LED Project

Community Projects
1

Greetings Programs!

So, yes another LED project needing assistance :oops: I tried doing a search but did not find any answer to my question.

First of all, I would like to point out that I am new to electronics and recently got a Sparkfun Redboard (Arduino) and breadboard in an attempt to try to make my own projects.

With that said, I am ultimately trying to make a LED sequencer for a costume. Its relatively simple (well it should be right?), I am hoping to run 4 LED’s, blinking insequence so that at any point only 2 LED’s will be on. With that said, I was hoping to use the Super Bright LED’s for this (COM-10023) project but for some reason they arent as bright as I had hoped they would be. I am running them off the 5v output on the Redboard and only 2 are on. I am also using the 330 Ohm resisters. Regular LED’s appear brighter than the super bright ones :?

Am I doing something wrong? I know with more volts, they will get brighter but I havent found anything to use to boost the power output. I mean is 5v output too low for Superbright LED’s?

Could I use a lower resistor to increase the brightness? (220 - 100 Ohm)

2

Yes, you can lower the resistor value. 150Ohm res. will give you the 20mA current that the LEDs are rated for. Any lower than that, you are risking damage to the LED.

3

Ok, thanks for the tip.

2nd question. Is there a way to bump up the voltage beyond 5v? I thought there might be a step up transformer or such but I have yet to find anything. Im just a little disappointed that I cant get these “super bright” LED’s to be brighter than a regular LED.

4

The higher the voltage, the higher the value of the resistor… Not going to accomplish anything. “Super Bright” is like an infomercial saying “Satisfaction Guaranteed!” But seriously, the “Super Bright” is just a trademark slogan…