Boss CS-3 dull Led

[Studiocat]

Hey guys,

I've got a boss CS-3 compressor sustainer (with a Monte Allums mod) and the LED is really dull. I want to send it more juice, and make it brighter. Something could be wrong with the LED circuit, but otherwise I assume it's just too high a resistor value. Can anyone tell me which resistor I need to swap out? And what value should I replace it with?

I accidentally shorted out the power supply with the pedal chassis, and the LED got super bright. That's what I need permenantly.

Cheers
Adam

[Wheeman]

Fun with LEDs.

I think you have burned the LED out a bit. By shorting it out and making it super bright, it results in a duller LED. If you want a super bright LED get one and swap it out with the old one. You shouldn't have to fiddle the resistor values to much.

This is a case of more isn't better, new is. :sport-smiley-002:

[Studiocat]

Sadly it's just as dull with a new LED as it is with a slightly used (or fried!) one.
Monte tells me that there are a resistor and diode in my earlier model of CS3 that were later removed. I'll try that and get back to you.

A

[Studiocat]

Monte was right. I removed R32 and D10, replaced them with jumpers, and the light came to life!

Cheers
Adam

[mhammer]

LED brightness is rated in millicandles. So-called "garden variety" LEDs will usually have ratings in the 300mcd and less range. "Super-brights" will have ratings in the 2000mcd+ range. I have no idea what you call LEDs in the middle range.

The advantage of these brighter LEDs is that not only can they be made visibly brighter, but you can generate a useful brightness with less current. That has two benefits. One is that it drains batteries less (some LED/circuit combinations can draw more current for the LED than for the effect!). The other is that sometimes the current draw of an LED being switched on results in an audible hiccup in the power line which translates into an audible tick or pop when switching the effect. Generally speaking, the less current any portion of the circuit draws, the less likelihood of it generating any audible ticking or popping.

All status LEDs will have a current limiting resistor in series with them. A regular "garden variety" LED, such as that found in a Boss pedal, will normally have a series resistor between 1k and 4k7. If you use a 3000mcd LED, and it is seen against a dark background, you can often get away with increasing that to 15k or more to drop the required current by up to 1000%.