LED Question

[San7a]

Okay. I'm gonna say this as best I can and hope someone understands babbling.

I just went down to RadioShack and picked up some 5mm wide-angle LEDs (1.7v - 20mA - 800mcd) and I was wondering how I would go about rigging them up to a switch so that I may turn them all on with a push of the button?

[Mrfreddio55]

Easy stuff man.

Just wire them in a series, or parrallel (i think thats what its called)

Example:
Switch:
/ \
(+ charge)--(Resistor)----(Input of switch) (Output of switch)-----LED-----LED-----LED----LED----(- charge of power)

and then a parallel would be:

(+)--(input of switch) (output of switch)
(-)--------- |
| (Resistor)
|-------(LED)-------|
| |
|-------(LED)-------|
| |
|-------(LED)-------|
| |
|-------(LED)-------|

Hopefully that will help. .

*Edit* Soo the parallel diagram didnt work so well...hopefully you can still understand it..

[San7a]

Originally posted by Mrfreddio55
Easy stuff man.

Just wire them in a series, or parrallel (i think thats what its called)

Example:
Switch:
/ \
(+ charge)--(Resistor)----(Input of switch) (Output of switch)-----LED-----LED-----LED----LED----(- charge of power)

and then a parallel would be:


Hopefully that will help. .

*Edit* Soo the parallel diagram didnt work so well...hopefully you can still understand it..

Thanks for the help. It's a shame I'm an idiot. lol

Am I going to need to soder anything? What kind of resistor will I need? Where can I pick up the wire?

This would be my first dealings with electronics... If you couldn't tell.

[TAZTG]

Yes you will need to solder, Not sure on Resistor, and Radio Shack will have everything you need. I am like you with Electronics, yet you understood his diagram...

[San7a]

LMAO! I really didn't understand a dang thing he said.

I just spent a day and a half working on a HD window by following this guy:
http://www.voidedwarranty.com/module...howpage&pid=25

DANG HE MAKES IT LOOK A LOT EASIERopwk -10k 111ike02q

Some greasy, scary lookin' guy at RadioShack helped me out with the LEDs.

[San7a]

Originally posted by San7a
LMAO! I really didn't understand a dang thing he said.

I just spent a day and a half working on a HD window by following this guy:
http://www.voidedwarranty.com/module...howpage&pid=25

DANG HE MAKES IT LOOK A LOT EASIERopwk -10k 111ike02q

Some greasy, scary lookin' guy at RadioShack helped me out with the LEDs.

WOW!

It just died. Awesome, man. Awesome.

Gah.

[Big_Mac]

Originally posted by San7a
WOW!

It just died. Awesome, man. Awesome.

Gah.

What died??? your HDD?

Or just some LED's?

Either way, that sucks man. Tell us what happened.

[San7a]

I don't know. My HDD is dead.

It made some really loud clicks, my screen went blue, and I haven't been able to get it working. I was 23-2 in CS at the time too.

It looks fine to me. I don't know what I did wrong. Sigh.

Anyone wanna loan me $75 for a new one?

[Mrfreddio55]

Originally posted by San7a
I don't know. My HDD is dead.

It made some really loud clicks, my screen went blue, and I haven't been able to get it working. I was 23-2 in CS at the time too.

It looks fine to me. I don't know what I did wrong. Sigh.

Anyone wanna loan me $75 for a new one?

" if you have an extra drive that you wont miss if the mod goes wrong give it a try, the outcome is well worth it !!!!!!!!"

Ouch man, sorry about the loss. Why'd you do it with the one with all of your data as the first try?

[Adisharr]

If your going to wire LED's in parallel each one should have it's own limiting resistor. It's fine to use one resistor when wiring them in series. You'll just have to make the appropriate adjustments.

[San7a]

Originally posted by Mrfreddio55
" if you have an extra drive that you wont miss if the mod goes wrong give it a try, the outcome is well worth it !!!!!!!!"

Ouch man, sorry about the loss. Why'd you do it with the one with all of your data as the first try?

Because I'm retarded. I'm going to pick a new one up today. Best Buy has 60gb WD HDDs on sale for 40 bucks a pop after rebate. Might even get two.

[Big_Mac]

Something to note:

In the newer, High-platter-density HDD's, there is sometimes a screw through the top cover into the middle of the spindle. This helps to stabilize the spindle and prevent it from getting a little off kilter, and if it's missing, thr drive dies quick.

So find an older drive without the screw in the middle of the platters.

[San7a]

Originally posted by Big_Mac
Something to note:

In the newer, High-platter-density HDD's, there is sometimes a screw through the top cover into the middle of the spindle. This helps to stabilize the spindle and prevent it from getting a little off kilter, and if it's missing, thr drive dies quick.

So find an older drive without the screw in the middle of the platters.

Mine had those.

I was wondering if I'd need to put those back in but in all the tutorials I'd been reading none of them had. GAH.

[Big_Mac]

Originally posted by San7a
Mine had those.

I was wondering if I'd need to put those back in but in all the tutorials I'd been reading none of them had. GAH.

d'oh.

I'm sorry man, you could have made a post and asked... but best of luck with it.

You could always try putting it all back to the stock config and seeing if that fixes things. You may have put a nice little gash in the platters though, or (God forbid) had one of the heads crash. But it may be salvageable.