The Modeler's Forum

The Mainline => Electrical => Topic started by: deemery on July 15, 2025, 06:09:00 PM

Title: (MicroLumina) current limiters?
Post by: deemery on July 15, 2025, 06:09:00 PM
I can't find my MicroLumina Lighting Tips that talks about how to use MicroLumina current limiters.  Does anyone have a quick tutorial on those?  I do remember that each LED takes 3v and the current limiter takes something like 2v, so you can light three 3v LED in a circuit with a current limiter and 12v input.  But I don't quite remember how those are wired, the 3 LEDs in series with the current limiter?  Or is the current limiter in parallel?   And if you have to align the current limiter a certain way, which pin gets + vs -?

Thanks in advance!

dave
Title: Re: (MicroLumina) current limiters?
Post by: jbvb on July 15, 2025, 08:57:32 PM
Any LEDs used with a current limiter must be wired in series with the current limiter. If you need to know the polarity of everything, ask: I have both MicroLumina instructions and those that came with some I got from Digi-Key.
Title: Re: (MicroLumina) current limiters?
Post by: deemery on July 16, 2025, 08:12:33 AM
So that's simple:  CL and 3 LEDs in series on a single 12v circuit...   ;D

dave
Title: Re: (MicroLumina) current limiters?
Post by: jbvb on July 16, 2025, 10:33:28 AM
With incandescent bulbs, there's a valid argument against putting lamps in series: requires trial & error to identify the one that burned out. But much less important with long-lived LEDs.