MR string minus resistors

[eastern57]

Here's a quick comparison shot(s) of an MR LED string/ladder with the [SMD] resistors taken off. Erv did this a while ago and it certainly does brighten my life up some more, but without the individual resistors - we get a little more of the DIY unevenness that we've all come to love and/or live with...

Lux V blue (unk bin) @1A vs. MR LED string w/o resistors direct drive @6V






Lux V cyan (bin2) @ 1A vs. same string




interesting, eh?

[Jedi-Diah]

So, how bright was it really? The Lux V looks about the same as the MR mod but you can never really tell from pics.

Also, I'd like to try this. What exactly did you do to the MR blade? Do I just remove the resisitors (clip them off)? Or do I need to replace them with something? I've never opened up the MR blade to look at the led strip.

Thanks,

Here's a quick comparison shot(s) of an MR LED string/ladder with the [SMD] resistors taken off. Erv did this a while ago and it certainly does brighten my life up some more, but without the individual resistors - we get a little more of the DIY unevenness that we've all come to love and/or live with...

Lux V blue (unk bin) @1A vs. MR LED string w/o resistors direct drive @6V



interesting, eh?

[Jedibum]

In the pictures it looks like the MR without resistors comes pretty close to the Lux V. I may have to try that too. Eastern57, What is your impression when you see them in person?

It would be interesting to see a new comparision with the Makototsai style saber since all of the videos so far just show a comparision with a normal resistored MR.

[xwingband]

From when I've tested this 6V is way to much to pump into the string. I maxed my 3A power supply at 3-4V with it and it was getting hot just with that.

What I did to remove the resistors was to simply unsolder them. I have a really pointy tip on my iron and I pretty much lever it out on one side. I usually don't even have to unsolder the other side as it will crack off. Then I bridge the connection with solder.

[eastern57]

Yes, I unsoldered the resistors, but I bridged the connections with a piece of wire (the solder bridge was a little clumpy).

It's [visually] not as bright as the luxVs... it's got more of a dull look: not as "shiny", if that makes sense. But it is brighter than a standard MR. Naturally, the cyan looks brighter, but when it comes to light output, it still projects a respectable amout. Along those same lines, the blue luxV (and blues in general) projects a lot more than other colors - maybe it's the camera, maybe not... Regardless, comparatively speaking, the luxVs are still brighter - but just using them as a benchmark shows how much brighter they can be without the resistors. And the pictures accurately show how much more even the string blade is: there's now "inward bowing" like the lux blades have.

I just really like the MR wafer board, and how it's already set up to scroll and the LED slots have the solder pads. I might swap out LEDs....

[erv]

From when I've tested this 6V is way to much to pump into the string. I maxed my 3A power supply at 3-4V with it and it was getting hot just with that.

What I did to remove the resistors was to simply unsolder them. I have a really pointy tip on my iron and I pretty much lever it out on one side. I usually don't even have to unsolder the other side as it will crack off. Then I bridge the connection with solder.

that's what I did when I tested with my custom CF for led strip. I ended up controlling the current in the blade with my electronics, but I stopped at 2A.
Removing the resistors can be done even with a normal tip, heating the side of the smd to melt both joints at the same time, remove the resistor, then bridge it with solder.
Don't play too much with that unless you have a regulated PSU with current limiting. Remember also that the MR LEDs aren't HB ones, you can obtain better results by changing the LEDs on the strip.

For what I remember, now that I've lit up a hyperblade for the first time at home and finally see the bightness in person, I'd say it's similar, but still under with the stock MR LEDs, and it should be the same, more or less, with HB LEDs.
The Hyperblade I'm refering to is a V2, I'm leaving away the V1 I got since it's full of dark spots (not dead LEDs, just the nature of the blade).

Erv'

[xwingband]

Yeah, I figured if I ever wanted to do it seriously I'd stop at 2A. Among all the things on my "list" this is really far down on the priorities. Mostly I wanted to futz with it to see if in the future I could get some use out of the strings. I figure that I'll do something with PVC and make them just demo sabers.

[Jedi-Diah]

Hi Erv,

So, from your testing the hyperblade in person, you think we should be able to equal hyperblade brightness by making our own custom led strip with HB LEDs and using (the yet future) CF for led strips? I've never seed a hyperblade in person.

For what I remember, now that I've lit up a hyperblade for the first time at home and finally see the bightness in person, I'd say it's similar, but still under with the stock MR LEDs, and it should be the same, more or less, with HB LEDs.
The Hyperblade I'm refering to is a V2, I'm leaving away the V1 I got since it's full of dark spots (not dead LEDs, just the nature of the blade).

Erv'

[eastern57]

I did a few things today:

- I reconnected the MR strip (minus resistors) back to an MR board - then stuck it in a hilt. It runs of 6V now (filtered via board).

- I took some solo pictures trying to capture the way the blade looks for real. It was a little bit of a challenge - I had to dial the aperture settings way down just to see the LED separation. With the combination of MR strip, foamy insert, and difuser, I was actually surprised to see how well it actually blended - better than a standard MR blade w/resistors. You actually have to look to see the dark spots on this one... otherwise it's very easy to disregard. smiley!

- I tried a few more "brightness comparisons"... but trying to compare brightness of a single-high-powered light source vs. multi-low-pewered light source... wasn't really a contest. But... As a benchmark comparison, it shows how well a LED string blade CAN stand up to a LuxV - and these aren't even HB LEDs. So again, I was a little surprised at how well LED strings/strips/ladders perform.

- I also ripped one of the switch connection pads of one of my MR boards and cursed to the heavens... cause it wasn't on purpose...



Anyway, here's some pics:


Nice shot of the blade without showing the dark spots - I was really surprised at "how this could be" the way it looks to someone who isn't "paying attention to" or "looking for" dark spots.




A few shots showing the spacing...







Like I said it was a bit of a challenge trying to get those spaces to show up on camera. It's a little easier to pick out visually (actually looking at it with your eyes), but this one (this blade) in particular seemed to blend a lot better ...go fig.


Here's the "brightness comparisons". Two things to pay attention to - or at least be aware of:

1. The halo around the blades, shows the light projection. And from the single-light source where the lumen count is exponentially higher than one single 5mm LED, naturally, spreads out further. This does not, however, reflect how the blade actually looks (visually). This is apparent when you see the comparison between a) one blade that's a darker blue, but wider halo, and b) one lighter blue with a shorter halo.


[Also, I should mention that historically, and techincally, cameras tend to favor "blues", and accentuate that spectral portion.]


2. The over-exposure (white) on the LuxV blades, also does not factor into "how does it look"... and is, again, a product of the projecting light.



Vids:

LuxV Blue (unkn bin)


Direct link:
http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/n...t=MOV04074.flv


LuxV Cyan (bin2)


Direct link:
http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/n...t=MOV04075.flv



eastern57

[Jedi-Diah]

In the video, the modified MR blade looks about the same as the front half of the Lux V blade.

So, would you say it is actually brighter in person than in the video?