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LED control idea

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cholin:

Okay well Ill use 68 to be safe and so I dont fry them instantly :)  I probably wont need that much power anyway, since they'll probably be dimmed.

cholin:

Actually, now that im thinking about it, shouldnt the resistor be on the other side of the LED where the +5 is coming from?

tetsujin:


--- Quote from: cholin on February 18, 2005, 09:37:53 am ---Actually, now that im thinking about it, shouldnt the resistor be on the other side of the LED where the +5 is coming from?

--- End quote ---

It doesn't matter.  As long as the resistor is in series with the LED somewhere, it'll restrict the power going to the LED to prevent it from being overdriven.

cholin:

Well pretty much every LED circuit i've looked at had the resistor on the side where the voltage came in, which makes more sense too, so Ill put it on that side just to be sure.  Should function the same, and "resists" and risks :)

tetsujin:


--- Quote from: cholin on February 18, 2005, 12:36:53 pm ---Well pretty much every LED circuit i've looked at had the resistor on the side where the voltage came in, which makes more sense too, so Ill put it on that side just to be sure.  Should function the same, and "resists" and risks :)

--- End quote ---

Again, I urge you to take the time to learn more about electronic circuits.  I'd been building basic digital circuits since I was a kid, knew Ohm's law and all that, but I found it very enlightening when I was finally taught how voltage drops and Kirchoff's Current Law work.  That level of basic understanding really helps when dealing with circuits.  I'd feel a lot more comfortable advising you about circuits if you were committed to learning the basics, too.  As it is, it's awkward because you come back with these wacky questions that illustrate a lack of understanding of the mechanics of simple DC circuits.  That's fine if all you want to do is build a circuit someone else provides, but if you think you might want to make any changes, you should hit the books and learn the basics.

It really doesn't matter which side you put the resistor on, so long as it's in series.  In that regard, yeah, it's fine to switch 'em around.

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