This is a pack of 30 automatic colour changing/cycling/flashing water clear 5mm LEDs. Taking photos of these leds is all but impossible (even harder than normal leds), so really you have to see them with your eyes to appreciate them, my composited photo is a very poor representation!
They work just like a normal led, you apply 20mA through from anode to cathode, but then it gets special, instead of just one colour, these flash and cycle through many different colours. The "sequence" is fairly quick from fast cross-fade, medium cross-fade and then rapid flashes of different colours, before going back to the beginning.
They do start out "in sync", but seem (subjectively) to drift apart for a nice random appearance over time (I guess just down to the inherent variations in frequency etc of the tiny chip inside the LED).
I don’t have a maximum recommended current, but I would shoot for about 20 mA maximum (most LEDs are happy around that), and do your calculations on about a 3v forward voltage (a coin cell has no trouble driving them directly).
Remember in the general case that you must use a current limiting resistor, no resistor = instantly destroyed LED in most cases.
These are bright LEDs. Would be great for making your own DIY Christmas Decorations, I'm not much of a christmassy person, but a bunch of them really are quite mesmerising just on my breadboard, turn the lights out and your room is a glow with rapidly changing colours.
A customer asks "what resistor do I need for a 5v supply".
Resistance = (5 - 3) / 0.02
Resistance = 100 Ohms
And for a 9V:
( 9 - 3 ) / 0.02
And for a 12V:
(12 - 3) / 0.02
You get the idea!
All of our products are shipped from Christchurch, New Zealand using CourierPost for NZ, and Airmail for international.
