RGB Diffused LED 5mm Through Hole Common Anode

These 5mm Through Hole Common Anode RGB LED’s are transparent LED units with a foggy diffused sheen. RGB LED’s are capable of shining a wide range of different colours and the diffused shell causes each colour to come out soft and radiant. By using the three primary colours of red, green and blue, all connected to a common anode, this LED can shine any combination of the three colours at varying intensities by using pulse width modulation.

In order to ascertain the right legs for specific colours on these LED's, take one and turn it to the side so that all four legs are visible. Now identify the longest leg and situate it so it's the second leg from the leftmost side. In this arrangement, the pins from left to right are as follows: Red | Common Anode | Green | Blue. Additionally, it's important to remember that each leg with its own colour will require a current-limiting resistor, and because they are different colours (or made from different materials) the resistors for each leg will be slightly different. As a general rule, however, you can use common 330Ω resistor for each leg while identifying the colours, and then you can switch to lower values to choose a specific colour combination - or utilise PWM on a microcontroller to find the ideal blend of all three colours.

Note: During testing, we found that we got quite close to white by placing a 180Ω resistor for the Red pin, and a 110Ω resistance on each of the other legs, which resulted in a relatively warm white light. However, because each LED is ever-so-slightly different due to manufacturing processes, you may have slightly different results, so be sure to experiment with different resistances on each pin until you're satisfied with the colour.

Additional Note: These units are priced individually, but have a minimum order quantity of 10. This is to help professionals and contractors in their pricing structures, while avoiding unnecessary shipping costs, so as to ensure the best possible price for each and every customer.

Typical Applications for these 5mm Diffused RGB Common Anode LED’s:

These Diffused RGB LED 5mm Through Hole Common Anode units can be used for almost any applications that require lighting or colour, with a truly vast number of effective uses in electronics. Some of these applications include building a low-power flashlight or torch, a colourful display that can shine a single colour or switch between various combinations of red, green and blue, or even as a simple status indicator to show when a project or part is in use.