5mm led question.

I have a bunch of 5mm leds, wired in series of 3's with 180 ohm 1/4 watt resistors, powered by 13.8 power supply. When I shut the power supply off, most of the leds fade fairly equal except for one string of 3. In this series, the middle led fades out very quickly and the two end leds stay lit much longer than any of the other leds in the bunch.

Any ideas why this is? Just curious if I should replace the middle led before I finish mounting these.

Also just wanted to say this is the most educational forum that I have ever lurked upon, and also the most friendly toward newbies with newbie questions. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'd swap it out of there. Sounds like the Vf of that one is quite a bit different from the rest. Assuming they're relatively cheap ones, just toss it and be happy you aren't using 5-watters. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Welcome to the club, BTW!

Thats kinda what I was thinking. Yeah they are cheap ones but out of the 70-80 I've done in series, this is the only group that is drastically different. Also just FYI they are Besthongkong blue leds. For the price I'm fairly happy with them. Haven't had a bad one yet. Few minor mold issues but nothing really bad.

Thanks for the welcome to the board, and yes I am a flashaholic. Now my wife can complain about two things. Me always buying flashlights, and lurking here reading about flashlights.