LED Basics

[@Afrotechmods]

If you are too stupid to know what "commercially viable" means then don't bother leaving a comment about Thomas Edison.

[@N0Xa880iUL]

Woah recent update. Dude please come back! Also, who is this comment for?

[@robertmccully2792]

Smart ass.

[@flyurway]

Gee, now I want to know who said what, lol!

[@N0Xa880iUL]

@@flyurway Same

[@markrainford1219]

@@flyurway Name names

[@chrisoffersen]

This series is a gem! I don’t know anything about electronics but my 10 yr old son is SUPER interested in it. Finding videos that explain the topic so clearly (and, honestly, entertainingly) that we both can stay engaged with, understand, and talk about these concepts was very challenging. So I’m very grateful that you took the considerable time and effort to create this series, and make the world a better place than you found it.

[@WhiteysWickedWorkshop]

Love this video! You take me back about 30 years blowing up LEDS. I love when things are explained simple, so everyone can understand. Thanks!

[@stevoplex]

My first job after getting my BSEET degree from College was at the Trans-Lux Corporation, manufacturers of large scale LED displays. At the time, only yellow, green & red LEDs, mostly for the NYSE, AMEX, CBT & CME. I was the LED Specialist, responsible for equal radiation profile for all LEDs in a scrolling display. One day, we got a sample, a Blue LED ($500) that was barely 20 Candellas. But it was a whole new ballgame. Engineers flocked around it like babies to a Christmas Tree. From that humble beginning, we were able to feed RGB Video to the new RGB LED displays and revoluionized the Full Spectrum Large LED display market! I was There! yo.

[@Afrotechmods]

I liked this story thank you

[@janenic8999]

Woow

[@atulrokade9810]

Stephen Beres how seven segment display get made?

[@dannywest4881]

Stephen Beres Best story this year! yo.

[@pallmall5014]

They have Mercury inside?!

[@BeeWhistler]

Thank you, this is just what I need. I want to try putting lights into various projects but I also want to do it right and keep it safe. I had doubts about whether tiny LEDs with batteries could be a fire hazard (I'm starting from zero here so I need the core knowledge) and now that I see what can happen, I know I was right not to rush in. But the great bit is knowing why. I don't like stumbling in blindly. I watched another video here where a dude just snipped off both wires and soldered the thing to some copper wire and then a switch without worrying about resistors or which wire was which. He said you had a 50% chance so no worries.The comments below it were full of people basically tearing their hair out in exasperation so I thought I'd better find a quality source of information before I even buy the supplies... outside of the soldering materials, which I have.

[@fiddlermikey]

I love the new round of super-basic videos. They will be great for my classes with the younger students. I am looking forward to the next one.

[@travnicek]

So far this is the best and most concise I have found on the subject. I am a woodworker trying to incorporate some LED lighting into some of my power tools like all my routers, mitre saw and a few others so I am trying to understand how the basics work in order to incorporate an integrated LED driver directly into the tools' body to run some LEDs at directly at the cut. This has helped immensely along with some of your other videos and been an instant subscription. Thank you.

[@carlosjosejimenezbermudez9255]

Man your channel is wonderful. As a software developer trying to go deeper into learning about the internet of things your content is just what I needed to not stay lost.

[@00Skyfox]

I've always loved LEDs, ever since I got my first electronics project kit from Radio Shack as a kid. I was fascinated by the soft pure red light they put out. That was back in the early to mid 80s, long before blue or white LEDs hit the market, or anything with a high intensity output. Great video! I'm always looking forward to the next one. I used your laser tripwire project to make a circuit that will be used to open up a solenoid valve to release a jet of compressed air and scare birds away from making nests on my house. It's almost complete and needs a good box to put it into so I can mount it on the side of the house next spring.

[@Purple431]

Sounds cool

[@kaumohlamonyane272]

Afrotechmods is finally back🙌 Thank you😀

[@Afrotechmods]

Check my channel there may be some recent videos you missed.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

You've been missed, sir!

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

Thomas Edison did not invent the incandescent light bulb from scratch, but he did produce the first practicably usable one. He filed for a patent on the filament-based light bulb in November, 1878. He did not get the idea from Tesla, who emigrated to the United States in July 1884, having produced nor patented such a device. Tesla is best known for his work with alternating current, essentially inventing the modern AC power grid still in use to this day, much to the chagrin of his competitor Edison, who did everything he could to sabotage Tesla.

[@Hopeless_and_Forlorn]

As the narrator said, Edison invented the first commercially viable incandescent bulb. Just as importantly, he invented and installed a practical and profitable electrical power generation and distribution system to support electric lighting.

[@videolabguy]

Edison's system was NOT practical in any sense of the word. It was inefficient, ABSOLUTELY unsafe, impractical to distribute and hideously EXPENSIVE. Plus, you could be killed simply by walking over the buried cables during a rain storm. Dogs would scream and horses would bolt when crossing Edison's buried cables.

[@c.rosler9598]

Thank you!! I am learning so much about the basics in Electricity. I have been looking for basic teaching like this for weeks. I’m so glad I found your playlist full of knowledge. I love your videos, and they are so educational. Thank you for all you do!

[@ubidefeo]

Once I was at a casual robotics workshop (making things move) and the LEDs supplied by the organisers were cheap chinese ones with inverted leads: shorter Anode, longer Cathode. I've been using the death test to figure out max current for a while now, and my Fluke tells me the Vf when I test a diode. Good to see more frequent videos from you again, by the way :)

[@KissNsdt]

I'm a visual learner...so the demonstrations are really helpful and make it easier for me to retain the information. Can't wait to view more videos

[@MarkMythV5]

No way, new videos from WhatYouOughtToKnow and Afrotechmods in the same day?? Is this heaven??

[@jimscobie6646]

"don't try this at home." I already did. That's why I am here.

[@AbdelRahmanSaed]

:D

[@lochinvar00465]

Been there, done that.

[@Racerhfx]

James Scobie hhg

[@richlaue]

Maybe you needed to come here first

[@jannatulferdousimou1641]

😂😂😂

[@stevennault5447]

I've been playing with semiconductors for a long time now and have always enjoyed making circuits just for fun, your site has sparked new interest, thanks...

[@HennerZeller]

FYI for German viewers: In German, simple to remember the leg length: "Kurz" (German for 'short') for "Kathode". So the short wire is the cathode.

[@malte-j]

Henner Zeller Guter Tip, werd ich mir merken!

[@frebvhmehypebeast1456]

Malte. ich mir auch

[@ivanstroganov5458]

Henner Zeller and how do I remember what the cathode does. its always try and error for me:D

[@GoodOlKuro]

think of *c* o l d ( *c* a t h o d e ) as in *minus/negative* temperature :)

[@judedakshina9976]

ABaumstumpf 7

[@iLive2Ride76]

I'm really happy that you're back. You have a good way in explaining. I hope you're here to stay for a long time!

[@ThorTVtube]

Brilliant, simple, easy, and clear instructions. Who could ask for anything better than this tutorial?

[@spanglerart]

I want to start using LED's in my model building. I am VERY electrically ignorant. This very short video was incredibly informative. Thank you for educating me.

[@A_Canadian_In_Poland]

Concerning forward drop voltages, there are two different types of green LEDs in production, one that is phosphide-based (yellow-green), another that is nitride-based (blue green). It appears that older green LEDs tend to be the former type, and newer units are typically the latter type.

[@giovannip8600]

I've literally searched the internet for an explanation like this! Amazing, and finally lol!

[@fahoudey]

Sadly this channel died

[@giovannip8600]

@@fahoudey what? Why?

[@giovannip8600]

@@fahoudey yeah true, do you know if there's a specific reason?

[@sissonsk]

I just repaired an LED magnifying lamp. Apparently, there were many LEDs that were burnt out or simply tired. The circuit is 16 x 6 LED strings in parallel to an 18 VDC supply. Half the strings were either flashing or simply not on. Instead of trying to discover which LEDs were bad, I simply replaced an entire string. The new LED's are much brighter than the old ones. I may just replace all of them.

[@steveemmins3728]

Clear and conscious, easy to understand even for a guy like me - job very well done, Cheers.

[@zenmori6773]

A million thanks to you, now I know why my LED stop lighting on when I connect it to 9V Battery.

[@0wO]

And how much did you destroy?

[@Rythaze]

Diodes are pretty darn cool!

[@redfishonfly58]

Not if you put enough current through them. HA!

[@robertchanrussell2010]

You explain it so well for the layman. Awesome! I only wish I could explain it so simply and be interesting at the same time.

[@Neffers_UK]

Wow, hello again Afrotech. Still loving the old sites stuff. Thanks for staying online and making new stuff.

[@iwantriharjanto4288]

This is a component that instantly attracted my attention as a kid, about three decades ago.

[@rubygupta9770]

You are finally back, i am so glad

[@prologikus]

Your tutorials are the best man I watched all of them, please post more, I already see that a lot of people like them too

[@lawrencejoy8740]

The cathode of a device is indicated by the letter "K" not "C". The letter "C" is used to indicate a collector. See IEEE 315 Clause 8.4

[@Zyxxi]

I found your channel some time ago, but it hadn't been uploaded to in some time. I remember your website from my high school years. Are you the same creator that brought us such great hits as the super megason IV review, the home made wireless charging mouse, and penny ram heat sinks? If so you provided my friends and I hours of hilarious entertainment. It is great to finally get the opportunity to thank you for helping cultivate our passion for electronics. This channel you have made is amazing. Glad to see you are still doing well and that you have found a way to educate people while still keeping a touch of that flare for humor I used to love! It would be great to know if you still have some of those old articles from you website somewhere. I'm sure people would still find your musical hard drives, among other creations, funny and fascinating.

[@rchrdschmidt]

Me too.

[@richardhead8264]

_So many thumbs down!!_ Must be *_PEOPLE for the ETHICAL TREATMENT of LEDs_*

[@pallmall5014]

The technology is great, however these LED bulbs have Mercury! When lit for periods at a time, it seeps into your homes!

[@TaiViinikka]

That's neither true nor an interesting conspiracy theory. Even the mercury-containing compact fluorescent light bulbs, which are totally different from LEDs and look nothing like them, are very safe relative to something like a mercury thermometer, which many people over 50 never worried about having in their homes.

[@tarnishedknight730]

Richard Head, The thumbs downs are probably because he told everyone the voltage to use, but not watt (pun intended) resister to use.

[@jackreacher8288]

Or unethical treatment of their heads - made them hurt, too much information.

[@user-cx9li9fo9v]

Ok

[@marcel_max]

When I started to learn electronics, only red LEDs were available and green ones came out a while after. Then later I saw a three color LED at a Radio Shack store, which could glow yellow when connected to an alternate current source. It was glowing green when connected in reverse polarity. One day I shook it while it was yellow then noticed it was alternating between red and green. So cool I felt that day. Before I saw blue ones then finally the white ones, many many years passed.

[@embeddedprogramming9661]

I love the brain. When the LED fried at 3:50 i smelled the smell of burned LED's. Good and short video, very precise.

[@godislove8740]

I thought of my daughter as I nearly blew us up that time. No one was Arnied fortunately but I still am alone in the lab 😂. Some things are meant to be.

[@aniqyusoff2680]

thanks this video help me a lot. Now i can finish my project.......

[@PunakiviAddikti]

If you don't know the forward voltage of your LED, use a power supply which has a constant current mode and can display voltage and current. Turn up the voltage until your LED draws 20mA. The voltage is your forward voltage. Use that to calculate a suitable resistor. Not all LEDs run well with 20mA. The high power ones generally run with 300-700mA. They get really hot, so don't forget the heatsink.

[@mishainutr]

seriously why somebody thumbs down this?? WHY? It does exactly what title say in best way possible...

[@serialxnet]

Good to have you back!! Been waiting for your videos!!

[@bentumbentum]

welcome back mr afrotechmods

[@youtakel7708]

I am trying to make a plane model detailed with fully functional Gear, Lights, etc. This will be my first step.

[@venom_ftw9316]

I'd like to know how it turned out please. I would think that the flight functionality would be advisable to work on first

[@BreadCrumbsOG]

So? Is it finish

[@youtakel7708]

I abandoned this project due to things I forgot, but since we're in a pandemic, might as well try again.

[@kusgilb]

Being an electrical engineer and hobbyist I could smell the burning led in my mind when you fried it.

[@AtlasMTBRider]

I would listen to any book you narrate . awesome voice .

[@molerun]

Good video and well presented too. I haven't dabbled with electronics since a young lad and things were a lot different then, valves were pretty important then for a start, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. I think your channel is just what I need, thank you.

[@dogastus]

Great to see you back.

[@PilotAwe]

If you cant remember which is Anode and Cathode, remember that + comes before - and A comes before C => (+A) (-C)

[@Apostle-89]

Like a professor you nailed it on our brains 👏👏👏👏👏

[@hbarudi]

The voltage for led lights is dependent on what light they are built to emit. Take 1240/wavelength of light emitted to get the eV. eV are called electron volts for a reason since they are for every electron that gets excited in the LED, it emits a photon and best does so at that voltage due to the bandgap energy of the piece of semiconductor inside the LED. High voltage will overheat the light when so many electrons going through very quickly just like anything that short circuits and overheats.

[@10e999]

Nice to see you back

[@davep6977]

good video. It was so illuminating

[@adolfskroatler617]

I saw the light.

[@oneperson2012]

very clear explanation & easy-to-understand demonstration.

[@PrashantBatule]

i saw an ultra bright LED flashlight video on KZbin... Can you (or are you going to? if yes, then when?) make some CRAZY things that we can do with electrical components (as a series)? Like, the ultra capacitors was pretty CRAZY, it would be fun to know how a simple component we use, can do on a super saiyan mode.

[@jeremyelphick-pooley-desig4405]

Crikey chap! You have a real talent for this!

[@georgezanfir]

I hope you finally come back and i don't need to wait 3-6m for a video :( i really like your channel. This channel help me a lot with my electronics projects :D Thank you @Afrotechmods

[@pauls640]

This guy has really a talent for explaining things! Thanks

[@rider2731]

You explained it very well. I also like that fact that you used the DC power supply. Thank you for sharing. Thumbs up for you. I just subed!

[@Afrotechmods]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stewartvclark4008]

Okay, I am hooked, your instruction is extra-ordinary.

[@spacial2]

I recall, back in the late 70s, red LEDs were available, though very expensive. They glowed, rather than shined. In 1980, I bought a pack of 50 once, for a light chaser project. They cost quite a bit. I never did complete that project and that pack is still around somewhere. Then came green LEDs and suddenly the technology was interesting. Blue were first announced in a Dutch magazine called Electra. TVs screens couldn't be that far behind.

[@henrybass4248]

I remember LED numerical readout display on hand calculators back in the 1970's!

[@johnr6168]

Yes, and on watches where a button had to be pressed to make the display light for a few seconds.

[@mikeavison5383]

The first kid in my school that had one... you read 4 digits then you had to press a button to read the next 4 - that is how expensive they were then!

[@tookitogo]

The normal abbreviation for cathode is K, not C. Yes, you might have seen the latter, but it's not the norm.

[@ElectricPointOfficial]

Very Nice

[@NityanandaHazarika]

Happy ! Such a resourceful channel has got life.

[@leberkassemmel]

LED 101: High Current = Bang!

[@neilfrith7864]

thanx brorher its shed yet more light on things we take for granted.no pun intended

[@davycooper1021]

best tutorials and explanations yet keep them coming.....

[@ethanmye-rs]

Make sure to explain how LEDs have a non - linear IV curve in the resistance video. Maybe a section on bandgap, doping etc?

[@mattallen7776]

OMG!!! Best videos I’ve ever seen regarding this subject. So informative, comprehendable, and easy to understand, I even took notes!!! Thank you so much for these!! Subscribing!!

[@lumabi25]

I remember putting a super bright white LED across a 9V battery once. Had I done it these days it wouldn't really matter, but I did it in 2000 when they cost a few bucks a piece.

[@Tercho45]

Thanks, please do more basic tutorials.

[@proyectosledar]

excellent video!!! like always xD thanks. saludos

[@jeronimomurruni]

Hi Gastón :)

[@denisaradu312]

Proyectos LED

[@PhaniChakravarthi]

Happy that Afrotechmods is Active on youtube again! \m/

[@Iowarail]

glad to see you back at it, thanks.

[@muxallopeniot9194]

Great video! Short and straight to the point. I thought the 9V battery trick was interesting.

[@phillipdonnelly6430]

I love the flattened edge. So from above it looks like a C and the flat side is the Cathode, And the long wire is the Anode.

[@theultimatehunt]

You are a genius and make this so easy to underse

[@perceptivecrow4408]

Seriously awesome tutorial. Exceptional content for such a short video. Just subscribed.

[@missveiled7095]

Easy and uncomplicated to understand. Thanks!

[@rr900c]

A simple and clear explanation. genius 👍👍👍👍👍😊

[@demoinja3695]

awesome video as always ! for me i usually know the cathode from the anode is by the metal area inside the plastic the cathode is bigger we usually say "the flag side is the cathode" sorry for my bad english

[@rchrdschmidt]

Great basic knowledge on LED'S ,

[@FarSeeker8]

There are Three ways to tell the cathode from the anode: the two you mention and looking inside the clear plastic: the *Cup-shaped* side is the *Cathode* side. C = Cathode

[@ponymoore6140]

Excellent practical demo

[@SOCOLVN]

YES!!!! You are back.!!!

[@veranet99]

I like how you explain and illustrate the topics. Subscribed!

[@Midztoyz]

I will eagerly awaiting the next video installment. I'm very interested in making some simple LED system and it's power supply.

[@scottmarshall1414]

Nice! The electric current (flow of electrons) actually comes from the minus (-) and goes towards the plus (+) but most of the time that's not very important.

[@beanapprentice1687]

Conventional current (which is used in electrical engineering) flows from positive to negative.

[@shiftygirl6434]

Yup, electrons don't like hanging out together in big crowds for too long, too many negative vibes

[@maor1993]

welcome back afro!

[@howardmifflin5439]

I'm not sure what LED me here, but I really enjoyed the video!

[@allenhyman5003]

This is a great video, I learned so much. Thanks.

[@lmsubman243]

BeSt presentation ever. No fidgeting fingers, No hem/haw or senseless drone..No.. off topic chitter chatter. Just that FaCTS !

[@tonyd1149]

Thank you for making and posting this video. God Bless you.

[@sushimamba4281]

I love the cat meme 'What the heck am I doing?" lol

[@lynzcan0n_]

WHAT THE HECK IM DOING ??? Cat your writing....

[@sushimamba4281]

@@lynzcan0n_ AND using a calculator at the same time!

[@jetblackstar]

I've said it before, a hearty welcome back! :)

[@alaautotonics4403]

finally back, Great video

[@klauspetersen8593]

Simply awesome videos on electronics. Really well explained and easy to understand.

[@johncherry108]

There's some good information here, but I think you should post the information about limiting the current with resistors as soon as possible. Sure, the LEDs don't cost much, and could be regarded as expendable, but I've worked in semiconductor manufacturing and I hate to see perfectly good components die for no reason.

[@jimolsen8632]

Nicely done. Great examples, Thumbs Up.

[@bcarm16]

Excellent video. Very straight forward.

[@UnLikeU]

I want to say thanks for making this simple to understand. I know ZERO about LED's accept I'm thinking of cutting some circles in my trolling motor for night use where I can know which direction the head of the unit is facing at night because nobody was smart enough to include that on $3k+ items. I can handle the holes but don't know how much power I need to run to them as my boat has 12Volts and 800 Cranking Amps. LOL... Quite sure that will blow the tiny bulbs. LOL.