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tubachris85x · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:20 pm Post subject: Wiring LED's

Im working on a smaller project, where I need to wire 5 LED's, and two "lamps."

I want to be able to connect all of them to one main power source, and be able to turn all of them on with one switch.

Here is a picture of all the lights and switch I got. I figured that if I could put it all on a circuit board, it might work, but then again, I have absolutly no idea as to how to construct circuit boards. Thanks!

-tubachris

*edit*: 4 LED's each require 2.1V
1 5V LED
2 12V lamps
1 double pole, single throw toggle switch
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thebluecanary · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:04 am Post subject:

OK First thing you need to know is the power so you can calculate your resistors for the LEDs.

http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng#parallel

OK what is your power sorce? Wall? Batteries? I like to uses old power chragers from cell phones or from printers.

Its real simple. Wire them in parrallel. Go with a 12v power suplly if you can (you have the 12 vol lamps.)

POWER --- LAMP --- GND
POWER --- LAMP --- GND
POWER --- 100 omh --- LED --- LED --- LED --- LED --- GND
POWER --- 68 omh --- LED --- GND

That should give you an idea. I've done this a LOT and never set anything on fire yet =) I have burned out a lot of LEDs tho. Hehehe

NOTE: There is only one power and one ground, that is just the points where all your stuff comes back together. One centeral point they all shoot off from, and then one point they all return to.

EDIT: The switch would go between the power and your Lamps/LEDs

tubachris85x · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:52 am Post subject:

Hmm..Im still having a bit of trouble trying to figure out the resitance, because it says I need a 150Ohm resistor for just 4 regular 2.1v LED's, but I need to also connect a 5v LED in the middle of it all. The prop I am making is portable, and needs its own power source.

Can anyone make like a diagram on how to do this, if its at all possible? Thanks
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thebluecanary · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:53 pm Post subject:

OK here is my crappy drawing. I hope it helps some what.

You have power on the lower left. And your bulbs on the right.

I set it up in parrallel, meaning you have a different resistor for each collection of LEDs. I based it on the red being one set, the lamps a 2nd set, and all the greens being a 3rd set.

tubachris85x · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 3:44 pm Post subject:

Wow man, that really explains it clear enough for me. Just one last question, does it matter if the resistor is on either black/red wires?

-tubachris
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mnttech · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:40 pm Post subject:

tubachris85x · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:34 pm Post subject:

Alright, well I did the math, and added all the voltage needed, and its 33.2 volts all together. The thing is I do not know what I can use to produce that much power! Maybe like 2 12v batteries, and one 9v. This would produce 33v even, so it wouldnt go over.

If I decide to use 3 seperate battery packs like this, is it okay to solder more then one wire to the switch poles? Or is there a way to make a power supply by itself like this? Thanks!

-tubachris
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tubachris85x · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:42 pm Post subject:

wait, never mind, I just did an experiment with the 2 12v lamps, I taped them in parallel and put each end on a 12v battery, both illuminated evenly and the same as it would be with just one lamp on it. I never fully understood what it meant to be in "parralle" until now. Thanks guys, I guess I can just wire all of these to a 12v battery pack.

-tubachris
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thebluecanary · Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 6:28 pm Post subject:

tubachris85x · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:14 pm Post subject:

Sorry to bring this up again, but Im having trouble trying to find the right resistors. My only source of resistors right now, is radioshack. The calculator says for my 4 LED's, I need "Nearest higher rated 10% resistor"
Same thing for the blinkin LED.

What Im basically asking, is if I walk into Radioshack, what resistor do I have to get? Thanks!

-tubachris
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mnttech · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:47 pm Post subject:

tubachris85x · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:07 pm Post subject:

So it says for example, a 100 ohm resistor. I was looking through the radioshack site, and a few would say "10k," I naturally assume "k" stands for a thousand, but that seems off to me. What would the K stand for? Thanks!
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drcrash · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject:

tubachris85x · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:30 pm Post subject:

If I only need a 100 ohm resistor, will it matter if I get the closest thing, in this case, like a "330 ohm 1/4W 5% Carbon Film Resistor," would the 230 ohm difference affect the LED performance? Sorry for all these questions, just still learning. Thanks guys!
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mnttech · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:57 am Post subject: