# What the heck? Suprising 5mm LED results.



## kuksul08 (Apr 10, 2009)

A couple months back I bought the typical 10 pack of white LEDs from DX since they are so cheap, just to play around with. They seemed crummy but I didn't have any experience with the 5mm's in general.

Since I am building a really nice light now, I decided to buy the Cree 5mm LEDs so I have only the best components. I bought a couple cree 5mm LED 2 and a couple cree 5mm to incorporate in the light.

Powered at 25mA each, I'm pretty suprised. I was completely expecting the Cree's to be the clear winner, but... they aren't? They are noticeably more yellow than the DX versions which are surprisingly white. I should mention that there is no significant difference between the two Cree's I linked above. Also the DX appear to be just plain brighter overall.

Now the next issue might be the beam quality... but they are so close I can't pick on either one.


What gives?

I will try to get some beamshots.

edit: I only have a point and shoot, so here's my best shot at the beamshots. There are four LEDs in parallel, 25mA.






DX





Cree

Heh, after looking at these pictures, the DX one looks much more blue, but it's not really so bad in person.


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## Yoda4561 (Apr 10, 2009)

I would pick that cree 100% of the time over the bluer one.


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## Phaserburn (Apr 10, 2009)

Nichia is known for very high quality 5mms. I'd go with them. They have proven longevity in use vs most others.


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## jeffosborne (Apr 10, 2009)

Hey kuksul08, thanks for the interesting view of the 5mm LEDs. The photos mean alot. I am excited to buy some of the Cree LEDs myself now. I too do not care for the blue tint of the other LEDs.

You say there isn't much difference in the two Cree emitters, but can you say if one is any warmer than the other? One is listed by DigiKey as cool-white, the other as just white.

Cheers,
Jeff O.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Apr 10, 2009)

I'm with phaserburn on this. Nichia has great 5mm LEDs. Cree probably isn't bad either, I just don't know anything bout their 5mms


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## kuksul08 (Apr 10, 2009)

Phaserburn said:


> Nichia is known for very high quality 5mms. I'd go with them. They have proven longevity in use vs most others.



Yeah I had read about the Nichias before, specifically the GS being good, but where do I get them?



jeffosborne said:


> Hey kuksul08, thanks for the interesting view of the 5mm LEDs. The photos mean alot. I am excited to buy some of the Cree LEDs myself now. I too do not care for the blue tint of the other LEDs.
> 
> You say there isn't much difference in the two Cree emitters, but can you say if one is any warmer than the other? One is listed by DigiKey as cool-white, the other as just white.
> 
> ...




They are so close I can hardly tell the difference. If anything, the cool-white labeled one is slightly more green and ever so slightly brighter, but even that is splitting hairs. I'd say the difference is negligible practically.


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## Superdave (Apr 10, 2009)

I swapped the Cree 15 degree 5mm's into my A2. It's not as bright as the Nichia LED's but IMO the tint is better and the beam is great. :thumbsup:


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## Gunner12 (Apr 11, 2009)

A yellower light will seem dimmer then a whiter light of the same output. Also yellower output is less efficient then a whiter one. Our eyes also don't sense light in a linear fasion. It'll take 100% more output for one light source to seem obviously brighter then another.


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## Illum (Apr 11, 2009)

Phaserburn said:


> Nichia is known for very high quality 5mms. I'd go with them. They have proven longevity in use vs most others.



Nichia also has a signature blue tint 
assuming thats a 5mm CREE, it might replace nichia on some components...GS wise:green:


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## cave dave (Apr 11, 2009)

I had some DX fauxtons that were brighter than 5mm Nichias, but they couldn't handle the 6v load form a pair of Cr2016s and fried up in short order.


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## kuksul08 (Apr 11, 2009)

cave dave said:


> I had some DX fauxtons that were brighter than 5mm Nichias, but they couldn't handle the 6v load form a pair of Cr2016s and fried up in short order.



I'd think most LEDs would burn up with 6 volts


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## JohnR66 (Apr 12, 2009)

The Crees are supposed to look more neutral white compared to the typical blue white Chinese stuff. In my test the Crees were not particularly bright.

Betcha those Chinese LEDs will be faded after a few hours of the typical overdrive used in flashlights. The Crees will not fade. At least at 30ma for 200 hours they did not fade.

Nichia GS is the LED of choice for low current flashlights. It blows the other 5mm LEDs away.


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## cave dave (Apr 12, 2009)

kuksul08 said:


> I'd think most LEDs would burn up with 6 volts



You would think so, but the Nichia LED's in Photon flashlights have been handling that voltage for years. 

The little coin cells have a lot of internal resistance when the current draw is 1C of the battery capacity so there is a lot of voltage sag after the first millisec or so, however that first milisecond can kill some offbrand 5mm LEDs in short order.


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## VidPro (Apr 15, 2009)

hmm BLUE emitting item, and yellow phosphors, Phosphors themselves seem to last about 20,000 hours. i would rather have the yellow one  its got more stuff that will be gone later 
i donno, as burnt out phosphors probably block light too.
but from experience with these (%&!$#) 5mm leds, the brighter they label them (in actual lumens not beam pattern) the bluer they are, the bluer they are the less time they last.
i had a bunch of super bright JUNK , and over much time it is now in the trash, and then i had some good color nichita things, and they lasted much longer. it would be a tossup if i had the light Socketed, because then i could just toss the "bulbs" and put in new ones.
it is almost as if i dont even trust "Bright" anymore, and certannly not blue, to be lasting time. gimme a dark led  mabey it will still work 4 years from now :thinking:
but 4DIE leds run at single die currents is always good too, and they were horror blue also, but still working good, because they are running less current on each die thing.


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## ampdude (Apr 16, 2009)

The Cree is definitely the winner over the angry blue ones on the top.


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## arcel1t (Apr 16, 2009)

kuksul08 said:


> Yeah I had read about the Nichias before, specifically the GS being good, but where do I get them?


 
I have ordered some Nichia GS from LED1.De:
http://www.led1.de/shop/product_inf...e-44000mcd-10-pcs-p-1161&cName=specials-c-113

They have not arrived yet, but when they do i'l confirm if they are qenuine ore not.

I hope they are at that price.


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## ledstein (May 11, 2009)

Nichia gs are the best choice as you can see in this thread also: 5mm LED fade test, Nichia vs China


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## arcel1t (May 13, 2009)

ledstein said:


> Nichia gs are the best choice as you can see in this thread also: 5mm LED fade test, Nichia vs China


 
That test was played a vital role when choosing witch 5mm led's to use in my projects.
Thanks. 

I can also confirm that the Led's from Led1.de was qenuine, they have all the characteristic's of a nichia gs (tint, beam profile and shorter legs than most cheap super bright led's .


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## ledstein (May 13, 2009)

arcel1t said:


> That test was played a vital role when choosing witch 5mm led's to use in my projects.
> Thanks.
> 
> I can also confirm that the Led's from Led1.de was qenuine, they have all the characteristic's of a nichia gs (tint, beam profile and shorter legs than most cheap super bright led's .




Im happy that my thread helped . Talking about Nichia 5mm GS recently it seems to be alot easier to find in Europe, may shops offer them. Here is a list on a few places one can find them, with prices (from low to high):

www.ledrise.com: Price for 1pcs: 0.69 euro, Price for 50pcs: 0.62 euro for 
Nichia 5mm White LED, 44000mcd, 15°, 20mA, NSPW500GS-K1-W-b1/b2
The prices are for the best bin: W.

www.leds.de: Price for 1pcs: 1.19 euro, Price for 50pcs: 0.99 euro for 
*Nichia LED white 44000mcd 5mm NSPW500GS-K1-b1/b2-V/W*
You can get the best bin W or the second best V.

www.led-tech.de: Price for 1pcs: 1.19 euro, Price for 50pcs: 0.99 euro for Nichia NSPW-500GS-K1, no bin selection

www.pure-led.de: Price for 1pcs: 1.19 euro, Price for 50pcs: 0.99 euro for 1 x NICHIA LED white 5mm NSPW500GS-K 15° 44000mcd, no bin selection

www.led1.de, same as the last two.

Ofcourse shipping cost is different from one website to the other but there are so variables here that i cant put it in account. Just look over all the websites and see which one is cheaper overall for your order.


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## strideredc (May 18, 2009)

Led rise must be based in the 5th quadrant of Alpha Centauri?

They want €41.10 to ship 3 5mm LED’s to the UK? Bargain!!!

What’s really funny is they want €37 to ship the same to the USA? Via TNT, I know for a fact that it’s cheaper to send to the UK with TNT rather than the states on ANY of there services!

This isn’t knocking you for putting the link in I just hate it when these silly short sighted company’s put this sort of cost in?!?!?!?


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## knabsol (May 19, 2009)

I too would go for the Nichia ones. I cant really understand the cree hype somtimes, they make good leds but not allways the best. I´ve used a bunch of the 5mm ones lately and there´s seems to be quite a large variation in tint even from the same bins. I´ve experienced this on their high power leds too.

Check out some hong kong/ chineese suppliers like light of victory too if you get a chance. Some degrade pretty fast but some are ok. Avago makes a few good ones too.


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## ledstein (May 25, 2009)

strideredc said:


> Led rise must be based in the 5th quadrant of Alpha Centauri?
> 
> They want €41.10 to ship 3 5mm LED’s to the UK? Bargain!!!
> 
> ...




I think they where from Alpha Centauri, on the way here at warp. Now they offer shipping with the Post for 4.90 euro for up to 500g (how many Nichias can u fit in 500g?:devil.


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