No, they couldn't be 9200mcd LEDs!..

No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

I picked up 10 of the 20 degree white 9200 mcd 5mm LEDs from ledsupply.com, and to my surprise, they weren't all that bright at all. I took the LED out of my Photon II, thinking that I'd have more light output with the new LED, but it was actually LESS than before (so I put the original back in). What's up with these LEDs?

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

Could just be a faulty batch I guess, either that or they could have different current/voltage requirements the the original LED. Seems unlikely, but it's worth investigating before condemning the parts as rubbish.

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

I've found this with white LED's I've bought and installed in torches, the percived brightness is never as good as for cyan or green LED's. The eye is less sensitive to white because the frequencies that make up the white are outside the eye's maximum sensitivity zone.
Although the colour of my white torch is far more daylight-like than a filament equipped model, I still find the cyan Bt2's output more pleasant on the eye, and in some wayys it appears brighter than my 4 LED white torch.
To get good colour rendition and brightness I'm going to make a torch with a mixture of cyan and white LED's. (A BT2 with one cyan and ome white LED will be my first attempt).
Has anyone else built a white/cyan combination torch?

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

I have some of these 9200mcd Nichias and have compared them to the 5600s. I think the 9200s are brighter. I put 4 of the 9200s into a Dorcy 4AA conversion and ran the each at 30ma. I also put together a headlamp conversion with 2 each of the 9200s and 5600s with all 4 running at 30ma. Both lights have faceted reflectors. The Dorcy is noticeably brighter than the headlamp.

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

The Nichias generally have a bluish or evn slightly purplish tine to the bright white light they produce, other less expensive ones (from various companies in Hong Kong, China, Korea,
generally show more of a gren or even slightly brownish "halo" around the white center. Different phosphor chemistry, etc.

Some of the 7300-11000 mCd whites I got from E-bay at a $ each are made by globe-Tech, they show the greenish-brownish "halo" and are not as clean and sharp as the Nichia.

I recently re-worked an older C Crane 7 LED "expedition" to the new 9200 mCd Nichias, and it is a LOT brighter than the original 4000
or 5600 mCd units. No, I don't toss away the "old" LEDs, they just get recycled into other
experiments and projects.

I've tried mixing white with cyan, and with green LEDs, both work fine, it is all a matter of one's preferences. Cyan and green do appear brighter due to the color response of the human eye, if color rendition is not important, go with
the colored LEDs. I prefer the green Nichia NSPG500BS asthey are BRIGHT, at least 10,000 mCd each.
Of course, the 5W Cyan Luxeon is the ultimate for now, IMHO... The green, as in Craig's "Terra Destroyer" is a very close second.

/ed b in the icebox of NH

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

Yes, these do have a halo effect around the "center" (I put that in quotes because there isn't much of a center). I guess I got ripped off then. $20 for substandard LEDs. Oh well. Live and learn.

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

Real Nichias have shorter leads than standard LEDs and have a characteristically "warmer" tone to them. The best reference is an ARC AAA - these have real Nichia LEDs in them. There is usually a halo effect, you can see beamshots of ARC AAA's all over these forums if you don't have one on hand to compare with.

I also have some of the S-ranked Nichia whites up in the B/S/T forum.

Hope that helps!

A.

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

So where do I buy the brightest LEDs that are actually bright? Nichia? or is there a better source? I like the sounds of 11,000mcds, but I'd be happy with really nice 6,000 or 7,000 LEDs.

Re: No, they couldn\'t be 9200mcd LEDs!..

As I mentioned, they can be found in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum.

A.