Sourcing RGB LEDs

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hiwrac
 
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Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:21 am

Sourcing RGB LEDs

Post by hiwrac »

Now that the circuit design of my first kit is complete it is time to design for manufacturing.

I am having trouble finding a good source for tri-color RGB leds.

I am looking for a variety of types including:

Through-hole diffuse such as these,
through-hole clear such as these, as well as SMT versions of both .

Searching digikey and mouser seems to yield only very expensive versions ($1.50+), in fact adafruit seems to have the best prices I can find. I am looking to purchase a 200-500 at a time (possibly more for SMT versions). Can anyone recommend a source for these?

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richms
 
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Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:05 am

Re: Sourcing RGB LEDs

Post by richms »

Watch out, cheap is often BANNED as I have found getting from the cheap vendors on ebay, and they want you to send it back to get a paypal refund which costs more than you paid for the things so its just not worth it etc. I am sure that many of the vendors are selling good ones, but I have had too many obvious rejects from there to bother again, particually if you find it only after soldering it into something.

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george_graves
 
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Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:10 am

Re: Sourcing RGB LEDs

Post by george_graves »

The LED brightnesses listed on eBay auctions are very optimistic. And by "very optimistic", I mean "Freakin' out of their mind" :shock:

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richms
 
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Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:05 am

Re: Sourcing RGB LEDs

Post by richms »

Never got the obsession with mCd as a measurement when the beams are so narrow, yet misinformed that you can only use them as a spotlight, but only one that projects a lopsided oval with a dark patch at one end.

Oh, and dont count on any consistency in a bag of 200 blue LEDs about what blue they are, what angle they are, or if they work or not.

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