Turnigy led strips

[xermalk]

Anyone know the specifications for the leds used in the turnigy strips?

Im looking for specifications for the red/green/white and yellow leds, as I am going to attempt to make a set of 250 night blades before i buy a pair from someone else.

[kavic5150]

The whole strip runs on 12v and the documentation I got with mine says 400ma per meter.

I'm guessing you plan to desolder individual leds from those strips for use on your night blades. It will work but there are smaller smd leds to be had that have a lower profile and produce less drag.

As for individual led specs its usually:

blue/purple/UV 3.6 - 3.8v and 20ma forward current.
green/white 3.1 - 3.5v and 20ma
yellow/red/orange 1.8 - 2.1v and 20ma

Use this to determine resistor values:

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

I usually use 8ohm resistors for blue/purple/UV
27ohm for green/white
and 91ohm for red/yellow/orange

1/4 watt smd resistors are good and have a very low profile. Look for 0805 or better yet, 1210 as they are a bit bigger and easier to handle.

And some tiny switches that work well on night blades:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/AYZ0103AGRLC/401-2014-1-ND/1640123

Let us know how it works out.

[xermalk]

I was actually thinking of replacing the resistors on a 5cm strip and using that section with a 1s. Im not that worried with drag as im not flying 3d at all with the heli. And i was going to reduce the drag somewhat by wrapping the led section with some clear mylar tape.

[flyinfool]

That wont work.
On the strips the 3 leds of a section are connected in series, with a single dropping resistor for the section. A 1S lipo will not be enough to light it very bright if at all. Your best chance will be with red or orange since they are the lowest voltage colors.

[nickyd]

I have some of these Turnigy Led strips around my Mini Titan heli to help visibility. They are fed directly from my main 3S .

I am concerned that a short at any of the soldered terminals could take my power system down in flight. Very unlikely I know, but still a possibility.

I plan to fit a small 500mA? Inline fuse but dont know where to buy a suitable one for my 450 size heli. Couldnt see anything on Hobbyking or Fast Lad.

Any ideas please

Cheers...

[skunkworx]

Adding a fuse isn't worth the trouble in all reality. You would end up having an extra failure point and you wouldn't really be protecting anything if the entire battery died on you. An LED strip wouldn't tank a flight pack even if it shorted out because the wires would burn up and stop the short so it would be pretty unimaginable that they would cause the heli to come down in a ball of flames.

[sp00fman]

I did put a little fuse in my connector. Not really needed as i also run a 78xx type voltage regulator on there to adjust the brightness of the leds. It has a protection circuit inside that usually works. (or it explodes)

[nickyd]

Thanks for the advice guys.