procyon
2025-05-20 12:50:12
As someone who wouldn't otherwise not know any better about brightness, I would have given these a higher rating. However, having purchased the 6v 5mm red LEDs from the same vendor, which are amazing, they really make the flaws of these 9v LEDs obvious. These 9v pull roughly 18 mA with my auto-adjustable power supply. The 6v LEDs pull the same amount, and are noticably brighter than these! Nothing I could do to these 9v would get them to the default 6v brightness, though I got close. It might be that these 9v are just smaller diodes than the 6v pack. There are no real specs anywhere with the packaging, so hard to know.I was able to overvoltage the 9v at 18 mA to 16 volts pulling 38 mA before the resistor started to generate heat that was uncomfortable to the touch. Even at this setting, the light was dimmer than the 6mm LED at 0.018 mA. The 6mm could be pushed to 12v at 0.045 mA before generating enough heat to be uncomfortable to the touch, and it become even brighter. Wondering if the 300 ohm resistor was holding the chip back, I stripped away the protective tape and hooked it up at the base of the LED. I was able to achieve the brightest light at .223 volts and roughly 50 to 60 mA, but it still did not beat the 6v at 18 mA. I did appreciate that, without the resistor in place, I was able to increase the amperage to try and burn the LED out (about 110 mA), and it did dim to black, but once I lowered the amperage back, it came back on, so it seems that these chips have built in protection.These LEDs are not garbage, however. The wiring is solid. Every single one worked, and they all share the same light intensity. I would never torture an LED like this and install it that way but, after this stress test that lasted for over and hour, I compared the brightness to the non-tortured LEDs and they were the same brightness as the originals, so these are consistent, hence the 3 stars. But, given their lack of brightness compared to the 6v, and their inability to get to that brightness no matter what, they lose 2 stars. I don't see a compelling reason to even buy these with the better, 6v LEDs sold by the same vendor.
John
2025-04-01 13:02:36
These LEDs are each pre-wired with the correct resistor to support 9-volt use and have about a 5" wire with pre-tinned ends, ready for soldering. Just add a standard 9-volt battery snap and you're in business!Every so often, I help my wife "light up" some craft-sorts of projects. I had been using AA battery packs with proper resistors and such, but they take up a lot of space. With these LEDs, a 9 volt battery is nowhere near as large as an AA pack, so you can hide the battery in a number of ways (depending on the project).Going with these LEDs is a no-brainer.