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Super Bright Colored LED Lights - Customer Questions

Frequently Asked Questions by Oznium Customers

I want to use the single leds (red) to make my own tail lights. I'll be using between 30-40 leds together for the tail light, and the same amount for the brake light. How many registers would I need for that many leds together? - by Treavor (United States)
We have prewired leds that would make it much easier. These are super bright: https://www.oznium.com/led-bolts-prewired-leds/prewired-superflux
How do I know which MM will fit my 2008 Scion TC? - by Megan (Riverside, CA)
In a single word: measure.

LEDs are available in 3mm, 5mm, and 10mm.
This measurement refers to the diameter of the LED.
If you aren't familiar with what a millimeter is, you can simply Google "5mm to inches", and it will tell you "0.19685 inch".

So once you measure the place you want to put the LED, you can have a better idea of what size will fit.
I plan to replace the bulbs in my dash cluster which is 194's. What size bulb do I need to order? - by Ray (Alabama)
The 5mm would fit.
Or we also offer this 194 bulb which may work for you:
https://www.oznium.com/accent-lighting/194
How Do I make angel eyes dual filament? Do I need a resistor to make that work? I want to use them for my tail light (both for normal driving light and brake light) I also bought a dual filament 1157 bulb holder/adapter, if by using that is it just plug and play? - by Quan (Las Vegas)
I'm not sure if you are trying to use the super bright led or the angel eyes. It would be difficult to make the angel eyes dual filament, you could wire them separately into your tail lights and brake lights or use a dimmer to adjust the intensity for the driving lights. Most 1157 or other bulbs are made for plug and play.
I want to connect 6-9 5mm LEDs and 3 3mm LEDs to a 5v source. Best connection recommendation? - by Ryan (Denver, CO)
Should work with wiring in parallel,with resistors to your power source.
Does it matter whether I feed AC or DC power to the LEDs? If I'm supplying 12V AC power do I use the resistor listed in your calculator or is that specific to DC power? Do I need to add any other components? - by Davis (Orange, CA)
DC only, you need only the resistor.
can you use butt splices to connect the leds to a resistor? - by Bryan (Southwest Ranches, F)
Solder would be better to connect the resistors to LEDs
What size resistor is needed for running 5mm led using 16 volt hornby power supply
Please try the LED Resistor Calculator
What combination would you recommend to make a powerfut 12 spot light?
Thanks - by Rick (Jupiter, FL 33458)
10. Or 1 Spot light (https://www.oznium.com/led-flood-and-spot-lights/high-intensity-led-spotlight)
Would I be ok wiring about 90 blue L.E.D.'s in my car? They would be on two separate circuits with about 34 on one and the rest on another; both lines are wired with 3 amp fuses and blue L.E.D. rocker switches.
Yep, you could put thousands if you want. There's really no limit.
If you connect say three or four 5mm led in series and you still want to protect them can you install say a resistor of 1 watt 570 ohm to protect them. please let me know auggie - by Auggie (whittier, cal)
For more info on resistors required use the calculator at http://alan-parekh.com/led_resistor_calculator.html It all depends on the led and the voltage supplied
Can i wire these on a snowmobile with 12 volts AC?!? - by David (Bay City, MI)
Yes
What size resistor do i need for a 5mm LED? - by Anthony (Pittsburgh)
470 ohm: Blue, Green, White, U.V. (Blacklight) & Pink
560 ohm: Red, Yellow & Orange
Your Orange LED is rated at 2000 mcd and Yellow is rated at 8000. Does that mean Yellow really is four times brighter? I want to build turn signals for my motorcycle and need them visible. - by Jae
Yes, yellow is brighter then orange.
I want to hook up a spdt switch one side to a 10mm red led and one side to a 10mm green led need to know what size resistor to use for each so that I can purchase and use a 110 vac to 12vdc adaptor for central power for both? - by Peter (Wilton CT)
greens require a 470 ohm resistor and reds require a 560 ohm for operation at 12 volts/20ma per led
can you show me a picture of a white 5mm led? i want to use them in my headlights so i am trying to avoid anything with a bluish tint. thank you - by john
Our white loose LEDs do have a bluish tint to them. The best alternate option is to purchase Warm White pre-wired LEDs https://www.oznium.com/led-bolts-prewired-leds/prewired-leds They will have more of a slight amber tint to them.
If i buy a few of the UV led's, will i be able to use one of those invisible magic markers with it??? So that you can only see the writing when the lights are on.
As long as the Invisible Magic Markers are made to be seen in UV, then yes.
I used some bare LEDs in my intercooler walls under the hood that lasted only a few days, 4 blues hooked in series. It could have been heat (what I think it is), lack of resistors, or water ( I used heat shrink. Is there some kind of enclosed, still small and single, LED units I can get that will be less vulnerable?
I recommend this 20 inch long LED bar which is waterproof, very durable, and ready to go on 12v.

If you must use a single LED, then this one would would well: Prewired Superflux 4 Chip LEDs
Is there a way to protect voltage spikes on small LEDs? I currently use a resistor in line with the LED and have been for years with no problems. I am now installing these in buses and for some reason the LEDs are burning out. Is there another form of protection that can be put in-line with each LED? I am thinking that there is welding or something going on, but nobody wants to admit it. Would a diode in-line with the resistor help regulate the voltage? - by Ben (Newport Beach, CA)
I do not know of any such device. I'm not sure if diode in-line would work, sorry.
Hi again!

You mention being able to cut the top of the LED's to increase the spread of the light. Since you don't sell 2mm or smaller LED's, just how much of the epoxy covering can you file/grind down before it's considered dangerous to the LED? (ie rendered useless) - by Lenita (Dallas, TX)
I haven't ever measured it, so I can't tell you exactly. But probably a couple millimeters. Please try it and see what happens :)
If I wanted to wire these to my speakers to pulse with the power, do I need the resistor? - by Taylor (texas)
You shouldn't wire them directly to your speakers. You need some sort of music interface. We sell one here.
What is the appropriate sized drill bit to get a snug fit for a single 5mm LED? - by steve (patterson)
3/16
Are resistors directional, or can they be hooked up either way? - by Dustin (Boise, ID)
Resistors are not directional. They can be hooked up any way.
Do you have any warm white leds? I see you have them pre-wired but I don't need them pre-wired. - by Adam
No, just regular white.

We sell them as singles also, not just pre-wired.
Does it matter how many LED's i put on one fuse like 1-100 doesn't matter? how big of fuse do i use for like 5 LED's - by Dillon (vancouver washington)
It really does not matter how many LED's you put on one fuse. A small fuse (2.25 amp) will be fine for 5 LED's.
hey im stickin these things in home made angel eyes. do i need a resistor?+ im doing it in a series so where would i put it,and does each led need a resistor?? and should i use a ATC fuse holder since i used it on other stuff i bought from here? im hooking it to a 12 volt. for a motorcycle ~thanks - by MiKe (Highland Park, IL)
In order for them to last the longest, we recommend doing parallel with a resistor on each one. You should use a fuse on everything
Why are there no Warm White LED's for sale individually? I see them in the pre-wired section...
There's no good reason. We just haven't seen a big demand for "loose" warm white LEDs.
Do Warm White LED's look like the regular halogen bulbs in the cars? - by Nilesh (Redmond, WA)
Yea, I suppose you could say that.
Do i have to use a resistor on the red LEDS that i bought? - by JEFF (C-TOWN)
It depends how you're hooking them up. What voltage? Are you running them in series? There's a lot of factors.
If I put some of these in my subwoofer box, would it affect the lighting at all with the bass? - by Chad (Tofield, Canada)
It should not
I am planning on having about 25 green 5mm LED's in my truck.
Do I have to put a resistor on each LED? or how many could I put on a single resistor? Do the resistors effect the brightness of the LED's? I am going to be hooking these up to a switch, what size fuse do you recommend? - by Chad (Tofield, Canada)
I would recommend using a resistor on each LED. It will help your LED's last longer and glow to their full potential!

The resistor would effect the brightness of the LED. If none are used, your LED's will burn out.

A 2 amp fuse will be fine.
Does the LED come with wires? - by Weston
The LED comes with 2 metal leads. You can hook up your own wires to it, or solder it to a circuit board. If you aren't interested in attaching wires to the LED, you should check out our pre-wired LEDs!
I noticed that the red max voltage is a lot less then the white or green, can you run them off the same power source, I want to run 2 red, 2 green, and about 10 white 3mm LED's, what power source would I need? - by William
You can run them off the same power source, but you'll need to use appropriate resistors.
is it possible to wire your LEDs into a subwoofer, so that it somewhat gets brighter or flashes when the BASS booms? - by Cody (oklahoma)
I would suggest that you use our Music & Flash Interface.
Does this site have a L.E.D. that is multi-colored and changes on demand? - by Alex (Mount Carmel, Pennsy)
No sorry, we do not have single RGB LEDs available at this time.
Do you have LEDs available in 1mm, 2mm, or 3mm diameter? I need very small LEDs! - by kyle (canada)
The smallest size that we have available are 3mm.
Would it be possible to place the LEDs into the wheel wells of a car? If so would the effect be worth the time and effort?
You could do it, but it would take a lot of time to get a good look. Try using our Flexible LED strips instead, or for more control and patterns , look at the Wheel Well Kits.
I am trying to find a way to make a UV LED light for fishing at night. Top of the line LED Blacklights are selling for $250.00. Is UV LED the same as blacklights. This is so your floresent fishing line will glow at night.
UV LEDs produce a very similar effect as a fluorescent blacklights. There will be slight differences in wavelengths and how the light spreads, naturally.
How many 5MM LEDs of each of the following colors can be connected in a SERIES circuit (so as to not require a resistor in series with the circuit) and run from a 12 volt DC source? (a 12 volt automotive battery is actually 13.6 volts, but is considered to be 12 volts)
Red
Yellow
Blue
White - by David (Warrior, Alabama)
Simple math!

https://www.oznium.com/loose-component-leds/led#tech

Typical Voltages:
Red - 2.3
Yellow - 2.3
Blue - 3.5
White - 3.5

Factor in the highest voltage spike autos usually put out, which is 14.4 volts. That gives you....

Red - 7 LEDs
Yellow - 7 LEDs
Blue - 5 LEDs
White - 5 LEDs.

However, we encourage the use of resistors when installing our LEDs, to help protect them against voltage changes and produce optimum brightness!
i want to put these in my tc cup holders will i just have an led connected to a resistor and to a 12v power source and they will come on auto and off auto depending on if the car is on or off?
and if i follow the diagram and use a switch
will the lights still be on after the car is off if i left the switch on? - by Tuan (houston)
The LEDs would come on with the car's ignition if you found a wire that does the same thing - like the wire that powers your radio, since it comes on when the key is in ACC mode.

If you followed that diagram, yes the LEDs would be on when the switch is turned on, regardless of when the car is on or off.
How could I make the leads stronger? I've been working with some 5mm led's and a couple of the leads fell off, is there anything I can do to make them stronger?
There's really not much you can do to make them stronger. Moving the leads is the biggest cause of them falling off, so obviously avoid doing that. You can also make them as short as possible, which will limit their movement, thus lessening the chance of breakage.
I plan on putting 12 LEDs in my car in various places. I am wondering if and how many can you hook up to the music interface box you sell here on the site? I tried to hook 4 sets (eight total) cathods to one box and melted it. - by Steven (Alvin, Texas)
Probably about 75 LEDs on the music interface.

Do not hook 4 cathode sets to it. The max is 2 cathode sets...
What kind of wire do you connect to the + & -?
Usually, an 18 to 24 gauge stranded copper wire is best. We've got some 18 gauge wire.
I am planning on using some 5mm white leds on a rc airplane. What I need to know is can you wire 20 leds in parallel and still run them on 4.8-5 volts, and still get the same brightness on all 20? - by Richard (Americus Ga.)
Yes, that is possible.
How many LEDs should I use and how they will be connected if I want to use the power outlet in the house (120v AC)?
How many you use is up to you.
Connect them to an AC adapter that gives out 12 volts.
Does the size mater (3mm/5mm/10mm)? It looks like you've got the brightness done by color and size is not mentioned. Is there any difference there? It seems like the bigger they are the brighter they'd be, but I want to be sure before spending extra money when the 5mm ones will do fine.
The brightness is only slightly different. The 10mm LEDs appear dimmer because the light output is spread more than the 3 or 5mm. 5mm is our most popular size.
My power source is 12v, how many green LEDs can I run from this? Would it require a resistor?
The voltage has nothing to do with the number of LEDs you can run.

The amperage will tell you the number of LEDs you can run.

Each LED draws 20 mA of power.

So... Suppose your source can handle 1 amp of power. That is 1000 mA / 20 mA = 50 LEDs

If you run the LEDs in parallel, yes they need resistors.

If you run 4 green LEDs in series, no they do not need resistors.
I want to install a super bright LED inside the cannon of a RC tank.
My power source is 7.2 volts 2000MaH battery. The leads will connect to the circuit board which will reduce the current to 3.5 V. Do I need a resistor on the LED leads? - by Joe (Bromont, Quebec Cana)
It depends. You say the output voltage is 3.5V. Now, just figure out the maximum voltage of the LEDs you are using.

If the output voltage is greater than the max LED voltage: no.
If the output voltage is less than the max LED voltage: yes, you need a resistor.
https://www.oznium.com/led-resistor-calculator
I plan on putting these in my doors. When I wire them in a series, can I use 1 resistor for all 4 of them, or do they each need a resistor? - by Randy (Peoria, AZ)
When wiring in series, you can use one resistor in order to slightly lower the voltage to avoid overpowering the LEDs. However when using resistors, I find it easiest to give a resistor to each one, and wire them in parallel.