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LEDs for Beginners
by noahw on December 14, 2006
Table of Contents
LEDs for Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Intro: LEDs for Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 1: Get some LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 2: The LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 3: Power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Step 4: Resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Step 5: One LED, no resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Step 6: One LED with a resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Step 7: Wiring up multiple LEDs in series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Step 8: Wiring up multiple LEDs in parallel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Step 9: Extrapolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Intro: LEDs for Beginners
This instructable shows how to wire up one or more LEDs in a in a basic and clear way. Never done any work before with LEDs and don't know how to use them? Its ok,
neither have I.
***If you have wired up LEDs before, this explanation might seem overly simplistic. Consider yourself warned.***
Step 1:Get some LEDs
So I wasn't completely honest - I have used LEDs once or twice before for simple applications, but I never really knew what I was doing, and since so many projects on
instructables use LEDs, I thought I might as well teach myself and post about it too.
I know that there are many projects already posted that contain information about how to wire LEDs for simple projects - LED Throwies, LED Beginner Project: Part 2 and
9v LED flashlight - teh best evarrr!, but I think that there could still be some use for a detailed step by step explanation about the basics of LEDs for anyone who could
use it.
The first step was to buy some supplies and figure out what I would need to experiment with. For this project I ended up going to Radioshack because its close and a lot
of people have access to it - but be warned their prices are really high for this kind of stuff and there are all kinds of low cost places to buy LEDs online.
To light up an LED you need at the very minimum the LED itself and a power supply. From what I have read from other LED instructables wiring in a resistor is almost
always a good idea.
If you want to learn about what these materials are check out these wikipedia entries:
LEDs
Power supply
Resistors
Materials:
LEDs - I basically just reached into the drawer at Radioshack and pulled out anything that wasn't more than $1 or $2 per LED. I got:
2760307 5mm Red LED 1.7 V
2760351 5MM Yellow LED 2.1 V
2760036 Flasher Red LED 5 V
2760041 2 Pack Red LED 2.6 V
2760086 Jumbo Red LED 2.4V
Power Supply - I really didn't know what I would need to power them so I bought some 9V batteries and some 1.5V AA's. I figured that would allow me to mix and match
and make enough different voltage combinations to make something light up - or at least burn those little suckers out in a puff of smelly plastic smoke.
Resistors - Again, I wasn't too sure what I would need in terms of resistors here either. Since I got a whole bunch of different LEDs with various voltages I knew that I
would need a couple different types of resistors, so I just bought a variety pack of 1/2 Watt Carbon Film Resistors (2710306).
I gathered up a soldering gun, solder, needle nose pliers, electrical pliers, some primary wire and electrical tape too since I thought they might be useful.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Step 2:The LED
LEDs come in different sizes, brightnesses, voltages, colors and beam patterns, but the selection at Radioshack is pretty small and so I just picked up a couple different
LEDs from what they had in a few different brightnesses and voltages. I kept close track of what LED was what voltage because I didn't want to accidentally send too
much current through one of the low voltage LEDs.
The first thing I did with the LEDs was figure out which wire (its called an electrode) was positive and which was negative. Generally speaking the longer wire is the
positive electrode and the shorter wire is the negative electrode.
You can also take a look inside the LED itself and see whats going on. The smaller of the metal pieces inside the LED connects to the positive electrode and the bigger
one is the negative electrode (see picture below). But be warned - in the LEDs I picked up I didn't always find this to be true and some of the LEDs had the longer
electrode on the negative when it should be on the positive. Go figure - its OK though, if it didn't light up I just flipped it around.
Once I knew what was positive and what was negative I just had to remember what the voltage of each LED was.
All my LEDs recommended 20mA of current. 20mA is standard for most LEDs.
Image Notes
1. This is the annode or the positive ( ) electrode.
2. This is the cathode or the negative (-) electrode.
Image Notes
1. The longer wire here turned out to be the positive electrode even though it
connected to the bigger piece of metal in the LED itself.
2. The bigger piece inside means it should be the negative electrode, but it has the
longer of the two leads coming off and in actuality turned out to be the positive
electrode.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Step 3:Power supply
To make the power supplies I just soldered some wire onto the ends of the batteries I had bought so that I could easily attach the LEDs to them. The 9V battery served as
my 9V power supply, one AA battery made a 1.5V power supply and three AA batteries bundled together made a 4.5V (1.5V + 1.5V + 1.5V = 4.5V) power supply. I didn't
use alligator clips on the ends of the wire, but they would have been helpful here.
Step 4:Resistors
I opened up the assortment pack to find that resistors aren't labeled with what value they are. The pack said it contained a whole bunch of different resistors from 100
ohms to 1 Meg ohm so I set out to see what was what. When I poked around online I found that all resistors have a coding system on them that tells you what value they
are.
Here are two pages which explain in depth about how to calculate resistor values.
Do it yourself
or
Have it done for you
I'll go through the examples of how I calculated the values myself in the next few steps when I start wiring up my LEDs.
For the time being I just admired their little colored stripes and moved on to trying to get just one LED to light up.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Image Notes
1. The color bands on the resistors indicate what value they are. Using the websites I linked to above, you can find whatever value resistor you need.
Step 5:One LED, no resistor
I thought that I would start as simply as I possibly could - just one LED with no resistor. First I had to decide what power source to use and which LED to light up. This
may seem obvious, but this was my first time through so I might as well be as clear as possible...
LEDs require sufficient voltage to light them. Sometimes if you give them too little voltage they wont light at all, other times they will just shine dimly with low voltage. Too
much voltage is bad and can burn out the LED instantaneously.
So ideally you would like the voltage of the LED to match the voltage of your power supply, or even be slightly less. To do this you can do a couple of things: change your
power supply voltage, change the LED your using, or you can use a resistor that allows you use a higher voltage power supply with a lower voltage LED.
For now I just wanted to get one lit up so I chose my the power supply that had the lowest voltage - the single AA battery which outputs 1.5V.
I chose to light the red 1.7V LED since the battery outputs 1.5V and I knew I wouldn't kill the LED with too much power.
I wrapped my positive wire from the battery to the positive electrode of the LED and wrapped the negative wire from the battery to my negative electrode and presto - let
there be LED light!
This first experiment was pretty easy to do - just some wire twisting and enough knowledge to know that the 1.5V power supply would light the 1.7V LED without need a
resistor.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Step 6:One LED with a resistor
It was just a coincidence that I bought an LED that was 1.7V and that it ended up working being able to be powered by my 1.5V power supply without the use of a
resistor. For this second setup I decided to use the same LED, but up my power supply to the three AA batteries wired together which output 4.5V - enough power to burn
out my 1.7V LED, so I would have to use a resistor.
To figure out which resistor to use I used the formula:
R = (V1 - V2) / I
where:
V1 = power supply voltage
V2 = LED voltage
I = LED current (usually 20mA which is .02A)
Now there are lots of calculators online that will do this for you - and many other instructables reference this as a good one, however, the math really isn't too hard and so
I wanted to go through the calculation myself and understand whats going on.
Again, my LED is 1.7V, it takes 20mA (which is .02 A) of current and my supply is 4.5V. So the math is...
R = (4.5V - 1.7V) / .02 A
R = 140 ohms
Once I knew that I needed a resistor of 140 ohms to get the correct amount of voltage to the LED I looked into my assortment package of resistors to see if I could find
the right one.
Knowing the value of a resistor requires reading the code from the color bands on the resistor itself. The package didn't come with a 140 ohm resistor but it did come with
a 150 ohm one. Its always better to use the next closest value resistor greater than what you calculated. Using a lower value could burn out your LED.
To figure out the color code you basically break down the first two digits of the resistor value, use the third digit to multiply the first two by and then assign the fourth digit
as an indicator of tolerance. That sounds a lot more difficult than it really is.
Using the color to number secret decoder website found here, a 150ohm resistor should have the following color code...
Brown because the first digit in the value resistor I needed is 1
Green because the fifth digit is 5
Brown because in order to get to 150 you have to add one 0 to 15 to get to 150.
Gold - the resistors I got all have 5% tolerance and 5% is represented by gold
Check out the decoder page link above if this isn't making sense.
I looked through all the resistors, found the one that was brown, green, brown, gold, and wired it in line on the positive electrode of the LED. (Whenever using a resistor
on an LED it should get placed before the LED on the positive electrode).
Low and behold, the LED lit up once again. The 150 ohm resistor stopped enough of the 4.5V power supply from reaching the 1.7V LED that it lit up safely and kept it
from burning out.
This is just the process that I went through to figure out what resistor to use with my particular LED with my particular power supply. You can easily use the formula above
to figure out what value resistor to use with whatever LED and power source you happen to be using.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Step 7:Wiring up multiple LEDs in series
Now that I knew how to wire one LED with various combinations of LED voltages and power supplies, it was time to explore how to light up multiple LEDs. When it comes
to wiring more than one LED to a power supply there are two options. The first option is to wire them in series and the second is to wire them in parallel.
To see an in depth explanation about the difference between series and parallel check out this page. I'm going to cover wiring LEDs in series first.
LEDs wired in series are connected end to end (the negative electrode of the first LED connects to the positive electrode of the second LED and the negative electrode of
the second LED connects to the positive electrode of the third LED and so on and so on...). The main advantage of wiring things in series is that it distributes the total
voltage of the power source between all of the LEDs. What that means is that if I had a 12V car battery, I could power 4, 3V LEDs (attaching a resistor to each of them).
Hypothetically this could also work to power 12, 1V LEDs; 6, 2V LEDs; or even 1 12V LED if such a thing existed.
Ok, let's try wiring 2, 2.6V LEDs in series to the 9V power supply and run through the math.
R = (9V - 5.2V) / .02A
R = 190 Ohms
Next higher resistance value - 200 Ohms
Now the variety package of resistors didn't come with a 190 or 200 Ohm resistor, but it did come with other resistors which I could use to make a 200 Ohm resistor. Just
like LEDs, resistors can be wired together in either series or parallel (see next step for an explanation on wiring things together in parallel).
When same value resistors are wired together in series you add their resistance. When same value resistors are wired together in parallel you divide the value of the
resistor by the number of resistors wired together.
So, in the most simplified sense, two 100 Ohm resistors wired together in series will equal 1 200 Ohm resistor (100 + 100 = 200). Two 100 Ohm resistors wired together
in parallel will equal one 50 Ohm resistor (100 / 2 = 50).
Unfortunately, I learned this key point after I wired my resistors together for the experiment. I had originally wanted to wire two 100 Ohm resistors together to equal the
200 Ohms of resistance I needed to protect my LEDs. Instead of wiring them in series, as it should have been, I wired my resistors in parallel (did I mention I am beginner
with resistors?) So my resistors were only providing 50 Ohms of resistance - which apparently worked out OK on my LEDs in the short duration of the experiment. Having
too much power getting to the LEDs would probably burn them out in the long term. (Thanks beanwaur and shark500 for pointing this out.)
I took my resistors and placed them in front of the positive lead of the first LED that was wired in series and hooked them up to the battery and once again, there was LED
light!
With three different combinations of LEDs and battery power supplies and no puffs of plastic smoke yet things were looking good - aside from my little confusion between
wiring resistors in series and in parallel.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Image Notes
1. Two 100ohm resistors were wired together in parallel to provide 50 Ohms of resistance. I had meant to wire them together in series to provide the 200ohms of
resistance that the LED's needed. These LED's were forgiving.
2. LED's wired in series
Step 8:Wiring up multiple LEDs in parallel
Unlike LEDs that are wired in series, LEDs wired in parallel use one wire to connect all the positive electrodes of the LEDs your using to the positive wire of the power
supply and use another wire to connect all the negative electrodes of the LEDs your using to the negative wire of the power supply. Wiring things in parallel has some
distinct advantages over wiring things in series.
If you wire a whole bunch of LEDs in parallel rather than dividing the power supplied to them between them, they all share it. So, a 12V battery wired to four 3V LEDs in
series would distribute 3V to each of the LEDs. But that same 12V battery wired to four 3V LEDs in parallel would deliver the full 12V to each LED - enough to burn out
the LEDs for sure!
Wiring LEDs in parallel allows many LEDs to share just one low voltage power supply. We could take those same four 3V LEDs and wire them in parallel to a smaller
power supply, say two AA batteries putting out a total of 3V and each of the LEDs would get the 3V they need.
In short, wiring in series divides the total power supply between the LEDs. Wiring them in parallel means that each LED will receive the total voltage that the power supply
is outputting.
And finally, just some warnings...wiring in parallel drains your power supply faster than wiring things in series because they end up drawing more current from the power
supply. It also only works if all the LEDs you are using have exactly the same power specifications. Do NOT mix and match different types/colors of LEDs when wiring in
parallel.
OK, now onto to actually doing the thing.
I decided to do two different parallel setups.
The first one I tried was as simple as it could be - just two 1.7V LEDs wired in parallel to a single 1.5V AA battery. I connected the two positive electrodes on the LEDs to
the positive wire coming from the battery and connected the two negative electrodes on the LEDs to the negative wire coming from the battery. The 1.7V LEDs didn't
require a resistor because the 1.5V coming from the battery was enough to light the LED, but not more than the LEDs voltage - so there was no risk of burning it out.
(This set up is not pictured)
Both of the 1.7V LEDs were lit by the 1.5V power supply, but remember, the were drawing more current from the battery and would thus make the battery drain faster. If
there were more LEDs connected to the battery, they would draw even more current from the battery and drain it even faster.
For the second setup, I decided to put everything I had learned together and wire the two LEDs in parallel to my 9V power supply - certainly too much juice for the LEDs
alone so I would have to use a resistor for sure.
To figure out what value I should use I went back to the trusty formula - but since they were wired in parallel there is a slight change to the formula when it comes to the
current - I.
R = (V1 - V2) / I
where:
V1 = supply voltage
V2 = LED voltage
I = LED current (we had been using 20 mA in our other calculations but since wiring LEDs in parallel draws more current I had to multiply the current that one LED draws
by the total number of LEDs I was using. 20 mA x 2 = 40 mA, or .04A.
And my values for the formula this time were:
R = (9V - 1.7V) / .04A
R = 182.5 Ohms
Again, since the variety pack didn't come with that exact value resistor I attempted to use the two 100 Ohm resistors bundled together in series to make 200 Ohms of
resistance. I ended up just repeating the mistake that I made in the last step again though, and wired them together in parallel by mistake and so the two 100 Ohm
resistors only ended up providing 50 Ohms of resistance. Again, these LEDs were particularly forgiving of my mistake - and now I have learned a valuable lesson about
wiring resistors in series and in parallel.
One last note about wiring LEDs in parallel - while I put my resistor in front of both LEDs it is recommended that you put a resistor in front of each LED. This is the safer
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
better way to wire LEDs in parallel with resistors - and also ensures that you don't make the mistake that I did accidentally.
The 1.7V LEDs connected to the 9V battery lit up - and my small adventure into LED land was completed.
Image Notes
1. This is where I made a mistake - these two resistors were wired together in parallel when they should have been wired together in series and placed before the
positive electrode of each of the LED's. I ended up providing only 50 Ohms of resistance for the LED's when I had wanted to give them 200 Ohms.
Step 9:Extrapolation
While I didn't actually end up making anything besides a couple of lit LEDs, this information can be used to make all kinds of cool things!
The take away concepts hopefully were:
- Power a whole bunch of different value LEDs using the same basic principals.
- Figure out what is the positive electrode and what is the negative electrode of an LED by looking at it and testing it.
- Use resistors, or combinations of resistors wired together in series or in parallel to supply the correct amount of power to the LED.
- Make calculations to determine what resistor is needed using the formula, or using web sites that do it for you.
- Wire LEDs in series or in parallel depending on the application.
- Make LEDs light up!
This was the most basic kind of walk through for LEDs possible - and I learned a whole lot along the way. LED arrays and wiring schemes can get significantly more
complicated - but for the most part, LEDs are pretty simple to work with, and with relatively little knowledge I was able to light them up - all be it if I sent a little too much
juice through them towards the end of the experiment. I don't fear the LED now. They are my friends.
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http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 509 comments
babylonfive says: Mar 10, 2007. 1:23 PM REPLY
The two big reasons why you place a resistor in series with each LED are: - safety - so that if one LED burns out (becomes an open) the remaining LED
would use twice the current (overcurrent) and then fail as well - so that the current and brightness will be somewhat equalized Imagine a situation with two
LEDs of the same type but a sightly different forward voltage at the specific current - or think of it really as a curve of current over forward voltage. Then,
because one LED uses more current for the same forward voltage, it's brighter... sometimes by a lot. Finally, when the battery voltage falls, the higher
forward voltage LED winks out. David
justaj says: Apr 9, 2009. 10:09 AM REPLY
So if you add a resistor in series with each LED, does the resistor have to be the full value? So for example he used two 100ohm resistors in series
above. If he did what you said, would it be a 200ohm resistor for each? My guess would be yes but I am new to this.
babylonfive says: Apr 9, 2009. 11:29 AM REPLY
No, you would use the same working configuration for a single leg or multiple legs, up to the limit of the power supply.
So: in your example above you have a 5V supply, and an LED that uses 20mA at 3V, then the voltage 'left over' across the resistor on any one leg is
2V. 2V/100ohms = .020A (20mA). Thus each leg would correctly function with a 100ohm resistor.
Each leg draws the 20mA as a separate subsystem, as it's own circuit. You should see it as if the + point in the drawing above were two independent
batteries. The only limitation would be the maximum current available at the + point... remember that mA are thousandths of Amps, so a power
supply rated 1A @ 5V would provide enough power for 50 LEDs... 50 x .020A (20mA) = 1A... batteries can do much better than 1A without much
voltage reduction.
I hope this helps you think about this in a way that allows you work with LEDs and resistors in the future. Please reply with any questions or
comments.
justaj says: Apr 9, 2009. 5:09 PM REPLY
Thanks for your reply!
Sorry I wasn't clear. I was referring to step 8 where he used the 9V and wired the two LEDs in parallel.
R = (9V - 1.7V) / .04A
R = 182.5 Ohms
So in that case it would be a 200ohm resistor for each correct?
babylonfive says: Apr 9, 2009. 8:08 PM REPLY
If you mean about 200 ohms (i.e. 180 ohms) on each leg, then yes. In fact, up to the limit the 9V battery will source, you can keep adding legs
with an LED and a resistor; it'll keep adding current, and reducing battery life obviously. Two will use 80mA, 3 will use .12A etc.
sfrazier2 says: Jul 2, 2011. 3:26 AM REPLY
It seem you know a lot about led i'm looking to go to led on my reef aquarium to save energy and money I have now metal halide total
500 watts. the heat is crazy hot and the light bill is through the roof, what would you recommend for a 60"x10" strip
Pieman27 says: Jan 25, 2011. 11:40 PM REPLY
I'd be careful soldering those batteries, because the frequent violence heat applied to them from soldering could make them explode. I know, I just tried, and
it nearly blinded me. I personally DO NOT recommend it
Pieman27 says: Jan 25, 2011. 11:53 PM REPLY
If you do decide to try it anyway, take heed the warnings:
1. Wear goggles!
2. If the batteries get seriously hot, stop immediately
3. If you hear the batteries emit a sizzling sound, either grab a towel, cover the batteries and throw them outside, or take cover until they pop
Im not sure this is following the "positive" policy, but its more to protect people from my experience. It's like a warning to prevent lawsuits.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
dreamberry says: Jul 1, 2011. 12:13 PM REPLY
Safety is always positive, I say. Getting ready to try my first led project. Thanks!
Natrix2494 says: Jun 25, 2011. 8:29 AM REPLY
so, i can wire 6 1.5v leds up to a 9v battery and not need a resistor?
m144578 says: Jun 2, 2011. 11:28 PM REPLY
Can someone help me out?
I have two 5 Volt LEDs from radio shack. What would be the best way to hook them up and with what ohm of resistor?
Thanks
gt_cochran says: Jun 20, 2011. 9:56 AM REPLY
Alright, you need to know a few things. First of all, what do you want to power the LEDs with (i.e. what kind of battery). Secondly, do you know what
configuration that you want the LEDs hooked up in (parallel or series)? Lastly, what are the electrical values associated with the LEDs (Forward Voltage
and forward current)?
sko56 says: Jul 14, 2010. 9:12 PM REPLY
The only reason the LED doesn't Fry from adding 1.5V is because the Alkaline Battery has an internal resistance. Ohms Law Holds true I (current) =
V(volts)/R(resistance in ?) . If there was no resistance the current would be near Infinity causing the Wattage to go through the roof as well (W=I^2*R). same
reason a "throwie" works without a resistor.
damadtatter says: May 5, 2011. 9:20 PM REPLY
How do you make an ohm's symbol on a keyboard?
theawesomedude92 says: Apr 25, 2011. 4:08 PM REPLY
so i need a soldering gun (would a soldering iron also work?), LED lights, batteries, wire, electrical tape, solder, and wire strippers, dang that's a lot.
can i do this without the soldering gun? lemme guess, no.
theawesomedude92 says: Apr 25, 2011. 4:11 PM REPLY
by wire strippers, i actually meant electrical pliers.
dthomas-1 says: Apr 29, 2011. 6:32 PM REPLY
ok, well, that explains a LOT! I'll send the tired girls home now and get back to work
theawesomedude92 says: Apr 30, 2011. 1:31 PM REPLY
tell them i said hi
ahwang says: Mar 26, 2011. 8:31 AM REPLY
Hi.
I have a question but btw, you have an awesome website for ppl like me who's interested in learning to light up some LEDs!!!
Forward voltage: 3.0-3.2
Current: 20ma
Battery: 6V
1. Following your instruction, I first tested my 2 of my LED, in a series without any resistors to my 6V and baam! it lit up! thanks!
but after about 20 secs, the LEDs started to get hot. Is that normal? I don't think I'd need any resistors or I wouldn't even know how since I would get 0 ohm
resistor value
2. My project is to light up 8 LEDs. 4 pararell LED each side, then 2 of 4 pararell LEDs in series. so like. (1+1+1+1) + (1+1+1+1).
so I'm thinking (3V, .08ohm) + (3V, .08ohm) so it would be 6V with .08ohm right?
then it would require no resistor since 6v-6v=0 right?
Or would that get too hot and require resistors?
any help is appreciated!!!
Thanks!!
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
arduinoer says: Jul 19, 2010. 4:52 AM REPLY
If you wired a car battery to any amount to leds, it would burn it out. I car battery has hundreds of amps. Leds take .08 amps
your_dragon113 says: Jul 20, 2010. 6:59 AM REPLY
I'm sorry but you're wrong. It's the Voltage that'll kill the LED. It will ONLY take the Amps that it needs. If you take a car stereo and hook it up to a 1 Amp
power supply then, by your way of thinking, it shouldn't work. It won't work at full volume but it Will work up to 1/4 volume quite nicely. The unit needs
12VDC and about 4 Amps to run at peak performance. 12 is the key. Otherwise when you hook it up in the car it'd blow up due to the "hundreds of
amps". The LED is rated for a typical VOLTAGE. It will ONLY draw the current that it NEEDS...no more. I suggest doing some more research and test
your views prior to posting. Voltage says what you can run...Amps tell you how Many and how Long you can run it/them.
colin55 says: Mar 25, 2011. 11:07 AM REPLY
It's actually the CURRENT that will kill the LED as the current provides the heating-effect that will destroy the crystal.
As soon as you supply a voltage higher than the CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE of the LED (about 1.7v for a red LED) the LED will want to take a
very high current and it is this CURRENT that will over-heat the LED.
See 30 LED Projects on Talking Electronics website:
http://www.talkingelectronics.com/
http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/30%20LED%20Projects/30%20LED%20Projects.html
Colin Mitchell
lions3 says: Feb 2, 2011. 7:53 AM REPLY
What are the watts rating on the resistors you're using? Does it matter?
kawaii kappuke-ki says: Jan 18, 2011. 1:37 PM REPLY
Could you use button batteries? I want to use the LED's on clothing and those big batteries are to bulky.
Munchys says: Jan 22, 2011. 9:35 AM REPLY
I think they have a thing called lilypad for clothing and you can use thread thats conductive look at sparkfun.com they have it also you would probably
want to use smaller leds maybe SMD.
And you can use any kind of batteries
bobbubbles says: Jan 17, 2011. 11:01 PM REPLY
iv only got a couple of 4.7 kohms resistors
could i use this??
(sry couldent upload image its yellow violet red gold)
Mr.Sanchez says: Jan 17, 2011. 7:20 AM REPLY
This project was a winner in an artist convention...so I got to better things up
http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-DRAGONFLY-STEAMPUNK-LAMP/
thnk u again for the help
Mr.Sanchez says: Dec 3, 2010. 9:30 AM REPLY
What about to conect Leds to an USB power source....man I really need that info...Its enough two leds of 2 vlts or i need a resistor...?
Ill really apreciate the info...
thisisradionick says: Jan 16, 2011. 10:31 AM REPLY
From the wikipedia entry, USB is 5V, you can use that in your calculations. It's always best to have a resistor with LED's, I have gotten by without one, so
I guess it depends on the level of quality and reliability you want from your project. A 100ohm resistor should be fine.
Mr.Sanchez says: Jan 16, 2011. 5:47 PM REPLY
Thnk u so much I did it and work so much better
thisisradionick says: Jan 16, 2011. 6:08 PM REPLY
What is the project?
Its Giggles says: Dec 6, 2010. 5:49 AM REPLY
Hi thank you so much for this info on LEDs.
I have a question i must ask a question from
quoting the series ? calculation descrtiption:
"Ok, let's try wiring 2, 2.6V LEDs in series to the 9V power supply and run through the math. R = (9V - 5.2V) / .02A R= 190 Ohms Next higher resistance
value - 200 Ohms"
I know Ohms law and all but i am curious to know
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
why is it that the 5.2v is subtracted from the 9v?
Considering that in series, Voltage total= v1+v2+v3. . .
But why in your calculations is this subtraction?
thanks :)
-m
mxc1090 says: Dec 21, 2010. 9:13 AM REPLY
Total Voltage = 9V
Voltage drop per LED = 2.6V
Voltage "left" to drop over resistor = (9V-(2*2.6V))= 3.8V
V = I * R
V / I = R
3.8V / .02A = R
R = 190ohms
...and do you 'really' understand Ohm's law?
Its Giggles says: Dec 23, 2010. 6:34 AM REPLY
Well, i am trying to learn here, please be patient.
But thank you for the additional help, i appreciate it alot.
-m
mxc1090 says: Dec 23, 2010. 7:08 AM REPLY
Anytime, it's just easier to help when you disclose know your actual skill level.
kamenkoo says: Nov 24, 2010. 6:06 PM REPLY
I want to connect LED to my speakers.. :)) How can i do that ?? :)) What should i do?? :)) Thanks :)))
jrgcool35 says: Mar 16, 2007. 9:06 PM REPLY
-.- you must not know much about LEDs. Let me tell you rules number 1. 1. NEVER EVER hook a LED up to a battery without a resitor becasue it can/will
explode in your face possibly sending the plastic shards ino your eyes... Next time either 1 hook a resistor up and/or wear safety gogles.
UgniusR says: Nov 16, 2010. 6:04 AM REPLY
You don't need a resistor is the voltage is right. For example, if you have 2 3V LEDs in series, and you hook up 6v, you don't need a resistor. Think
before you write something...
robert0joe says: Aug 7, 2010. 9:35 PM REPLY
I power 2 LEDs in parallel with USB(5V and a few amps) or sometimes a 4.8V 400mAh rechargeable battery. It doesn't explode in my face or go boom! I
sometimes even live it for an hour or two.
hohum says: Feb 20, 2011. 10:06 PM REPLY
A USB OutPut, is 5vdc and .5amp, I'd be realllly careful about pushing a few amps thru an LED
killrsheep says: Mar 21, 2007. 5:48 PM REPLY
Umm Yes and NO... NEVER EVER hook a led without a resistor... but it wont explode, (i havent tried on voltages over 9V) it will only burn up and
produce a very dimm light: why you say?... " my led did not die out with a 1.5V battery"... because, Batteries have an internal resistance value, (its a very
small one ands its just because perfect batteries dont exist, in a perfect battery, current would rise to infinity in this setup) wich means that the only thing
limititng the current on that led is the battery, trust me its not nice, ... "Power" or Voltage doesnt kill leds (unless you hook them up the way you did) its
actually current that burns them up, LEDS are fun: its basic electronics only calculus you will ever need to do is subtraction and ohms law
jrgcool35 says: Mar 21, 2007. 10:04 PM REPLY
Oh i didn't notice that he was using almost identical voltages then its ok but to be safe only put it on with a resistor and dont hook up a 9v battery to a
1.7v LED or then i WILL explode (personal experiences)
jrgcool35 says: Mar 21, 2007. 10:05 PM REPLY
it* I wont explode lol
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
geekman101 says: Jul 19, 2010. 2:07 PM REPLY
no it dosn't because if your like me and you put an LED on a 12v computer power supply it goes really bright and then goes off and the plastic
melts.
steelersfan32 says: Jul 14, 2010. 6:17 PM REPLY
Well in some extreme case you could too!
mickgoth says: Aug 8, 2010. 10:10 PM REPLY
i must say it is fun to line about 30 in series and watch them explode.... i get bored
tlinder says: Nov 12, 2010. 4:16 PM REPLY
Hey I feel like i've figured out this resistor thing, but my resistor is getting very hot while the lights are AOK. does it matter if I am using 2 different kinds of
leds choosing to calculate through the lower voltage kind when wiring in parallel?
frankentrike says: Sep 4, 2010. 5:15 PM REPLY
well i'm just fullblown confused.resistance,ohms,voltage[i kinda understand the last one] never was a whiz on math.i just need to know,on a vehicle
application,can i wire 4 leds together[12v rated each for automotive use] together in series with a 5 amp fuse [or higher]and run them off an automotive
power supply[car battery or alternator]as an accesory light.??????????????or,,,barring that would it be better to get a light strip already to plug up to my
system?
petre says: Jul 19, 2010. 10:20 PM REPLY
ok cyber.engineer, if you are talking parall circuits you are correct. but series circuits are a d9ifferent ball game. have you ever seen a copy of UGLYS-
ELECTRICAL-REFERENCES ? if not look at series and parall circuits again. i have worked with many engeneers young and old and here is one question
that i asked them. without going to a book. if i have a motor is it cheaper to run it on 240 or 120, discounting the size of the power cable? do you that not one
could not answer correctly. here is my number, i will be up till 3 am est. 412-335-3508
cactushugger says: Aug 20, 2010. 10:30 AM REPLY
The 240 because it will draw less current... assuming you're talking about a DC supply... and assuming you're not taking into consideration the cost of
the motor, useful life, depreciation, etc... It is the voltage that kills LEDs. Use Ohm's Law to analyze a simple series circuit: V=IR. Say you have a 5V
power supply (USB) and one LED that will optimally draw 20 mA and have a 3.3V voltage drop. That means it will have a resistance of 165 Ohms in that
circuit (R=V/I=3.3 V / 0.02 A). The resistor size will be determined by the current the circuit needs to draw: 20 mA -- (R=V/I again) -- This time use 5V,
5/0.02= 250 Ohms. Since it's a series circuit, just subtract the 165 Ohms to get 85 Ohms. Bump it up to 100 for good measure and a readily available
resistor.
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