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High Power LED Driver Circuits

By dan (/member/dan/)
in Circuits (/circuits/) > LEDs (/circuits/leds/projects/) 1,623,921 1,726 485 Featured

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By dan (/member/dan/)
MonkeyLectric More by
(http://www.monkeylectric.com) the author:

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About: Dan Goldwater is a co-founder of Instructables. Currently he operates MonkeyLectric where he develops
revolutionary bike lighting products. More About dan » (/member/dan/)

High-power LED's: the future of lighting!

but... how do you use them? where do you get them?

1-watt and 3-watt Power LED's are now widely available in the $3 to $5 range, so i've been
working on a bunch of projects lately that use them. in the process it was bugging me that the
only options anyone talks about for driving the LED's are: (1) a resistor, or (2) a really expensive
electronic gizmo. now that the LED's cost $3, it feels wrong to be paying $20 for the device to
drive them!

 So I Circuits
High Power LED Driver went back
by danto my "Analog Circuits
(/member/dan/) Follow 101" book, and figured out a couple of simple
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driving power LED's that only cost $1 or $2.

This instructable will give you a blow-by-blow of all the different types of circuits for powering
Big LED's, everything from resistors to switching supplies, with some tips on all of them, and of
course will give much detail on my new simple Power LED driver circuits and when/how to use
them (and i've got 3 other instructables so far that use these circuits). Some of this information
ends up being pretty useful for small LED's too

here's my other power-LED instructables (https://www.instructables.com/group/danpowerled),

check those out for other notes & ideas

This article is brought to you by MonkeyLectric (http://www.monkeylectric.com) and the

Monkey Light bike light.

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Step 1: Overview / Parts

There are several common methods out there for powering LED's. Why all the fuss? It boils down
to this:

1) LED's are very sensitive to the voltage used to power them (ie, the current changes a lot with a
small change in voltage)

2) The required voltage changes a bit when the LED is put in hot or cold air, and also depending
on the color of the LED, and manufacturing details.

so there's several common ways that LED's are usually powered, and i'll go over each one in the
following steps.

Parts

This project shows several circuits for driving power LED's. for each of the circuits i've noted at
the relevant step the parts that are needed including part numbers that you can find at
www.digikey.com . in order to avoid much duplicated content this project only discusses
specific circuits and their pros and cons. to learn more about assembly techniques and to find
out LED part numbers and where you can get them (and other topics), please refer to one of my
other power LED projects (https://www.instructables.com/group/danpowerled/).

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Step 2: Power LED Performance Data - Handy Reference Chart

 Below
High Power LED Driver are some
Circuits basic parameters
by dan (/member/dan/) Followof the Luxeon LED's which you will use for many
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the figures from this table in several projects, so here i'm just putting them all in one place that i
can reference easily.

Luxeon 1 and 3 with no current (turn-off-point):

white/blue/green/cyan: 2.4V drop (= "LED forward voltage")

red/orange/amber: 1.8V drop

Luxeon-1 with 300mA current:

white/blue/green/cyan: 3.3V drop (= "LED forward voltage")

red/orange/amber: 2.7V drop

Luxeon-1 with 800mA current (over spec):

all colors: 3.8V drop

Luxeon-3 with 300mA current:

white/blue/green/cyan: 3.3V drop

red/orange/amber: 2.5V drop

Luxeon-3 with 800mA current:

white/blue/green/cyan: 3.8V drop

red/orange/amber: 3.0V drop (note: my tests disagree with spec sheet)

Luxeon-3 with 1200mA current:

red/orange/amber: 3.3V drop (note: my tests disagree with spec sheet)

Typical values for regular "small" LED's with 20mA are:

red/orange/yellow: 2.0 V drop

green/cyan/blue/purple/white: 3.5V drop

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Step 3: Direct Power!

Why not just connect your battery straight to the LED? It seems so simple! What's the problem?
Can I ever do it?

The problem is reliability, consistency & robustness. As mentioned, the current through an LED is
very sensitive to small changes in the voltage across the LED, and also to the ambient
temperature of the LED, and also to the manufacturing variances of the LED. So when you just
connect your LED to a battery you have little idea how much current is going through it. "but so
what, it lit up, didn't it?". ok sure. depending on the battery, you might have way too much
current (led gets very hot and burns out fast), or too little (led is dim). the other problem is that
even if the led is just right when you first connect it, if you take it to a new environment which is
hotter or colder, it will either get dim or too bright and burn out, because the led is very
 temperature
High Power LED Driver sensitive.
Circuits by dan manufacturing
(/member/dan/) Follow variations can also cause variability.

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So maybe you read all that, and you're thinking: "so what!". if so, plow ahead and connect right
to the battery. for some applications it can be the way to go.

- Summary: only use this for hacks, don't expect it to be reliable or consistent, and expect to
burn out some LED's along the way.

- One famous hack that puts this method to outstandingly good use is the LED Throwie
(https://www.instructables.com/id/E9D2ZJ3FG0EP286JEJ/).

Notes:

- if you are using a battery, this method will work best using *small* batteries, because a small
battery acts like it has an internal resistor in it. this is one of the reasons the LED Throwie works
so well.

- if you actually want to do this with a power-LED rather than a 3-cent LED, choose your battery
voltage so that the LED will not be at full power. this is the other reason the LED Throwie works
so well.

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Step 4: The Humble Resistor

This is by far the most widely used method to power LED's. Just connect a resistor in series with
your LED(s).

pros:

- this is the simplest method that works reliably

- only has one part

- costs pennies (actually, less than a penny in quantity)

cons:

- not very efficient. you must tradeoff wasted power against consistent & reliable LED
brightness. if you waste less power in the resistor, you get less consistent LED performance.

- must change resistor to change LED brightness

- if you change power supply or battery voltage significantly, you need to change the resistor
again.

How to do it:

There are a lot of great web pages out there already explaining this method. Typically you want
to figure out:

 - what
High Power LED Driver value
Circuits by of
danresistor to use
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- how to connect your led's in series or parallel

There's two good "LED Calculators" I found that will let you just enter the specs on your LED's
and power supply, and they will design the complete series/parallel circuit and resistors for you!

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz (http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz)

http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng
(http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng)

When using these web calculators, use the Power LED Data Handy Reference Chart
(https://www.instructables.com/id/E95ULHFDLVEXCFBOMI) for the current and voltage
numbers the calculator asks you for.

if you are using the resistor method with power LED's, you'll quickly want to get a lot of cheap
power resistors! here's some cheap ones from digikey: "Yageo SQP500JB" are a 5-watt resistor
series.

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Step 5: $witching Regulators

Switching regulators, aka "DC-to-DC", "buck" or "boost" converters, are the fancy way to power
an LED. they do it all, but they are pricey. what is it they "do" exactly? the switching regulator can
either step-down ("buck") or step-up ("boost") the power supply input voltage to the exact
voltage needed to power the LED's. unlike a resistor it constantly monitors the LED current and
adapts to keep it constant. It does all this with 80-95% power efficiency, no matter how much
the step-down or step-up is.

Pros:

- consistent LED performance for a wide range of LED's and power supply

- high efficiency, usually 80-90% for boost converters and 90-95% for buck converters

- can power LED's from both lower or higher voltage supplies (step-up or step-down)

- some units can adjust LED brightness

- packaged units designed for power-LED's are available & easy to use

Cons:

- complex and expensive: typically about $20 for a packaged unit.

- making your own requires several parts and electrical engineering skillz.

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One off-the-shelf device designed specially for power-led's is the Buckpuck from LED Dynamics.
I used one of these in my power-led headlamp project
(https://www.instructables.com/id/E2K9BN5EDKEUBYRD9V/) and was quite happy with it. these
devices are available from most of the LED web stores.

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Step 6: The New Stuff!! Constant Current Source #1

auto=webp&frame=1&width=1024&height=1024&fit=bounds&md=31a868919f482358986f2dac929fe585)
(https://content instructables com/ORIG/FTF/KKU6/Z2HEWIFNTP5/FTFKKU6Z2HEWIFNTP5 jpg?

lets get to the new stuff!

The first set of circuits are all small variations on a super-simple constant-current source.

Pros:

- consistent LED performance with any power supply and LED's

- costs about $1

- only 4 simple parts to connect

- efficiency can be over 90% (with proper LED and power supply selection)

- can handle LOTS of power, 20 Amps or more no problem.

- low "dropout" - the input voltage can be as little as 0.6 volts higher than the output voltage.

- super-wide operation range: between 3V and 60V input

 Cons:
High Power LED Driver

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- must change a resistor to change LED brightness

- if poorly configured it may waste as much power as the resistor method

- you have to build it yourself (oh wait, that should be a 'pro').

- current limit changes a bit with ambient temperature (may also be a 'pro').

So to sum it up: this circuit works just as well as the step-down switching regulator, the only
difference is that it doesn't guarantee 90% efficiency. on the plus side, it only costs $1.

Simplest version first:

"Low Cost Constant Current Source #1"

This circuit is featured in my simple power-led light

(https://www.instructables.com/id/E0TL4RID3YEWIJMKVI) project.

How does it work?

- Q2 (a power NFET) is used as a variable resistor. Q2 starts out turned on by R1.

- Q1 (a small NPN) is used as an over-current sensing switch, and R3 is the "sense resistor" or "set
resistor" that triggers Q1 when too much current is flowing.

- The main current flow is through the LED's, through Q2, and through R3. When too much
current flows through R3, Q1 will start to turn on, which starts turning off Q2. Turning off Q2
reduces the current through the LED's and R3. So we've created a "feedback loop", which
continuously monitors the LED current and keeps it exactly at the set point at all times.
transistors are clever, huh!

- R1 has high resistance, so that when Q1 starts turning on, it easily overpowers R1.

- The result is that Q2 acts like a resistor, and its resistance is always perfectly set to keep the LED
current correct. Any excess power is burned in Q2. Thus for maximum efficiency, we want to
configure our LED string so that it is close to the power supply voltage. It will work fine if we
don't do this, we'll just waste power. this is really the only downside of this circuit compared to a
step-down switching regulator!

setting the current!

the value of R3 determines the set current.

Calculations:

- LED current is approximately equal to: 0.5 / R3

 - R3 Circuits
High Power LED Driver power:bythe
danpower dissipated
(/member/dan/) by
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value at least 2x the power calculated so the resistor does not get burning hot.

so for 700mA LED current:

R3 = 0.5 / 0.7 = 0.71 ohms. closest standard resistor is 0.75 ohms.

R3 power = 0.25 / 0.71 = 0.35 watts. we'll need at least a 1/2 watt rated resistor.

Parts used:

R1: small (1/4 watt) approximately 100k-ohm resistor (such as: Yageo CFR-25JB series)

R3: large (1 watt+) current set resistor. (a good 2-watt choice is: Panasonic ERX-2SJR series)

Q2: large (TO-220 package) N-channel logic-level FET (such as: Fairchild FQP50N06L)

Q1: small (TO-92 package) NPN transistor (such as: Fairchild 2N5088BU)

Maximum limits:

the only real limit to the current source circuit is imposed by NFET Q2. Q2 limits the circuit in two
ways:

1) power dissipation. Q2 acts as a variable resistor, stepping down the voltage from the power
supply to match the need of the LED's. so Q2 will need a heatsink if there is a high LED current or
if the power source voltage is a lot higher than the LED string voltage. (Q2 power = dropped
volts * LED current). Q2 can only handle 2/3 watt before you need some kind of heatsink. with a
large heatsink, this circuit can handle a LOT of power & current - probably 50 watts and 20 amps
with this exact transistor, but you can just put multiple transistors in parallel for more power.

2) voltage. the "G" pin on Q2 is only rated for 20V, and with this simplest circuit that will limit the
input voltage to 20V (lets say 18V to be safe). if you use a different NFET, make sure to check the
"Vgs" rating.

thermal sensitivity:

the current set-point is somewhat sensitive to temperature. this is because Q1 is the trigger, and
Q1 is thermally sensitive. the part nuber i specified above is one of the least thermally sensitive
NPN's i could find. even so, expect perhaps a 30% reduction in current set point as you go from
-20C to +100C. that may be a desired effect, it could save your Q2 or LED's from overheating.

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Step 7: Constant Current Source Tweaks: #2 and #3

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these slight modifications on circuit #1 address the voltage limitation of the first circuit. we need
to keep the NFET Gate (G pin) below 20V if we want to use a power source greater than 20V. it
turns out we also want to do this so we can interface this circuit with a microcontroller or
computer.

in circuit #2, i added R2, while in #3 i replaced R2 with Z1, a zener diode.

circuit #3 is the best one, but i included #2 since it's a quick hack if you don't have the right value
of zener diode.

we want to set the G-pin voltage to about 5 volts - use a 4.7 or 5.1 volt zener diode (such as:
1N4732A or 1N4733A) - any lower and Q2 won't be able to turn all the way on, any higher and it
won't work with most microcontrollers. if your input voltage is below 10V, switch R1 for a 22k-
ohm resistor, the zener diode doesn't work unless there is 10uA going through it.

after this modification, the circuit will handle 60V with the parts listed, and you can find a
higher-voltage Q2 easily if needed.

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Step 8: A Little Micro Makes All the Difference

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Now what? connect to a micro-controller, PWM or a computer!

now you've got a fully digital controlled high-power LED light.

the micro-controller's output pins are only rated for 5.5V usually, that's why the zener diode is
important.

if your micro-controller is 3.3V or less, you need to use circuit #4, and set your micro-controller's
output pin to be "open collector" - which allows the micro to pull down the pin, but lets the R1
resistor pull it up to 5V which is needed to fully turn on Q2.

if your micro is 5V, then you can use the simpler circuit #5, doing away with Z1, and set the
micro's output pin to be normal pull-up/pull-down mode - the 5V micro can turn on Q2 just fine
by itself.

now that you've got a PWM or micro connected, how do you make a digital light control? to
change the brightness of your light, you "PWM" it: you blink it on and off rapidly (200 Hz is a
good speed), and change the ratio of on-time to off-time.

this can be done with just a few lines of code in a micro-controller. to do it using just a '555' chip,
try this circuit (http://www.cpemma.co.uk/555pwm.html). to use that circuit get rid of M1, D3
and R2, and their Q1 is our Q2.

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Step 9: Another Dimming Method

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auto=webp&frame=1&width=1024&height=1024&fit=bounds&md=41e0aaadc66dad295fb21b00aac4e2f5)
(https://content instructables com/ORIG/FK2/WYZT/YEHEWOF30GK/FK2WYZTYEHEWOF30GK jpg?

ok, so maybe you don't want to use a microcontroller? here's another simple modification on
"circuit #1"

the simplest way to dim the LED's is to change the current set-point. so we'll change R3!

shown below, i added R4 an a switch in parallel with R3. so with the switch open, the current is
set by R3, with the switch closed, the current is set by the new value of R3 in parallel with R4 -
more current. so now we've got "high power" and "low power" - perfect for a flashlight.

perhaps you'd like to put a variable-resistor dial for R3? unfortunately, they don't make them in
such a low resistance value, so we need something a bit more complicated to do that.

(see circuit #1 for how to choose the component values)

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Step 10: The Analog Adjustable Driver

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auto=webp&frame=1&width=1024&height=1024&fit=bounds&md=20257a1c0c6f7bafbe4984fe6ec03ef5)
(https://content instructables com/ORIG/FXF/H3K6/D55EWIFO8K4/FXFH3K6D55EWIFO8K4 jpg?

This circuit lets you have an adjustable-brightness, but without using a microcontroller. It's fully
analog! it costs a little more - about $2 or $2.50 total - i hope you won't mind.

The main difference is that the NFET is replaced with a voltage regulator. the voltage regulator
steps-down the input voltage much like the NFET did, but it is designed so that its output
voltage is set by the ratio between two resistors (R2+R4, and R1).

The current-limit circuit works the same way as before, in this case it reduces the resistance
across R2, lowering the output of the voltage regulator.

This circuit lets you set the voltage on the LED's to any value using a dial or slider, but it also
limits the LED current as before so you can't turn the dial past the safe point.

I used this circuit in my RGB Color Controlled Room/Spot lighting

(https://www.instructables.com/id/EAZWM7SMGAEWIFNUSK/) project.

please see the above project for part numbers and resistor value selection.

this circuit can operate with an input voltage from 5V to 28V, and up to 5 amps current (with a
heatsink on the regulator)

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 Step 11:Follow
An *even Simpler* Current Source
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auto=webp&frame=1&width=1024&height=1024&fit=bounds&md=ef290792b70aede270f76c5bb447288f)
(https://content instructables com/ORIG/F4T/SEEK/KOGEWP86JGC/F4TSEEKKOGEWP86JGC jpg?

ok, so it turns out there's an even simpler way to make a constant-current source. the reason i
didn't put it first is that it has at least one significant drawback too.

This one doesn't use an NFET or NPN transistor, it just has a single Voltage Regulator.

Compared to the previous "simple current source" using two transistors, this circuit has:

- even fewer parts.

- much higher "dropout" of 2.4V, which will significantly reduce efficiency when powering only 1
LED. if you're powering a string of 5 LED's, perhaps not such a big deal.

- no change in current set-point when temperature changes

- less current capacity (5 amps - still enough for a lot of LED's)

how to use it:

resistor R3 sets the current. the formula is: LED current in amps = 1.25 / R3

so for a current of 550mA, set R3 to 2.2 ohms

you'll need a power resistor usually, R3 power in watts = 1.56 / R3

this circuit also has the drawback that the only way to use it with a micro-controller or PWM is to
 turnCircuits
the entire
by danthing on and offFollow
with a power FET.

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and the only way to change the LED brightness is to change R3, so refer to the earlier schematic
for "circuit #5" which shows adding a low/high power switch in.

regulator pinout:

ADJ = pin 1

OUT = pin 2

IN = pin 3

parts:

regulator: either LD1585CV or LM1084IT-ADJ

capacitor: 10u to 100u capacitor, 6.3 volt or greater (such as: Panasonic ECA-1VHG470)

resistor: a 2-watt resistor minimum (such as: Panasonic ERX-2J series)

you can build this with pretty much any linear voltage regulator, the two listed have a good
general performance and price. the classic "LM317" is cheap, but the dropout is even higher - 3.5
volts total in this mode. there are now a lot of surface mount regulators with ultra-low dropouts
for low current use, if you need to power 1 LED from a battery these can be worth looking into.

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Step 12: Haha! There's an Even Easier Way!

I'm embarrassed to say i did not think of this method myself, i learned of it when i disassembled
a flashlight that had a high brightnesss LED inside it.

--------------

Put a PTC resistor (aka a "PTC resettable fuse") in series with your LED.  wow.  doesn't get easier
than that.

--------------

ok.  Although simple, this method has some drawbacks:

- Your driving voltage can only be slightly higher than the LED "on" voltage.  This is because
PTC fuses are not designed for getting rid of a lot of heat so you need to keep the dropped
voltage across the PTC fairly low.  you can glue your ptc to a metal plate to help a bit.

- You won't be able to drive your LED at its maximum power.  PTC fuses do not have a very
accurate "trip" current.  Typically they vary by a factor of 2 from the rated trip point.  So, if you
have a LED that needs 500mA, and you get a PTC rated at 500mA, you will end up with
anywhere from 500mA to 1000mA - not safe for the LED.  The only safe choice of PTC is a bit
under-rated.  Get the 250mA PTC, then your worst case is 500mA which the LED can handle.

-----------------

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Example:

For a single LED rated about 3.4V and 500mA.  Connect in series with a PTC rated about 250 mA.
 Driving voltage should be about 4.0V.

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485 Comments

(/member/MerlinMakes/) MerlinMakes (/member/MerlinMakes/) Question

9 months ago
on Step 11

Answer / Upvote
i'm interested in the linear voltage regulator circuit, as it seems incredibly cheap and straight forward.
but i have a few questions. the big one is what do i have to change if i'm not powering high power
leds? i am trying to make a uv led curing box for my resin 3d prints, and i have a ton of 20mA led's. if i
want to run 32 of them for even coverage, i'd have 640mA's of draw? (presumably wired in series?)

i've never worked with led's before and honestly i'm kind of lost.

what do you use to POWER these circuits? if i wanted to rig a phone charger to the device, or use a
raspberry pi's plug, would that provide enough juice?
1
answer
F

(/member/1939PT81/) 1939PT81 (/member/1939PT81/) 8 months ago

on Step 6

Reply / Upvote
Being a NERD, just for clarity, the MOSFET is an N channel which means the arrow should go into the
Gate. I had some IRFP250N fets so I'm going to build this driving a 30 watt LED. Biggest problem I see
is getting the low value correct current sense resistor to carry the current.

(/member/wasteoinc/) wasteoinc (/member/wasteoinc/) 1 year ago

Reply / Upvote
That's one of the best articles I read about constant current drivers. All solution I was finding through
the web in one post . Thank you very much for the time and effort :)))

(/member/LazyH/) LazyH (/member/LazyH/) Tip

1 year ago
Reply / Upvote
Good instructable but you seem to have the wrong impression of why LEDs need to be constant
current. when you turn on an LED, regardless of how little power you use or how much heat sinking
you have it WILL heat up, the more an LED heats up the more it conducts power, the more power it
conducts the hotter it gets, the hotter it gets the more power it conducts the more power it conducts the
hotter it gets... This continues with the LED getting hotter and hotter and conducting more and more
 power that even without "moving to a new environment" your LED will eventually fail and burn out
High Power LED Driver Circuits by dan (/member/dan/) Follow Download
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regardless of how precisely you've set the voltage. LEDs can never be driven by constant voltage w I Made It

unless you want them to die an early death.

(/member/marcusPaulus/) marcusPaulus (/member/marcusPaulus/) Question

1 year ago
on Step 5

Answer / Upvote
hi,

I have realized the circuit High Power Led Circuit #1 from Dan Goldwater, but with 7x Cree XML Leds
and with BC337 as Q1 and FQPF2N80 as Q2 but it doesn'work?? i expected 0.5V on R3 and i
obtained 0.250V with R3=0.81ohms. I would like to obtain a current source around 700mA. My Power
Supply is 21V. Could you help me? I don't understand

(https://content.instructables.com/ORIG/FPW/TQA0/K6KLW4XR/FPWTQA0K6KLW4XR.jpg?
(https://content.instructables.com/ORIG/FKA/133F/K6KLW549/FKA133FK6KLW549.png?
auto=webp&fit=bounds&frame=1) auto=webp&fit=bounds&frame=1)

(/member/yvesraoul0/) yvesraoul0 (/member/yvesraoul0/) Tip

1 year ago
Reply / Upvote
Bonsoir , je m'appel RAOUL , je suis maquettiste et modéliste . je suis en trains de faire un simulateur
de vol .

Depuis un ans je suis dessus pour un avion Beechcraft 200 . les choses se complique maintenant car
j'arrive au stade des éléments de contrôle. je cherche un système de metre des alarmes indépendant
pour 30 petites cases des 30 mm x 10 mm avec un contrôle des voyants d'alarme par 1 bouton
poussoir générale et Control par ranger par potentiometre poussoir ( LEDS de 3mm en 12 volts ) merci
d'avance

(https://content.instructables.com/ORIG/F0H/MCH6/K5BJOWYH/F0HMCH6K5BJOWYH.jpg?
(https://content.instructables.com/ORIG/FEJ/65WC/K5BJOWYI/FEJ65WCK5BJOWYI.jpg?
auto=webp&fit=bounds&frame=1) auto=webp&fit=bounds&frame=1)
High Power LED Driver Circuits by dan (/member/dan/) Follow Download
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w I Made It

(https://content.instructables.com/ORIG/F76/F506/K5BJOWYJ/F76F506K5BJOWYJ.jpg?
auto=webp&fit=bounds&frame=1)

shanemcgovern55 (/member/shanemcgovern55/)
(/member/shanemcgovern55/)
Question
2 years ago
Answer / Upvote
Can you recommend a similar transistor to this one - Fairchild 2N5088BU as it is obsolete at Digi-
Keys.

Thanks

(/member/ZongaM/) ZongaM (/member/ZongaM/) 2 years ago

Reply / Upvote
In the constant current led driver circuit you do state that in step 6, the input voltage varies from 3 volts
right up to 60 volts. Is the input voltage dc or ac?

(/member/Mody+Ashraf/) Mody Ashraf (/member/Mody+Ashraf/) Question

2 years ago

Answer / Upvote
i need help to make led medical light source

(/member/neemab1/) neemab1 (/member/neemab1/) 2 years ago

on Introduction

Reply / Upvote
Hi Dan,

I need your help in lighting up a UV-C LED of 280nm wavelength,

Its specifications are:

IF: 100mA

IP: 275-285nm

PO:10mW

VF: 5-7 V

(/member/SairoopD/) SairoopD (/member/SairoopD/) 3 years ago

Reply / Upvote
Hey Dan,

I want to control (On/Off only) a 12v DC flood light that has an inbuilt constant current LED driver. I
want to achieve it without opening the LED it without messing with the invite circuit. What is a good
approach to do this? Would an nchannel power mosfet do the trick? Thanks in advance!

(/member/AmiB6/) AmiB6 (/member/AmiB6/) Question

3 years ago
on Introduction

Answer / Upvote
 Hi Dan,

High Power LED Driver Circuits by dan (/member/dan/) Follow Download

what about the AMC7135 constant current - it seems perfect to 1W LED (2 for 3W LED)?
Favorite
w I Made It

(/member/AmiB6/) AmiB6 (/member/AmiB6/) Question

3 years ago
Answer / Upvote
Dan, thanks for this clear and simple explanation.

Where can I find PTC resistor( #12) working paramters 4V and 200mA? I see only higher voltage
values.

(/member/Titanwebber/) Titanwebber (/member/Titanwebber/) Question

3 years ago

Answer / Upvote
Hi I'd like to make a high power led strobe. Something around 1500 lumens out put, can I use one of
your designs to accomplish this task.

(/member/tholt19611932/) tholt19611932 (/member/tholt19611932/) Question

3 years ago
on Step 1

Answer / Upvote
What do you hook the DC too on an LED driver

(/member/AnttoL/) AnttoL (/member/AnttoL/) Tip

3 years ago
on Step 5
Reply / Upvote
Concerning regulators, there are some very tiny regulators available online (on eBay and
Banggood.com (http://banggood.com) for an example) that can be purchased in single quantities for a
dollar or two, or in bulk (for an example, 3pcs for $0.99 or 10pcs forUS $3.66, as priced on ebay). I've
tested them, and they work great. They are adjustable, but cannot provide much current so don't push
them. Here's a link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-Mini-360-DC-Buck-Converter-Step-Down-Module-
4-75V-23V-to-1V-17V-LM2596/192427028415?hash=item2ccd8b6fbf:g:h~cAAOSwQwZaXvrY
(https://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-Mini-360-DC-Buck-Converter-Step-Down-Module-4-75V-23V-to-1V-
17V-LM2596/192427028415?hash=item2ccd8b6fbf:g:h~cAAOSwQwZaXvrY)

(/member/Chon+Fai+GeorgeL/) Chon Fai GeorgeL (/member/Chon+Fai+GeorgeL/) 4 years ago

Reply / Upvote
I was looking the for a constant current LED driver circuit the other day so that I can understand the
principle of LED driver. I had so many bad experience with the existing LED driver in the market, and I
want to know why.
I am very fresh into electronics, please excuse my ignorance if I say something fundamentally wrong.
I did some study with the circuit and the part list. At first I thought the Q1 (N channel enhancement
mode MOSFET) is supposed to operate at ohmic region which was regulated by the Q2 (NPN type
BJT); however, I looked at the MOSFET data sheet, and it seems the resistance fluctuation due to the
current flow from drain to source of the MOSFET is not sufficient make a difference (I used a 60V DC
supply, with 300mA LED load as design parameter and size everything accordingly).
After some calculation, it seems that the only thing the MOSFET does is to stop the circuit with
excessive current flow (on the order of 10 to 50 times the running current), and does almost nothing to
the small current fluctuation.
Once again, I am very new to the electronic circuit design, and maybe I've interpret the datasheet
incorrectly. I am hopefully I can get some insight from the experts like you concerning a little more
detail about the calculation and the detail parts selection.
Thank you.

(/member/FredW55/) FredW55 (/member/FredW55/) 4 years ago

Reply / Upvote
 for option # 5 in step 8, can someone give me a components list/breakdown? I am having some
High Power LED Driver Circuits by dan (/member/dan/) Follow Download

trouble following along with the full instructible and don't want to order parts I don't need.
Favorite
w I Made It

Also, is there a tutuorial here anywhere that informs how to calculate the ratings needed for each of
the components based on voltage/amperage of the LEDs being driven?

(/member/lantieau3/) lantieau3 (/member/lantieau3/) 4 years ago

Reply / Upvote
Will the second Micro Controlled circuit still work if the NPN transistor is replaced with an NFET?

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