how many lumens

Thanks - That's exactly what I was wondering about phat-fett's setup.
How did the stalk look with the wires on the outside, though? I take it it was visible, but not TOO bad?

Your LEDs - Which ones did you use? Were they the models that have a resistor already built-in? Any time I've tried to run LEDs directly from a battery pack, the LEDs have become EXTREMELY hot! ( Back before I learned any electronics in school, and was told that it's a bad idea to attempt so )

Just mess with your camera's exposure until the LED's look dim enough. If you can't do that, try using less power or something. Or if you have some older batteries that are run down perhaps that would look as dim as you want. Goodluck!

phat-fetts said:

clearly your having problems reading rs .......i dont own a helmet my freind does...how he rigged it is no real concern of mine except i said i would see about new leds.
9 volt batterys are very common.
if you want to know about whether the leds circuit is parralel then i could find out if you stopped clearly trying to wind me up.

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Well, if from now on we just assume that when I say "Your", I mean "Your friends".

I'm genuinely curious about your whole setup here!
You're a very lucky man, with access to two Fetts for your fanfilm, and an entire Slave One set in your yard.
I'd LOVE to be in your position. So please excuse all my questions - I guess I'm just the sort of person who's interested in all the little details.
For me, if I do something, it has to be done RIGHT.

So I want to know exactly how YOU'VE accomplished all your great stuff - So when I come to try it out for myself, I can learn from your mistakes ( Or lack thereof. )

Reverend Scapegoat said:

Thanks - That's exactly what I was wondering about phat-fett's setup.
How did the stalk look with the wires on the outside, though? I take it it was visible, but not TOO bad?

Your LEDs - Which ones did you use? Were they the models that have a resistor already built-in? Any time I've tried to run LEDs directly from a battery pack, the LEDs have become EXTREMELY hot! ( Back before I learned any electronics in school, and was told that it's a bad idea to attempt so )

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Scape, let me go back and look at my old images. I will get you a diagram and parts number, etc. The wires were not TOO noticable as I taped them down and then re-painted the stalk. In fact, I do believe if I can find the old stalk and batteyr pack it would still light up (being close to a year or so old).

If your using it for a movie, but are finding it too bright for your camera, then the answer is simple. It doesn't matter what Lucas Film did or didn't do on the real thing. Simply tone down your leds until it looks right on your camera! I've made enough movies to know that you can't use someone elses calculations because the conditons and equipment could be different! Simply sit there with your camera on, filming the leds, adjust them, film them again and so on until they look right with your camera.

BobaN00b said:

Scape, let me go back and look at my old images. I will get you a diagram and parts number, etc. The wires were not TOO noticable as I taped them down and then re-painted the stalk. In fact, I do believe if I can find the old stalk and batteyr pack it would still light up (being close to a year or so old).

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Sweet
I actually used a solid wooden stalk for my RF - Currently, the LED is a sanded-down flashing Xmas-tree earring!
I do intend to replace that, but it does fit neatly into the RF

Scape, this is the old setup I had. I will still have to get you part numbers, etc, but this should give you an idea. this is WITHOUT the stalk being repainted and taped down.







How the wires connected (this is my current bucket, so this is approx. where it should be)





I will hit radio shack sometime this weekend and get you the part numbers and draw up the wiring diagram for ya. I did the same thing on my gauntlets:

OrtharRrith said:

If your using it for a movie, but are finding it too bright for your camera, then the answer is simple. It doesn't matter what Lucas Film did or didn't do on the real thing. Simply tone down your leds until it looks right on your camera! I've made enough movies to know that you can't use someone elses calculations because the conditons and equipment could be different! Simply sit there with your camera on, filming the leds, adjust them, film them again and so on until they look right with your camera.

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thanks ortharrrith much appreciated

I know hes been banned, and so this knowledge is useless to him, but to all those out there workin on this, the lumens is not important, he has no idea what hes talking about.

a 9v battery will short out ANY LED if connected directly, get the recommended resistor and if its too bright for your tastes, knock it up a notch (if you used a 140 resistor, get a 180 or whatever more til your happy) so it dims the LEDs

for "Phatt Fett" even though hes banned. (he may visit) you apparently dont know what your talking about since a 9v battery is over 2x too much power for 2 little LEDs to take, unless of course your WIRE is acting as a resistor (an abnormally high amount of wire fillements or a very long wire) its all hard to explain.

For anyone wanting to know the lumens, dont worry about em, no one is going to come up and go "hey your RF has too many lumens coming out of the LEDs" and if they do, promptly show them the business end of your blaster.

as for the actual LED questions, Power supply for 1 led is normally 2v, plus a resistor (normally those are 2v as well) so for 1 led to work without shorting (ever) 4v is needed (mostly squeezing by at 3, smaller resister, but brighter LED is the result)

A typical standard LED will drop about .7V, so if using a 9V battery and 2 LED's your resistor will be dropping approx 7.6V. You want your circuit flowing about 10mA, so to figure out your resistor size- 7.6/10mA= 760ohm resistor.

Well, interesting that something useful is coming out of an "irritant" thread!! Thanks for the info guys! I had read that the LEDs wired directly to 2 AAs would be fine, but a 9v would fry them. (As well as a servo for the helmet) Do you need a resitor in all cases?

Shinobi