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LEDs and Structure Lighting
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Using DC current, the LED will only light if the polarity is right. I think the long leg is the anode or positive. It doesn't hurt the LED if its wired backwards as long as the voltage is low. You can wire a larger resistor for sevral LED's however if an Led blows the others will get brighter as each receives more electricity. I think it is best to use a resistor for each LED. The resistor sizing determines the brightness of the LED. I have a variable resistor(adjustable) that I wire to a LED then use it to get the brightness I want. Then I measure the resistance set on the varable resistor with my multimeter. I match up a fixed resistor to this reading. It doesn't have to match exactly. I have used 2 resistors soldered end to end to the LED to get the right brightness. You simply add the resistance values together to get the total resistance. I hope this will help. I personally prefer LEDs because they give off less heat and last longer if the resisor is sized right.
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