P4 Lum?

[Eco]

I suppose another question to ask would be if you at any point hooked up the LED to hot wires without a resistor. It's possible that it could have burnt out the LED.

[Novastar]

Ok, so optics = check!

Another thing that should have been posted would be the voltage being used and "mAh" rating of the cells.

If you're wired up for 3v with AAA cells... I guarantee that ain't going to cut it for a P4.

If you're wired up for 4.5v with a tiny resistor... now that might be more like it. Even so--with AAA cells... they could be so weak, that attempting to draw 1A (or a bit more) is just not possible.

If possible... meter into the circuit to test/read the current (mA or A). It would be ideal to see ~1000mA (1A) dancing around in there. ~800 would be ok, and anything less would be a substantial bummer.

STILL not knowing what is happening: I would recommend AA cells, or simply a single 18650 3.7v Li-Ion cell.

[bigbret50]

Took the resistor out and wired it up to 4 AAA direct. I have no meter but should be 6v. I think it just might be a dud.

[Novastar]

6v direct will destroy a P4, as the forward voltage of a P4 (along with things like Lux IIIs, Lux K2s) is around ~4v.

4.5v is probably the maximum you'd want to give it, 5v would be pushing things pretty far... and 6v will just kill it.

My guess is... it wasn't a dud--you may have burnt it. It happens. No big deal.

[bigbret50]

It was dimmer before with the resistor on it. I then wired it directly and it is a bit brighter. Maybe the resistor value was wrong to begin with. What should it be for the p4s?

I have also ran my lux3s directly with no problems. Who knows maybe I did. I ordered another one from the store and I'll see.

[bigbret50]

I just realized and maybe this is a bad thing... i did change all of my other sabers that are running with Lux3s to be wired direct without the resistors. I have had no problems. Probably shouldn't do that though huh?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

It was dimmer before with the resistor on it. I then wired it directly and it is a bit brighter. Maybe the resistor value was wrong to begin with. What should it be for the p4s?

Same as a luxeon III. The target ma is 1000. Here's the chart:
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/resistor.aspx

[Novastar]

For people "going direct" without a resistor... you *MUST* match the battery voltage (very closely) to the LED forward voltage.

Otherwise--direct driving can cause a "cascade of current" and things can get dangerous (especially if you are NOT using Li-Ion cells with a PCB).

DO NOT do this if you do not know what you're doing, people. This goes for anyone reading, not just the thread posters.

[Triskale Dagin]

Hey Guys,

(Disclaimer) This is my newbie post. I did a search but couldn't find anything.

Is there a difference in which collimator you use with the Seoul P4, I'm looking into one for my first saber and I want to make sure I'm getting the max brightness. It will be for a 1" blade.

[Kal El Rah]

What about the wall thickness of the blade and length, those also play a part in brightness, anyway a 5 degree lux III is what you are looking for.