LED Resistor Calculation
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- Опубліковано 24 жов 2019
- How do you select the right size resistor for an LED? This video will guide you through the calculation to select the proper current-limiting resistor for an LED, given the LED's forward voltage drop, desired current, and the voltage of your power supply. It also covers more complicated scenarios like combining multiple LEDs of different colors in series or parallel, and how to make sure you don't exceed the power rating of your resistors.
Don't have the right resistor value laying around? Check out this video to learn how you can combine resistors in series and parallel to create almost any value you need: • Resistors in Series an...
Don't understand why I said it's OK to put the LED before the resistor? Watch this video for an explanation: • Does the resistor need...
Have a question? Ask in the comments and I'll do my best to get back to you. - Наука та технологія
Finally found someone who knows his stuff and explain it in a very clear way. Thank you!
Thanks!
This is the first video (of MANY) that I've come across that actually shows how to find the voltage and current for an LED, or actually uses the terms one sees in the data sheets for that matter (forward voltage and forward current). All other videos explaining how to calculate the resistor just say, "...and this LED has a voltage drop of 2V." Thank you for explaining in a practical, applicable way!
The world's best teacher thanks sir
Thanks for explicating each of the cases comprehensively, sir. The succinctness of your tutorials is truly appreciable.
you nailed it. nice presentation, nice knowledge, nice appearance. you deserve more views
Excellent teacher, i love the practical knowledge I used to do this in my GCSEs but never got the application part but you've shown exactly where it would be applied to real life. You are a W guy!
Nailed it. Thanks for going through every scenario
I had electronics in school roughty 25 years ago, so I was a little rusty... I've seen more than a couple of videos to refresh, but this one is by far the best. Thanks!
Most compehrnsive video on resistor value. Thanks.
your video is going in my playlist .
well explained !
You deserve a lot of subscribers. Great educative video!
Thank you for this informative video
No joke dude I actually thought you would have thousands of subscribers u deserve it
Well, it took a year, but now I have more than a thousand subscribers!
Absolutely awesome education video explaining about the LED's!! Thanks so much!!!
Thanks for your help. This is video gives a clear and concise explanation. well done!
Thank you!
Excellent! You make it very easy to follow... thank you!
Very well put together
I so needed this tutorial. Spot on buddy.. 👍
Phenomenal explanation, thank you!
This is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you
Thanks for this, very good examples for someone who is just learning about using leds and a breadboard!
Thank you for your work. Finally i get it.❤👍
That was as clear as it gets. Thanks!
Thank you! Answered my question and explained it well. Been too many years since my junior high electronics class I have forgotten everything.
Dr. Ben Finio, thank you for the video, you made things easy to understand. I will subscribe and watch more of your videos, they are awesome!
Thank you!
tbh, i was very pleased with the presentation its informative and well, easily understood. i wish they did this when i was in grade school. couldve made things so much different for my life today.
So awesome! Thank you for explaining this so clearly.
Dude! Thank you, this was super helpful. I’ve always struggled with this math, and this broke it down a way I could really digest.
Nicely explained an demonstrated, doc. You’ve got me as a subscriber.
Thanks!
Excellent video, thank you.
The best explanation! Very good presentation.
Thank you. Clear explanation.
Wow this was so helpful, thanks.
The explanation was so clear without knots.
Thank you for this explanation.
Nice video shot, thanks for sharing it with us, well done :)
Wowwww this is very to understand all my question are already answered upon watching this thank you Dr.!
You're welcome!
Thank you verry clear explanation.
clear and concise, very illuminating!.....Al Scott
Thanks,You Are King 👑
Brilliant explanation
thanx for nice explanation
how can you only have 187 subs with such high quality vids
Haha, thank you - most of these tutorial videos are relatively new and I don't post them that often, so that probably explains it.
Bro has 9k subs now.. And that's what I called the result of dedication
Up to 11.9 now
very well and clearly explained with practical. keep it up. love from INDIA
Thanks, glad it was helpful!
I've watched so many video's on LED lighting today that you might as well have been speaking Chinese . Brain overloaded . A great video for sue but I need it in slow motion . You talk faster that I can think ! I need a nap !
If you have a specific question about part of the video, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it.
This is amazing
This was a great tutorial, but still way over my head. At 55 years of age, I feel I need to go back to school and re-learn the basics of electronics. I feel a real temptation to do so, though, so that's a good reflection on your video.
No need to go back to school when it's all on UA-cam! Check out my intro to circuits playlist, you may find this helpful: ua-cam.com/play/PLKL6KBeCnI3U6KNZEiitdtqvrxkBhpuOp.html
Nice, Thanks.
wow amazing. you need more susbcribers. amazing explanations.
Thank you! It's been quite a while since I've made a video and I usually make them to go along with something on Instructables www.instructables.com/member/Ben%20Finio/instructables/
Thank you, this was so usefull and clear, please make many many more. Greatings from Argentina.
Thanks! If you check out the playlists on my channel you will see many other electronics and Arduino tutorials that I hope you will find useful.
@@BenFinio I have seen and I would love to see many more!!!
Not sure why, but my dyslexia doesn't affect me while learning this from you. Thanks!
Very helpful video thanks it helped me understand my tech hw
Glad you found it helpful!
Thank you so much for this information on the green led with a 100 ohm resistor would it make the led last longer instead of to much power to burn the led out
Very cool 🇧🇷😉👏👏👏👏👏 awesome video !
It’s the conventional flow thing, and then calling it current. Call electrons like it is or confuse the watchers who probably understand electron flow theory. Good picture quality and explanation with rated resistors! Thanks for sharing.
Relevant XKCD... xkcd.com/567/
We stick to conventional flow cause we can use right hand rule to find the magnetic fields 😁
thank you!
You're welcome!
Good presentation! I'm little lost on resistor power handling...heat dissipation. Like when to use a 1/4 watt instead of a 1/8 watt (example).
I had a project to use LED lights on a golf cart. Cart batteries were 8.43 vdc each.
I had LEDs using 4.5 vdc. Not knowing current draw of LED....I started off with 100 ohm resistor...had 2.7 vdc to LED...was very dim illumination. Then tried 33 ohm (was 1/4 watt)...got 3.2 vdc to LED...was little brighter...then tried a 10 ohm (was a 10 watt)...got 3.9 vdc to LED....was much brighter. By seeing my results I figured to get the 4.5 vdc I would need a ~ 2 ohm resistor (to achieve optimal light illumination of LED...rated as 100 lumens output).
I noticed I could not read actual drop down voltage out of my "circuit" until there was the LED load put on it.
Had fun playing with it....not an "orthodox" way of designing...didn't have the current draw specs of the LED.
Not sure if this is an acceptable way to do it.
😁
Just curious if my estimation of the 2 ohm resistor is correct. And would a 5 watt rating work?
Thanks
Very nice video. In respect to LEDs themselves, read your datasheet and it should have relative luminosity at a specific current. That way if you're doing RGB stuff, you can figure out what current you want in order to make the relative brightness between each color the same.
What resistor could i use if i put together the red and green led on 9v battery?
Hi Ben! First off, thank you so much for posting these highly useful videos! ....one of my next projects will be scratch building a scale model of about a 13-story tall office building, and lighting up each floor individually. I will be using between 5-10 clear white leds on each floor, and some colored leds for exterior lighting. Im thinking about wiring the entire building in parallel, and combining every two floors into individual parallel circuits, using 2 AA batteries for each one....do you think this would work? Any suggestions?
Hello, very nice video. If you were able to supply an LED the exact same voltage that it requires, would your calculations come out to zero ohms, or no resistor needed? For all of your examples, the voltage provided was above the voltage required, so I understand needing a resistor in those scenarios. Thank you.
Hi, What are the green wires on the circuit board between the LED's and the plus voltage?
Can connect a 3v led with a resistor and a 12v led to the same 12v battery? Does the resistor limit the 12v as well?
Hi, thanks for the great explanation, I have a question for calculating the value of the resistance @ min 10:46 , why did you put 0.02 for the current when we have 2 LED? Isn't that supposed to be 0.04? or that's because we connected the LED in parallel?
Nicely explained. The only thing I did not understand is how the breadboard parrallel connection with your multimeter plugged in at 6:42 works.
I have a car license plate bulb socket that requires a resistor to make an LED bulb work in the socket. If I use an axial resistor and connect one wire end to the left socket contact and the other wire end to the right socket contact and then insert the bulb into the socket is that a series connection? Also, if I calculate a 115 ohm, 1W resistor could I go with a higher power rated resistor like a 5W? I believe I read you can do that. In this case if you chose a 100 ohm resistor would that be close enough or should you be at or above the calculated resistance value? Thanks for your time!
Great video, thank you for making it. How do you figure this out when you don’t know the values of the LEDs you are using?
Hi Michael - the voltages for LEDs are pretty standard based on the color. Just google "LED voltage color chart" and you will find a bunch of them. Almost all of the "regular size" LEDs (the kind you see in this video) are rated at 20mA, so that is usually a good guess to start. To be safe, you can always start with a bigger resistor, measure the current through the LED (assuming you have a multimeter - separate tutorial on that coming soon), and then move down to a smaller resistor if the current is still below 20mA.
thanks!
(:
I have a question 5mm fat led datasheet is missing... How do I find out
Which LED colour uses least current?
I try drop my reciver voltage from 6 volts to 5.5 volts. I thought it would be 1 or 2 ohm resistor but it took 1M resistor to do it. I am bit confuse why that is 🤔
Really great video. What’s the purpose of the 0-ohm resistors in your kit?
Good question - honestly I wasn't sure and had to Google it. Apparently the answer to "why not just use a jumper wire?" is that it makes automated assembly of printed circuit boards easier. It's the same size/shape as all the other resistors so the pick-and-place machines can just grab it without needing a separate machine or attachment. So, for a hobbyist kit like this where you're probably putting all the parts in a breadboard by hand, there's no functional difference between the 0 ohm resistor and a jumper wire.
Thank you for the video. What can one do if they don't have info about the voltage drop and current of the led
The voltages for different colors are pretty standard, usually starting around 2V for red up to around 4V for blue or white. So to be safe, you can assume a higher voltage and target a lower current (10mA), and start off with a large resistor (say 1kohm). Take measurements and work your way down to a smaller resistor. If you are using standard 5mm LEDs then from what I've seen the current is almost always 20mA.
@@BenFinio Thank you very much
Could you add a small capacitor between each diode for voltage stabilization
Try it LOL
in an AC Circuit a Cap will smooth out the voltage spikes or ripple that you have
because the difference in charge from one plate to the other will allow current to flow through teh capacitor
HOWEVER..... in DC Circuits
With the capacitor empty
With the capacitor connected to the power supply , Let's assume you have a 5V Supply
and a 10V Capacitor
well....
Your capacitor will charge up to the voltage of the supply and no further
but since it's not AC but DC Current won't flow through it and your LED will turn off
if you wanted to control the voltage you could always put a voltage regulator on the line before the LED, it'd serve the same purpose
Good inf
bookmarked :)
Really enjoyed this video! Question, if voltage is similar to 'pressure' would sending 5.2v through the first LED which is rated for 3.2V not blow it up in the series circuit?
No because the entire 5.2V is not dropped over the first LED. This new video series might help, particularly video #14: ua-cam.com/video/eLSoJn__gAc/v-deo.html
@@BenFinio great thank you! I really enjoy learning all of this!
Need help. I want a simple led and resistor and diode combination which will glow the led at exact 4.2V. My BMS does not have led indicator to show li-ion battery is fully charged.
Google on "Li-ion battery indicator light circuit" and you will get several circuits. To get a precise voltage point for turn-on, a zener diode or else a voltage-divider of two or more resistors will be needed.
Could you not also run the different lights from different 'taps' of the battery pack.
This would be equivalent to putting the LEDs in parallel.
Hi Ben I have 90 LED 2v all individually switched obviously will each have their own resistor what is the lowest and highest power I can run these on and what calculation would I use pleas kind regards John
Sorry I should have said run in parallel
Im just starting teaching myself. Your the man..
Ben Eater and and Bean Finio damn ❤️❤️
You taught me more about LED circuits than 4 years of college in India
legend
Howdy, Brother! What resistor should I use if I have a yellow 10mm LED Emitting Diode (1.8-2.2V) powered by two AA Batteries (on/off switch in the loop)? I'm not even sure if I asked the question properly 🤠. Thanks for any assistance.
45 ohms?
Very clear and comprehensive with different scenerios, thank you!
I got few questions, in another video it said it is possible to measure forward voltage of an LED diode in multimeter diode mode. And it did work for my red and yellow leds, showing around 1.8 volts, but it doesnt seem to work for my blue or white LEDs,. Any idea what is the problem?
Also is this method applicable for longer LED strips?
Is it possible to figure out ideal current for a given LED too, without risking burning out the LED with trial and error?
I'm quite a newbie, I'm sorry if these are dumb questions, but any help is much appreciated. Cheers.
I noticed in the answers the safe guess approach and lowering the resistance slowly. That's helpful to me. But I still wonder about my questions :/
Hi Emirworks -
First, I'm not that familiar with the diode measurement mode on multimeters. Blue and white LEDs have a higher voltage drop, typically around 3-4V, so maybe your multimeter's diode mode can't measure that high.
The LED strips you can buy usually have built-in resistors so you don't need to worry about adding external ones. You just connect them directly to whatever power supply they come with or say to use.
And yes from your other comment you're correct that the safest thing to do is start high and slowly lower the resistance.
Hope that helps!
@@BenFinio Thank you so much for the reply. I really acknowledge the value of feedback. I subbed :)
Have a nice day!
@@EmirUysal Thanks! If you haven't seen it yet, I have a playlist of other tutorials here that may be useful if you're new to electronics: ua-cam.com/play/PLKL6KBeCnI3V5XgmKOHv4vKPGBd-qc1QU.html
So if I want to run 8 3v multi colored flickering leds off a 12 volt power supply what size resistor would I use
You watch the video and learn to do the calculation yourself :-)
Hi Ben . Lovely video explaining the maths and the valuable point about not making an error of adding up the forward ampage in a LED in series circuit. I have a question ,please. On resistors size my little project works out the power going thru my resistor is 0.029w , does it make any difference if i was to use a 0.125w power rated resistor , to say , using a 0.500w power rated resistor ? Hope you could help. Look forward to hearing from you . Regards Don Codman
Hi Don - as long as they have the same resistance, it doesn't change the math for the current going through the LED. Resistors with bigger power ratings will generally be more expensive so you don't "need" the 0.5W resistor in this case but there's no harm in using it that I'm aware of.
no difference in general a higher wattage resistor is less likely to drift or burn-out
If you do not a data sheet for LED's how would calculate the voltage drop ?
The voltage drops are pretty standard for a given color. Just google "LED color voltage" and you will find many general tables with the data. If you're unsure, it's also always safer to start out with a larger resistor. You can then measure the current and gradually decrease the resistance while keeping the current below 20mA (for most regular LEDs like the ones shown in this video).
Great video! I have an LED string with non-removable bulbs and 1/2 of the string is dead. I have found the bad bulb and I want to cut it out of the circuit. I know that I have to replace the bulb with a resistor but, since I have no data on the string of lights, I don't know what value of resistor to use to phase out the dead LED. Suggestions?
not even info is given. if you like try a 330 Ohm resistor ...if too dim, try 220, if too dim try 100, etc
In general if you are in a guess-and-check situation with resistors, it's safer to start with a very high value and work your way down. If you start low you are more likely to burn something out by having too much current.
What would you recommend for 12 LEDs and a single power source between 9v and 12v? All parallel with a resistor on each, or several LEDs in series and those series in parallel sets with a resistor for each set? Concern over how hot the resistor gets is unique due to the material near the LEDs being very sensitive. Thanks.
To minimize power dissipation (and thus heat generation) in the resistors you want to minimize voltage drop across them. So for example if you combine several LEDs in series and then put sets of those in parallel as you suggested, the voltage drop over the resistor is smaller than if you just put all the LEDs in parallel each with their own resistor. However, note that the LEDs themselves will also heat up (they are not 100% efficient - i.e. they do not convert 100% of electrical energy into visible light) so you may still need to be careful if your application is very temperature sensitive.
@@BenFinio Thanks!
At 1:14 it's said that using extra batteries will waste power because it will be burned off by the resistor, but at 4:39 it's said that if you reduce the current from having a stronger resistor you can extend your battery life. These two statements seem like they're in opposition. Could someone please elaborate?
you are wondering about apples and oranges - two very different things
Hi sir, just wondering if you can provide credible sources like websites or articles that I can use as reference for this experiment. Need it for the demo paper hehe. Thank you!
I am not sure what your teacher will consider "credible," but if you just google "LED resistor calculation," LED calculator," "LED current limiting resistor" etc. you will find many websites that present the same information.
Hi, if I have 3w or 5w led, can I consider the current is 0.8 amp and 1.38amp respectively, based on led forward voltage is 3.6v? Thanks,
Yes, that is reasonable to assume, although it's not clear if that's the typical rating or the maximum rating. The datasheet might say.
Yeah I have a question. I have a power supply (coin cell) of 3.7V I need to power 3 LED Filaments that are 3V at 50 - 100 milliamps. Do I need to add more power to run them? How money resistors would I need? And What resistor would I use? I don’t want to overheat anything? Just FYI I have a 6V power supply if I need it.
A coin cell battery may not have enough current to power that many LEDs. You can typically power a single LED with a coin cell battery without needing a resistor, because the current they provide is so small. This video may help, as well as the introduction to circuits playlist on my channel: ua-cam.com/video/ZdIBle_9Y_4/v-deo.html
Pretty cool 😍
It explane more but I still cann't put all together. What is current of the battery? Why is it not importent? What will be the difference if I use 5V 0.5A or 5V 0.9A (USB supplied power)
Hi - you may find my intro to circuits playlist helpful: ua-cam.com/play/PLKL6KBeCnI3U6KNZEiitdtqvrxkBhpuOp.html. For the supplies you mentioned, 500mA (0.5mA) is already more than enough if you are only lighting up a few LEDs - if each LED only needs 20mA that's enough for 500/20 = 25 LEDs.
Nice video! The only thing I would have liked to know more about is the construction of the LED and which side to attach the resistor and which side of the LED to attach to + or - of the battery.
Honestly I always get "cathode" and "anode" mixed up and find it easier just to remember that the long lead is the positive one. This diagram is a good one though: qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-54791c1af8a06f2051c64b9d0c4d7f55
@@BenFinio Think of it in terms of exam results. (C)athode, (A)node. Scoring a C in the exam would be a negative result, scoring an A a positive result.
@@PetrikNZ Never heard that one before - helpful, thanks!
This is a really good video, thanks for making it and posting it. It will be helpful for my project.
My only criticism is that it would be more helpful if you included the units (mA, A, V, etc.) next to the numbers to help understand the formulas and calculations.
Will be subscribing to this channel as its so helpful.
This is a good example of "do as I say, not as I do" - you're right, it's always a good idea to write out units in the equation for clarity, not just in the final answer. Sometimes I get lazy about it!
I am using 330 ohm resistors but my leds are still too bright, I piwer the leds directly from an esp32
NOT recommended
Yup. I find modern LEDs, (and I mostly use surface mount ones) are way too bright if you run them at their datasheet current. Looking at a Firebeetle ESP board, their LED resistor is 2.4k for less than a milliamp. I know the LED calculation like the back of my hand, but these days I just bung in a big resistor and see if it looks OK.
Thanks a lot for great explanation. However, one huge minus is using that marker - when you write on paper with it I got goosebumps (I hate that sound irl)