How to find out the voltage of a IR led ?

Thread Starter

marcolisi

Joined Nov 18, 2008
20
Hello guys,
I have an old sony nightshot camcorder.

I am planning to get out of it the IR leds that are inside to use for another sony camcorder as external add-on IR light source.

The problem is that I do not know the voltage of the led.
It is an IR led (two leds) , and I do not kow what is the maximum amout of Voltage that they can get without blow up.

Is there any way to find it out ?
Thank you
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
It's more like what current will they take without blowing up.

20mA is likely safe. IR LEDs usually have a pretty low forward voltage.

To make an easy constant current 20mA regulator, connect a 62 Ohm resistor between the OUT and ADJ terminal of an LM317. Connect +6v to +7.5v to the IN terminal. Take the current from the ADJ terminal.

The LM317 will drop about 3v across itself. Most LEDs have a PIV (peak reverse voltage) around 5v above which they will be destroyed, this is why I suggested a maximum of 7.5v. You can get 6v from four alkaline "AA", "C" or "D" batteries in series, or 7.5v from five in series.

If the LED has a flat spot on it's rim, that's the cathode (more negative) side.
If it doesn't have a flat spot, the side with the internal reflector is the cathode; you may need a magnifier to see it.

Image from: http://acept.asu.edu/courses/phs110/expmts/exp13a.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Thread Starter

marcolisi

Joined Nov 18, 2008
20
thank u guys for the unswers.
I will let you know the results as soon as I open the camera and get out of it the leds.

Thank u so much
Marco
 

Thread Starter

marcolisi

Joined Nov 18, 2008
20
Hi guys,
I want share with u the servicemanual of my sony trv-67.

http://rapidshare.com/files/165529881/CCDTR17.pdf

It is a direct download. Just click and download the file.

I am trying to look at the specs relater to the IR light emitter of the camcorder. I hope to find the part number and maybe understand more about the IR emitter specs.

If u have time, can u give a look at it and help me with some advice based on the specs of the IR led ?
I can not find easilly the specs of the ir led

Thank you
 
Last edited:

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
You won't be able to get the specifications of the IR LED from the service manual.

It will simply give you a Sony Authorized Part replacement number. They even do that for resistors and capacitors. It's not hard to figure out what you might replace a resistor or capacitor with, but semiconductors become dicey propositions.

They don't want you to buy parts from anyone but them.

They also don't want people stealing their design.

Using the cryptic "house" part numbers makes it more difficult to reverse-engineer their products.
 

Thread Starter

marcolisi

Joined Nov 18, 2008
20
Thank u.

I was thinking to get the part number of the leds and google it.
In the past I bought and fixed another sony camcorder in this way.

I would like to buy some extra ir leds, in case something happen to them, when I am trying to test them to find out the voltage and resistor to use.

Can u pls help me in finding the part number of the led ?

I have problem in looking through the sevice manual that I shared with u guys.

Thank you
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
I already spent perhaps 15 minutes downloading that 26.5 megabyte manual and wading through it, which is all the time I'm willing to invest.

This is YOUR project. Don't expect others to do all the work for you.
 

Thread Starter

marcolisi

Joined Nov 18, 2008
20
I am just asking advices.

I am a novice...

I thought that forums are for asking questions, sharing ideas and interest.

I guess that is not what you think a forum is.
I am sorry to use your time but I always tought that when someone come up with ideas/project andneed help and get help in a foum, other people , that surf the forum, can get ideas of help from a thread....

Thank you anyway.
I hope there is still someonelse willing to help me
thanks
 

Audioguru

Joined Dec 20, 2007
11,248
The voltage of the IR LEDs doesn't matter unless you don't have enough voltage. You must limit the current, not the voltage.
You will never find out the spec's for the LEDs so just measure or calculate the current in the original product and do the same in your circuit.
 
Top