I'm working on a project where I'd like to emulate flames in a small space. I've cannibalized some of those electric tea lights, but they're just so dim. I'm starting to wonder if brighter ones exist, or if maybe there's some limitation due to the flickering circuit?
deangelo65:
I'm working on a project where I'd like to emulate flames in a small space. I've cannibalized some of those electric tea lights, but they're just so dim. I'm starting to wonder if brighter ones exist, or if maybe there's some limitation due to the flickering circuit?
Don't hijack someone else's thread, start your own topic.
I have split the thread into a dedicated topic.
I'm starting to wonder if brighter ones exist
Of course. I have LED light bulbs that are equivalent to a 100W incandescent bulb.
There are are "super bright" LEDs that are regular little 20mA LEDs. Not as much light as an LED light bulb but brighter than a standard LED. The output is measured in mcd (millicandelas) whereas higher power LEDs are measured in lumens.
High power LEDs (1W or more) normally use a special constant-current LED power supply and if you buy a "raw" high-power LED you need to add a heatsink. So they are not that easy to use in a homemade project.
LED light bulbs (from the home improvement store) have a built-in power supply so they can run from 120VAC or 240 VAC, etc.
or if maybe there's some limitation due to the flickering circuit?
It can. That's how PWM dimming works... The LED isn't really dim but if it's on half the time off half the time and flashing faster than you can see, it will appear to be half-brightness." If the LED is on for less than about 0.1 Second it will start to appear dim. If you don't want that you can add a minimum on-time to your random flickering.
*Actually, it will appear to be brighter than that because our eyes are not linear but that's the principal of LED dimming with PWM.