Colored LEDS, how do I give them juice?

Angry · 12-24-01, 05:37 AM

Okay, heres the thing, I have I bunch of red,yellow, and green LED lights for cases, I want to hook them up to the AT powersupply I use for powering my fans in my case and on cpu heatsink..I just got this case and it coming along very good...fans can be mounted anywhere...besides the LEDS that run into my motherboard for the case, I would like to use these extra leds to give my case some light. I have switches, one that im using for fan control.

SO how do I go about giveing the little lights,err leds life?

Sagei · 12-24-01, 05:56 AM

LEDs are 5 volt devices.

You will notice that one lead (leg) is longer than the other. That is how you can tell the polarity on them.

Don't remember which is which so just apply power one way or the other until it lights. Don't worry it does not hurt them if the are plugged up backwards. They just won't light.

Once you figure out the polarity just hook them up in parallel and put your switch into the 5 volt wire in series.

Angry · 12-24-01, 06:09 AM

::edit:: nevermind

KILLorBE · 12-24-01, 06:52 AM

The yellow wire is +12V, the red wire is +5V.
Standard LED's are 2-3V (Yellow/Orange, Red and Green).
The long lead (leg) should be connected to the +.
It's better to use a 1/4 watt resistor (to limit the current and voltage), depending on the voltage it should be 100 ohm for 2-3V, and 700-1k ohm for 5V (@5V a 1k Ohm resistor will give you ~1.8V which should be enough).

You can connect 2 LED's in series and use a 100 Ohm resistor.

Just make sure the resistor is 1/4 watt, cuz too much current will shorten the LED's life.

el · 12-24-01, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sagei
LEDs are 5 volt devices.

this statement is just wrong. LED vary greatly while using this maybe okay. if you pay 5bucks for a while LED that is 2.3volts forward you are going to be ****ed if you run it at 5volts for 30seconds. get a resistor on that bad boy!

Angry · 12-25-01, 06:44 AM

ok thanks guys, think i just get a neon light or something...

kronchev · 12-27-01, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sagei
LEDs are 5 volt devices.

You will notice that one lead (leg) is longer than the other. That is how you can tell the polarity on them.

Don't remember which is which so just apply power one way or the other until it lights. Don't worry it does not hurt them if the are plugged up backwards. They just won't light.

Once you figure out the polarity just hook them up in parallel and put your switch into the 5 volt wire in series.

NO! WRONG!! LIAR!!

most leds are NOT 5v!! check with the manufacturer!! some are 4v, some are 3v, if you crank more than the normal voltage in, itll shorten the lifespan considerably! like from 10 years normal to down to a few months! DO NOT OVERVOLT LEDS!! ive had LEDs MELT before because of putting too much volts into em! yes, youd use the 5v rail, but resisters are in order!

Godfodda · 12-27-01, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kronchev

NO! WRONG!! LIAR!!

most leds are NOT 5v!!

Okay. Off-topic, but...

Being ignorant and being a liar are two totally different things. Granted, passing ignorance off as information is not beneficial to anyone, but I doubt it was done to intentionally mislead the original poster (as a liar would).

My .02

Welcome to the forums, but play nice. Most of us don't bite.

dugans · 12-27-01, 04:48 PM

LEDs can be bought in a variety of voltages as well: local radio shack has them from 2.3v to 7v. Not that I do much appearance stuff, but I have started to mess with it a bit.

So far: 1 pc has a red 7v led backlighting an Athlon sticker.
1 pc has a blinking 5v green led behind an inlet fan and 2 3" "black" neon tubes on either side.

Dabljuh · 12-27-01, 05:00 PM

Question: Any Idea how to put a REAL lamp into the case? I mean a strong one that could be put to the 12V line probably. So I would have a computer and a under-the-table-lamp at the same time when I had a clear case

Im just jumping for some cool ways of attracting attention on LANs, other than just owning all in Counter-Strike

dugans · 12-27-01, 05:03 PM

Welcome to all who are new to The Forums!

Heat would be the major issue- lights all put out a certain amount of heat, and generally the brighter they are the hotter.

Heat Is The Enemy!

Dabljuh · 12-27-01, 05:11 PM

Who cares. I'm going to have like 6-8 fans only caring about Airflow in the case. That should be plenty to keep the air cool even when a 150W energy saving lightbulb is installed.

Dabljuh · 12-27-01, 06:02 PM

Sorry, didnt want to sound disrespectful. Only to notice that I am aware of internal air temperature problems and solve them by massive airflow caused by many many fans placed in the case

dugans · 12-27-01, 06:17 PM

S'aright! don't get offended easy anyway

But we do try to "play well with others" around here!

Good luck with the light job: just stay away from halogens!

Angry · 12-29-01, 07:38 PM

Hey guyz do neon lights generate heat or anything? ones made for pc cases anyway? They also have these neon light strips...

btw Im pretty sure he didnt mean to intentionaly mislead me, I found out before he mentioned it, hehe had the voltages thinking for teh wires backward, hooked a led up to teh 12v and it shattered instantly...not burn up..literaly shattered all was left was the 2 aluminum wires that were leading into it...

Live and learn thats what this stuff is all about!

Strangelove · 12-30-01, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Angry
Hey guyz do neon lights generate heat or anything? ones made for pc cases anyway? They also have these neon light strips...

No neon tubes generally don't produce heat.

hunter1895 · 12-30-01, 03:07 PM

radio shack has 12volt leds with built in resistors so you can hook them up to a 12volt PS. they also have 7,5and 3volt i think.

12-24-01, 05:37 AM	Thread Starter #1
Angry Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bluefield, WV	Colored LEDS, how do I give them juice? Okay, heres the thing, I have I bunch of red,yellow, and green LED lights for cases, I want to hook them up to the AT powersupply I use for powering my fans in my case and on cpu heatsink..I just got this case and it coming along very good...fans can be mounted anywhere...besides the LEDS that run into my motherboard for the case, I would like to use these extra leds to give my case some light. I have switches, one that im using for fan control. SO how do I go about giveing the little lights,err leds life? __________________ Main Rig.......................Game Server.........................Media Server..............Untangle Core i3 2100 ....... ........Phenom II X4 965...................Athlon II X4 620....... Athlon X2 2350-BE 2.1ghz MSI P67A-GD65 ..............Asus M4A79XTD........................GA-890GX.................MSI 785GTM-45 G.Skill 1333 4x2gb............16gb Partriot S5 DDR3 1333.......4gb DDR3 1600...........4gb OCZ DDR2 1066 EVGA GTX 670 FTW SLI........2x EVGA GTX 550Ti.........................Onboard 890gx 60gb OCZ Summit.................4x250gb WD RE Raid0 ViewSonic VX2453mh-LED
	QUOTE Thanks

12-24-01, 05:56 AM	#2
Sagei New Member Join Date: Dec 2001	LEDs are 5 volt devices. You will notice that one lead (leg) is longer than the other. That is how you can tell the polarity on them. Don't remember which is which so just apply power one way or the other until it lights. Don't worry it does not hurt them if the are plugged up backwards. They just won't light. Once you figure out the polarity just hook them up in parallel and put your switch into the 5 volt wire in series.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-24-01, 06:09 AM	Thread Starter #3
Angry Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bluefield, WV	::edit:: nevermind __________________ Main Rig.......................Game Server.........................Media Server..............Untangle Core i3 2100 ....... ........Phenom II X4 965...................Athlon II X4 620....... Athlon X2 2350-BE 2.1ghz MSI P67A-GD65 ..............Asus M4A79XTD........................GA-890GX.................MSI 785GTM-45 G.Skill 1333 4x2gb............16gb Partriot S5 DDR3 1333.......4gb DDR3 1600...........4gb OCZ DDR2 1066 EVGA GTX 670 FTW SLI........2x EVGA GTX 550Ti.........................Onboard 890gx 60gb OCZ Summit.................4x250gb WD RE Raid0 ViewSonic VX2453mh-LED Last edited by Angry; 12-24-01 at 06:24 AM.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-24-01, 06:52 AM	#4
KILLorBE Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: The Netherlands	The yellow wire is +12V, the red wire is +5V. Standard LED's are 2-3V (Yellow/Orange, Red and Green). The long lead (leg) should be connected to the +. It's better to use a 1/4 watt resistor (to limit the current and voltage), depending on the voltage it should be 100 ohm for 2-3V, and 700-1k ohm for 5V (@5V a 1k Ohm resistor will give you ~1.8V which should be enough). You can connect 2 LED's in series and use a 100 Ohm resistor. Just make sure the resistor is 1/4 watt, cuz too much current will shorten the LED's life.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-25-01, 06:44 AM	Thread Starter #6
Angry Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bluefield, WV	ok thanks guys, think i just get a neon light or something... __________________ Main Rig.......................Game Server.........................Media Server..............Untangle Core i3 2100 ....... ........Phenom II X4 965...................Athlon II X4 620....... Athlon X2 2350-BE 2.1ghz MSI P67A-GD65 ..............Asus M4A79XTD........................GA-890GX.................MSI 785GTM-45 G.Skill 1333 4x2gb............16gb Partriot S5 DDR3 1333.......4gb DDR3 1600...........4gb OCZ DDR2 1066 EVGA GTX 670 FTW SLI........2x EVGA GTX 550Ti.........................Onboard 890gx 60gb OCZ Summit.................4x250gb WD RE Raid0 ViewSonic VX2453mh-LED
	QUOTE Thanks

Colored LEDS, how do I give them juice?

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12-27-01, 04:48 PM	#9
dugans Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: someplace	LEDs can be bought in a variety of voltages as well: local radio shack has them from 2.3v to 7v. Not that I do much appearance stuff, but I have started to mess with it a bit. So far: 1 pc has a red 7v led backlighting an Athlon sticker. 1 pc has a blinking 5v green led behind an inlet fan and 2 3" "black" neon tubes on either side.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-27-01, 05:00 PM	#10
Dabljuh Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: In front of PC...	Question: Any Idea how to put a REAL lamp into the case? I mean a strong one that could be put to the 12V line probably. So I would have a computer and a under-the-table-lamp at the same time when I had a clear case Im just jumping for some cool ways of attracting attention on LANs, other than just owning all in Counter-Strike
	QUOTE Thanks

12-27-01, 05:03 PM	#11
dugans Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: someplace	Welcome to all who are new to The Forums! Heat would be the major issue- lights all put out a certain amount of heat, and generally the brighter they are the hotter. Heat Is The Enemy!
	QUOTE Thanks

12-27-01, 05:11 PM	#12
Dabljuh Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: In front of PC...	Who cares. I'm going to have like 6-8 fans only caring about Airflow in the case. That should be plenty to keep the air cool even when a 150W energy saving lightbulb is installed.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-27-01, 06:02 PM	#13
Dabljuh Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: In front of PC...	Sorry, didnt want to sound disrespectful. Only to notice that I am aware of internal air temperature problems and solve them by massive airflow caused by many many fans placed in the case
	QUOTE Thanks

12-27-01, 06:17 PM	#14
dugans Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: someplace	S'aright! don't get offended easy anyway But we do try to "play well with others" around here! Good luck with the light job: just stay away from halogens!
	QUOTE Thanks

12-29-01, 07:38 PM	Thread Starter #15
Angry Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bluefield, WV	Hey guyz do neon lights generate heat or anything? ones made for pc cases anyway? They also have these neon light strips... btw Im pretty sure he didnt mean to intentionaly mislead me, I found out before he mentioned it, hehe had the voltages thinking for teh wires backward, hooked a led up to teh 12v and it shattered instantly...not burn up..literaly shattered all was left was the 2 aluminum wires that were leading into it... Live and learn thats what this stuff is all about! __________________ Main Rig.......................Game Server.........................Media Server..............Untangle Core i3 2100 ....... ........Phenom II X4 965...................Athlon II X4 620....... Athlon X2 2350-BE 2.1ghz MSI P67A-GD65 ..............Asus M4A79XTD........................GA-890GX.................MSI 785GTM-45 G.Skill 1333 4x2gb............16gb Partriot S5 DDR3 1333.......4gb DDR3 1600...........4gb OCZ DDR2 1066 EVGA GTX 670 FTW SLI........2x EVGA GTX 550Ti.........................Onboard 890gx 60gb OCZ Summit.................4x250gb WD RE Raid0 ViewSonic VX2453mh-LED Last edited by Angry; 12-29-01 at 07:41 PM.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-30-01, 03:07 PM	#17
hunter1895 Registered Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: southern central Maine	radio shack has 12volt leds with built in resistors so you can hook them up to a 12volt PS. they also have 7,5and 3volt i think.
	QUOTE Thanks

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