3 vs 5mm LED

zz · Feb 28, 2003

hey everyone. i understand different color LED's have varying voltages, effecting power drain. does using a 3mm vs 5mm LED effect power drain? from what i can see 3's are the same voltage and current as 5's. seems like there would be a difference, but i'm not making the connection.
prob an easy question--sorry, i'm into chemicals, not so much electronics. thanks ahead of time.

z

shiftd · Feb 28, 2003

i think all 5mm drain 20mA
the same goes for 3mm, i think

zz · Feb 28, 2003

so, the trade off is illumination vs design size requirements, and nothing to do w/ power drain?

eluminator · Feb 28, 2003

The different color LED's are made of different materials. The red (and yellow?) material has a forward voltage drop of around 2 volts. The blue (and green?) has a forward voltage drop of around 3 volts. This has nothing to do with the size of the epoxy case.

I don't know about the differences between the cases. I suppose the 5 mm case could hold a bigger LED which could be designed for more current. And the bigger case might be able to dissipate a little more heat.

B@rt · Feb 28, 2003

The light emitting part of a 5 mm Led is the same size as the ones used in the 3 mm LEDs... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

The major difference is the beam, the 5 mm ones are usually tighter collimated...

Hope this helps,

3 vs 5mm LED

zz

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shiftd

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zz

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eluminator

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B@rt

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