The Flash LED in my cell phone

[garnold]

I'm working on a fun RC car project and need some really bright LED's. I own a Samsung S3 which has a super bright LED in it for the flash. Could I please ask a few questions about this here?

1. How do I find out which LED is in this phone without having to open it up?
2. Can I run these type of LED's for a long time like a flash light? I'm one of the zillion people that have downloaded the "flash light" apps to use on your phone but can these LED's really run for long lengths of time?

The reason I need these LED's is because I'm creating headlights for the truck so I can record some funky video of it driving at night. Yeah I know, kind of silly but it's fun! I have very limited room for lights so I felt that these would give me the most bang for my space.

Thank you

[Chuckz]

I'm guessing that you would google "Samsung S3 teardown" to see what is inside and I'm guessing your phone uses a surface mount LED.

Can an LED run for a length of time? Surface mount products are smaller and don't deal with heat as well as through the hole parts. They are so cheap that you can buy them for probably .15 cents a piece in bulk that you can replace them if they go bad.

You can also buy LED mounts which might make it easier to replace LEDs.

I remember my neighbor said that components have a danger of drying out so you don't want to keep them in the sun.

[adafruit_support_bill]

There are LEDs specifically designed for use as camera flash. These can take a very high current for a very short period of time. To run any LED continuously at high current, you need a heat-sink.