Wiring LED pushbuttons

[jerziekid]

Hi guys. I'm planning on having 18 LED buttons on my control panel. I bought a RGB drive II for each push button. The idea is to have them only shine steady white so I'd like to wire them in parallel into my extra power wires on my PC tower's power source.

Anyone have photos, video, instructions on how to wire everything together and into the power source?

[Nephasth]

Why didn't you just buy white LEDs? All your ground wires (R, G, B) from the LEDs get wired to ground (black wire) on your power supply. All your power wires from the LEDs get wired to 5V (red wire) on your power supply.

[RandyT]

Why didn't you just buy white LEDs?

While that would have been an simpler approach, there is a benefit to doing it this way over a standard white LED.  3x the brightness in the same form factor.

[Nephasth]

Bright buttons = no bueno.

[RandyT]

Bright buttons = no bueno.

Brighter <> excessively bright.  Much depends on the button and the desired result.

[Connorsdad]

Why didn't you just buy white LEDs? All your ground wires (R, G, B) from the LEDs get wired to ground (black wire) on your power supply. All your power wires from the LEDs get wired to 5V (red wire) on your power supply.

Any idea why this isn't working for me ?
I get a very dim pink glow. I want bright white for a marquee light.

[Nephasth]

Pic?

[Connorsdad]

Pic?

Cab and parts are in my workshop and I'm at home, will post one tomorrow

[RandyT]

Why didn't you just buy white LEDs? All your ground wires (R, G, B) from the LEDs get wired to ground (black wire) on your power supply. All your power wires from the LEDs get wired to 5V (red wire) on your power supply.

Any idea why this isn't working for me ?
I get a very dim pink glow. I want bright white for a marquee light.

Which LED's are you using?  A "dim pink glow" sounds like you might not have any resistors in line with the LED.  If that's the case, the LED is probably toast.  The same can happen if using incorrect values for the resistors, based on the voltage you are providing to them.

[Connorsdad]

Rgb5050 off ebay, leds work fine from mains adaptor.

[RandyT]

Rgb5050 off ebay, leds work fine from mains adaptor.

Need more information.  Are there resistors?  What are the values?  How are you powering the LED (voltage)?  Etc....

[Connorsdad]

There are strips on the cab that will be powered and controlled by one of these: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=290846275912

Then more strips of the leds that I want powered by the pc power supply, I know now I can't just wire them straight into the pc power lines so what do I need to achieve this ?

[Nephasth]

I know now I can't just wire them straight into the pc power lines...

Yes you can.

[Connorsdad]

Heres a pic of the leds I'm trying to wire into my pc power line

[RandyT]

I you are just going for white, you would attach the yellow wire from your PC peripheral power to the 12v connection, and connect the RGB to ground.  If you are getting dim, pinkish output, then it sounds like you may be feeding them 5v (red wire).  The LED's in this strip appear to be in a series circuit of 3 LED's.  Blue and green typically run in the 4 volt range, but the red LED's run at a lower voltage.  As LED brightness is not linear, a low voltage condition is very likely to allow the red LED's to appear brighter than blue and green, giving you that pinkish hue.  An overall dim condition also points to not enough voltage (or current.)

[Connorsdad]

I you are just going for white, you would attach the yellow wire from your PC peripheral power to the 12v connection, and connect the RGB to ground.  If you are getting dim, pinkish output, then it sounds like you may be feeding them 5v (red wire).  The LED's in this strip appear to be in a series circuit of 3 LED's.  Blue and green typically run in the 4 volt range, but the red LED's run at a lower voltage.  As LED brightness is not linear, a low voltage condition is very likely to allow the red LED's to appear brighter than blue and green, giving you that pinkish hue.  An overall dim condition also points to not enough voltage (or current.)

Thank you
Works fine now. I was wiring them to the red pc wire doh.

[Nephasth]

Yeah, the advice I gave jerziekid was for the RGB Drives, which are 5V devices. Glad you got it working!