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flat-topped leds for mb6582


Davo

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Damn... There goes my "unique" MB-6582  ;D

Flat top LEDs look very nice. They fit flush witht the case and just look like coloured dots till you power them on. They seem to "contain" the light to the hole as well. I got some red ones for all my indicators and orange ones for my matrix, unfortunately they all look red (should have checked this out before I soldered them  :-[ ) so I', swapping the ones in the mod matrix to yellow.

Rapid electronics supply these (Go to the 3mm LED section and then select the Knightbright cylindrical link and they are listed there), I'm half thinking about organising a big order for some as I don't think they are available at all electronics suppliers in all countries.

        G

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Of course you could just take a fine file and flatten the regular cheap LEDs. Polish them up with steel wool or leave them 'matt' for a diffused effect. You have at least 4mm depth before you hit anything important inside.

bassman

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I burn down lots of stuff on handheld belt sanders. Hold the sander upside-down or sideways and bring the victim in slowly with the other hand (and watch your fingers :o).

Not sure if it would work on LEDs, but it does PCB stock and stuff (which ruins the hell out of the belt BTW).

George

<edit> forgot:

You have at least 4mm depth before you hit anything important inside.
... so I guess you can go all the way down to that YinYang element and they still function and look OK??
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I know it daft really, filing down 100 LEDs!  ;D

But, like I said, there's about 4mm before you get near anything important, more than enough to make them flat, that only needs about 1mm.

Actually, the filed end will be matt, so it does look different, like a diffuser. Try one and see.

This is the home of crazy ideas, isn't it?  :D

bassman

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I know it daft really, filing down 100 LEDs!  ;D

But, like I said, there's about 4mm before you get near anything important, more than enough to make them flat, that only needs about 1mm.

Actually, the filed end will be matt, so it does look different, like a diffuser. Try one and see.

This is the home of crazy ideas, isn't it?  :D

bassman

I think you d have to be ver crazy to sit there and file 100 LEDS flat by hand when it's not much (/any???) cheaper than just buying them. I did 6 the other day with sandpaper (the only thing I had to hand) and they're toucher than you'd think, although its not out of the question.

    g

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I can get hold of Red, High Red, Green, Yellow and Amber (looks very red) 3mm diffused cylindrical LEDS very easily which can be got in any quantity. Prices vary quite a bit depending on quanitity.

I have found a place in China that offers 3mm cylindrical waterclear blue LEDs aswell and their website mentions they will deal to individuals so this is a possibility. I shall make enquiries about prices and minimum order quantities/price brakes. This will take a bit more effort but i'm interested in getting some blue ones for myself as the only illuminated fan I could get is blue. :)

I'll set up a wiki page when i get a response to my email and see if there is enough interest... There won't be a minimum order for the red/green/yellow/amber diffused ones, but I suspect there may be on the blue ones.

      G

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Here's a link to a YouTube video of a x0xb0x with flat LEDs:

Not quite the same, but it should give you a very general idea of what an MB6582 would look like with flat LEDs. Keep in mind these are 5mm LEDs on the x0x, so the 3mms won't be quite as "obviously flat."

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3mm ones looke very flat.

When you get them in the panel they just look like coloured dots on the surface.

I've got a reply back and there is a minimum order quanitity of 1000 of any colour from the place in China. I think it's worth getting an order of blue ones together as these don't seem to be available at many places. These are clear LEDS; the coloured ones look better when mounted so it's probably worth getting them from rapid (who don't do blue) and there will be no minimum order quantity.

I've not got much free time at the moment as i'm going away to a festival tomorrow, I'll get a  wiki page up soon.

            G

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Blue LEDs are bad. Seriously. I regret the blue LEDs now on my MB-6582. One or two blue LED indicators on your notebook or monitor are fine, a whole panel lit up like a Christmas tree in blue LEDs is way too much for your eyes to handle, and a black panel makes it even worse. They may look good in photos, but it's not until you're looking at it in real life that you discover how bad blue light is, even at relatively low brightness levels. (My second MB-6582 uses red LEDs and it's a lot easier to look at! Green would be similarly cool).

People should also avoid white LEDs, as they are essentially a blue and yellow LED put in one package, tricking the eye into thinking it's white because it's stimulating the red, green and blue sensors of the retina. Avoid anything with UV as well! Those purple ones are just as bad as blue.

FYI: http://texyt.com/bright+blue+leds+annoyance+health+risks

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Hmnn. didn't know that about the blue LEDS. The cylindrical ones do look good a low light levels as they can just look like coloured dots that appear when lit. I'll still see of there's interest in a bulk order and put a link to your post. It may be useful getting them in for other things.

    G

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Strd and Wilba are right. I did an 8x8 display panel with some surplus blue LED's. Looks good as kinetic art, but staring at one, even on dim is not good.

Green or red - the military spent a fortune testing this for us......

Using a panel in low light on stage, blue is just going to impair your ability to read your other stuff. If you really want to get fancy, then save the cash for an inverse LCD.

I bought some supposedly diffused 3mm flat tops from Rapid - they still looked like a tiny bright spark in a block of red plastic. My advice with Flat-tops is definitely try before you buy. The good ones seem to have some kind of fresnel lens in the plastic to give a good even light effect, which is why they are more expensive.

I'll get more samples and post some pics.

BTW I have  batch of retro style chrome bezel 10mm reds if anybody wants some. The LED's can be swapped out for other colours.

If anyone is interseted I'll post a pic in the fleamarket.

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Hmnn, I got some diffused flat tops from rapid and I thought they seemed OK.. As mentioned before, the only problem was that he amber and red ones looked the same when lit. I quite like them anyway, maybe you have a keener eye than me.

        g

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Hmnn, I got some diffused flat tops from rapid and I thought they seemed OK.. As mentioned before, the only problem was that he amber and red ones looked the same when lit. I quite like them anyway, maybe you have a keener eye than me.

Which Rapid part number did you get?

I think we might haver different ones, by the sound of it. If the otehr flat topped ones are good, I'll fit them to my Wilbabeast.

Best wishes

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Did you get the normal or the through panel LEDS?

The ones I'm talking about are the normal ones,

L-424HDT RED CYLINDRICAL 3MM LED (RC)

L-424IDT HI/RED CYLINDRICAL 3MM LED (RC)

L-424EDT AMBER CYLINDRICAL 3MM LED (RC)

I have some green and yellow ones that I need to test too. I can send you a couple of the amber ones that I'm replacing if you want to check out the diffusion.

        G

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