Driving "OWire" LEDs (COM-21209)

Hi, I have a question about the [OWire LEDs.

The [example schematic shows driving the LEDs from a 5V supply without a current limiting resistor.

However, in the “Features” tab of the [product page, it says “Forward Voltage: 3.2VDC”.

Also, in the [datasheet on page 9, it says “Please only use 14mA(Lamp LED) of forward current to drive LEDs whether one LED or multiple LEDs are being used.”

With a forward voltage of 3.2VDC, and a current rating of 14mA, that would suggest that I should use a 130Ω resistor when driving the LED from a 5V supply.

So, should I be using a current-limiting resistor as implied by the datasheet, or should I just drive it with the full 5V as shown in the example schematic?](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/4/6/6/f/4/0-Wire_RGB_LED_Datasheet.pdf)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/21209)](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/7/9/e/1/3/OWire_Example.pdf)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/21209)

I think you have the correct idea…We didn’t have trouble running them straight to 5V, but it couldn’t hurt to have current limiting resistors. If so, it’s probably best to have one for each LED, since they’re in parallel

Good luck!