Can LEDs be put into a household device

[sunfire_starter]

OK first I couldn't think of a Subject as that was the best I could come up with. OK well I was wondering could you wire up LED lights to say a D battery. Like connect the connecting wire to the battery and the ground to a piece of metal? Not so much car related but firgured some people would know here.

[amanichen]

Originally Posted by sunfire_starter

OK first I couldn't think of a Subject as that was the best I could come up with. OK well I was wondering could you wire up LED lights to say a D battery. Like connect the connecting wire to the battery and the ground to a piece of metal? Not so much car related but firgured some people would know here.

Sure it's possible, but it would help if you explained what you were trying to do.

[sunfire_starter]

ok well I am making a custom case for my cousin's DJ set and well I want to have LEDs around the edges so I would have about 4 running around it.

[amanichen]

Originally Posted by sunfire_starter

ok well I am making a custom case for my cousin's DJ set and well I want to have LEDs around the edges so I would have about 4 running around it.

Alright...

The first thing you have to do is look around at LEDs and see what the specifications on them are (voltage, max power.) Figure out how you're going to power it (independent battery, running a DC voltage off of other equipment, etc) and then design the circuit. You'll need some electrical component knowledge to do it. You could always hook up a few LEDs to commonly available batteries without any planning, but you might be running them out of spec without realizing it.

[SaabJohan]

Also note that the electricity can only go in one direction through the LED since it's a diode.

[DRW1000]

*******Use low voltage only (24 volts or less)***********

From the data sheets you need to know the forward biased voltage of the LED. They are usually about 1.7 volts. Find out the current required to illuminate the LED to a satisfactory level (remember too much will damage the component). This is often 20mA or so. These are typical values for common everyday LEDs if you are using super large, bright..... these numbers may be different.

Anyway now determine what you are powering them with. You can use a battery or the output of a transfomer. (I would advise against high voltage here). If you are using low voltage AC the LED will only conduct for 1/2 of the cycle and thus it will turn on and off 60 times per second. Your eyes will not notice this. Lets assume you are using 9 volts DC from a battery. The complete circuit will consist of the battery, the LED and a current limiting resistor. The size of the resistor will be the (battery voltage-LED voltage)/Current thus you will have (9-1.7)/20mA = 8915 ohm (10 K should do it) You can use 2 LEDs in series and thus (9-1.7-1.7)/20mA = 280 ohms. The LED must be installed the correct way to illuminate. If you get it wrong just flip it. No damage will be done at these current levels.

If you want to stick the 1.5 Volt "D" cells then use two together in series (end to end like in a flashlight) This will give you 3 Volts and you need to re-do the math.

*****Remember use low Voltage only*****

Don't take this the wrong way but based on your question you are an electrical/electronic rookie and can get hurt if you ignore this warning.

*********Low Voltage Only***********