ItDoesntMatter59 t1_j7mws9q wrote on February 7, 2023 at 11:15 PM

Reply to comment by positivecynik in TIL the first Blue LED wasn't commercially available until 1989 and bright blue LEDs weren't available until 1993. by j-merc23

You are supposed to use a current limiting resistor. LEDS dont last long with excess current which you will get without one

positivecynik t1_j7n09g3 wrote on February 7, 2023 at 11:40 PM

I was 13 lol

shalafi71 t1_j7ntsek wrote on February 8, 2023 at 3:20 AM

I was arguing with a (much smarter) friend about resistors one day. He insisted that if you got the voltage right, you didn't need one. "Dude, LEDs pull amps until they burn, sometimes instantly. You have to either get stupid lucky with current and voltage or you have to use a resistor."

To this day he doesn't believe me. "Dude, take a $1 store light apart, there's a resistor soldered onto the hot lead. Every. Time. Why would China put unneeded parts in there?!"