Connecting a single LED (from a strip) to 1 or 2, 3V batteries

I’d like to know how to connect a single LED (from a strip) to a battery. Is it as straight-forward as cutting the light out and making the connections???

It depends on the LED and the battery.

A single blue or white LEDs is fine with a 3V coin cell because the coin cell can’t supply enough current to burn out the LED; its internal resistance is sufficient.

If you want another color, you will probably be safe anyway, but I don’t actually know. :relaxed:

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A picture of the strip would be helpful.

Excellent…thanks!

image

Chances are very good that a coin cell will just work with those LEDs. However, due to the limited available current from the coin cell, be aware that it might not be full brightness, and the brightness might depend on which type of coin cell you choose.

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You can cut across the strip where the pads are and then connect + and - 3V to those pads.
Ensure you get the polarity correct.
As @mcdanlj suggested you can use a 3V coin battery or you can use a higher voltage supply with a dropping resistor in series on one side.
The resistor must be the correct size to limit the current to the LED or you will fry it.
Provide a link to the LED’s manufacturer and let us know if you want to use a supply other than 3V. With more info we can tell you what resistor to use.

Yep, it works! Thanks!

I cut out one of the lights and connected it to a 3V battery and it works! It’s probably time to share what I have going. I plan to make a golf ball mark with this set-up. Now that I know that I can power a single light with a 3V battery, I can make the rest of the device.

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Note that if you use a higher-current-capacity battery than a coin cell, you will need a resistor. For example, if you used two AA batteries in series, you would probably burn out the LED quickly. It’s the fact that the coin cell has high internal resistance that keeps it from burning out the LED.

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