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Author Topic: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...  (Read 13126 times)

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Offline XsaberX

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LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« on: October 04, 2008, 12:56:43 PM »
I just gutted a Luke ANH and measured the board running into different LEDs - each LED ran at optimal voltage

Lux3 Red & Red/O:
With 3AA NIMH = 1510ma
With 4AA NIMH = 1980ma (woah...)

Lux3 Green & Blue:
With 3AA NIMH = 770ma
With 4AA NIMH = 1850ma (...)

Ledengin 5watt Blue & Green (Optimal is 3.7v and 1500ma)
With 3AA NIMH = 710ma
With 3AA NIMH = 1520ma

I also occasionally subbed the 3AA batteries with an 18650 li-ion cell and it would essentially run at about the same current

I had no idea that these levels were possible from an MR board, and that the more voltage you throw at it, the more current you generate...

I also compared blade brightness with the same LEDs running through a CF at 1500ma and they were indeed the same
« Last Edit: October 07, 2008, 06:55:12 PM by XsaberX »

Offline Unseen_jedi

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2008, 10:17:51 PM »
 Hot dog !!!  :o It is indeed a heck of a saber! And I own one, maybe I should pop a Lux3 blue in it and upgrade to 4 AA instead of 3? ???

Offline XsaberX

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2008, 05:38:36 AM »
I wonder if all of the Luke ANH board function the same way...

I've always heard that the MR boards could only put out a maximum of 900ma or so, I wonder if this is true or if some of the other ones are also capable of this.

I had an Obi-Wan board that I tested with:

4AA NIMH lux3 green = 850ma
4AA NIMH lux3 redO = 1220ma

And a Vader ANH board that I tested with:

4AA NIMH lux3 red = 1450ma

I'm getting a few boards in the mail soon (Luke ROTJ, Mace, Vader ESB) - I'll test them out with the multimeter too and post specs

Offline Sidneyious

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2008, 06:36:17 AM »
Humm, this dosent sound right, MR boards are susposed to be putting out less than 1A.
« Last Edit: November 09, 2008, 11:55:11 PM by Alias »

Offline vortextwist

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2008, 06:58:15 AM »
you can get a little more Mah to the led by using more power, but as it has been said before, mr boards can't take that much power (6v I think is about their limit) before the magic smoke appears. Also it seems some boards for whatever reason will have a better output then others. I think it was judge that had 2 luke boards and one was weaker then the other.

Offline XsaberX

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2008, 02:49:54 PM »
Right, I've always heard the same thing, but I am giving this board less than 6v and they are performing - maybe the last line of these boards are made with a few different parts... or maybe I got a one-of-a-kind board...

Offline Onli-Won Kanomi

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2008, 09:50:58 AM »
Whoa Nelly...almost 2 amps with 4AA and blue/green Lux 3's?  I didnt know MR boards could do that and thats rather serious overdriving for blue/green Lux IIIs isnt it? Are they a lot brighter? Any heat or reliability issues you've noticed?
To DREAM the IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. To FIGHT the unbeatable foe. To BEAR with unbearable sorrow. To RUN where the brave dare not go. To RIGHT the unrightable wrong. To LOVE, PURE AND CHASTE, FROM AFAR [-sigh-]. To TRY, when your arms are too weary; to REACH the unreachable Star!... This is my Quest; To follow that Star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far...

Offline JudgeSabersmith

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2008, 10:47:21 AM »
I just ran into a Mace MR board last night that put out a whopping...


137mA

Wow, huh?

Yeah, I'm on the hunt for a new one.

These results are not surprising.  Some MR boards do put out some good current, some don't. 

Offline Jedi-Diah

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2008, 11:15:00 AM »
I still don't understand why the same MR board would put out different currents for different LEDs. What would make an LED "pull" more current from the board? Granted, I don't understand circuits and electronics very well either.

Judge, did you measure the Mace board as it was powering an LED?

I just ran into a Mace MR board last night that put out a whopping...


137mA

Wow, huh?

Yeah, I'm on the hunt for a new one.

These results are not surprising.  Some MR boards do put out some good current, some don't. 

Offline JudgeSabersmith

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2008, 11:19:00 AM »
Yes, I did.  I had my multimeter in series with the LED and the board (so the multimeter was completing the circuit and would light (sic) the LED)

My batteries were brand new, and all connections on the board were checked thoroughly.  It was just a bad board.

Offline XsaberX

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2008, 12:08:18 PM »
You know, I wonder, I have 5 boards and all of them are putting out super high ma output - 1 Luke ROTJ, 2 Mace, 1 Vader ESB, 1 Luke ANH

Maybe I'm really lucky... or maybe the standard is what these 5 boards are doing?

Here are the videos of their performance - I assume the mace is a little lower because of the diodes interrupting the initial voltage input:

http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=14036.0

Offline Jedi-Diah

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2008, 04:23:59 PM »
Hi Xsaber,

First of all, thanks for your tests and bringing this to everyone's attention. I find it very interesting.

So, you're saying that the Red Lux III is pulling out more current from the same battery pack (4.5V)because it requires less forward voltage (2.9V) than the Blue Lux III (3.8V)? I think I understand that concept.

If this is correct, then the voltage requirement of the LED combined with the battery voltage is really the only determining factor for the current output on the MR board. If this is correct (and its hard for my brain to understand this stuff easily without alot of repitition and clarification- sorry), then why do people have the impression that MR boards only put out around 900 mA? It seems that the MR boards are not really limiting current at all because when you increase the voltage (like adding another AA) or use a LED that requires less forward voltage, then the current goes higher.

Am I correct in my understanding that a board like Crystal Focus (or even a buckpuck) will put out the set current regardless of the LED (regulate current)? Doesn't matter if it's a Blue Lux V or a Red Lux III or if the battery pack is 7.2V or 11V, if the board is set for 700mA, then the LED will "see" 700mA?

I've just assumed from what I've read that an MR board will only give around 900mA max regardless of the LED and battery configuration as if it was regulated to give no more than 1A (like a buckpuck set for below 1A).

I really need to test my MR boards now (actually everybody should do it to see if they get similar results - test a red Lux III if you have it).

Maybe people just assumed that MR boards put out around 900mA max because they only tested their board with a Blue or Green Lux III with the standard 4.5V battery pack (which is about what your tests got).

Offline Onli-Won Kanomi

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #12 on: October 17, 2008, 05:48:21 PM »
I kinda remember Ultra giving Ionsabers a 'whupping like a redheaded stepchild' because Ionsabers was saying he used K2s that were brighter than LuxIIIs in his conversions and Ultra said that was wrong because K2s were actually dimmer than Lux III with MR boards because the MR boards didnt supply enough current to run them optimally...or words to that effect [apologies to Ultra if I have misremembered, misunderstood, or mischaracterized his position but I think it was something like that?] but now with results like these I'm wondering if maybe MR boards could drive K2s at full 1500 milliamp current afterall with use of a higher voltage 4 cell battery solution? Maybe Ultra was right about conversions because those were using the standard MR 3 battery pack but perhaps it was because of that pack not the board itself that we thought MR boards couldnt support K2s optimally?

Does anyone have a MR board, 4AA NIMH pack, multimeter and K2 to check that??? [I have a Vader ESB board and K2 but no multimeter so cant test it myself]
« Last Edit: October 17, 2008, 05:56:32 PM by Onli-Won Kanomi »
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Offline Jedi-Diah

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #13 on: October 17, 2008, 06:22:10 PM »
I have a green K2 and a Vader ESB that I could try and test (forward voltage 3.85V). Also a green Lux Rebel that I'll hook up also (forward voltage 3.15V). According to the theory, the Rebel should get a higher current due to lower forward voltage.

The K2 with the MR board and stock battery pack should only get under 1000mA current but with a 4xAA pack it should be able to drive the K2 properly (or more?).




Offline Jedi-Diah

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Re: LUX3 Red at 1500ma FFX Luke ANH Board and more...
« Reply #14 on: October 17, 2008, 11:09:39 PM »
Sorry for the 2x post...

I just finished testing the green Rebel and green K2. The only "problem" is that I have two MR boards, one is an Anakin with 4xAAA and the other is a Vader ESB with the stock 3xAA pack. The problem is that I couldn't use both battery packs with one board (without a lot of work). I would have liked to try each board with both battery packs.

Anyway, here are my results:

K2 green with Vader/4.8V = 820 mA
K2 green with Anakin/6.3V = 1000 mA
Rebel green with Vader/4.8V = 1270 mA
Rebel green with Anakin/6.3V = 1250 mA (this should have been higher...I don't know why not)

Also noticed that the initial measurements were way over these by about 300 - 600 mA but quickly dropped and after about 20 seconds they "settled in" at the above measurements.

The K2 was underdriven but the Rebel was overdriven. This does match with the assertion that the lower the forward voltage, the more current it will get (Rebel fV is 3.1V and the K2 is 3.85V).

Well, do your own tests and see what you come up with. I wish I had a Red Lux III to test since those have a lower forward voltage (2.9V) and should be getting more current.

Thanks Xsaber for the tips.

I kinda remember Ultra giving Ionsabers a 'whupping like a redheaded stepchild' because Ionsabers was saying he used K2s that were brighter than LuxIIIs in his conversions and Ultra said that was wrong because K2s were actually dimmer than Lux III with MR boards because the MR boards didnt supply enough current to run them optimally...or words to that effect [apologies to Ultra if I have misremembered, misunderstood, or mischaracterized his position but I think it was something like that?] but now with results like these I'm wondering if maybe MR boards could drive K2s at full 1500 milliamp current afterall with use of a higher voltage 4 cell battery solution? Maybe Ultra was right about conversions because those were using the standard MR 3 battery pack but perhaps it was because of that pack not the board itself that we thought MR boards couldnt support K2s optimally?

Does anyone have a MR board, 4AA NIMH pack, multimeter and K2 to check that??? [I have a Vader ESB board and K2 but no multimeter so cant test it myself]

 

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