Superbright led's is there a guide on wiring and what i need to do?

[Marky_1979]

I have bought some superbright led's from e-bay in the hope of lighting my coin door and trackball red for the door and blue for the ball. I have a spare psu form an old pc and was thinking of using that to power the lights.

Now not know ing anything about wiring i was wondering where to start and what consideration i have to take into account i know nothing of electronics and wouldnt even know which wires to use or what to do with them.

So i guess im asking for an idiots guide to this problem. Pics would be very helpfull.

Many thanks - Marky 

[DaemonCollector]

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/led/index.shtml

[FractalWalk]

The Oscar tutorial is pretty advanced as it has you making your own circuit boards. Try this one for beginner's.

http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html

The main issue is that you will need to add a resistor to your LED so that it doesn't blow up. There is a calculator in that link to determine what ohm resistor to use depending on what voltage your power  supply is and what voltage your LEDs can handle (i.e. what color/type they are).

[namedos]

Here is another site that does a good job of explaining what you need to do to set it up.  Check out the link for coin doors.

http://www.joelsgadgets.com/

[GameOver]

The main issue is that you will need to add a resistor to your LED so that it doesn't blow up.

Now, I'm not an electrician, but - my super bright LED's are 12v, just like the yellow wire from my computer's power supply.  Marky - you didn't say what the power requirement was for your lights.  If they match your power supply, I don't see the need for resistors.  I didn't need 'em, and you might not either.

[FractalWalk]

Now, I'm not an electrician, but - my super bright LED's are 12v, just like the yellow wire from my computer's power supply.

[TOK]

I bought some 12v LED's at an auto parts store and wired them right into the 12v on my PC power supply like Gameover said. They're 3 for $5 and come in multiple colors. I can't see messing with resistors.

[Voodooray]

It's a life span thing. The resister actually limits the current not the voltage. You can run them without a resister but if you use resisters they will last about ten times longer.

Voodoo Ray
88 Acid Revival, Safe!

[ShinAce]

The resistor limits both current and voltage. It just happens that current is more dangerous to an LED than voltage. But you need voltage to cause a current, so it's a catch 22.

[FractalWalk]

It's a life span thing.

Run 12V thorugh 1.5v LED and the life span will be about 2 seconds.

[Marky_1979]

Thanks alot guy i appreciate the help, it think the power supply will be 12v and so will the leds so should be simple enough i think