AC-LED

Back

AC-powered LED
A long time ago I found a little schematic on internet on how to power a LED from an AC Line.
I tested and modified it a little so now it works great.
You could use it as an power-on indicator for your waterpump or so. Also it can be used with whatever
LED-color you like.

I included the schematics for US or canadian 110-120V 60Hz AC lines, as well as european or
australian 220-230V 50Hz AC lines.

The capacitor is used to drop the voltage and the resistor to limit the inrush current.
Since the capacitor passes the current in both directions, a small diode is connected in parallel with
the LED to provide a path for the negative half cycle and to limit the reverse voltage across the LED.

http://www.turbokeu.com/myprojects/acled.htm[5/11/2011 9:45:16 AM]

AC-LED

The resistor value was chosen to limit the worst case inrush current to about 150mA which will drop
to less than 30mA in a millisec as the capacitor charges.
The 0.47uF capacitor has an impedance of 5600 Ohms at 60Hz so the LED current is about 20mA
half wave, or 10mA average (for the 220V version the impedance of the 0.33uF capacitor is 9600
Ohms at 50Hz which gives you also a LED current of about 10mA average)

Z = 1 / 2*Pi*f*C
Z = Impedance in Ohms

Pi = 3.14

f = frequency in Hertz

C = capacity in Farads)

A larger capacitor will increase the current and a smaller one will reduce it.
The capacitor must be a non-polarized type with a voltage rating of 250VDC or more for 110V AC-
lines, or 400VDC or more for 230V AC-lines.
Resistor R1 discharges capacitor C1 in a few seconds after AC-line is disconnected. Remember that
R1 must be able to withstand the full half wave peak AC-line voltage.

IMPORTANT: The circuit is powered from the AC line, so I will not be held
responsible in any way for burned fingers, or melted fuses in your house. Isolate all
connections with heat shrink.

Back

http://www.turbokeu.com/myprojects/acled.htm[5/11/2011 9:45:16 AM]