# Good Source for Miniuature LED bulbs



## tblack007 (Apr 1, 2010)

I am in the process of planning for lighting a sawmill. The 3mm LED bulbs are okay but I'm trying to find the smaller 1.8mm size. I am not having much luck finding any LED bulbs that are smaller than 3mm. I saw them a while back but can't find them now. Has anyone found or used a 1.8mm LED bulb? 

Also, what color best represents the nature hue of an incandescent bulb? The white bulbs seem to have a blue hue and doesn't seem realistic. Amber seems to be the closest. 


Any help or advise would be welcome and appreciated.


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## rhyman (Apr 19, 2009)

I have purchased several colors of various 3mm and 5mm LEDs from a company called "The LED Light" in Carson City, NV. Their web site is: LINK TO SITE

I do not believe that they carry any 1.8 mm LEDs, at least I didn't see any the last time I looked at the web site. For incandescent looking lights, I generally use Warm White LEDs rather than the plain white ones.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

The best LED colors for simulating incandescent bulbs are either Golden White or Sunny White. These are more expensive then the typical LED. Good comparisons and information about Golden White and Sunny White LEDs can be seen here:


LED Info Link 1


LED Info Link 2

Another good color that is easier to find and more affordable is Warm White. Sunny White and Golden White are within the larger spectrum called Warm White.



I've purchased 1.8mm LEDs on eBay. Some good deals can be found there. I know some people have their reservations about eBay, but thus far I've never had any troubles.

Here's a link to some Warm White 1.8mm LEDs from an eBay seller I've purchased from in the past:


1.8 Warm White LEDs 



If you want to go really small, then there is no comparison to the Richmond Control surface mount LEDs. I buy mine from Ulrich Models. Ulrich sells them with wires already soldered on and in either Sunny White or Golden White color. They were perfect for some headlights and ditchlights I added to an HO scale Amtrak P42. I plan to use the same LEDs for step lights...if I ever get around to finishing my HO scale Southwest Chief.


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## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/free-shipping.html
Link to Evans Lites.


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## Daniel Peck (Mar 31, 2009)

Mouser electronics.... 
Digi-key


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## Bill Swindell (Jan 2, 2008)

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-8-mm-White-LE...783611?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2c57ded9fb
Here are some 1.8 mm white led's. If you don't like the color, paint the led's with some yellow, translucent paint from Tamya. It will get rid of the blue tint. 


http://cgi.ebay.com/1-8-mm-White-LE...2c57ded9fb


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## bob7094 (Jan 3, 2008)

Strings of both Incandescent and LED Christmas Tree lights will be on sale real soon now - much less than $1 per light. The round frosted white ones look like the round frosted light fixtures you might find in a factory, office, or passenger car.


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## pinewoods (Jan 20, 2009)

Most LED Chrstmas lights come apart easily. Many are made with 3mm LEDs, look for the 'warm white' type. However, I picked up a string at Ace Hardware and the LEDs were glued into the sockets. My own preference is for the Richmond Controls golden white and sunny white versions, they seem to be the best match for old incandescent or oil lamps.


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## tblack007 (Apr 1, 2010)

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I'll check out the links and sources. 
Maybe someday, in all my free time, I'll get some photos posted of the finished structures. 

Tim
Portland, Oregon


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Walgreen's already has the warm white LED strings on their shelves....

$5 for a string of 50....


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

somehow got off the track of miniature... while we are at it, how about really small incandescent bulbs? Zapped one in a couple of loks recently, these are about 1.5 mm or less. 

Regards, Greg


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## euhero987 (Nov 8, 2011)

Can someone help me with this? I am having no luck with this. anyone know some website with tutorials about this?


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Someone should mention that one can remove the blue tint from white LEDs by applying a thin coat of Tomiya "Clear Yellow" paint, available at most hobby stores that deal in RC cars, planes, etc. 

I've used it on all types and prices of white LEDs and it does the job. But you want to put on a very thin coat. My GP-40 has super bright LED headlights but the front pair look green. Guess I applied too much yellow to the bluish LEDs. It's time to bring it in for the winter anyway, so I'll take a look at that problem along with some other minor issues. 

JackM


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

The LeMax collection has little tiny LED Christmas lights, including "chasers" that appear to be about as small as they come.

LeMax Christmas Lights and More


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

hello 
can someone tell me what they mean when they say Color Temperature is 2800 K or 9000 K 
thank you


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

I got a couple boxes of battery powered LED Christmas lights at an after Christmas sale a few years ago. They're tiny, like 3mm leds and BRIGHT bluish white. I use them where I want BRIGHT light. A bead works well to diffuse them a bit. I'm still using the warm white ones from Walgreens as Christmas lights. They're very nice. I've used a couple of the spare bulbs in train projects. Spare bulbs in an LED set? Yep, they were there! I'll have to get some more of those as they're very nice. Walgreens has nice multicolor ones too. I'm not buying any more of those old kind Christmas lights, only LEDs now.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Dick413 on 08 Nov 2011 05:30 PM 
hello 
can someone tell me what they mean when they say Color Temperature is 2800 K or 9000 K 
thank you 


It's based on the color of the light given off when a "black bar" is heated to that temperature. A lower value (e.g., 2,800 Kelvin) indicates a colder bar and a redder color (even though people mistakenly identify red with "hot"). On the other hand, a hotter bar (e.g., 9,000 K) glows more blue even though people mistakenly identify blue with a cooler temperature.

For video, the standard is 6,500 K and is supposed to represent the color of sunlight.


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## VictorSpear (Oct 19, 2011)

The 'k' is in reference to the concept of an Absolute Zero of temperature measurement proposed by Lord Kelvin (Sir William Thomson) in 1848, a mathematical physicist and engineer, from Glasgow, Scotland. The "Absolute Zero" of kelvin equates to -459.67 degrees Farenheit (-273.15 degrees Celsius) ....or the "coldest of all the possible colds".

What you are referring to is Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) or simply color temperature - a commercial way of defining Cool, Warm or very Warm colors. Somewhere in the middle of this article you will find a simple representation of warm and cool color spectrums: http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color12.html#warmcool --- Incidentally the concept of Warm/Cool colors (colours) dates back from 1813.

A nicer interpretation of color temperature measurement can be found here: http://www.gelighting.com/na/busine...ifying.htm

For example: The whole multi-billion dollar flat screen LCD/LED HDTV market appears transfixed on providing the warmest or coolest color saturation compared to their nearest competitor. *Direct sunlight corresponds to about 5300 Kelvins while daylight, which has the blue from the sky mixed in, is typically 6000 Kelvins or above.*

So how warm is your Blue Sky ? 

Cheers
Victor


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I have bought packs of colored and clear LEDs in packs of 100 on E bay. They come from China and include resistors for each led. 

JJ


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## bdp3wsy (Mar 14, 2008)

I just picked up 4 sets of warm white 1.5mm surface mount at Home Depot. They have a battery pack and on motor winding wire thats so thin it disappears when glued to the surface. There are 30 on 6' of wire so I just folded them back for a double row. The battery pack takes 3 aa batteries with a switch on the side. I mounted this with velcro on the bottom of a aristo heavy weight and it looks like it belongs there. What nice lite. They are next to all the other lights, a small clear box and labled Martha Stewart and are made for using in decorations but work perfect for this. They cost $6.98 each and only took a few minutes to install. The nice part is they are so thin that when they are attached to the roof they provide the right amount of light but you don't see them like the existing bulbs through the roof windows and there is no glare. Oh yes forgot, left a set on and 3 days later they were just starting to go dim. Wow what a find. Jake @import url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/CEHtmlEditorProvider/Load.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Try this site. http://www.ngineering.com


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 15 Oct 2010 08:01 PM 
somehow got off the track of miniature... while we are at it, how about really small incandescent bulbs? Zapped one in a couple of loks recently, these are about 1.5 mm or less. 

Regards, Greg again, the answer would be: christmas lights.
last year i bought a "net" of lights. 400 grain of wheat mini bulbs (1.5mm) for about $ 1.50
as i'm sure, that the chinese factory does not export exclusively for south america, you should be able to find them.


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

thank you for the answers, i take it than the lower the # the more natural to older head lights?


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Dick413 on 10 Nov 2011 10:35 AM 
thank you for the answers, i take it than the lower the # the more natural to older head lights? 

Yes.


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