My friend and I are looking at modding some of the keychain LED lights from DealExtreme with yellow LEDs to make them more suitable for tent use during a group camping trip. I've found a couple sources of yellow LEDs and I'm wondering if they would be suitable and which would best:
Yellow 10,000 MCD with 3.5V Forward Voltage
Yellow 15,000MCD with 2.0V~2.4V Forward Voltage
These will be direct driven by two CR2016 3V batteries which come in the keychain. My problem stems from the fact that I don't understand the impact of forward voltage, basically. I know that 6V is overdriving the white LEDs that come in those keychain lights. I'm not too concerned about reduced lifetime since these are meant to be cheap lights and some will surely be lost. We could remove one of the CR2016s to drop the voltage to 3V, or use one 2032 instead if necessary, but again, I'm uncertain of how significantly that will impact the brightness of the lights.
Of course if anyone knows of cheap (less than $1) but effective keychain lights with yellow LEDs, that would solve the problem as well. DealExtreme has some but they're reviewed as being pathetically dim.
Any input appreciated. Thanks.
Yellow 10,000 MCD with 3.5V Forward Voltage
Yellow 15,000MCD with 2.0V~2.4V Forward Voltage
These will be direct driven by two CR2016 3V batteries which come in the keychain. My problem stems from the fact that I don't understand the impact of forward voltage, basically. I know that 6V is overdriving the white LEDs that come in those keychain lights. I'm not too concerned about reduced lifetime since these are meant to be cheap lights and some will surely be lost. We could remove one of the CR2016s to drop the voltage to 3V, or use one 2032 instead if necessary, but again, I'm uncertain of how significantly that will impact the brightness of the lights.
Of course if anyone knows of cheap (less than $1) but effective keychain lights with yellow LEDs, that would solve the problem as well. DealExtreme has some but they're reviewed as being pathetically dim.
Any input appreciated. Thanks.
