3x AA Battery Box with Switch and Connector (CE07890)

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This 3x AA battery, switched battery holder come compete with a terminal connector on the end of the wires. These are perfect for connecting LEDs without the need for soldering.

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We are building a 10cm high mini floor lamp for a “dollhouse project”. I am looking for an LED, wires and battery pack to light up the lamp - best components to buy?

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Hey Brian,

Welcome to the project, little dioramas with a bit of electronics are good for the eyes!

If you were after a homier feeling I’d go for something warm white like this:

To get them connected you could solder some wires onto it or use some conductive thread (make sure not to get + and -ive to touch though).
Kmart also has some tea lights that flicker like fire which could look nice.

The first link above covers all of the bases with a little extension, battery pack and the LED’s although if you go for something different, I’d check out the battery pack linked above, some wires that you will have to solder yourself (red, black) and a bunch of different colour diffused LED.

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Brilliant - thanks Liam. I’ve ordered the LED sequins, some wire and a soldering iron - thanks for your quick assist!

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Hi Brian,

I’ve just noticed that the product page recommends connecting an LED directly to the battery voltage with no current limiting resistors. Some products have current limiting resistors built-in like the LED sequins, some even have them built into the LED themself, but not all do, and LEDs without current limiting will be destroyed!
We have a new tutorial on our site that explains why LEDs need resistors and how to calculate which resistor to use I’ll link it below.

I’ll get that product page updated soon to avoid any future confusion.

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Hi Trent,
I was under the impression it depended on the battery and LED in question. If the LED is rated at 1.5V and you are using a single 1.5V AA battery, you wouldn’t need the resistor because the voltage drop of the LED matched the voltage of the battery. If on the other hand you used a 9V battery, you would need a resistor to soak up the current flow from the ‘spare’ 7.5V potential difference.
Cheers,
Brian

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Hi Brian,

That’s correct, if the LED has its operating voltage across it then it shouldn’t exceed it’s current rating.
The most important rating is the current rating, as long as that isn’t exceeded the LED won’t be damaged.

Each LED is a little bit different but most do have an operating voltage around 1.5 to 3 volts. Where you get into trouble is that most circuits people are using LEDs in are operating at 3.3 or 5 volts which is to much voltage for an unprotected LED. This particular battery holder would output 4.5 volts which is beyond the capacity of most LEDs.

We have an older tutorial going over all the considerations that you can find here

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