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Council Member
Jedi Council Member
EL and LED description
Okies, our goal is to make a through description of EL and LED so that saber new comers and novices will have a description that can guide them to what is best for their needs. We need to be concise and unbiased in our evaluation. This will eventually make it's way to making a "build your saber type" of program that will help people through getting all their parts in the store.
I will post a first draft in this post. The final and working drafts will come from here also.
Here's the description:
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Every lighted saber is made up of two main parts; The blade and the hilt. There are two main styles of sabers available from here. These two lighting methods are EL and LED. The following briefly describes the two in order to help you decide which way to go.
<u>EL (Electroluminescence)</u>
EL is a wire that glows when an electric current is applied. The color is determined by the color of wire inside the blade. You have probably encountered EL before as the backlight of a watch.
EL saber blades use up to 17 feet of wire inside a 3/4" Polycarbonate blade. The wire itself is disguised by a diffuser of HD polyethylene tubing. This opaque tubing disguises the wire, yet allows light to filter through.
EL's advantages are its even color and easy of color changing. All it takes is switching a blade to change the color. Some colors, however, are fairly dull compared to others. EL's brightness is affected by the voltage and can be safely run at 9-18V.
<u>LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes)</u>
In The Custom Saber Shop, Luxeon LEDs are used. They are the bigger brother of the LEDs in keychain lights. LEDs in sabers are basically powerful flashlights. The color is determined by the LED in the hilt. A Polycarbonate blade is used to contain the light. In LEDs a diffuser and optics are also used to direct the light up the tube.
LEDs are brighter than the brightest EL. The downside is that the color is not even (the light will fade the longer the blade, yet the base will be extremely bright). This also gives the white core and colored aura that is more accurate to the movie sabers as opposed to EL's solid color.
Changing colors is not as easy but there are two options: The Modular Hilt system using a quick change kit, and colored discs.
<ul>[*]The quick change works by disconnecting the LED and replacing it with another colored one. The quick change's disadvantage is that is requires unscrewing the blade holder and unplugging the LED.[*]The color discs work by using a white LED. Changing colors is achieved by removing the blade and placing the filter over the LED and optics. The disadvantage is that a filtered LED will always be less bright than the pure LED of that color.[/list]
<u>Summary</u>
EL is more of a solid tone along the length, while LED fades toward the tip and has a flare at the base. LED is brighter even at its dimmest spot compared to EL. If you want the ability to change colors with different blades EL has an edge.
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All comments are welcome. Catch my mistakes, suggest additions/subtractions, etc... I want this to be as good as it can be in helping people choose and make Tim more money.[
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www.dewbackwing.com</center>
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Jedi Master
I would add that because of the LED's brightness, it looks more like a real energy blade.
EL, on the other hand, shows color more than overall brightness.
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Owner of the Custom Saber shop
I wouldnt say EL makes a heavier blade since a LED blade has a 1" blade it has more material which is what weighs the most..they are pretty much the same.
I would point out that EL is generally 3/4" blade and LED is generally 1"
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The color discs work by using a white LED (white light is made up of all colors) and filtering out all except the one you want. So changing colors is achieved by removing the blade and placing the filter over the LED and optics.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I would leave out the bold portion..we want this to be as basic as possible to get the main point across.
List the available main colors for each ..but still point out that led can use the filters also.
Tim
The Custom Saber Shop
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Pretty cool. I have been thinking that it might not be a bad idea to explain that EL may be a better choice if the saber is going to be for kids. I know the easy answer for the led is lock the blade down with a regular screw but I also know my 6 year old boy has no fear of taking a screwdriver to his toys to change the batteries. I know, I'm paranoid, and my wife says I worry to much about liabilities and stuff but I thought I would throw it out there. If I'm intruding just tell me to butt out[
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Owner of the Custom Saber shop
I dont think our purpose here is to scare people away from EL..
I have sold hundreds of blades and have not had a single customer have one stop working. I have made both EL and LED and I dont think there is a durability issue between the two styles.
Tim
The Custom Saber Shop
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arent we doin pros ans cons of each. i know el has a good place but since i got into the led stuff, i probably wont be doin much el stuff anymore. led is just way too cool.
You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> arent we doin pros ans cons of each. i know el has a good place but since i got into the led stuff, i probably wont be doin much el stuff anymore. led is just way too cool.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Yes I have to agree with this, my first 2 blades were El I still have them and play with them sometimes but I prefer my white Led with full electronics, it does go through batteries a lot quicker but the brightness and coolness factor out weighs it all.[8D]
May the Force
Be with You
Marc E.
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Jedi Master
We're gonna need some good pictures to go along with the text. Text can only go so far before it's too much for the reader to take in.
Maybe if someone could take pictures of the LED, LED w/color disk (in the same saber if possible) and the brightest and darkest of the EL.
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