Monday, February 21, 2011

DRIVING MANY LEDS CIRCUIT

The 555 is capable of sinking and sourcing up to 200mA, but it gets very hot when doing this on a 12v supply. The following circuit shows the maximum number of white LEDs that can be realistically driven from a 555 and we have limited the total current to about 130mA as each LED is designed to pass about 17mA to 22mA maximum. A white LED drops a characteristic 3.2v to 3.6v and this means only 3 LEDs can be placed in series.
Driving%20WhiteLEDS

BI-POLAR LED DRIVER CIRCUIT

 

Some 2-leaded LEDs produce red and green. These are called Bi-polar LEDs. This circuit alternately flashes a red/green bi-polar LED:

BiPolarLED-Driver