led's need help making my own.
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New User
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Arkansas
led's need help making my own.
my taillights keep getting stolen on my 66 f-100.3rd time in asmany wks. need any assistance on putting the board and leds together. radioshack couldn't help & there aren't any shops here that deal with them. thanks
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From: Virginia
led's need help making my own.
A normal LED has a forward current of 20ma and about a 1.2 volt drop across it. This means if you want to run an LED on 12 volts, you will need a resistor. This resistor will have 12-1.2=10.8volts across it at 20ma. 10.8 divided by .020 amps =540 ohm resistor.
You will need a 540 ohm resistor in series with each LED. I don't think they make a 540 ohm in a standard value. They do make a 680 ohm standard resistor you could try. This would probably work ok since the voltage in the system is sometimes over 12 volts anyway.
You will need a 540 ohm resistor in series with each LED. I don't think they make a 540 ohm in a standard value. They do make a 680 ohm standard resistor you could try. This would probably work ok since the voltage in the system is sometimes over 12 volts anyway.
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New User
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Arkansas
led's need help making my own.
thought i would need a resistor.i've been looking at a pict. out of a mag. but its to blurry when blown up.looked like a baby blue resistor body with brown lines. it shows 4 bulbs on each side,& 2 resistors in the middle.
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From: Oregon
led's need help making my own.
Good question!
Best thing to do would be to go down to Radio Shack and buy a Forrest Mims book, (or two). They give you the basics and some great projects, too. Not really that much to learn, maybe the difference between series and parallel, which lead of the LED to hook up where- that kind of thing.
I'd say, for under 10 bucks, you could buy 2 Mims books, the resistors and LEDs for a simple prototype and save yourself hours of trial and error.
Best thing to do would be to go down to Radio Shack and buy a Forrest Mims book, (or two). They give you the basics and some great projects, too. Not really that much to learn, maybe the difference between series and parallel, which lead of the LED to hook up where- that kind of thing.
I'd say, for under 10 bucks, you could buy 2 Mims books, the resistors and LEDs for a simple prototype and save yourself hours of trial and error.
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New User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 13
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From: Arkansas
led's need help making my own.
thanks howdy ya'll are better help than radioshack or autozone!
i think they both shop for employees at the same place, WAL-MART!!!!
. i'll check those books out tomorrow. this project is only about $38 worth of parts & a whole lot of cheap labor (mine) hehe . still don't know why they cost so much to buy?
i think they both shop for employees at the same place, WAL-MART!!!!
. i'll check those books out tomorrow. this project is only about $38 worth of parts & a whole lot of cheap labor (mine) hehe . still don't know why they cost so much to buy?
