What LED do i buy?

[HercTNT]

I replaced the led in the front of my nes with a blue one. A friend of mine suggested that i get a bicolor led. The purpose being that when i switch between overclocked and normal mode the led changes color. I just spent two hours looking for an appropriate led..................and i'm really confused now. I know the internal voltage of the nes is 5v. finding a 5v bicolor led is practically impossible. Can anyone shed light on what would be a good led for the project and the appropriate wiring? i want to tie the led into my 2 pole switch so it changes color when i switch modes. I have been to digikey, ebay, amazon, and many other places and have just not found something suitable yet.

[wallydawg]

OT but I think it would be cool if you could have the LED blink a different color pertaining to what color is flashing on your tv screen

[XCVG]

You have to use a resistor to drop the voltage. :facepalm

[Life of Brian]

I recommend a Google search for "wiring an LED". You will learn a lot.

[HercTNT]

yes...i aware of how to wire a led. i have already replaced the led in my nintendo as i already stated. i also am aware of the resistor, XCVG, as i have another thread, that you have commented in, talking putting leds in my nes controller and hooking up a resistor. remember the one with the rumble motors? however their seems to be some 3,000,000 different types of leds and after 3 hours of googling last night i just could not come up with one that seemed to fit what i needed. So the question is for those of you who would know better than me, and are in a position to help.............how would i use a bicolor led in my overclock circuit, so that it changes color when i switch between clock speeds. what voltage goes out to the led at the front of the nes? i doubt its 5 volts. maybe 3.3? Also after googling i have learned that thier are two types of bicolor leds, one with two leads and the color changes on voltage amount (making the resistor idea no good) or one with three leads (this is what i think i need). anyone who has already done this could send me in the right direction so i dont burn anything up.

[eurddrue]

Brian set me straight, there is no such thing as a 5v LED. You would need a bicolor led that operates around 3.3v and you would need a resistor. I haven't ever done this, but I have a couple bicolor LEDs floating around my workstation, the kind with three leads.

[HercTNT]

right. digikey has them, amazon has them, ebay has them. some are as high as 4.5 volt for blue and green output. i have found a rgb led with 4 leads. one common anode and 3 lead for the three colors. i'm certain thats the way to go i just have to figure out how to wire it up so it switches colors when i switch clock speeds. i have already attempted this on a nintendo. i put together a small pcb board with the clock crystal, the led, a resistor for the led etc. the idea was when i switched to overclock the red led would come on, and shut off when i turned off the overclock. instead the led stayed on all the time. not sure what i did wrong. i would like to change that setup, so the led is in place of the one in the front of the nes, and changed color as i switch clocks. i'm 90% thier just having trouble with the details.

[XCVG]

The best way to do it is to use a switch with an extra pole and use the extra pole to switch the LED.

[footinmouth]

try this http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... 14&next=50

[nevermind1534]

Brian set me straight, there is no such thing as a 5v LED. You would need a bicolor led that operates around 3.3v and you would need a resistor. I haven't ever done this, but I have a couple bicolor LEDs floating around my workstation, the kind with three leads.

There are 5V LEDs. I got two at radio shack (they're even cheaper than the 3V ones), but it's way cheaper to buy 3V ones with resistors elsewhere.

[eurddrue]

Brian set me straight, there is no such thing as a 5v LED. You would need a bicolor led that operates around 3.3v and you would need a resistor. I haven't ever done this, but I have a couple bicolor LEDs floating around my workstation, the kind with three leads.

There are 5V LEDs. I got two at radio shack (they're even cheaper than the 3V ones), but it's way cheaper to buy 3V ones with resistors elsewhere.

Yeah, and there are some german ones, but to explain it easily, there are no 5v LEDs

[HercTNT]

footinmouth, that was exactly what i was looking for, thank you. thats a huge start. now i will just need to figure out the wiring. XCVG, i already stated i tried to wire in the led to a 2 pole switch and it did not work as i must have done something wrong. are you actually reading my comments? telling me it should work does not help me get it working. All i want to know if anyone else has tried this before, and might have a diagram on how to wire it up. if no one does, i will just have to keep going till i figure it out for myself. if i do then maybe i can post what i find so others can do it to.

[footinmouth]

footinmouth, that was exactly what i was looking for, thank you. thats a huge start. now i will just need to figure out the wiring. XCVG, i already stated i tried to wire in the led to a 2 pole switch and it did not work as i must have done something wrong. are you actually reading my comments? telling me it should work does not help me get it working. All i want to know if anyone else has tried this before, and might have a diagram on how to wire it up. if no one does, i will just have to keep going till i figure it out for myself. if i do then maybe i can post what i find so others can do it to.

just apply 3-5 volts or so and it should work, read the item description. I used it to led mod my n64 and it worked just fine.

[footinmouth]

footinmouth, that was exactly what i was looking for, thank you. thats a huge start. now i will just need to figure out the wiring. XCVG, i already stated i tried to wire in the led to a 2 pole switch and it did not work as i must have done something wrong. are you actually reading my comments? telling me it should work does not help me get it working. All i want to know if anyone else has tried this before, and might have a diagram on how to wire it up. if no one does, i will just have to keep going till i figure it out for myself. if i do then maybe i can post what i find so others can do it to.

2 pole switch? try a double pole, qwait im confuzzled, i know about electronics but I know nothing about switches,

[limpport]

I'm going to try and explain this, but I will make a picture and post it to help explain.

First, the supplies you will need:

--1 SPDT switch. Found at Radioshack.
--(desired amound) Bi-colored LED's (http://www.lc-led.com/Products/department/27" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has bi and tri's listed). The LED must have 3 legs coming from it.
--different resistors depending on the LED's consuption

So first off, you will want to take a look at the bottom of the SPDT switch. It should look like this (numbered for ease):

[1] [2]
Position A, 1+3 and 2+4 make a connection
[3] [4]
Position B, 3+5 and 4+6 make a connection
[5] [6]

So lets say you use 4 red and green LED, and you want green during normal play, and red when overclocked. Connect the 4 resistors for the green LED's to #5 on the switch, and connect the 4 resistors for the red LED's to #1. Connect the +5v from the NES to #3.

Next, connect the legs that will light up the green part, and attach one leg to one resistor coming from #5. Do the same with the red legs on #1. Now connect the ground/common leg (the middle leg) from all 4 led's to the ground in the NES.

Lastly, connect the two wires that need to be connected to a switch to #2 and #4. It does not matter which wire goes to which switch.

If I wrote this correctly, and you wired it up right, when the switch is in Position B, the green part of the LED's get power, while the overclock wires get no connection. When in Position A, the power get's moved to the red led part, and the overclock wires connect.