Are 10mm/5mm bulbs some type of standard?

[chilly]

My latest build calls for "10mm led bulbs" in the front and "5mm led bulbs" rear. (it's a vanquish Phoenix).

Is this something standard? I'm new to anything that's not just "slap some Chinese light bar on your capra" and if I search "10mm led bulb" on amazon it's a bit overwhelming.

Anyone have any tips or recommendations? I don't want to get fancy with a big expensive vanquish light kit if possible... I have RX switches, open channels, and would like to keep it simple - and 6v if possible since that's what my cheapo dig/od servos run at. Brighter is better of course.

[tigris99]

This is the shape you want if your going to make yourself. I have 5mm in this brand, solid leds (my inner LED nerd located ones a bit brighter)

Problem is if your overwhelmed looking for these you may want to buy a pre wired kit cause you have to wire these/use resistors based on bec output to match led voltage with bec output voltage. I make all my own lights but I have experience dealing with way more sophisticated led systems than these. They are simple to make if your good with a soldering iron though.

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[Gula]

Ebay has what you need. I've bought most my 3,5,10mm less on there from a Chinese vendor. Never spent more than $5 for 100 leds

[tigris99]

Originally Posted by Gula

Ebay has what you need. I've bought most my 3,5,10mm less on there from a Chinese vendor. Never spent more than $5 for 100 leds

I'll spend the extra dollar or 2 and not be waiting a month.

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[Greatscott]

Originally Posted by Gula

Ebay has what you need. I've bought most my 3,5,10mm less on there from a Chinese vendor. Never spent more than $5 for 100 leds

I tend to go the other way on this.

I use Common Sense RC LEDs in my builds. They are not cheap, at about $1 a LED for 3mm, and about $2 for 10mm. They come prewired with a load resistor, have a wide voltage range and are very reliable. You order them direct from their website.

https://www.commonsenserc.com/index....6pbv0o3cdbnd56

[tigris99]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

I tend to go the other way on this.



I use Common Sense RC LEDs in my builds. They are not cheap, at about $1 a LED for 3mm, and about $2 for 10mm. They come prewired with a load resistor, have a wide voltage range and are very reliable. You order them direct from their website.



https://www.commonsenserc.com/index....6pbv0o3cdbnd56

All you have to do is buy the ones off Amazon prewired rated for 12v. That's all that website is selling. But their is a catch. If you're not running near 12v they aren't all that bright. It does are a difference.

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[ferp420]

10mm leds wow thats kinda big for a led

[Greatscott]

Originally Posted by tigris99

All you have to do is buy the ones off Amazon prewired rated for 12v. That's all that website is selling. But their is a catch. If you're not running near 12v they aren't all that bright. It does are a difference.

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I have done this, and I have found their quality to be all over the place. I bought a batch of prewired off Amazon and about a third of them had the resistor wired opposite of the rest. Not a big deal, but having to check polarity on each LED before wiring it in is annoying.

Voltage equals brightness, this is electrics 101, but I normally run at ~7VDC out of the BEC, and is happy with the brightness.

The short and the long of it is giving the OP options and our experience, and he can make a choice as to what is best for his build.

[tigris99]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

The short and the long of it is giving the OP options and our experience, and he can make a choice as to what is best for his build.

This exactly. Get him all our experiences so he can figure out what works best for him.



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[chilly]

Interesting, so it seems like it is a standard size or shape. And as I search around it almost seems like they are 3 V across-the-board for the bulb itself. And any variation in what you buy is just based on how they’re configured with a resistor to get them to an overall voltage.

So I wouldn’t be able to find a bulb That size and shape that ran truly at 6 V and maybe would be brighter than these bulbs running three?

Nice to see they’re super cheap though easy to get a couple and play around.


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[Greatscott]

Originally Posted by chilly

Interesting...

So I wouldn’t be able to find a bulb That size and shape that ran truly at 6 V and maybe would be brighter than these bulbs running three?

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THAT is one of the big problems with getting LEDs off of E-Bay or Amazon. The bulk of them are 3VDC; this is also true of a prewired LED car kit that comes with its own controller. This isn't necessary bad if you plan to have you LEDs have their own power supply, but a really pain in the butt if you want to run everything off of your rig's BEC.

Banging this drum again... This is way I like Common Sense RC's LEDs, they have a 4 - 12VDC range, and throw out good light at normally RC BEC voltages. Their 10mm offerings are linked below.

https://www.commonsenserc.com/produc...oducts_id=6010

[tigris99]

Originally Posted by chilly

Interesting, so it seems like it is a standard size or shape. And as I search around it almost seems like they are 3 V across-the-board for the bulb itself. And any variation in what you buy is just based on how they’re configured with a resistor to get them to an overall voltage.

So I wouldn’t be able to find a bulb That size and shape that ran truly at 6 V and maybe would be brighter than these bulbs running three?

Nice to see they’re super cheap though easy to get a couple and play around.


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That style led you'll never find running 6v. They are 3V LED standard accross the board. Actually most LEDs out there for any purpose (what we use are the most basic because they don't need cooling) are between 2 and 3.5V. Always a resistor in between.

That said, if your BEC is set at 6V, you can run 2 in series (only the 5 and 10mm white, 3mm colored are 2-2.5V) without a resistor. But gotta look up wiring in series (using Google for pics is much easier than trying to explain it here). If you run at 7.4v you can run 3 in series with no resistor.

Want to direct wire to battery, 2S is minimum 3 leds in series, 3S is 4 in series.

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[heyok]

I wrote this a while back. You might find it helpful:
How to wire LEDs

Cheers,
Al

[chilly]

Originally Posted by tigris99

That style led you'll never find running 6v. They are 3V LED standard accross the board. ....
That said, if your BEC is set at 6V, you can run 2 in series (only the 5 and 10mm white, 3mm colored are 2-2.5V) without a resistor.

That's a great idea! I do understand the basic electronics, was more about this question - what is the native V of the bulb. 2 in series I don't even need to figure out the amp draw... think I'm going to try this. I've managed to wire up quadcopter flight controllers - they looked like hell, but they worked - so I don't enjoy soldering, but can manage.

I put a whole slew of LED's in an RV (1:1 real life lol) and remember what a quest that was - so many 'bulb' or 'element' sizes and voltages and which is brighter etc. They were more expensive though - this should be easy. The rears on my Phoenix has red film over the lights, so I can probably just do the standard white 3v and see how they look.

Appreciate all the info everyone... good thread for reference @heyok.