Led Lamp

j010101011001 · 15-September-04, 09:15 PM

I need some advice. I'm trying to make an led accent lamp (it's not meant to really light anything). Do you think it's feasible for me to plug it into a normal 110v socket? I don't want to be playing around with a custom circuit if it'll electrocute me when I plug it in. I know the basics about electronics (ohm's law, etc...) but I need some studying up for the more complicated stuff. Basically, the light should be 5-6 led's powered by a normal wall socket with maybe a switch in the cord to turn it off.

vladimir · 15-September-04, 09:29 PM

no u cant just plug led's into the wall, u gotta make a nifty circuit...

Dreyco · 15-September-04, 09:33 PM

I'd be interested in know how also. I'm running a small PSU so I'd want a wall socket anyhow...

CRE · 15-September-04, 09:35 PM

You really wouldn't need much more than a transformer, a bridge rectifier and a couple capacitors to make a simple power supply.... then again why not just hit RadioShack or similar and buy a small power adapter?

j010101011001 · 15-September-04, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CLowN


	no u cant just plug led's into the wall, u gotta make a nifty circuit...

I know I can't just connect the leds to a cord and plug it in. It needs resistors (probably a lot) and some kind of way to keep any bare wires from touching any plastic. I just wanted to know if it's feasible.

CRE · 15-September-04, 09:42 PM

Resistors wouldn't help..... even if you did manage to step down the voltage enough you still need to convert from AC to DC and cleanup the voltage a little... otherwise you'll just have a collection of flashing LEDs and inconsistent lighting levels.

j010101011001 · 15-September-04, 09:48 PM

Okay, didn't know leds were DC. So a small power adapter eh? Other than that what else is there I would need?

CRE · 15-September-04, 09:52 PM

Well, as long as you've got the DC the rest is pretty simple.... just need to know the voltage and current requirements of the LEDs to calculate the needed resistance or to know how many to wire in series.

HawkEye_Pierce · 15-September-04, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRE


	Resistors wouldn't help..... even if you did manage to step down the voltage enough you still need to convert from AC to DC and cleanup the voltage a little... otherwise you'll just have a collection of flashing LEDs and inconsistent lighting levels.

LED's run just fine on AC voltage.

But lets keep this simple.

This should do: http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...Fid=273%2D1756

Along with a resistor, its value depends on the LED you're using.

CRE · 15-September-04, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HawkEye_Pierce


	LED's run just fine on AC voltage.

umm.... doh..... yeah, given that they are a diode...

and DRAT!!!! you beat me to the link!

EDIT: ok, not the same link.... I was just gonna link to the page of all their AC-DC adapters. Depending on the LEDs you're using you may need a different adapter, but I'm sure you get the point.

j010101011001 · 15-September-04, 10:01 PM

Awesome, that's just what I needed! I can figure out the resistors by myself once I have all the info about the leds and stuff. 16.99 is pricey for this thing but maybe it's worth it. Thanks for the help!

FunkyFresh · 15-September-04, 10:05 PM

Among the hundreds of others he did, Bill Bowden put together a nice simple guide on correctly running LED's off 120V AC.

Otherwise, $3.50 gets you a nice 5V, 1200mA DC wall transformer at AllElectronics. They have all sorts of other voltages too.

Not that you asked, but if you are playing with AC, some EL Panels could be cheap fun, as they would plug right into the wall without any transformer ($3.50 for 5"x1", change color with cellophane).

carbongraphite · 16-September-04, 02:48 AM

anybody notice the little things called nightlights? im going to go with also reccomending a wall transformer and traditional resistors. if you really want to do it right multiple LEDs should now be driven with a current regulation driver circuit like from luxdrive but thats overkill unless your useing a high flux led. but then in certain applications its still overkill. the link funky gave is pretty good and its totally safe since the cap isolates the LED and its basicly the same as the night lights which btw are pretty cheap if you just want 1 or 2 leds powered.

15-September-04, 09:15 PM		#1 (permalink)
j010101011001 Apex Techie Lite	Led Lamp I need some advice. I'm trying to make an led accent lamp (it's not meant to really light anything). Do you think it's feasible for me to plug it into a normal 110v socket? I don't want to be playing around with a custom circuit if it'll electrocute me when I plug it in. I know the basics about electronics (ohm's law, etc...) but I need some studying up for the more complicated stuff. Basically, the light should be 5-6 led's powered by a normal wall socket with maybe a switch in the cord to turn it off.

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15-September-04, 09:29 PM		#2 (permalink)
vladimir Pimp PHP Pro	no u cant just plug led's into the wall, u gotta make a nifty circuit...

15-September-04, 09:33 PM		#3 (permalink)
Dreyco PCApex's Mac Man	I'd be interested in know how also. I'm running a small PSU so I'd want a wall socket anyhow...

15-September-04, 09:35 PM		#4 (permalink)
CRE Apex Tech Maniac Supreme	You really wouldn't need much more than a transformer, a bridge rectifier and a couple capacitors to make a simple power supply.... then again why not just hit RadioShack or similar and buy a small power adapter?

15-September-04, 09:42 PM		#6 (permalink)
CRE Apex Tech Maniac Supreme	Resistors wouldn't help..... even if you did manage to step down the voltage enough you still need to convert from AC to DC and cleanup the voltage a little... otherwise you'll just have a collection of flashing LEDs and inconsistent lighting levels.

15-September-04, 09:48 PM		#7 (permalink)
j010101011001 Apex Techie Lite	Okay, didn't know leds were DC. So a small power adapter eh? Other than that what else is there I would need?

15-September-04, 09:52 PM		#8 (permalink)
CRE Apex Tech Maniac Supreme	Well, as long as you've got the DC the rest is pretty simple.... just need to know the voltage and current requirements of the LEDs to calculate the needed resistance or to know how many to wire in series.

15-September-04, 10:01 PM		#11 (permalink)
j010101011001 Apex Techie Lite	Awesome, that's just what I needed! I can figure out the resistors by myself once I have all the info about the leds and stuff. 16.99 is pricey for this thing but maybe it's worth it. Thanks for the help!

15-September-04, 10:05 PM		#12 (permalink)
FunkyFresh 'Da Doctor of Funk	Among the hundreds of others he did, Bill Bowden put together a nice simple guide on correctly running LED's off 120V AC. Otherwise, $3.50 gets you a nice 5V, 1200mA DC wall transformer at AllElectronics. They have all sorts of other voltages too. Not that you asked, but if you are playing with AC, some EL Panels could be cheap fun, as they would plug right into the wall without any transformer ($3.50 for 5"x1", change color with cellophane).

16-September-04, 02:48 AM		#13 (permalink)
carbongraphite Pow - Hoe playa	anybody notice the little things called nightlights? im going to go with also reccomending a wall transformer and traditional resistors. if you really want to do it right multiple LEDs should now be driven with a current regulation driver circuit like from luxdrive but thats overkill unless your useing a high flux led. but then in certain applications its still overkill. the link funky gave is pretty good and its totally safe since the cap isolates the LED and its basicly the same as the night lights which btw are pretty cheap if you just want 1 or 2 leds powered.