How many lumens in a 5mm?

LEDrock · Aug 18, 2009

As one of the "cheap-skates" here, I still like buying the lower priced lights at the B&M stores. The multi-LED lights (5mm) can put out quite a bit of light. But I was wondering about how many lumens they are producing.

I assume the way to calculate it would be simply to know how many lumens are produced by a 5mm LED, and then multiply it by how many LEDs are used in the light. So how many lumens does one of these 5mm LEDs produce? I've looked everywhere to find out, but can't find the answer.

Badbeams3 · Aug 18, 2009

The newer ones put out around 10 lumen.

LEDrock · Aug 18, 2009

Badbeams3 said:
The newer ones put out around 10 lumen.

There are newer ones? I didn't realize manufacturers would be making improvements to the old 5mm, now that 5mm is pretty much "bottom of the barrel" as far as technology goes. How many versions of the 5mm are there now? Which ones would be in the most inexpensive lights that are out on the shelves now?

Badbeams3 · Aug 18, 2009

LEDrock said:
There are newer ones? I didn't realize manufacturers would be making improvements to the old 5mm, now that 5mm is pretty much "bottom of the barrel" as far as technology goes. How many versions of the 5mm are there now? Which ones would be in the most inexpensive lights that are out on the shelves now?

The newer one is the Nichia GS 5mm. I`m sorry but not I`m not really up on the 5mm light. To busy running with the pack...chasing the latest n greatest whilst they empty my wallet.

rmteo · Aug 18, 2009

Cree has some 5mm LED's:
http://www.cree.com/products/ledlamps_hb5round.asp

Patriot · Aug 18, 2009

LEDrock said:
Which ones would be in the most inexpensive lights that are out on the shelves now?

The Fenix E01 is probably one of the better known, latter versions of Nichia 5mm that was recently purchased by a lot of people.

LEDrock · Aug 18, 2009

Patriot said:
The Fenix E01 is probably one of the better known, latter versions of Nichia 5mm that was recently purchased by a lot of people.

What do you think the lumens would be in a 5mm in a light that costs maybe $5 or so?

lolzertank · Aug 18, 2009

LEDrock said:
What do you think the lumens would be in a 5mm in a light that costs maybe $5 or so?

Some $5 lights have the Nichia GS, like the Energizer keychain for $3. Many at that price have cheap Chinese 5mm LEDs which are about 5 lumens. Still, most 5mm LED lights are massively overdriven, so you might have about 50% more lumens with fresh batteries.

BTW, one good light much better than a lot of cheap lights.

dandism · Aug 18, 2009

What does the energizer led keychain look like? I want to try that GS in my AAA dorcy.

JohnR66 · Aug 18, 2009

LEDrock said:
What do you think the lumens would be in a 5mm in a light that costs maybe $5 or so?

Your original post seems to indicate that your talking about cheap 5mm lights with multi LEDs. I agree with Badbeams, a Nichia GS will give you around 10 lumens. One of our members, jtr1962, tested the GS at making 6.15 lumens at 20ma (96.7 lumens per watt) and it is rated at 30ma continuous. So in overdriven flashlight use, it probably can exceed 10 lumens.

The big "however" is I doubt you can get a multi LED light with GS LEDs for $5 at a B&M store. These lights usually have cheap chinese LEDs and the output can vary all over the board. I've disassembled so many cheapo lights and extracted the LEDs. I would estimate the output to be 2 or 3 lumens max per LED. Maybe more if driven hard, but the cheap LEDs will fade in output if pushed hard for a few hours.

LEDrock · Apr 14, 2011

JohnR66 said:
Your original post seems to indicate that your talking about cheap 5mm lights with multi LEDs. I agree with Badbeams, a Nichia GS will give you around 10 lumens. One of our members, jtr1962, tested the GS at making 6.15 lumens at 20ma (96.7 lumens per watt) and it is rated at 30ma continuous. So in overdriven flashlight use, it probably can exceed 10 lumens.

The big "however" is I doubt you can get a multi LED light with GS LEDs for $5 at a B&M store. These lights usually have cheap chinese LEDs and the output can vary all over the board. I've disassembled so many cheapo lights and extracted the LEDs. I would estimate the output to be 2 or 3 lumens max per LED. Maybe more if driven hard, but the cheap LEDs will fade in output if pushed hard for a few hours.

Well, I have a 24 LED "puck light" that seems really bright, and runs on 3AAA batteries. Is it safe to assume then that I'm actually getting anywhere between 72 to perhaps as high as 240 lumens? I'd like to get one of those high end lights like maybe a 2AA Quark and I'm just wondering what 180 lumens from one of those actually looks like without having to actually buy one to find out first. I thought maybe my little puck light could be a guide.

robostudent5000 · Apr 14, 2011

LEDrock said:
Well, I have a 24 LED "puck light" that seems really bright, and runs on 3AAA batteries. Is it safe to assume then that I'm actually getting anywhere between 72 to perhaps as high as 240 lumens?

not quite. with 24 LEDs on 3 AAAs, you're probably not getting anything close to the max output of each bulb. getting max output from 24 LEDs would require a different driver than the one you probably have in your light and would drain your 3 AAAs really fast.

regarding the output of various kinds of 5mm LEDs, brightness is usually measured in mcd's. this measures peak brightness at the center of the beam. Nichia GS are rated at 30,000mcd at 20mA. a lot of cheap, multi led lights have LED rated at 15,000 mcd or less.

i have some 20,000 mcd 9 LED Lyckeby's from DX and it's pretty bright for what it is, but even then, i think they only produce around 30 lumens.

LEDrock · Apr 14, 2011

robostudent5000 said:
not quite. with 24 LEDs on 3 AAAs, you're probably not getting anything close to the max output of each bulb. getting max output from 24 LEDs would require a different driver than the one you probably have in your light and would drain your 3 AAAs really fast.

regarding the output of various kinds of 5mm LEDs, brightness is usually measured in mcd's. this measures peak brightness at the center of the beam. Nichia GS are rated at 30,000mcd at 20mA. a lot of cheap, multi led lights have LED rated at 15,000 mcd or less.

i have some 20,000 mcd 9 LED Lyckeby's from DX and it's pretty bright for what it is, but even then, i think they only produce around 30 lumens.

Hmmmm. So the "amazing" brightness of my 24 LEDs then would probably be somewhat less than 90 lumens (based on your 9LEDs being about 30)? This is quite interesting to note!

I don't actually know the brand name of my puck light, but as for the quality, I can tell you that it's made of plastic and I got it as part of a rebate special at Menards for no more than the cost of sales tax and a postage stamp to send in the rebate. (it was a full rebate!) so I'd say it's safe to say it's not one of the more advanced types of LEDs out there. Still, I'm amazed at the brightness. Super wide flood too. Now if I could get the nerve to spend the $$$ on a similar output Cree light, I'll be forever hooked!

robostudent5000 · Apr 15, 2011

LEDrock said:
Hmmmm. So the "amazing" brightness of my 24 LEDs then would probably be somewhat less than 90 lumens (based on your 9LEDs being about 30

well, no. you can't extrapolate it that way because our lights probably have different LEDs driven by different circuitry.

jorn · Apr 16, 2011

LEDrock said:
Well, I have a 24 LED "puck light" that seems really bright, and runs on 3AAA batteries. Is it safe to assume then that I'm actually getting anywhere between 72 to perhaps as high as 240 lumens? I'd like to get one of those high end lights like maybe a 2AA Quark and I'm just wondering what 180 lumens from one of those actually looks like without having to actually buy one to find out first. I thought maybe my little puck light could be a guide.

A light with a single high power led like the 2aa quark, will out throw that puck light by far. It's a single bright light source with a reflector wrapped around it for better lux (throw).

Nicrod · Apr 16, 2011

lolzertank said:
Some $5 lights have the Nichia GS, like the Energizer keychain for $3. Many at that price have cheap Chinese 5mm LEDs which are about 5 lumens. Still, most 5mm LED lights are massively overdriven, so you might have about 50% more lumens with fresh batteries.

BTW, one good light much better than a lot of cheap lights.

Well said. I won't ever buy a cheapy ever again. Aspecially if u already own at least one good light. Why waste the mulah
U could just get more batterys for ur one good light. I think the cheapest light out there worth owning are the streamlights
Stylus's. IMO

How many lumens in a 5mm?

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