TUTORIAL: How to wire SMD LEDs.....
Had to figure this out myself and I burned probably about 5 of these suckers just trying to get it right. I am sure Big Hank has a much more efficient way and I would glaldy bow to his expert if he chooses to add anything! (*hint* *hint*)
Anyway, here we go:
If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask!! I hope this helps someone.
very nice tutorial. Where can I get wiring like that? I tried Radio Shack, but they only had thicker stuff. Probably ebay? You can find everything on ebay
Thanks....
I get all of mine here:
http://www.tcsdcc.com/Tools_and_Supp...uge%20wire.htm
I believe they are in Jersey so shipping takes NO time for us!
better yet how much would you charge to make me 1 white, 2 blues and 2 reds? that may save me some time on this project of mine lol.....Originally Posted by Zildjian
PM me if your interested.
If you run them in PARALLEL, that's the key, you can run 3-5 easily off 1 3volt battery. try and use a good coin battery like a 2032, that'll handle 10 LEDs easy.
Remember:
Series : basically "daisy chaining" the LEDs one after another. (+ from one to the - of the next, etc. In series, the voltage demand is cumulative meaning if you ran 3 LEDs in series that draw 2.6 volts each you would need a battery pack that supplied at least 7.8 volts.
Parallel: Attaching the LEDs in such a way that each LED's + and - touch the battery. In essence if we had the same rig in parallel, each LED would terminate at the battery, and the voltage demand would only be 2.6 volts, thus only one battery (3volt) would be needed. The amperage would be divided however, which may result in the LEDs not being as bright as their rated millicandella(brightness). This is usually not an issue and this is the preferred method for TF wire ups.
That's always tough. It's very hard to pre-build a harness without the figure in hand. You MUST take into account the twists and folds needed to TF from bot to alt mode. Your best bet is to PM him and send him the figure to wire up for you. I may be able to guide you but I owe out a bunch of work still, I'm so very far behind.
True but this is for the Jazz I'm doing and he's not going to be able to transform. If I could get the wires to each piece to be 7inches long that would work and I could do the battery and switch part on my own.If you run them in PARALLEL, that's the key, you can run 3-5 easily off 1 3volt battery. try and use a good coin battery like a 2032, that'll handle 10 LEDs easy.
Remember:
Series : basically "daisy chaining" the LEDs one after another. (+ from one to the - of the next, etc. In series, the voltage demand is cumulative meaning if you ran 3 LEDs in series that draw 2.6 volts each you would need a battery pack that supplied at least 7.8 volts.
Parallel: Attaching the LEDs in such a way that each LED's + and - touch the battery. In essence if we had the same rig in parallel, each LED would terminate at the battery, and the voltage demand would only be 2.6 volts, thus only one battery (3volt) would be needed. The amperage would be divided however, which may result in the LEDs not being as bright as their rated millicandella(brightness). This is usually not an issue and this is the preferred method for TF wire ups.
That's always tough. It's very hard to pre-build a harness without the figure in hand. You MUST take into account the twists and folds needed to TF from bot to alt mode. Your best bet is to PM him and send him the figure to wire up for you. I may be able to guide you but I owe out a bunch of work still, I'm so very far behind.
But I do think it would be best to talk with him first on the transforming stuff but I'm not that advance yet LOL.
Oh I see, it's a non TFer. In that case you just want someone to wire up 5 SMT sized LEDs with 7-8 inch leads and you'll locate them on the figure. Gotcha!
This whole time I thought that Jazz was gonna transform!
excellent tutorial, never used SMD's before, whats the power requirement?
Great Tut!!!
I do have a n00bish question about LEDs, and instead of starting a new topic I'll just drop em here...
Now that you have soldered you SMD (or LED) now you apply a resistor (when needed)
My question is: whats the best way to calculate the proper resistor?
Example:
I'm installing 2 5mm 8,000MCD White LEDs and 2 3mm 5,000MCD Red LEDs to a build, using CR2016 Lithium (watch) 3v Cell Batteries.
how would I go about figuring which resistors to use, not only to keep the LEDs from getting too hot, but to limit my battery usage. Two batteries per LED work great, but I dont want to use 8 batts. (im assuming the LEDs are any where from 3-3.6V, im not sure)
That is a question I can not answer..... Big Hank should be able to though. Maybe give us a rule of thumb.....
I will PM him to come answer.
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