LED Resistors??

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Oct 23, 2010 | 11:43 AM
  #1  
Changing out all my interior lights on my 99sc300 but having trouble with the ECT switch.

LED im using is from superbrightleds with the following specs...
Forward Volatage: 3.6V
Forward Current: 20mA Peak: 50mA

Source Voltage 12-14V, right?

According to that I should be using a 470-560ohm resistor.

I went with a 1000 ohm resistor to try and dim the LED a little bit and have now blown 3 of them...

The most I've got is about 3 seconds of use before it blows.

I've read that since LEDs dont have a true positive and negative that it doesnt matter which side you wire the resistor to. Have I been misinformed?
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Oct 23, 2010 | 12:10 PM
  #2  
you certainly have been misinformed. get the correct type of resistors and you won't have any problems. also....the resistors should be soldered to the positive pole on the LED. you should be able to find what you need at radio shack or even a hobby store that specializes in HO scale trains.
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Oct 23, 2010 | 03:47 PM
  #3  
Use this website to help you out. It helped me quite a bit during my LED retro

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
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Oct 25, 2010 | 08:30 AM
  #4  
nice find eyezack87. that site will come in handy for me!
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Oct 26, 2010 | 10:32 AM
  #5  
that is the same link I used. I did have the right resistors, just not enough brain power, lol.

In that goofy "globe" style light, I got confused as to where the resistor needed to be wired and turns out it was not even in the circuit.

Once my brain started working again this was no problem.

Time to tackle the radio and climate controls!
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Oct 26, 2010 | 07:26 PM
  #6  
No worries man, everyone makes mistakes
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