Hi all
I've analyzed an LED taken from a votive candle.
Why is it flickering (they do that to remeber the fire of wax candles)? What's inside of it?

Thanks

 

It looks like there are three components, the largest block being a resistor to limit the LED current, then the LED in the center, followed by a very small IC device which is probably programmed to produce the flicker. That could be as simple as an oscillator or more complex, executing a programmed sequence.

 

It looks like there are three components, the largest block being a resistor to limit the LED current, then the LED in the center, followed by a very small IC device which is probably programmed to produce the flicker. That could be as simple as an oscillator or more complex, executing a programmed sequence.

An IC like those in the RGB 2 pins LEDs?
Is there any infos about these kind of LEDs?
I haven't found any.

 

I've analyzed an LED taken from a votive candle.
Why is it flickering (they do that to remeber the fire of wax candles)? What's inside of it?

It's clear from your picture that there's more than just an LED in the package.

I have some LEDs that have multiple colors of LEDs in a standard 5mm package. They flash, dim, and brighten the individual LEDs in a repeating pattern.

 

Yes, they are making blinking and flickering LEDs now...

Undocumented but from AliX...

 

https://hackaday.com/2013/12/16/reverse-engineering-a-candle-flicker-led/

 

Thanks @Yakoov: very interesting!
It's amazing the technology hidden in these cheap LEDs!

 

There are inexpensive novelty products with a colors-changing LED that either slowly fades between colors or quickly flashes them. I use them to replace the white LED in solar garden lights.

 

The LED votive candles they practically gave away at Menard's years ago had a separate black blob to give a pre-programmed flicker to resemble a candle. Moving that inside the LED probably shaves off a couple cents.

https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/project-led-candle.61705/

 

I once programmed a micro to mimic those. I used a PWM with 8-bit duty cycle and fed it with a linear feedback RNG to simply set the duty cycle. It looked pretty much the same as the flickering candles.

Bob