Are red LED's with clear lenses the same as red LED's with red lenses?

K

kurtis1

Member
Im trying to get together an ungula fuzz build and it calls to use two 3mm red LED's... I have a bunch, but they all have clear lenses, like the plastic they're made out of is clear, not red. But they still show red light when illuminated.

So, are my 3mm red LED's made with clear plastic lenses the same as "3mm red LED's" specified by the build documentation for the Ungula?

Thanks
 
The lens color doesn't matter, at least not the ones I've bought from Tayda. You can check the datasheet (example 1, example 2) for the forward voltage for both and they should be the same. The forward voltage will be listed on the Tayda page under "details" and it should also be on the datasheet.

Something that helped me (begin to) wrap my mind around how vf, current, and resistor value work in regards to an led was this page. Keep in mind that the listed current is the max current, and running it at 20mA would be blinding. Ask me how I know.
 
I'm ordering parts for an Ungula as we speak. I can't help but wonder, why are LEDs used on the inside of this pedal in the D1-D4 spots?

Secondly it makes we wonder, could these LEDs come out of the pedal ( the same way you wire the on/off LED indicator) to add a unique 5 LEDs on top like some kind of a meter / light show/ spectacular LED monster when you kick the pedal on?
 
eric.blimkie said:
I'm ordering parts for an Ungula as we speak. I can't help but wonder, why are LEDs used on the inside of this pedal in the D1-D4 spots?

Secondly it makes we wonder, could these LEDs come out of the pedal ( the same way you wire the on/off LED indicator) to add a unique 5 LEDs on top like some kind of a meter / light show/ spectacular LED monster when you kick the pedal on?
Click to expand...
The LEDs are used as clipping diodes. They do emmit light, but that's not what they're used for here... They cut the signal wave into a square wave and add distortion.

You could drill holes for the and poke them up but they arn't going to be very bright
 
peccary said:
The lens color doesn't matter, at least not the ones I've bought from Tayda. You can check the datasheet (example 1, example 2) for the forward voltage for both and they should be the same. The forward voltage will be listed on the Tayda page under "details" and it should also be on the datasheet.

Something that helped me (begin to) wrap my mind around how vf, current, and resistor value work in regards to an led was this page. Keep in mind that the listed current is the max current, and running it at 20mA would be blinding. Ask me how I know.
Click to expand...
Bear in mind that the Ungula and other distortion pedals run the LEDs at a few mA or less, so the actual Vf in the circuit will be much lower than the datasheet spec. LEDs, Silicon and Germanium diodes all sound different.

Where are you getting your transistors? Good Ge trannies are not easy to come by.
 
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