How can I hook up an LED to 110 volts?

Question

I want to test to see if I am getting voltage. How can I make an LED light up when there is 110 volts coming through the circuit? I think most LEDs will operate at less than 12 volts, but I am not sure. I am electronically iliterate.

Thanks, JW

Answer 1

You could get a small transformer to step down the voltage first and then use a small resitor with a reasonable power disipation say 0.1 W, just make sure you current is less than 30 mA for normal LED's. If you only want to check the voltage then you could use a neon lamp which operates at about 70-90 V and use a smaller resistor, or lastly you could a zener diode (specifiy about 90 or 100 V) with an led and then use a moderate resistor (about 1,2k ohm 1 W) to limit the current

Answer 2

yo bro u should hav voltage resisdent in ur circuit board. Use resister for ur circuit and use pot for controling the current. May b u dun noe abt that. use the transformer and low the current voltage. Or link all the LED via through that transformer and u will c it is work. Good luck buddy.

Answer 3

LED's operate on MUCH lower voltage than 110v! You could do it, but if you just want to test for voltage, buy a cheap voltmeter. If you are testing outlets, get a small lamp or shop light.