RGB hilt wiring

[xwingband]

A Prolight can take the standard lens.

There is no one answer to how to secure it inside. Maybe a craddle will do... maybe just some bubble wrap and electrical tape. It's up to you and your design.

[pthomas625]

ok, so i've read about people going to radio shack and buying switches and stuff, i never knew they had them. i've gone to two recently, and i didn't even know that section of the store existed! cool! anyways, i looked for the resistors i need and i couldn't find them. based on this site:

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz

it says i need a 1 watt, 4.7 ohm resistor for both the blue and green led, a 2 watt 8.2 ohm for the red led, and a 1/8 watt 68 ohm for my accent led. where can i find these?

[Novastar]

Try the "big" online parts carriers, such as digikey or many others. Radio shack has a limited supply of things. You need a resistor that is VERY specific to the task (for the mostpart).

[pthomas625]

muahahahaha! guess what!!! it only takes the red led 4 seconds running at 4.8 volts to explode! whahahaha! i was like, "hey, look how bright this led is! {POP!}" lol, i didn't wait for the resistors. now i have to order a new light. lol.

[Marsupial]

did you at least sink it properly?

what was your power source?

At least you're not waisting 15-20$ worth of led like luxeons used to be at first.

[pthomas625]

it was on a cold counter-top if that counts for anything. no, i suppose i didn't sink(heatsink?) it properly. lol, and where i get these rgb leds, they do cost like $15 for the led and $6 for shipping. oh well, i learned from it.

[pthomas625]

well, it's been a couple of months since i last posted. i'm finishing up. or about 3/4 of the way there. i'm really hesitant on actually cutting into my hilt (for a pli). anyways, my qustion: i have four wires that i want to connect together. is there any special or safe way to do it? it's the power wire connecting to the red, green, and blue wires. like just twist, solder, and tape them?

[Novastar]

Glad to hear you received a replacement RGB...

Twist, solder and tape is fine.

Are you planning to have a switch & POT for each LED? Or just go with the POTs, period? Curious as to what come up with...

Also--you might want to (once you find the "sweetspot" on the POTs per each LED color) find some way to... how do I say this right... prevent the POT per each particular color from being turned PAST the "best" uh... "volume" level.

This way--not even by ACCIDENT could someone turn the POT too high on red or green or blue, or whatever.

[pthomas625]

well, i have a switch that will 'kill' everything. after that, i have the proper resistor for each led, and a pot after each resistor. then it goes to each led.

should i be worried about over-powering the leds even with the in circuit?

[Novastar]

If the resistor is fine-tuned to only allow up to the "max" (that is best for the particular LED) through... I think you should be ok. Turning the POT to a position "past" what the resistor allows... SHOULDN'T matter...

Although I've never done that, so I might be missing something. But... since the resistor acts as a sort of "current gate"... I don't see how you'd have a problem now.