Where to buy bright white 5mm LED's

Where to buy bright white 5mm LED\'s

I messed up my easy mod solitaire, and need to buy a few nichia or equavelent 5mm LED's. I wish i could do metal working, i would rather cut the body down, thread it to fit that tiny Mn21/23 batt with the STD base/spring. the spring twisted and then the LED died.(it was "borrowed from a cheapie give away button cell light I had) just didn't seem too bright, and i think it was the cheapie bulb and/or poor contact/shorting from the spring. I also think I will run some foam over the spring to stiffen and protect it from shorting.

None the less i need some good 5MM LED's!! VDG

Re: Where to buy bright white 5mm LED\'s

www.superbrightleds.com
I've always had good luck with them, though they are not the cheapest -- yuou get what you pay for!

Re: Where to buy bright white 5mm LED\'s

if you have done other mods in the past...

get a 2X 'AA' dorcy from target. take the 4 nichia whites out of the head (4 for you) drip in a 1W star and an optic.

Now you have 4 5mm whites and a 1W 2 'AA' light.

Jeff

Re: Where to buy bright white 5mm LED\'s

[ QUOTE ]
WildRice said:
if you have done other mods in the past...

get a 2X 'AA' dorcy from target. take the 4 nichia whites out of the head (4 for you) drip in a 1W star and an optic.

Now you have 4 5mm whites and a 1W 2 'AA' light.

Jeff

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really just the soli easy mod on quickbeam's site.
but i am willing screw up again! could explain or link me to
what i need to do?
also, is that "drip" supposed to be "drop"? 1w star as in luxeon? thanks, i am kinda digging this stuff even if i did botch the easiest one :confused what kind of optic would fit a solitaire?

Back to the easy mod, what LED at superbright would be good? i want bright. is 4000mcd 0r 5000mcd too much or just more drain?

also any link's to other easy stuff/educational would be cool. I really kinda dug the LED soli (the three day's it ran)I think since it was DIY I did my own self. (which i am not much of of a DIY guy except guitar's) this is a fun new hobby! i love CPF! VDG

Re: Where to buy bright white 5mm LED\'s

bump for LED info, and 1w star thing, and general info VDG

Re: Where to buy bright white 5mm LED\'s

Regarding sourcing good cheap 5mm LEDS:

superbrightleds.com is okay--they have a very nice selection- in that you can pick the exact viewing angle you want, but their prices are high and shipping too. I've been very pleased with their brightness and color though.

besthongkong.com is cool because prices are so low--however I've found the white ones to have lots of blue and yellow in the beams, so I just use them as indicators (not flashlights)--their blue ones are very good, and cheap too--

my personal favorite place to buy leds from is lsdiodes.com--These guys don't have different viewing angle options like superbrightleds.com, but the diodes I have gotten are the best in color and equal in brightness to any diodes I've ever bought. Also--they have really cheap shipping-- under thirty leds is like two US dollars if I remember. I'm not trying to sound like a salesman, but they have really impressed me. And- they are selling a new 5mm diode with four chips inside which is supposedly brighter and can handle 80mA, though I haven't tied it.

Maybe you can post some pics of your mod. I put a spring and resister in a solitaire to take up battery space using that little 12v battery too. I cut down the leads on the led, and drilled out the reflector a little to make space for the diode. After a month, the led broke through the lens, and the thing couldn't be turned off like normal. Besides the lens (my flawed switching mechanism), the whole back half on my light is perfect. If you want it, PM me and I'll give it to you. I've got a few white diodes laying around too if you just need a few. Let me know buddy.

Mike