What are the brightest available 5mm LEDs?

BatteryCharger · Jul 12, 2005

I keep seeing mentions of 26,000 and 50,000 MCD LEDs. I haven't been really paying attention to the LED world the last few months, what are the brightest available 5mm, 20ma LEDs right now, and where can I buy them? I want to upgrade my 1AA ebay flashlight...

DUQ · Jul 12, 2005

I just picked up some 15K 3mm LED's of ebay. $13 for 50 with 10 ohm resistors. Ive seen 20K 5mm's before.

WildRice · Jul 12, 2005

ebay useually has 20,000 mcd and 26,000 mcd LEDs. you useually need to get 50 or 100 to get a good price. But at 20-25mA they are about the brightest around. (except mabyee the nichia u bins) but those are harder to find.
Jeff

jtr1962 · Jul 13, 2005

Brightest I've seen so far at 20 mA and a 20° viewing angle is 26,000 mcd. I've heard 30,000 mcd should be out in the not too distant future.

I think we're at the point with 5mm LEDs where we should not only give mcd ratings, but also lumens. The aforementioned 26,000 mcd parts roughly output 3 to 3.5 lumens. For some applications lumens is all that really matters.

markdi · Jul 13, 2005

the u bin nichia are around 5 lumens.

jtr1962 · Jul 13, 2005

Interesting. If we assume Vf=3.6V (Nichias have a higher Vf than most other white LEDs I've seen), then that gives an efficiency of ~70 lm/W, about on par with the better CFLs. At 5 mA, the efficiency would be about 40% higher, roughly around 100 lm/W.

BatteryCharger · Jul 13, 2005

So, are the 26,000 MCDs really more than twice as bright as 10,000 MCDs?

greenlight · Jul 13, 2005

By color?

Grumpy · Jul 13, 2005

I have the Nichia NSPW500CS leds for sale here Second Nichia Group Buy Please see the first post for payment information.
The following link is to a thread that has some detailed comparisons of leds that is very usefull. Nichia Led Comparison Please see the first post for summary of the findings.
I will sell you any quantity of these that you want.
I have modified many lights with these and they appear to be at least twice as bright but have the same runtime according to NICHIA

hsjrev · Jul 13, 2005

There are some 20 degree 5mm's on eBay claiming 35,000 mcd. I ordered some out of curiousity...who knows?

ebay LED's

I especially like the fact that "All LEDs are tested and sorted by the professional precise machines!" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Paul_in_Maryland · Jul 13, 2005

30,000 mcd soon? 35,000 mcd now? jtr1962 and hsjrev, for this multi-LED cheap-light enthusiast, you've made my day!

IsaacHayes · Jul 13, 2005

I think the new Nichiia in a Xnova 1AA would be pretty cool upgrade.

BatteryCharger · Jul 13, 2005

Has anybody done a comparison between ~10,000MCD LEDs and the 26,000?

markdi · Jul 14, 2005

IsaacHayes I put a NSPW500CS in my x1

it is a lot brighter now

jtr1962 · Jul 14, 2005

[ QUOTE ]
BatteryCharger said:
Has anybody done a comparison between ~10,000MCD LEDs and the 26,000?

[/ QUOTE ]
I've checked them with my light meter. The beam angles are similar, and the 26,000 mcd really do live up to their billing. In short, they have about 2.5 times the output of the 10,000 mcd. Mine are from warden_jp2002. I haven't seen him offering any for the last few months.

pedalinbob · Jul 14, 2005

A bit off-topic: Is there anyone that mods Arc AAA's and Infinities to higher output 5mm LED's?

Bob

greenlight · Jul 14, 2005

[ QUOTE ]
markdi said:
IsaacHayes I put a NSPW500CS in my x1

it is a lot brighter now

[/ QUOTE ]

How much brighter?

Grumpy · Jul 14, 2005

I have placed a link below to a thread that will answer some of your questions about these leds.
NICHIA LED COMPARISON

What are the brightest available 5mm LEDs?

BatteryCharger

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DUQ

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WildRice

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jtr1962

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markdi

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jtr1962

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BatteryCharger

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greenlight

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