I've been killing myself trying to understand constant current drivers lately, I feel that it is simple on a high level but trying to understand what I need and reading datasheets throws me back to step 1. I tried (re)educating me on a lot of the simple electronics I knew in the past but I am still at a loss.
At its core, I am trying to wire a few boards with 40 LED's that can be powered from my car. I still have no idea what kind of CC driver I need, or if I even need one in general... Here's what I know:
The 8mm LED's are 20ma, listed with forward voltage of 1.9v (max 2.3v). I believe I understand that these will work much better with a CC driver than simply using resistors right up to the power source and nothing else (something I've done in the past). The voltage from the car fluctuates around 13-16v depending on its state as far as I know.
First thing I don't quite get. Do I NEED a driver that is rated for 20ma output? Are there drivers with adjustable current? I assume that running a driver that puts out a higher current will toast the LEDs, if so, is there a way I can just run LED's in parallel to negate that? (Been so long since I've toyed with electronics I have to relearn this stuff!). I am also looking to have PWM added to allow me to adjust brightness as I need.
Literally spent my entire last night trying to wrap my head fully around transistors and understanding basic current limiting devices. I do generally get the idea however there are certain aspects of them I feel are not explained enough (i.e. depletion zones I understand but then a electric field is tossed in the mix and I feel lost again. perhaps a question for a different thread).
I am basically looking to see how this would be accomplished by the experts here. My idea is I can see the end result and work back from that, rather than trying to explore the right way out of 500 ways of doing this.
At its core, I am trying to wire a few boards with 40 LED's that can be powered from my car. I still have no idea what kind of CC driver I need, or if I even need one in general... Here's what I know:
The 8mm LED's are 20ma, listed with forward voltage of 1.9v (max 2.3v). I believe I understand that these will work much better with a CC driver than simply using resistors right up to the power source and nothing else (something I've done in the past). The voltage from the car fluctuates around 13-16v depending on its state as far as I know.
First thing I don't quite get. Do I NEED a driver that is rated for 20ma output? Are there drivers with adjustable current? I assume that running a driver that puts out a higher current will toast the LEDs, if so, is there a way I can just run LED's in parallel to negate that? (Been so long since I've toyed with electronics I have to relearn this stuff!). I am also looking to have PWM added to allow me to adjust brightness as I need.
Literally spent my entire last night trying to wrap my head fully around transistors and understanding basic current limiting devices. I do generally get the idea however there are certain aspects of them I feel are not explained enough (i.e. depletion zones I understand but then a electric field is tossed in the mix and I feel lost again. perhaps a question for a different thread).
I am basically looking to see how this would be accomplished by the experts here. My idea is I can see the end result and work back from that, rather than trying to explore the right way out of 500 ways of doing this.