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Author Topic: How hot do pixel blades get?  (Read 1115 times)

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Offline jbkuma

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How hot do pixel blades get?
« on: August 29, 2020, 09:08:26 AM »
Well, really hot.


This diffuser tube from TCSS was in a 1" thin wall blade with no tip and no other insulation.  The blade only has 55x2 pixels, and was operated for about 10 minutes at full RGB white.

The temperature reached about 100ºC / 212ºF, well known as the boiling point of water.

My first hint that things were getting spicy is that I touched the pixel strips and it hurt.  Then I checked the temperature probe and saw the number.  (My test blades all have embedded temperature probes)

After it cooled down I started another experiment and realized that the pixels were much more visible than they should have been.  At first I thought the strip must be pressing against the side some how, then I realized, no, there was literally no diffuser in that area.

Once again, this was a 55x2, minimally insulated, open ended blade.

Part of these experiments is to demonstrate the characteristics of the blade under extended loads and such.  More voltage and more current is not more better.  The relatively extreme temperature causes the colors to shift due to quantum effects, and the brightness is not significantly greater.  As Andras (aka protonerd, aka Obi1) has first showed years ago as we were developing the original pixel blades, the ideal voltage for pixels is around 3.7v.

Offline SirRawThunderMan

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Re: How hot do pixel blades get?
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2020, 10:45:01 AM »
Yikes. Now, there's my reason for sticking with inhilt LEDs.

Was that on the connector side or the tip side?
Better late than never.

Offline jbkuma

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Re: How hot do pixel blades get?
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2020, 03:24:40 PM »
This is just the foam pulled out of the blade.

Offline Kolgrima

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Re: How hot do pixel blades get?
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2020, 09:22:38 AM »
That is certainly a higher temp than I ever would have thought! I'm always glad to see your real-world tests, what were the parameters of the experiment you were running?

Offline jbkuma

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Re: How hot do pixel blades get?
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2020, 10:26:58 AM »
I didn't record this one carefully, I was actually testing different parts of the setup and not paying too close attention. It was something like  3.8v-4v, the blade was drawing about 3.7A at full RGB white on a 2x55 pixel blade.  This was using a bench supply capable of 30A.  Tests with different batteries in the past have given similar results.

Offline scott

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Re: How hot do pixel blades get?
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2020, 06:44:47 PM »
Wow, I haven’t seen this before, and have used a ton of blades on a ton of sabers. What pixel strips did you use?  Certainly a good wake up call to remind the group that we are dealing with potentially dangerous combinations.

Offline jbkuma

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Re: How hot do pixel blades get?
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2020, 07:50:28 AM »
It's a high quality 5050 strip.  I'll be doing more thorough testing with documentation soon.

I've tested multiple strips in the past and gotten similar results.  I've actually damaged strips before. 

I obviously haven't tested strips from everyone, or even the most popular ones, it just isn't in the budget. There really isn't as much variation as some would like to claim, though.  The expensive trusted sources still buy theirs from someone else.

 

retrousse