Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
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.
Image Notes 1. This is the annode or the positive ( ) electrode. 2. This is the cathode or the negative (-) electrode.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
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.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/
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
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.
Related Instructables
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:
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:
Safety is always positive, I say. Getting ready to try my first led project. Thanks!
Natrix2494 says:
so, i can wire 6 1.5v leds up to a 9v battery and not need a resistor?
m144578 says:
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:
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:
by wire strippers, i actually meant electrical pliers.
dthomas-1 says:
ok, well, that explains a LOT! I'll send the tired girls home now and get back to work
theawesomedude92 says:
tell them i said hi
ahwang says:
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:
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:
What are the watts rating on the resistors you're using? Does it matter?
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:
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:
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:
Thnk u so much I did it and work so much better
thisisradionick says:
What is the project?
"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:
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?
mxc1090 says:
Anytime, it's just easier to help when you disclose know your actual skill level.
kamenkoo says:
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... 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.
robert0joe says:
hohum says:
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:
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:
Well in some extreme case you could too!
mickgoth says:
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? 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? 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 UGLYSELECTRICAL-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
frankentrike says:
petre says:
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.
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/