Great video! :) Thanks for sharing! Just a little tip also for those who don't know. When determining the polarity of an LED. Note that there are two pins that come from it. The longer pin is the Anode and is the positive and the short pin is the cathode which is the negative. If for some reason, both pins are the same length then you can look at the LED itself through the plastic and see that the smaller pin inside is the Positive and the larger (wider) pin inside is the negative. Cheers.
Thanks for the additional information, along with the video, it was very helpful. One other comment that might help is that the resister should always go on the positive side. I think the initial layout description mentioned the resister on the negative side which is not recommended on most of the sites I've seen. Thanks for all the video work and add-on detail information.
another indicator for polarity if you are using 3mm 5mm or 10mm is the body of the led itself has a flattened portion adjacent (I think) to the cathode
It depends on the voltage of the LEDs. With a 6V receiver, you can use 2 LEDs that have a combined voltage of 6V, e.g. a yellow 2.5V and a blue 3.2V is 5.7V, which is under 6V limit so THAT WORKS! However, can't do 2 blue 3.2V LEDS, which is 6.4V combined, because it's over 6V. Reds and yellows typically are lower voltage. Blues are typically higher. Really need to check what forward voltage the LED is rated for.
many thanks for a great video. I was totally at a loss on how to connect up a resistor that came with a light control unit and led for my rc plane. now that ive watched your video I can go home now and get the job done. regards aidan mcatamney
I had a Gentle Lady 2m sailplane I installed a multi colored LED between each rib, one in the tale and 3 in a canopy, front top. I powered them with 2 AA batteries mounted in the wing. Reverse polarity and I could change the color of the LED, (red or green).It was bright enough to read by. I called it "The Lady of the Night" I took pictures and did some video with an old VHS cam corder. Turned out very well. Made a circuit for sequencial flashing lights but haven't used it yet. Hope to.
Thanks. Very Informative. I will put mine on an aux channel on my Rx. The led is 10" with 3M on the back, strobes, and has its own resistor. Turn on/off with Tx
if you have the channel the leds are connected to on a switch or an axis will you be able to turn the led on and off and control its brightness? im confused about how it can be wired to the same channel as the servo and still stay on full brightness, wouldnt it only be on while the servos moving?
No, you can't turn the LED on and off with the switch using this method in the video. The servo maintains 5 volts all the time no matter if the switch is on or off. If you want to control LED brightness, you can do that with a brushed ESC (watch this video th-cam.com/video/cdEHGw2UeYw/w-d-xo.html for instructions). You can also purchase a switch to do what you are asking from Amazon or Ebay. Hope this helps.
The complicated way to make them blink is to use a timer integrated circuit, such as the 555 timer. The simple way is just to buy a blinking LED that has the circuit already integrated into the LED. You can find both by searching on Ebay.
Great channel! Lot of things to learn here! Why did you not make a system with light-on and light-off on demand with one of your transmitter switch (swith down: light-off, swith up: light-on)? It can be great!
I thought about it, but it's a lot more complicated for a DIYer. I was trying to keep things simple. To do that you need something to decode the PWM signal coming from the receiver. They make these decoders so you don't have to DIY it. That's what I would recommend if that's your goal. Thanks for the comment.
Mike - In the schematic at 8:45, you show the resistor on the (-) black ground wire but later on when you are doing the soldering demo (14:47) you say you want the resistor on the (+) wire. Which wire should it be put on? Thanks.
First, you need to know what the input voltage is for your LED kit. You only need to use resistors when your source voltage (e.g. 9V) is higher than the input voltage required by your LED kit. If you use stand-alone LEDs, they are typically 2.5 to 3.5 V, depending on the color. You could power about three 3V LEDs in series with 9V without a resistor, but three 2.5V in series (7.5V) would require a resistor. Use the LED resistor calculator from the video notes.
watched all of it and it was very good. now to find the parts, i think you were going to put the link for the resistor calculations, mmm did not get it here, 39 ohms for that one but i think it might be different if more or a different kind.
Great job overall but I prefer to keep all my solder connections to 1/8" max and cover with shrink tube just a tad longer. Your finished wiring will look tidier and be more flexible plus you will use much less shrink tubing which is way overpriced anyways.
If I were to put more than one Led on a 5v source would that change any thing in terms of resistor needed? So for instance 2 micro leds rated at 2v on a 5v source would I still solder on each LED a resistor of the same ohm if I were soldering a single 2v led.
add some text to the video to tell it doesn't matter where the resistor goes, cause your diagram says it goes on the negative but then in your build you put it in the positive. confusing for the noobies
I have a 3 way switch on my transmitter which is channel 3 on the receiver. Is there a way I can make different LEDs light up with the 2 different powered positions on the switch?
hi mate nice video, i am in the uk can you tell me the correct name of the resistor i need for one of my leds please ? as i clicked your link but its americian ebay, let me know thanks.
on the network cable if you strip back the covering there are 4 sets of wires twisted together in 2's can you un -twist those that are together and use the single wire? or do you need to keep them together and hook them into the leds? also does anyone know what's the smallest wire you can use to wire leds and resistors. nothing else in the circuit but your power, receiver, resistor, and leds
In the beginning of this video your receiver is getting power from a silver box. Does that connect to an AC adapter? Can I power a receiver from a wall outlet for a long term stationary display?
The small silver box is a servo tester. It is supplied 5 v DC and output is the same. I just wired a wall adapter to my electronics to get 5 v DC. Also one for 9 v. Better than hooking up a battery and an ESC to step it down to 5 v.
A white led lights dimly on a variable power supply when voltage reaches 3 volts but exceeds ratings at 3.5 volts . Battery voltage varies more than that when discharged resulting in current extremes, so regulation is advised, but problematic. Use the natural current limiting property of a bulb of similar voltage and current rating in series with the leds. Ohms of a filament rise with its voltage, thus limiting led current without pesky circuit losses. Done correctly, the bulb will limit over-current from a fully charged battery. It will glow dimly or not at all. **Optional theory: An led is an "avalanche" current device (like all diodes) where they draw no current (amps) until reaching threshold voltage at which point the current rises very fast until it quickly exceeds rated amps. Alternatively, a light bulb draws fairly "constant" current due to its ohms rising with temperature (brightness). A 6 volt hobby bulb at 1 volt may draw 75ma rising to 85ma at 4 volts because filament ohms are low when cold and rise with brightness thus lowering maximum current (relative to the constant ohms of a resistor).
Hi Mike, If I wanted to power 1x tail,2x Landing lights, 1 x Green, 1 x Red & 2 x Red flashing can I plug them all into the 1 channel with 1 servo lead ?? Rgds
yes...soldering is an art and to look tidy you need to (1) always tin the wires first...a little solder on the iron tip first to enable good heat transfer... and use as little as will do the job. Too much heat can destroy components. Cheers
+Harsh Singh You only use red and brown, the yellow wire is not needed and you can cut it at the base or remove it completely from the plastic using a pin to push the plastic out of the way: there is a row of three metal pins showing on the other side of the connector, looking from the side. There are plastic tabs that hold onto the metal connectors. Lift the one on the yellow side up and pull the wire out. Now there is no wire in there and you can separate it and rip it off completely.
but you are only getting 5V from the receiver, LED's in many cases need 12v,,,,, how do i get 12v to LEDs by using the balance leads from a LIPO (if possible) I would prefer not to have to connect my 12v LEDs to the main battery terminals because that means i have to "tap" into those huge main leads to the LIPO. Did you say you have some LED's that only use 3V. I can't find any on the internet with that low a voltage....everyone always say that LED's no matter the size always take 12v
I would put a 3W LED on my Drone. Can you tell me what is the forward current. The LED is this one: www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__45474__Super_Bright_3Watt_Red_LED_Lamp_with_Aluminium_Heatsink_EU_warehouse_.html There is no risk of burning my RX?
Its been a while since i last decided to work on electronics like this, last time i converted a 3mm (RED) LED in a charger to 5mm (BLUE) and forgot to change resistor... Ended up blowing my schools wall sockets in the lab room i was in. Went home with a burnt up charger haha, no i didnt get caught for this though... Even though people were watching and like oooo, smoke! lol Thanks for this though, i managed to realize my mistakes and changed them haha, my RC reveal and mod updates will be better now.
You can get the servo connector at HobbyKing. There is a link in the video notes. You can get them at a hobby shop also or search ebay for "servo lead" to find them.
VERY helpful video. I had several of those LED light strips but never realized that they were surface mounted. Found that resistance calculator at led{dot}linear1{dot}org/1led.wiz... thanks!
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Great video! :) Thanks for sharing!
Just a little tip also for those who don't know. When determining the polarity of an LED. Note that there are two pins that come from it. The longer pin is the Anode and is the positive and the short pin is the cathode which is the negative.
If for some reason, both pins are the same length then you can look at the LED itself through the plastic and see that the smaller pin inside is the Positive and the larger (wider) pin inside is the negative.
Cheers.
Thanks for the additional information, along with the video, it was very helpful. One other comment that might help is that the resister should always go on the positive side. I think the initial layout description mentioned the resister on the negative side which is not recommended on most of the sites I've seen. Thanks for all the video work and add-on detail information.
MikeC19100 It doesn't matter which lead the resistor goes in. Either way it will limit the current which is what it is there for.
another indicator for polarity if you are using 3mm 5mm or 10mm is the body of the led itself has a flattened portion adjacent (I think) to the cathode
It depends on the voltage of the LEDs. With a 6V receiver, you can use 2 LEDs that have a combined voltage of 6V, e.g. a yellow 2.5V and a blue 3.2V is 5.7V, which is under 6V limit so THAT WORKS! However, can't do 2 blue 3.2V LEDS, which is 6.4V combined, because it's over 6V. Reds and yellows typically are lower voltage. Blues are typically higher. Really need to check what forward voltage the LED is rated for.
Best tutorial I've seen on wiring LEDs! Never thought of disassembling the smd strips, thanks!
many thanks for a great video. I was totally at a loss on how to connect up a resistor that came with a light control unit and led for my rc plane. now that ive watched your video I can go home now and get the job done. regards aidan mcatamney
I had a Gentle Lady 2m sailplane I installed a multi colored LED between each rib, one in the tale and 3 in a canopy, front top. I powered them with 2 AA batteries mounted in the wing. Reverse polarity and I could change the color of the LED, (red or green).It was bright enough to read by. I called it "The Lady of the Night" I took pictures and did some video with an old VHS cam corder. Turned out very well. Made a circuit for sequencial flashing lights but haven't used it yet. Hope to.
Thanks. Very Informative. I will put mine on an aux channel on my Rx. The led is 10" with 3M on the back, strobes, and has its own resistor. Turn on/off with Tx
Great tutorial! Thanks! If you cut the wires on the resistor short, you will save weight on shrinkwraps. :-)
if you have the channel the leds are connected to on a switch or an axis will you be able to turn the led on and off and control its brightness?
im confused about how it can be wired to the same channel as the servo and still stay on full brightness, wouldnt it only be on while the servos moving?
No, you can't turn the LED on and off with the switch using this method in the video. The servo maintains 5 volts all the time no matter if the switch is on or off. If you want to control LED brightness, you can do that with a brushed ESC (watch this video th-cam.com/video/cdEHGw2UeYw/w-d-xo.html for instructions). You can also purchase a switch to do what you are asking from Amazon or Ebay. Hope this helps.
@@WVRetreat oh, is there a way to do it?
The complicated way to make them blink is to use a timer integrated circuit, such as the 555 timer. The simple way is just to buy a blinking LED that has the circuit already integrated into the LED. You can find both by searching on Ebay.
Great channel! Lot of things to learn here! Why did you not make a system with light-on and light-off on demand with one of your transmitter switch (swith down: light-off, swith up: light-on)? It can be great!
I thought about it, but it's a lot more complicated for a DIYer. I was trying to keep things simple. To do that you need something to decode the PWM signal coming from the receiver. They make these decoders so you don't have to DIY it. That's what I would recommend if that's your goal. Thanks for the comment.
What kind of resister? Everything else was very detailed. Good job.
Excellent video, thank you for all the information!
You're welcome. Glad i could help.
Finally a video that does it right!
You could use a boost converter (step-up converter), but most guys use a 3-cell LiPo, which is over 12V, to power 12V LEDs.
very good explanation from the begining till the end ! Thank you.
Absolutely. Either get a servo splitter or just wire them altogether.
Mike - In the schematic at 8:45, you show the resistor on the (-) black ground wire but later on when you are doing the soldering demo (14:47) you say you want the resistor on the (+) wire. Which wire should it be put on? Thanks.
Fantastic! Thank you so much. I already have all the individual components and did not want to buy a $30 light kit for $3 worth of parts.
$3 dollar of parts for $30 bucks ??!?
First, you need to know what the input voltage is for your LED kit. You only need to use resistors when your source voltage (e.g. 9V) is higher than the input voltage required by your LED kit. If you use stand-alone LEDs, they are typically 2.5 to 3.5 V, depending on the color. You could power about three 3V LEDs in series with 9V without a resistor, but three 2.5V in series (7.5V) would require a resistor. Use the LED resistor calculator from the video notes.
Perfectly explained and so clear. Thank you.
watched all of it and it was very good. now to find the parts, i think you were going to put the link for the resistor calculations, mmm did not get it here, 39 ohms for that one but i think it might be different if more or a different kind.
Great job overall but I prefer to keep all my solder connections to 1/8" max and cover with shrink tube just a tad longer. Your finished wiring will look tidier and be more flexible plus you will use much less shrink tubing which is way overpriced anyways.
Can you cut the wire on the resistor also?
Loved the video, lots of info !!
If I were to put more than one Led on a 5v source would that change any thing in terms of resistor needed? So for instance 2 micro leds rated at 2v on a 5v source would I still solder on each LED a resistor of the same ohm if I were soldering a single 2v led.
add some text to the video to tell it doesn't matter where the resistor goes, cause your diagram says it goes on the negative but then in your build you put it in the positive. confusing for the noobies
Crazy Crow yep, very confusing to a newbie
I have a 3 way switch on my transmitter which is channel 3 on the receiver. Is there a way I can make different LEDs light up with the 2 different powered positions on the switch?
good job my friend but what if I use Sbus frsky XM+ and I want to power ON/Off my led from flight controler( omnibus f3) by switch from taranis x9???
hi mate nice video, i am in the uk can you tell me the correct name of the resistor i need for one of my leds please ? as i clicked your link but its americian ebay, let me know thanks.
Absolutely, just make sure to leave enough wire to attach the connecting wire to.
Awesome video bro, thank you and GOD bless.
Enjoyed the video. Thanks for your time and work!
Love the video. I learned a lot, but where did you get those tweezers? I have to get some like that.
on the network cable if you strip back the covering there are 4 sets of wires twisted together in 2's can you un -twist those that are together and use the single wire? or do you need to keep them together and hook them into the leds? also does anyone know what's the smallest wire you can use to wire leds and resistors. nothing else in the circuit but your power, receiver, resistor, and leds
In the beginning of this video your receiver is getting power from a silver box.
Does that connect to an AC adapter?
Can I power a receiver from a wall outlet for a long term stationary display?
I wouldlike to know about hooking nav lights to fan switch
The small silver box is a servo tester. It is supplied 5 v DC and output is the same. I just wired a wall adapter to my electronics to get 5 v DC. Also one for 9 v. Better than hooking up a battery and an ESC to step it down to 5 v.
Clifford Carmer. What kind of fan switch? What kind of lights? Where are you talking about doing this?
how do you figure the resistor size you need if you have 4 leds that range from 2.2, 3.2, 3.0 and 3.4? what's the best way to handle that?
A white led lights dimly on a variable power supply when voltage reaches 3 volts but exceeds ratings at 3.5 volts . Battery voltage varies more than that when discharged resulting in current extremes, so regulation is advised, but problematic. Use the natural current limiting property of a bulb of similar voltage and current rating in series with the leds. Ohms of a filament rise with its voltage, thus limiting led current without pesky circuit losses. Done correctly, the bulb will limit over-current from a fully charged battery. It will glow dimly or not at all.
**Optional theory:
An led is an "avalanche" current device (like all diodes) where they draw no current (amps) until reaching threshold voltage at which point the current rises very fast until it quickly exceeds rated amps.
Alternatively, a light bulb draws fairly "constant" current due to its ohms rising with temperature (brightness). A 6 volt hobby bulb at 1 volt may draw 75ma rising to 85ma at 4 volts because filament ohms are low when cold and rise with brightness thus lowering maximum current (relative to the constant ohms of a resistor).
hi there.thanks for the tutorial....but do u have any idea how the turn off/on the ld with aux channel?
Hi Mike,
If I wanted to power 1x tail,2x Landing lights, 1 x Green, 1 x Red & 2 x Red flashing can I plug them all into the 1 channel with 1 servo lead ??
Rgds
Some receivers output 6v, wouldn't it be easier to put 2 led's in series instead of using resistors?
On that calculating website, do i put the peak forward current or regular forward current??
Got the tweezers from Harbor Freight. Thanks.
Cree are the brightest of all led as much as 1000 lumen great for landing lights or head lights on r/c
I've never seen someone strip back such long lengths to solder. You must get through a lot of solder!
Excellent video very informative, learnt a lot from this very clear instruction.
Thanks for this very informative video. Both thumbs up!
Nice instruction. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
How do ya cut in in the wing?
if i want to control the led's with one of the switch in the tx then what i have to do
Great video, whats that box giving the RX power? Well done, I've subscribed. JD.
Great video. Thank you so much.
Sorry. I just added the link for the resistor calculator and some links for the parts needed, if you don't already have some on hand.
Great! This is just what I was looking for. Thanks.
Did the resistant have a number or model
Great video thanks! I'd use a bit less sodder.
Thanks, you did great, very kewl.... you helped me alot. nice link for volts / resistor calc. now..... I need to master soldering.. lol salute
yes...soldering is an art and to look tidy you need to (1) always tin the wires first...a little solder on the iron tip first to enable good heat transfer... and use as little as will do the job. Too much heat can destroy components. Cheers
good informational video.. thanks man..
It doesn't matter. You can put the resistor on the positive or negative, but a purest will tell you to put it on the positive.
Do you just cut off the wire which is not required in the male servo connector?...............I didnt understand that part properly.
+Harsh Singh You only use red and brown, the yellow wire is not needed and you can cut it at the base or remove it completely from the plastic using a pin to push the plastic out of the way: there is a row of three metal pins showing on the other side of the connector, looking from the side. There are plastic tabs that hold onto the metal connectors. Lift the one on the yellow side up and pull the wire out. Now there is no wire in there and you can separate it and rip it off completely.
I noticed when soldering, did you use Flux…?
I use 60/40 rosin core solder, which has flux in it already.
but you are only getting 5V from the receiver, LED's in many cases need 12v,,,,, how do i get 12v to LEDs by using the balance leads from a LIPO (if possible) I would prefer not to have to connect my 12v LEDs to the main battery terminals because that means i have to "tap" into those huge main leads to the LIPO. Did you say you have some LED's that only use 3V. I can't find any on the internet with that low a voltage....everyone always say that LED's no matter the size always take 12v
I think you are talking about LED strips that use 12V, which are really three 3V LEDs in series.
Thanks. Well done
I would put a 3W LED on my Drone. Can you tell me what is the forward current.
The LED is this one: www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__45474__Super_Bright_3Watt_Red_LED_Lamp_with_Aluminium_Heatsink_EU_warehouse_.html
There is no risk of burning my RX?
Plz tell me the value of resistor?
Great video, good job!!!
Its been a while since i last decided to work on electronics like this, last time i converted a 3mm (RED) LED in a charger to 5mm (BLUE) and forgot to change resistor... Ended up blowing my schools wall sockets in the lab room i was in. Went home with a burnt up charger haha, no i didnt get caught for this though... Even though people were watching and like oooo, smoke! lol Thanks for this though, i managed to realize my mistakes and changed them haha, my RC reveal and mod updates will be better now.
if you connect them in parallel it will work, but they will not be very bright.
Great video thanks it helped me out a ton.
18:40 there's those helping hands again >_>
thought he was mutant
That third hand just had to come in all creepy like.
Where do u get the servo connector
You can get the servo connector at HobbyKing. There is a link in the video notes. You can get them at a hobby shop also or search ebay for "servo lead" to find them.
How can you make LED's blink?
VERY helpful video. I had several of those LED light strips but never realized that they were surface mounted. Found that resistance calculator at led{dot}linear1{dot}org/1led.wiz... thanks!
Super video!
well done, thank you.
thank you good Sir
Thank you, this is very helpful. (Subscribed)
Why is it not blinking?
Ty
Thanks again
Thank you
Oops. Never mind. There it is
Wish i had three arms too
thanks
Used electronics are great for parts. It's a shame to throw away useable stuff.
A++
Plug it in and just burning out my LEDs
too much voltage...put resistor,,
Never mind i just got it... Fail