This is kind of a followup to a post that I made back in April 2010:
http://http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=37304
by me (beeson76)
I made up a simple little circuit thanks to the help from you guys. It consists of 2 LEDS (Green and Amber--changed the color from Red to Amber.
There is a tilt switch on the "Green LED" circuit, to where when that tilt switch closes, the Amber light turns off, and the Green light turns on...and vice versa. So with the suggestion of SgtWookie, I replaced the extra LED with a Zener Diode. It worked exactly the way I wanted. But I only had a 1N4733 Zener Diode rated at 5.1 volts. When I put that in it dimmed the lights. So I put 2 in circuit, which completely shut the Amber LED off. I have finally gotten 1N4728 Zener Diodes which are rated at the 3.3v suggested. The same thing happened with putting 1 in (it only dimmed the Amber LED). Putting 2 in completely shut the LED off which is what I am wanting. So the circuit is working exactly the way I am wanting once again--which there is no problem me keeping 2 Zener Diodes in the circuit. But this brings up some questions that I cannot find the answer too about Zener Diodes.
And instead of giving me answers straight out, I feel that reading would be to my advantage...so if you can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.
1. Zener Diodes have a "Zener Voltage" or "Breakdown Voltage"--3.3 for the 1N4728 and 5.1 for the 1N4733. The Voltage in my circuit is 7.5v. From what I understand, anything over the Zener Voltage is allowed to "go through". Is that correct?
The more I think about it the more confusing it is for me. So I will start with the 1 question and go from there. The schematic to my circuit is also included.
http://http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=37304
by me (beeson76)
I made up a simple little circuit thanks to the help from you guys. It consists of 2 LEDS (Green and Amber--changed the color from Red to Amber.
There is a tilt switch on the "Green LED" circuit, to where when that tilt switch closes, the Amber light turns off, and the Green light turns on...and vice versa. So with the suggestion of SgtWookie, I replaced the extra LED with a Zener Diode. It worked exactly the way I wanted. But I only had a 1N4733 Zener Diode rated at 5.1 volts. When I put that in it dimmed the lights. So I put 2 in circuit, which completely shut the Amber LED off. I have finally gotten 1N4728 Zener Diodes which are rated at the 3.3v suggested. The same thing happened with putting 1 in (it only dimmed the Amber LED). Putting 2 in completely shut the LED off which is what I am wanting. So the circuit is working exactly the way I am wanting once again--which there is no problem me keeping 2 Zener Diodes in the circuit. But this brings up some questions that I cannot find the answer too about Zener Diodes.
And instead of giving me answers straight out, I feel that reading would be to my advantage...so if you can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.
1. Zener Diodes have a "Zener Voltage" or "Breakdown Voltage"--3.3 for the 1N4728 and 5.1 for the 1N4733. The Voltage in my circuit is 7.5v. From what I understand, anything over the Zener Voltage is allowed to "go through". Is that correct?
The more I think about it the more confusing it is for me. So I will start with the 1 question and go from there. The schematic to my circuit is also included.
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