N64 Power LED Color Change

[RabidWookie]

I've been looking into replacing the red LED on my N64 with another color but finding exact specs on what kind of LED is safe to use has been difficult. Does anyone know exact LED specs would match the original red LED?

[+Stephen Moss]

There are essentially three possibilities....

1 Standard LED (typical current 10mA, voltage around 1.5V)

2 Low Current LED (typical current 1mA (0.001Amps), Voltage around 1.5V)

3 High/Ultra bright (typical current 70mA, Voltage around 3.0V)

 

The brightness of the LED depends on the current flowing through it and if that current is continuous or pulsed (even more current used for short periods), usually they are driven at their typical values but may be maxed out to gain extra brightness but with reduced lifespan.

 

If you do not get any definitive responses you can try to ascertain the specifications if have access to a multi-meter as follows...

1) Measure the DC voltage across the LED when it is on, that should give you an indication based on the typical values above as to if it is a High/Ultra bright LED or not.

2) If not an High/Ultra bright LED you will need to find the resistor it is connected to as that will tell you (assuming continuous current) if it low current or not.

Measure the voltage across the resistor with the LED on and divide that by the resistors value to find the current, the LED is probably a standard LED if 10mA or more and a low current LED if less then 10mA.

[ClassicGMR]

I did a quick, dirty Google search and all anyone says is this:

 

 

Any 5mm LED of your choice that runs safely at 3.0v

 

Here's a mod with a ton of LEDs... just because.... hehehe!!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqz-zJ6w9Lg

[RabidWookie]

There are essentially three possibilities....

1 Standard LED (typical current 10mA, voltage around 1.5V)

2 Low Current LED (typical current 1mA (0.001Amps), Voltage around 1.5V)

3 High/Ultra bright (typical current 70mA, Voltage around 3.0V)

 

The brightness of the LED depends on the current flowing through it and if that current is continuous or pulsed (even more current used for short periods), usually they are driven at their typical values but may be maxed out to gain extra brightness but with reduced lifespan.

 

If you do not get any definitive responses you can try to ascertain the specifications if have access to a multi-meter as follows...

1) Measure the DC voltage across the LED when it is on, that should give you an indication based on the typical values above as to if it is a High/Ultra bright LED or not.

2) If not an High/Ultra bright LED you will need to find the resistor it is connected to as that will tell you (assuming continuous current) if it low current or not.

Measure the voltage across the resistor with the LED on and divide that by the resistors value to find the current, the LED is probably a standard LED if 10mA or more and a low current LED if less then 10mA.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a multimeter. I've been googling for months trying to find the specs of the OEM red LED the system uses to ensure I'm not using an LED that will damage the system over time by drawing too much (or too little) voltage, but have yet to find anything. If someone could measure it I'd be greatly appreciative!

[Osgeld]

I did a quick, dirty Google search and all anyone says is this:

 

 

voltage has little to do with anything, there is a forward voltage of the diode you need to exceed for it to start passing current, so yea most red led's are around 2.1ish volts so yea you can power it from 3 volts heck you could power it from 30 volts, but with nothing to limit the flow of current its going to be really bright and then eventually burn out while possibly causing damage to whatever is driving it.

 

I have not looked at a N64 before but I would guess its a 5 volt system and its got a resistor in series with the LED to limit the current, so you could replace the led itself with just about anything and the worst that's going to happen is the LED won't be as bright as it possibly could be