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tell me about 12v LED's

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R72K5

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i need to find out about 12 volt LED lights, i need to figure out where to find some, i hope radio shack has the, or auto zone or oreillys cuz if not then i wont be abvle to find any anyways

i need to know how yore supposed to wire them, are you supposed to wire them parallel or in series ? have to solder thm to wires or ?

i need to put some in opera lights on the door pillars of my 88 cqaprice brougham, the original lights died no worky anymore and the inverters that run them are junk, old, burnt out, probably from water


so how to get and install and wire LED's would be great as ive never seen an LED for 12v let alone touched one or anything

or LED strips ??

got pics of 12v LED's or LED strips anyone ??


thanks
 
You can get sockets for the LED's so that you can install them like any liht. You will still have to solder the socket in but they are hard to damage with the heat from the soldering iron....LED's are not.

Check out LedTronics website for ideas, then buy them from somewhere cheaper. If you bring in a spec sheet to Radio Shack they should be able to order them for you.

On the spec sheet you should take note of:
Color
Brightness(mcd)
Viewing angle

If the viewing angle decreases them the mcd will increase. It is basically how focused the light is.

Also see here for wiring:
http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html
 
on truck pic of the roundeyes.com lights
CONNECTINGRODBEARINGS017.jpg


he floped it so i could get a good look at the lights :haha:
 
We use LEDs a lot in the sign industry now. Off the top of my head I know that a brand called Permlight is 12V.
Click->Permlight
So you might be able to find some at a sign shop.

I've also noticed an add at the bottom of threads over at Pirate4x4 for a product called Street Force Off-Road LED. I haven't clicked the link, though.

I plan on using them to make a third taillight on my tirecarrier, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
readymix said:
On the spec sheet you should take note of:
Color
Brightness(mcd)
Viewing angle
Click to expand...

There should also be a current rating (Amps actully mA)
Most LEDs will burn up if hooked to 12 V without a resistor to limit the current.
Divide 12V by the rating on the package to get the resistor value that you need. Always round UP.

The LED will have one lead longer than the other. That is the anode side (+).
The resistor can be soldered on either lead, but typically the anode side.

If you follow the smaller lead up to the LED, there will be a flat surface on that side. That is like the stripe on a normal diode. (Cathode -). Just another way to identify which side is which.

Make sure you connect it (anode + too +12V) correctly or smoke WILL appear from your LED. Diodes are like check valves, current flows in one direction. If hooked up backwards, it will be like a direct electrical short.

You can adjust the resistor to a higher value (or use a potentiometer (POT)) Which is just a adjustable resistor, to make the LED dimmer. Never go below the calculated value you figured out above, but you can go higher.
 
MarcS said:
There should also be a current rating (Amps actully mA)
Most LEDs will burn up if hooked to 12 V without a resistor to limit the current.
Divide 12V by the rating on the package to get the resistor value that you need. Always round UP.

The LED will have one lead longer than the other. That is the anode side (+).
The resistor can be soldered on either lead, but typically the anode side.

If you follow the smaller lead up to the LED, there will be a flat surface on that side. That is like the stripe on a normal diode. (Cathode -). Just another way to identify which side is which.

Make sure you connect it (anode + too +12V) correctly or smoke WILL appear from your LED. Diodes are like check valves, current flows in one direction. If hooked up backwards, it will be like a direct electrical short.

You can adjust the resistor to a higher value (or use a potentiometer (POT)) Which is just a adjustable resistor, to make the LED dimmer. Never go below the calculated value you figured out above, but you can go higher.
Click to expand...
Ah, I'm glad I read this. I didn't think about the resistor. I had a feeling it wouldn't be as simple as just wiring them up. I'm lucky, the LEDs we use a labeled + & -.
 
readymix said:
Look at the link i posted above. It explains it all :D
Click to expand...


Wow, I didn't see that. Excellent info for beginners and more advanced people. The resistor calculator link on that page is real nice too.

DieselDans link to Dons LED Page also has great info.
 
I've seen LED's sold on Ebay for cheap. Especially compared to Radio Shack.

If you look hard enough, you can probably find ones that are already designed to replace the bad bulbs you have.

The "wide angle" LED's have to be better than the normal ones in applications like you are talking about, no matter how many you used of the normal ones, you'd still end up with an array of pinpoint lights through the lense. :)
 
you can get them from Digi-key, and you can also pick up any resitors and bezels or anything else electronic you might need. good luck :thumb:
 
As long as you are using identical LEDs, try putting 4 or 5 them in series. This way your 13.5V (operating) is divided out to about 2.7V. Then you put as many strings of 5 in parallel as you want to get the total number of LEDs you want. At least I'm assuming you're trying to make tailights or something like that. If you just want one LED, then just use the resistor.

Radio Shack is probably the most expensive way to get LEDs. Try Mouser electronics since they don't have minimum order requirements or big handling fees.
 
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