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vamphunterx
11-20-2006, 10:59 PM
Has anyone ever used one of these LED bargraph display things in their hilts?

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G8942
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062560&cp

Anyone know how you wire one of those things? Is it just simple wiring of the prongs to pos & neg or what?
Jedi Ranger
11-20-2006, 11:37 PM
I'm pretty sure you need an IC chip to control those, telling them how and what to "display".
vamphunterx
11-21-2006, 12:54 AM
What if I just want all of the LEDs to light up with everything else when the power is on, no fancy power level indicating or stuff like that. I do remember the Radio Shack one saying that you need a 20 pin dip socket.
Jedi Ranger
11-21-2006, 05:06 AM
I could very well be wrong, but I think you could get away with just connecting all the wires (per side), and connecting a single wire per side to (+) and (-).

BUT, I'm not an electrical expert, so I may be wrong. It's just a thought.
LordArgyll
11-21-2006, 06:43 AM
It's just a series of individual LEDs stuck together in a plastic or aluminum bar. Each LED segment can be wired up with a power source and resistor as if it was a single LED.

The ICs are just used to control the sequence they're lit in.
vamphunterx
11-21-2006, 02:21 PM
So pretty much just simple pos & neg wiring, awesome! I really wanna use one of those in my next hilt. Maybe in the future I can learn more about electronics and get the right parts and have the LEDs doing the Knight Rider thing.

What kinda resistor would I need for one of these things

Would this setup work?
http://i9.tinypic.com/3ziq3hh.jpg

Or one of these?
Diagram 1
http://i15.tinypic.com/2rggtjb.jpg
Diagram 2
http://i7.tinypic.com/330bw5k.jpg
Diagram 3
http://i15.tinypic.com/2ynglj6.jpg
james3
11-21-2006, 02:35 PM
You have flat called Jester out!

I think somewhere along the way we discussed these before.

anywho. the kitt thing would be fun and the resitor would be based on the voltage and what the leds are rated for.
Corbin_Das
01-01-2007, 06:39 PM
Hi all
Since LEDs are more current sensitive than voltage sensitive, your second diagram where they're all hooked up in series would probably be a better way to go.

Corbin Das