Buying LEDs - Where cheap?

Sorry forgot to say am looking for white (light) leds in particular of

Regards

Pete

I get white SMD LEDs from Mouser ( mouser.com ) - I _don't_ know if they ship to the UK...

However, I'm not sure they have anything at all in a "low brightness" LED... most all white LEDs I've seen are high intensity.

I use them for installing top of the cab twin strobes in N scale DCC locomotives.

hi Joe,

That's one of the ideas I had along with lighting for buildings and such.

I was just about to repost when I read your message but I have found a couple of sources for 5mm & 3mm white LEDs after much searching. About the cheapest 5mm I have found works out at 21p each which includes the resistor & par postage. On eBay there is a guy selling 3mm at 50p or so each.

I've ordered some 5mm for inside buildings but I'm going to see how far I can file one down in size and shape before it stops working for an experiment..

Most LEDs now are high brightness. I guess I will have to run them at a lower voltage and can also paint out some of the surface to reduce emission or etch the casing to produce a more diffused light.

One idea that crossed my mind was to use fibre optic fillement which gives the added advantage of needing only one LED to transfer light to numerous points.. (remember those old 1960s dinky cars with the clear plastic rods that transfered light from the roof to the lamps?) That would also reduce light output.

Pete

RS? After a brief flip through the Maplin catalogue recently, the LED range available through RS seems more extensive (e.g. it includes those yellow alphanumeric LED clusters that make good theatre route indicators in 'O' gauge).

David E. Belcher

For bog-standard coloured LEDs, Greenweld

For white LEDs, the last lot I got was from

Adrian

Cheers Adrian,

This one is a useful link for their 3mm stuff as they are a tad cheaper than others I have seen.

Pete

Rapid Electronics are cheaper than Maplin but you can't order online - you need to buy their catalogue and order from that (catalogue only valid for 6 months).

In general, white and blue LEDs are more expensive than ordinary ones.

Peter Cheap Train Tickets:

Rapid have recently upgraded their site, full on-line ordering is now available, and works well. Keith

And you did not get either in those multipacks you used to buy! They had not been invented.

Keith

Make friends in the hobby. Visit Garratt photos for the big steam lovers.

Have looked at the rapid site it does not mention LEDs.

Incidently I can well remember LEDs in mid 1940s. also a form of transister.

.................................Leslie

They are there. MENU: \ semiconductors \ Optoelectronics & Indicators \ LEDs....

I'm not sure when the first LEDs were developed but it is often the case that electronics have existed for a long time prior to them being widely use or known about.

Pete

But having visited the RS site after I posted that, it seems they don't do them any more. Maybe it was the Farnell electronics catalogue I was thinking of? Either that or Roger Murray has bought up all UK stocks of yellow LED displays in one fell swoop!

David E. Belcher

Thats OK David. I have had some white 5mm shipped in from Germany that cost 21p each including the resistor and P&P. I ordered on Thursday evening and they were here Monday morning.

As to 3mm. There is a seller on eBay who ships from Taiwan I believe and they seem cheaper than most directly from the UK.

I wish I had seen this before I had ordered my 5mm as I could of got them from him also. If you get the bid right they cost around 14p+ each per 100.

At these prices it might be worth my time buying bulk and selling the surplus at cost.

As I said in the original post it seems that the prices marketed at modellers is well over the top...

Pete

Hello Pete did some research and a man called John Logie Baird the inventor of television used LEDs. back in the early 1930s. to make the flicker which disected and reconstructed the image that was sent.

Funny old world. ..............................Leslie

I get most of my components from Rapid Electronics, in Colchester, Essex.

They may have a Website, but I haven't searched for it.

David.