mb944 Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Hi there!I don't know much about electronics so this question might seem very silly but here it goes,I have wired 16 leds to a Breadboarded DOUT module, without the resistors, because the leds work happily on 5vThey are ultra violet and i'm worried I damage my eyes (really bright little things!!)I'm not looking forward to taking it all appart and starting over with the resistors, so...CAN I PUT THE RESISTOR BETWEEN GROUND PIN OF MODULE AND COMMON GROUND OF LEDS?I tried on a single led and it dimmed ok, will this cause any damage to my ics?thanks in advance,Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moebius Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Hi there!Hi ;)I don't know much about electronics so this question might seem very silly but here it goes,I have wired 16 leds to a Breadboarded DOUT module, without the resistors, because the leds work happily on 5vBut might not work for long. Don't do it! It's not the voltage, but the current, why those resistors are there in the first place.They are ultra violet and i'm worried I damage my eyes (really bright little things!!)Hmm.. I'm not sure if so called UV-leds really have such a wavelength, that would be dangerous for your eyes. I doubt that. I'm not looking forward to taking it all appart and starting over with the resistors, so...CAN I PUT THE RESISTOR BETWEEN GROUND PIN OF MODULE AND COMMON GROUND OF LEDS?Please - use individual resistors for each led. See:http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htmI tried on a single led and it dimmed ok, will this cause any damage to my ics?There is no problem in using current limiting resistor on either side of the led. But one per LED, please ;)Bye, Moebius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mb944 Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Hi!thanks for the info,Another lesson learnt ;)Best regards,Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 They are ultra violet and i'm worried I damage my eyes (really bright little things!!)I accidentally looked into a laser diode for a 2000 metre fibre optic link a week or two ago... only looked at it for a few hundred milliseconds and had a big green spot in my vision for the whole day :-\ I talked to the tech and he reckons that any light that is bright enough can burn your eyes so long as you look at it long enough (duh)... How long you have to look to do damage depends on the light. Keep in mind that UV light is what gives you sunburn, so I'm sure it's capable of doing damage. It might be nice and trendy to have pretty UV LEDs but I think it's a bad idea to be honest. Just use red, theyre cheaper :)While I was typing this I thought to myself "OK this is all good in theory, how about you go google it and see if your theory that it is dangerous is substanciated"[move][glow=red,2,300]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T USE UV LED'S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T USE UV LED'S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/glow][/move]After reading the following links I would HIGHLY recommend removing the UV LED's and replacing them. It may be a costly mistake but its better than winding up blind!!!!!!!!Read up, and learn:http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/leduv.htmhttp://www.labour.gov.sk.ca/safety/radiation/ultraviolet/health-effects.htmhttp://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/TechBase/bltled_BlacklightLED.htmlhttp://www.blue-room.org.uk/lofiversion/index.php/t4624.htmlSome random quotes that are given to avoid lawsuits:NOTE: SHORT WAVE ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT CAN CAUSE BLINDNESS OR SEVERE EYE DAMAGE. NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT SHORT WAVE UV LIGHT!Please Note that these lights ARE NOT TOYS!UV Lights during operation radiate intense UV lightDo not look directly into the UV light during operation of the device.This can be harmful to the eyes even for brief period due to intense UV light.If viewing the UV light is necessary, use UV filtered glasses to avoid eye damage.Be aware that the visible light emitted when in operation, is less than 1% of the UV light being radiated. Most of the light generated by the device is invisible to the human eye but can easily cause damage to the eye.CAUTION: Intense UV light can cause eye damage if viewed directly. Keep away from children.In addition, some LEDs are very bright. Visible light LEDs are unlikely to cause eye damage, because people tend to shield themselves from painfully bright light. But black light LEDs are both powerful and nearly invisible; people might might have a spotlight aiming at them and not know it. blah bla ramble ramble.....Basically from all the pages I've read (including but not limited to those above), it does depend on the wavelength of your particular model of LED as to _what_ they damage, as opposed to _whether_ they damage... Lower wavelengths burn the back of your eye, higher wavelengths burn the lens.I think that it is important to learn two things here. Firstly, UV LED's are bad f*cking news for your eyes.Secondly, just because everyone else is doing it and it is really trendy and "cool", doesn't make it a good idea. This applies to everything in life. Humans are more like sheep than sheep sometimes.......Let's face it, there's very little practical value of using UV LED's over red, so what other reason would there be? Fashion. I say go buy some Versace jeans and be done with it ;DPS No offense intended here, I wanted purple/blue LEDs for my seq too..... Now I know better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moebius Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 Ah,Thank you for clearing this up. 8) Fortunately there are still some cool leds out of the UVa range.. and eyes to see 'em!Bye, Moebius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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