Practical Applications For LED Lighting

Question: I have an old Air Hockey Table and today I replaced the power chord because the old one had broken, works great now, minus the fact that it’s an old fan giving it the air power. I’m going to be wiring up a switch to it, a simple ON/OFF light switch I had handy will work.

The problem though, is that I want to wire some LED’s to it to have some more light on the playing surface. The issue is not getting the LED’s but how to wire them to the power source because they require so little voltage compared to the Hockey Table, I think the table is 125v. So I can’t just wire them directly to the Main power source.

I know how to wire them so they have a separate power source such as some batteries but I don’t want to do that. Some one was telling me to use some Resistors but I don’t know how to wire these or which to buy. Here’s the specifications on the LED’s I’ll be using:

–WHITE–
Source Material: InGaN
Emitting Colour: White
Emitting Wavelength (nm): NA (Broad)
Size: 3mm
Intensity (mcd): 7000-9000
Viewing Angle (deg): 20
Forward Voltage (V): 3.0-3.4
Forward Current (mA): 20-30

–BLUE–
Source Material: InGaN
Emitting Colour: Blue
Emitting Wavelength (nm): 465-470
Size: 3mm
Intensity (mcd): 5000-7000
Viewing Angle (deg): 20
Forward Voltage (V): 3.0-3.2
Forward Current (mA): 20-30

–GREEN–
Source Material: AlGaInP
Emitting Colour: Pure Green
Emitting Wavelength (nm): 520-525
Size: 3mm
Intensity (mcd): 12000-15000
Viewing Angle (deg): 20
Forward Voltage (V): 2.8-3.2
Forward Current (mA): 20-30

–RED–
Source Material: AlGaInP
Emitting Colour: Red
Emitting Wavelength (nm): 625-630
Size: 3mm
Intensity (mcd): 8000-10000
Viewing Angle (deg): 20
Forward Voltage (V): 1.8-1.9
Forward Current (mA): 20-30

This electrical question came from: James from Carson, California.
Additional Comments: Your website is very very helpful on everything else I have looked up.

Dave’s Reply:
Thanks for your electrical question James.

The Following links will assist you with your electrical question:

Electrical Wire for the Home

wiring a switch

Wiring a Light Switch – Diagram 1

Lighting For The Home
Lighting Electrical Codes

home lighting

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