LED'S what are they and how are they used?

Greg Elmassian said:
The triangle with the "Bar" is the universal electrical symbol for a Diode... Light Emitting Diode.

The 2 "free" wires go to power, does not matter which is plus or minus... or plus and earth..

electrical current flows like water, has to come from somewhere and go to somewhere, otherwise known as a complete circuit

Here's one with power drawn in...

819d02d2aec9c9e3c51c6236f84b4f1a.gif
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Yes, it does help, thank you. Symbols by themselves are fine so long as people know what the symbols mean. But no one has yet explained how achieve inverse polarity.
 
playmofire said:
Yes, it does help, thank you. Symbols by themselves are fine so long as people know what the symbols mean. But no one has yet explained how achieve inverse polarity.
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In the diagram, the two LEDs are arranged in parallel but the opposite way round to each other, that's the "inverse parallel" bit. So, when fed with AC one LED lights for half the cycle then they swap. All the while one LED is conducting, the voltage across it is only 2-3 volts (the rest is dropped by the resistor). That same couple of volts is all that is across the other LED, and that is a safe reverse voltage that will not blow the other LED.
 
ntpntpntp said:
In the diagram, the two LEDs are arranged in parallel but the opposite way round to each other, that's the "inverse parallel" bit. So, when fed with AC one LED lights for half the cycle then they swap. All the while one LED is conducting, the voltage across it is only 2-3 volts (the rest is dropped by the resistor). That same couple of volts is all that is across the other LED, and that is a safe reverse voltage that will not blow the other LED.
Click to expand...

And when fed with DC?
 
I have my 9V battery and my LED by my side.

The battery has a + and - sign presumably indicating positive and negative.

The LED has 2 wires coming from it. One plain and the other with a small resistor. Which wire do I connect to the + please?

Thanks.

SW

You have probably indicated which in one of your diagrams but I would like to know from my set-up please.
 
Sarah Winfield said:
I have my 9V battery and my LED by my side.

The battery has a + and - sign presumably indicating positive and negative.

The LED has 2 wires coming from it. One plain and the other with a small resistor. Which wire do I connect to the + please?

Thanks.

SW

You have probably indicated which in one of your diagrams but I would like to know from my set-up please.
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Looking at the diagram and using what little knowledge I have on this, Sarah, the wire with the resistor is attached to the + side. To continue the water analogy, the battery is the water tank and the current flows from ths into the LED, the resistor acts as a valve to limit the flow of the current to the LED.
 
With a 9 volt battery and a resistor in series with the LED there is virtually no chance of causing any damage.

Try it both ways round. One way it will light, the other way it won't. I been testing LEDs like this for over 50 years:)

Michael
 
Michael said:
Try it both ways round. One way it will light, the other way it won't. I been testing LEDs like this for over 50 years:)

Michael
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Agreed. There is no rule regarding which side of an led the resistor should be fitted.
There is a convention regarding physically identifying led polarity but some cheap leds (including one I fitted yesterday) get it wrong!

LED dia.JPG
 
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Slightly off-piste, but another cheap source of LEDs (which I was taught by a Maplins employee when they were still in business) is to buy a cheap LED torch and dismantle it - usually cheaper than buying the same number of LEDs.

There is a slight down side :eek: the LEDs are obviously on a PC board with virtually no tails - however, a fair few of them now grace my loco headlights, and I haven't run out yet :cool::cool::cool:
 
Sarah Winfield said:
The LED has 2 wires coming from it. One plain and the other with a small resistor. Which wire do I connect to the + please?
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Even from China, this is a little poor.. - The wires should be different colours, or some obvious way, or telling which lead is which..

Look for the 'flat' on the diode, for a start..

Hopefully, once you know whether the lead with the resistor is positive, or negative, they will all have been wired the same. :think::nod:
<edit> Once you know, write it on a bit of paper, and stick it in the bag with the LED's, for next time! :)
 
PhilP said:
Even from China, this is a little poor.. - The wires should be different colours, or some obvious way, or telling which lead is which..

Look for the 'flat' on the diode, for a start..
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The ones I bought from China last week don't have colours or a flat on them, just one wire longer than the other. They were cheap though! :)
 
Rhinochugger said:
Now that's one up-manship :nerd::nerd::nerd::nerd:
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But it does show the 'conventional' arrangement of the longer lead, and the correct way round for the LED symbol. - Lower-right..
Bought it back in 2012, and it still has the same PP3 I fitted then.

The two 10mA outputs are really useful, when you want to match two, or more, LED's for output..
You can also see the effect of under-running your LED's for current. - Really useful for getting that jaundiced pale-yellow glow.. :)
 
PhilP said:
But it does show the 'conventional' arrangement of the longer lead, and the correct way round for the LED symbol. - Lower-right..
Click to expand...

That little bit is worth more than the ability to test them - I don't think I've seen that all in one place before (carefully goes there because I haven't looked at Greg;'s website :mask::mask: )
 
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