LED types for simple indicator lights

[rtarbell]

What size/type/package LEDs can be suggested for a front panel display (LEDs for simple functions like power indication, warning lights, etc.)?

I'm trying to get something a little smaller than the standard 3mm (because I want the lights subtle, not really noticeable), but I don't know what all of the packages are in the listing on digikey (gull-wing, rectangular, T-3/4, etc.).

 

[wrenchone]

If you want really tiny, you can drill a hole in the front of an LED and epoxy in a plastic fiber optic strand. Coupling efficiency may not be too great, but you'll get a tiny light.

 

[cpemma]

I'm trying to get something a little smaller than the standard 3mm...

There are some wire-ended usually known as "lighthouse" LEDs, flat-topped and come in 2mm, others 1.8mm with a rounded front around.

"Gull-wing" are one of the surface-mount packages, going that route the smallest LEDs easily available (AFAIK) are a 0.2mm lens in a 1.5mm x 1.0mm x 0.5mm package, but maybe harder to panel-mount.

As said, you can drill a shallow hole in a 3mm LED and glue in some fibre-optic strand, make your own mini-lighthouse. Superglue maybe better than poxy resin.

 

[AndrewT]

Hi,
another thread showed machined LED lenses of various shapes.

You could machine a normal 3mm LED to any sensible size between 1mm and 3mm using his method.

 

[lgreen]

Hi,
another thread showed machined LED lenses of various shapes.

You could machine a normal 3mm LED to any sensible size between 1mm and 3mm using his method.

Yes, try taking a file to a normal size LED, surprisingly you can remove a lot of the outer glass/plastic to make it have a smaller point before wrecking the LED.

 

[cpemma]

Another way to make the light more subtle is to really reduce the LED forward current; think 0.2mA rather than 20mA.