what resister to use with leds

raser13 · Post by **raser13** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:58 pm

i'm sorry if this has been covered here before.(i couldn't fin ay other threads on it) i'm just getting back into models after several years away,and the last time i was involved i used rice lights. now i want to try leds for the obvious reasons of longivity and coolness. i know from woriking on putting some in my car that they have to have a resister in line with them. what rating of resistor do i need to put inline to stop from frying them??i can get leds by the thousands on ebay for a buck, and like three for like nine bucks at the autoparts store with the resistor built in. i'd rather buy alot for a buck. i just dont't know what resistor to use.

macfrank · Post by **macfrank** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:17 pm

You can use the LED series/parallel array wizard to calculate the resistors needed for just about any combination of voltages and LEDs.

USS Atlantis · Post by **USS Atlantis** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:41 pm

macfrank wrote:You can use the LED series/parallel array wizard to calculate the resistors needed for just about any combination of voltages and LEDs.

And if you want to drop the output of the LED, you can use the calculators on this page

Atlantis

DLMatthys · Post by **DLMatthys** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:59 pm

Those two sites about LEDs and resisters mentioned are excellent....

Atlantis... this same site has got to have one of the smallest LEDs I think one could soldure tiny teads to: Nano Super-White LED

http://www.ngineering.com

I'll be wanting to be buying a few of them as they will be the actual spotlights I would want to use on top of a NX-01 model.

USS Atlantis · Post by **USS Atlantis** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 4:04 pm

DLMatthys wrote:Those two sites about LEDs and resisters mentioned are excellent....

Atlantis... this same site has got to have one of the smallest LEDs I think one could soldure tiny teads to: Nano Super-White LED

http://www.ngineering.com

I'll be wanting to be buying a few of them as they will be the actual spotlights I would want to use on top of a NX-01 model.

Don,

I looked at those, but given age, my soldering ability has declined. I do most of my internal wiring via wire-wrap and only do solder on the actual board or wire-junctions inside (wrap them together, drop of solder to seal)

But ya, those would be nice as direct lights on just about any model.

Atlantis

tetsujin · Post by **tetsujin** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 4:15 pm

DLMatthys wrote: Atlantis... this same site has got to have one of the smallest LEDs I think one could soldure tiny teads to: Nano Super-White LED

http://www.ngineering.com

I'll be wanting to be buying a few of them as they will be the actual spotlights I would want to use on top of a NX-01 model. :idea:

That form factor, in case you were curious, is known as 0402. I haven't used any LEDs of that size (though I've been pretty eager to, ever since I learned of their existence)... Even 0603's, which are twice as big, can fit almost anywhere...

Prices on that site seem a bit steep, though. $2 for a white LED? Sometimes high prices are because you're getting a better product, but sometimes it's just a difference of who you buy from... I like their wiring suggestions, though - maybe I'll try it their way sometime...