superbright leds??? how to install????
#1
Thread Starter

My Feedback: (28)
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 58
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: middletown,
NJ
i bought superbright leds. how do i hook them up and attach wires where? i don't know series or parallel. please help. diagram would be perfect. thanks
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 449
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: Raleigh,
NC
#3
Senior Member
My Feedback: (2)
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,354
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: Emmaus,
PA
You have to put in a series resistor to limit the current. That link Sir Raleigh posted looks like a convenient calculator to use in figuring out the right value.
The LED should spec a voltage and current for proper operation. You have to drop the rest of your source (i.e. battery pack) voltage across the resistor. R=V/I, where R is the resistor value, V is the voltage you must drop across the resistor (source voltage minus the LED voltage), and I is the LED current. If you have multiple LEDs of the same type, you can stack them in series with the resistor as long as the sum of the LED voltages is less than your source voltage. Then the V in this equation becomes the source voltage minus the sum of the LED voltages, while the definitions for R and I are the same.
The LED should spec a voltage and current for proper operation. You have to drop the rest of your source (i.e. battery pack) voltage across the resistor. R=V/I, where R is the resistor value, V is the voltage you must drop across the resistor (source voltage minus the LED voltage), and I is the LED current. If you have multiple LEDs of the same type, you can stack them in series with the resistor as long as the sum of the LED voltages is less than your source voltage. Then the V in this equation becomes the source voltage minus the sum of the LED voltages, while the definitions for R and I are the same.



