I am assuming that your LED's come in a housing, quite probably with
leads attached and have a voltage marking. In which case they can be
used as a substitute for the lamp straight away.
Led's by themselves don't have a voltage rating but have to have the
current limited to 20mA to 50mA depending on type and this is what the
resistor is used for. They all used to be 20mA but more recent ones,
especially the super bright ones can handle greater currents.
LED's are polarity sensitive so if you have one with leads then make
sure the black goes to the ground side of the wiring and the red goes to
the positive side. Get it the wrong way round and it won't light up for
you. You can test the pre wired LED's with a 9v battery if the wires are
the same colour. It'll only light up if you have it the right way round.
Tony
-----Original Message-----
Subject: LEDs
Hi Gang,
I have searched but can't find it in the archive. Someone mentioned the
12v
3w lamp that is the alternator warning lamp being changed to an LED and
that
you had to add a resistor, I think, to make the regulator function
correctly.
Does anyone know what will work for sure on this? I have some nice LEDs
that
are 12 volt rated that I want to use. In fact I want to make a series of
5 or
6 warning LEDs on a little panel to operate at the correct intensity
with a
12 volt input to each. I am planning to use one for oil press./master
on; one
for alternator; one for door ajar; one for engine monitor; and starter
engaged. The alternator one is the one I was concerned about. Is this no
big
deal to do? I am electronically challenged. Please help if you can. Best
Regards,
Troy Maynor
N120EU Monowheel Classic
troymaynor@aol.com
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