Hi, I have a small project going that needs a 10w IR led.
Now I have it and also have a constant current / voltage board that I can tweak.
The led says it needs 5-6V and 850-1000mA. So I set my board to 5.5v and 850mA. Now it seems to light up fine, I need to wait for tonight to get my IR camera on it. But what I don't understand is where is 10W coming from. P=I*U says the max possible for this LED is 1A*6V=6W. Please tell me I am being a bit thick here and am missing something fundamental.
The only thing I can think of is that the LED looks like a 3x3 grid, so there are 3 in series in 3 chains, that would give around 9V to drive it and total 10W ish when driven at max. But I don't want to pump that through it and blow it up as the data sheet does say 5-6 V.
Any ideas guys? Thanks in advance.
Kel
Now I have it and also have a constant current / voltage board that I can tweak.
The led says it needs 5-6V and 850-1000mA. So I set my board to 5.5v and 850mA. Now it seems to light up fine, I need to wait for tonight to get my IR camera on it. But what I don't understand is where is 10W coming from. P=I*U says the max possible for this LED is 1A*6V=6W. Please tell me I am being a bit thick here and am missing something fundamental.
The only thing I can think of is that the LED looks like a 3x3 grid, so there are 3 in series in 3 chains, that would give around 9V to drive it and total 10W ish when driven at max. But I don't want to pump that through it and blow it up as the data sheet does say 5-6 V.
Any ideas guys? Thanks in advance.
Kel