LED/electronics/power help....lots of lights.

DarthVader1

DarthVader1

Well-Known Member
I need the expert opinion from anyone with knowledge of LED's, electronics, and power sources to make this happen.

My project includes a lot of lightning (as the title says)...aprox 36 regular sized RED LED's either steady or blinking simultaneously, like a christmas tree. (ON......OFF......ON.......OFF....etc.). Then, I have a set of small sized GREED LED's, which one in the middle is steady on, while two sets of 19 LES's parting from the middle up (think about a "V" shaped pattern), and lightning just like a stereo amplifier, or similar to the light set for a GHOSTBUSTERS Proton pack from HYPERDYNE LABS...but twice as much lights, and two sets simultaneously.

Any ideas...just let me know, at least for the steady lights (37 LED's total) and power distribution.
 
DarthVader1 said:
I need the expert opinion from anyone with knowledge of LED's, electronics, and power sources to make this happen.

My project includes a lot of lightning (as the title says)...aprox 36 regular sized RED LED's either steady or blinking simultaneously, like a christmas tree. (ON......OFF......ON.......OFF....etc.). Then, I have a set of small sized GREED LED's, which one in the middle is steady on, while two sets of 19 LES's parting from the middle up (think about a "V" shaped pattern), and lightning just like a stereo amplifier, or similar to the light set for a GHOSTBUSTERS Proton pack from HYPERDYNE LABS...but twice as much lights, and two sets simultaneously.

Any ideas...just let me know, at least for the steady lights (37 LED's total) and power distribution.
Click to expand...

It could all run off a 9 volt for a short time, it all depends on how long you want the thing to run... More details are needed if you want further advice...

Do you want to use regular LEDs or super bright ones... Are you looking for a wiring diagram or someone to do it for you?
 
For 37 LEDs to light up continuously, with no blinking, etc., you'll just need some 37 current limiting resistors and a 9v battery. (Parallel with two 9v for longer use)
 
Mr.Engineer said:
For 37 LEDs to light up continuously, with no blinking, etc., you'll just need some 37 current limiting resistors and a 9v battery. (Parallel with two 9v for longer use)
Click to expand...

That is the most inefficient way to do it, the drain on the battery is extreme and wasteful in that scenario...

Depending on the LEDs they can be wired in series groupings that are then wired in parallel... Doing it this way will reduce power consumption to easily 1/2 even to 1/4 giving you double or up to 4 times the runtime on the same power source...

In either case a 9 volt is honestly the worst choice, run time will be almost certainly limited to minutes, not hours...
 
Agreed. Assuming standard LEDs, put 5 in series, run parallel chains, and (space permitting) run from a 12V source (could even be AAA batteries).


ATM
ShackMan
 
Yup, series wiring on them to limit the power required. You might want to look at using AA or even D cells if you are using high power leds as they last longer than a 9volt. Just change how many leds you chain together depending on the input voltage. If you don't need a high output led go with the cheaper standard ones as they will make your batteries last longer.
 
The LED's are just the standard RED ones. As for the steady lit ones, they could go by two sets of 18 and one of the sets with an extra LED of a different color, which is also the smaller kind of GREEN LED.

A diagram will help. As of power, I was thinking about Remote Contol Cars/planes kind of batteries, which are kinda square and fit perfectly in a pocket or a belt somehow....not to mention, rechargeable. ;)
 
Last edited:
For the static LEDs go here plug in the values and it will spit out a diagram... Note that for the different colored LEDs they should not be grouped with the Red LEDs, they should be a separate parallel bundle...

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

Basically do not put different colored LEDs in series with each other, chances are REAL good they are not equal in power requirements and the load won't be equally distributed...

As for you motion LEDs well you will need to design another circuit that drives them, effect desired will determine that circuit... Are you looking for a continuous random up/down motion, a step up to top and step down and then repeat, or a step up to top reset to bottom and step up again?

And yes an RC car battery would be a much better option for power...
 
I ran a diagram for a project I'm working on and have a question. I thought resistors went on the positive side. The diagram shows it on the negative. Granted, I'm not good a read diagrams. :)
 
I don't think it makes a difference. I have always put them on the + side out of habit, but as long as they are in the circuit they should do their job.
 
I am not good in electronic diagrams (at least I try a little), but that site looks interesting. I have to find out first the voltage of each LED (at least for the single color) to calculate on the site.

Since I don't know much about RC models power sources (looks more compact than anything I've seen, I have to research first which power source could be better for my needs. I will post tomorrow about the voltage required total.
 
sycor said:
Yeah I saw that. But was just wondering if there was a big difference between a parallel and series set up. Does one drain power that much faster?
Click to expand...

Yes, there is a difference, series wiring is more efficient for LEDs when it can be used...

The use of both parallel and series wiring is best (and usually required) for large numbers of LEDs arrays...

The calculator I linked to spits out the parallel only option (last option) to wire them up, look at the power requirements vs the series+parallel options above it...

As long as the resistor is in series with the LED it makes no difference what side it's located on...
 
With regard to power leads, it doesn't matter which side you put the resistor on (+ or -). But as a rule of thumb, it's best to get in the habit of putting it on the + side when possible. I mean + of the battery, not LED. The reason I suggest this is to help avoid ground loops, shifted grounds, etc.

Good luck,


ATM
ShackMan
 
sycor said:
Yeah I saw that. But was just wondering if there was a big difference between a parallel and series set up. Does one drain power that much faster?
Click to expand...

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Series circuits are voltage divider networks, and parallel circuits are current dividers. That's why the best answer is usually a combination of the two based on your power supply limitations.

Richard
 
All I'm looking to do is hijack a thread. :) Sorry Vader. I'm lighting 4 LEDs to underlight a prop. As far as power, I only have batteries.

Though I am looking for a place to sells an AC/DC converter that can be wired directly into my homes power.
 
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