1,000 Blue LEDs

Product Overview

• 1,000 blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
• Wavelength approximately 470 nm
• 5 mm package with two wire terminals
• Typical forward voltage: approximately 3.2 V
• Current consumption: approximately 20 mA per LED
• Bulk procurement for prototypes and small production runs

Product Description

This set of one thousand blue light-emitting diodes meets the needs of extensive educational projects and designs. With a wavelength of approximately 470 nm, the LEDs emit a pure blue light that is instantly recognizable in optical signaling applications, display elements, and decorative projects.

Each LED requires a power supply of approximately 3.2 V and can handle up to about 20 mA. Typical operation involves using series resistors at 5-V logic levels or at lower voltages with appropriately sized resistors. With their classic 5-mm packages, the LEDs can be mounted on breadboards, pressed into plastic housings, or soldered directly onto circuits.

Flashing circuits for visual feedback of sensor readings, RGB matrix displays for status indicators, indicator panels on robots or control systems, and larger decorative lighting patterns in art installations all benefit from the high volume of LEDs. A single LED consumes little power, but a thousand LEDs require a well-designed power distribution and heat dissipation system for continuous operation.

To drive multiple LEDs in parallel, transistors, Darlington arrays, or programmable logic devices (PLDs) are used to conserve the number of pins on microcontroller boards. The quantity is sufficient for long-term project work, although a failure rate of two to ten percent per circuit should be expected during development.

Safety Note

Reverse polarity will immediately destroy an LED; the longer lead (anode) must be connected to the positive potential. These LEDs are intended exclusively for prototyping, testing, and development purposes. Continuous high current flow causes heat buildup in the LED housing; for intensive applications, cooling measures or pulsed drive are required.

Contents

• 1* 1,000 blue LEDs