Hello,
I have some experience with wiring up standard el-cheapo 5mm LEDs for various projects where my only real consideration was "make it light up", but my current project demands more and I think I'm a little outside of my league. Time to ask for some help from people who are more experienced than myself!
Project:
I'm building a prop that I would ideally like to shoot out a very strong flashlight quality beam of light in order to project a logo onto a wall. Think handheld bat signal.
Requirements:
Needs to ideally be able to throw a fairly crisp image through a red resin lens with the logo blacked out on it.
Needs to be able to run for short periods of time on a 9v or perhaps 6 AAA's. By short periods I mean 10-15 seconds at a time.
Needs to fit under a shallow dome with an 8cm diameter and at most 2cm depth.
Needs to not put off too much heat, as they will be fully enclosed in a cramped space with little to no ventilation.
Preferences:
My experience is limited to standard dome LEDs with 2-3 leads, but I've been watching videos on SMDs. They look like a lot more hassle than I'd ideally like to go through (tweezers to mount them onto PCB just to wire them up is honestly making me cringe a bit).
Not bank breaking. I'd like to keep it under 50 cents per LED if possible.
So, does anyone have recommendations on:
1) Is this even possible under such constraints.
2) What LEDs I should be looking for?
Also, is it correct that 1,000 mcd = 1 lumen? I've been seeing them spec'ed in both lumens and mcd, and wanting to make sure I'm comparing oranges to oranges.
---
For anyone interested in what the project is, I have a fairly good 3D printer and have made a prop from my favorite cartoon as a kid, the Thundercats. Its a sword that can project their logo into the sky, and I'd love to be able to do the same to at least a wall in a semi darkened room. The first one I made in under 2 weeks in time to get it to a convention, and now I'm wanting to take my time and make a really nice one that has all the bells and whistles.
So I'm clearly limited in power supplies to what I can fit inside the handle.
If I can't get it bright enough to project the symbol, I can always just make due with it lighting up, but I'd really like to make it as bright as humanly possible given the constraints.
Any insight from the pros would be greatly appreciated!
I have some experience with wiring up standard el-cheapo 5mm LEDs for various projects where my only real consideration was "make it light up", but my current project demands more and I think I'm a little outside of my league. Time to ask for some help from people who are more experienced than myself!
Project:
I'm building a prop that I would ideally like to shoot out a very strong flashlight quality beam of light in order to project a logo onto a wall. Think handheld bat signal.
Requirements:
Needs to ideally be able to throw a fairly crisp image through a red resin lens with the logo blacked out on it.
Needs to be able to run for short periods of time on a 9v or perhaps 6 AAA's. By short periods I mean 10-15 seconds at a time.
Needs to fit under a shallow dome with an 8cm diameter and at most 2cm depth.
Needs to not put off too much heat, as they will be fully enclosed in a cramped space with little to no ventilation.
Preferences:
My experience is limited to standard dome LEDs with 2-3 leads, but I've been watching videos on SMDs. They look like a lot more hassle than I'd ideally like to go through (tweezers to mount them onto PCB just to wire them up is honestly making me cringe a bit).
Not bank breaking. I'd like to keep it under 50 cents per LED if possible.
So, does anyone have recommendations on:
1) Is this even possible under such constraints.
2) What LEDs I should be looking for?
Also, is it correct that 1,000 mcd = 1 lumen? I've been seeing them spec'ed in both lumens and mcd, and wanting to make sure I'm comparing oranges to oranges.
---
For anyone interested in what the project is, I have a fairly good 3D printer and have made a prop from my favorite cartoon as a kid, the Thundercats. Its a sword that can project their logo into the sky, and I'd love to be able to do the same to at least a wall in a semi darkened room. The first one I made in under 2 weeks in time to get it to a convention, and now I'm wanting to take my time and make a really nice one that has all the bells and whistles.
So I'm clearly limited in power supplies to what I can fit inside the handle.
If I can't get it bright enough to project the symbol, I can always just make due with it lighting up, but I'd really like to make it as bright as humanly possible given the constraints.
Any insight from the pros would be greatly appreciated!
