20 Assorted LEDs

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

ya..used these for my qaudrapolictic..resitor quad exciter..they worked great,,and at 300 mhz per qaud they sure were bright,,,also good for making mac and cheesse...they look good on my girls nightstand

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

Note that since it's a grab bag of led's the specs are different on them. That's why they didn't include the specs. It's a grab bag! and a decent one. Bought about three packages - they all work. And, at usual voltages of 3.3, 5 and 12vdc they ALWAYS need a current limiting resistor. Select something between the range of 220 ohms to perhaps 3.3k - start high, examine the color and light intensity. Use a smaller amount of resistance to make it brighter. When you get it too bright (damaging the led), it will often change color first (greens look more yellow when run with too much current for example). Works everytime. The stock values of 220 or 330 ohms are often a lot brighter than I desire. So I increase the resistance to about 1k usually. It's bright enough, doesn't suck as much juice out of battery powered devices and increases the already amazing long life these things have.

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

As a general rule, indicator LEDs such as these require 20mA of current for proper and consistent performance. They will work on a little more or a little less current than that. The LEDs drop a different amount of voltage depending on LED color; however, LEDs may be used at any voltage level as long as an appropriate limiting resistor is placed in series with it to reduce the current. Need to know what value resistor to use? Take the voltage at the point where it is to be included in the circuit and divide by 0.02--the number you get will give you the ideal resistor value. It is virtually impossible to ruin an LED when properly wired in a circuit.

These LEDs have worked wonderfully and without fail for me in numerous projects where visual indication is desired or necessary.

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

I burned out the two packs trying to find out the workable voltages. Waste of money without the spec.s

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

The packaging doesn't show ratings but the website at least tells you they are 2-3V LEDs.

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

There is really no information on the web or on Radioshack's website at what these run; so here is a chart that I came up with through my testing. At 25mA I had to no blow outs on any of the LEDs.

All besides the 5mm green LEDs were 2v. The green LEDs were rated at 2.2v.

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

They need Specs on this product. Research is a good thing to complete, but they need to at least have some sort of spec on it for the different colors and sizes. But 330 ohms @ 5Vdc seems about right.

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

I bought these simply in response to the people posting low ratings.1 person said:"I first tested with a 1.5 AA. when they did not light, I attempted with 2 AA batteries 3v. None of them lit at 1.5 . Some blew."Another person said:"The rest all burnt out the second i put a AA battery to them."And yet another:"when i used them half of them burned out."Finally (for my rebuttle post):"The assorted LEDs are useful but lack any voltage indication or anythingwith the wrong voltage they blew up."==========================================1. You need a resistor in series with an LED even if connecting to a small battery. Even an AA or two can provide enough current to blow many LEDs without a current limiting device (resistor).2. The proper pronoun for yourself is I not i.3. The voltages and currents for these type of LEDs are pretty much common knowledge (see the link to a non-commercial site) and you should run LEDs and they should be run a little lower than max forward voltage and current to avoid shortening their life.http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm#dataJust for grins I purchased a bag and all worked just fine.I used a 9V cell connected in series with a 330 Ohm resistor and a nominal value red LED. Battery 0V is connected to a lead terminated by a black Alligator clip. The cathode of the indicator LED is connected to a lead terminated by a red Alligator clip. If we count 2V dropped by the resistor and say 3V for the indicator LED then we are passing 4+ Volts to the LED being tested yet none are rated for that high forward voltage.But Ohm's law says we are only passing 9/330 = 0.028 Amps which is not going to blow any LED.

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

how difficult would it be for RS to include the electrical specs on the package or a simple insert?

Comments about RadioShack 20 Assorted LEDs:

Poor representation of what Radio Shack once was, a parts store for the electronic hobbiest & tinkerer.

Where is the most basic information: At what voltage & what current do these operate?

The LEDs come in a package with no specs on it. There is a nice circuit suggestion on the back of the package of how to use them, but not enough information to calculate a value for the current limiting resistor.

The Web isn't much better.

It's kind of like 220, 221 (38,39) what ever it takes...

PS. They seem to work OK using 3V @ 15mA.