceer than the resistor luxIII red.

Your Luxeon III red must have either been miss-labeled, or damaged in some way. The specs for Luxeon III red CLEARLY show it to be far superior to K2 or Luxeon I. My personal experience with them has been exactly that as well.

You can even look at my videos where you can clearly see the Luxeon III red competing with the Luxeon V green, and Luxeon V blue both of which were overdriven.

Or look at any of Xwingband's videos where he's using luxeon III red. See how bright his sabers are?

No no. I will boldly state that Luxeon III red is the best red out there as of right now. I'm fully prepared to back that up with data, videos, side by side comparisons, anything you want. You either accidentally switched your III and I and didn't know it, or your Lux III red is damaged in some way.

here is the specs for luxeon III red: http://www.luxeonstar.com/item.php?i...rtno=LXHL-PD09
here is the specs for luxeon I red: http://www.lumileds.com/pdfs/DS25.pdf
here is the specs for luxeon K2 red: http://www.luxeonstar.com/item.php?i...=LXK2-PD12-R00

One more edited note.... open up the spec for the luxeon I red and scroll down to page 10. You'll see that the forward voltage of the Luxeon I red is only around 2.2 to 3 volts, while the forward voltage of the luxeon III red is 2.9 to 3.4 volts. That means you MIGHT HAVE been underdriving that luxeon III red. If you applied 2.7v to both of those LED's we would expect the Lulxeon I to win... because the voltage is not high enough to turn on the Luxeon III very well.

So... there's the 3rd option. Either your Luxeon III red was actually a different family, it was damaged, or you didn't really drive it at 1.5 amps.