Diffused or non-Diffused? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Falcon69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 01:23:07 am
content: I just ordered up some LED's on eBay.They advertised them as diffused. I just received them, and they don't seem to be that way. They are 3mm Flat Top.These LED's are colored (though, they are not a milky color, more of a clear color, blue, green, red, etc.) and they don't seem any different than my clear non-diffused ones I have.From my understanding, diffused means that they spread the light out more evenly over a broad degree of angle. Whereas a non-diffused is more directional, straight.These don't seem to spread out. I still see the single dot from the actual diode. (I was hoping to not see that much, so I ordered diffused ones)Am I wrong? Does diffused simply just mean that the lens are not clear in color, but rather have color to them?I have bought some straw hat ones that are milky looking, and they spread the light out more evenly across it's viewing angle. Unlike my clear ones that seem more directional.Sorry about the bad pics. Anyway, the new LED's I got, that are suppose to be diffused, are on the right side of the pic. The clear non-diffused ones are on the left. All these LED's are 3mm flat top.So, My question is, did this company send me diffused, or are these NOT diffused?Thanks in advance,Jason

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 01:28:11 am
content: Quote from: Falcon69 on March 25, 2014, 01:23:07 amYou photos don't tell much, but a good examples diffused vs clear (non diffused) leds, randomly grabbed from Google and these should be self explanatory enough for you to tell which is which.

author: Falcon69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 01:31:47 am
content: Ya, totally do not look milky white, like they should be. These are what I ordered....http://www.ebay.com/itm/251276207667?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D251276207667%26_rdc%3D1and they don't even look like what the picture in the ad looks like.Well, they were quick to refund the money, though, they did not mention if they wanted them returned or not. I am more than happy to return them, but I told them that the shipping back to them I was not paying for.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 07:00:37 am
content: That's what you get for fleabaying parts.Go buy some proper ones from Digikey or the likes.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 07:45:19 am
content: Quote from: Falcon69 on March 25, 2014, 01:23:07 amYeah, pretty much a coloured shell LED will often be referred to as diffuse. Whether that's technically correct or not is debatable, as you can see in your picture (and yeah you've probably discovered that taking good pictures of lit LEDs is damn near impossible), the colour does add a degree of diffuseness over the clear non-diffuse ones. I guess in the days before clear leds were much of a thing the distinction was greater.You could always break out the sand paper and rough em up a bit.

author: ablacon64
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 10:42:35 am
content: Sand them with a very thin sandpaper.http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-defuse-an-LED

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 10:50:43 am
content: Sanding will not be as effective as natively milked led's body, cause the diffusion only happens at the tip, not the whole led's body.

author: ablacon64
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2014, 01:44:43 pm
content: Quote from: BravoV on March 25, 2014, 10:50:43 amI like the results on this instructable a lot:http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-colored-LEDs/step2/Diffusing-a-LED/

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2014, 09:35:42 am
content: Quote from: Monkeh on March 25, 2014, 07:00:37 amI go to Digikey for all sorts of parts, but I like getting my LEDs, project boards, mechanical switches, etc. cheapo from eBay or Tayda. The difference in price is just too much to resist. On the other hand when buying 25 ATMEGA328Ps, I can totally resist eBay sellers. It just depends.