Here I present 3 different ways to identify any LED’s polarity. I hope this is useful for people who are starting to work with LEDs.
1st Way
The longest “leg”is the positive one.
2nd Way
If the LED legs have been cut and are equal, then see if the LED has a flat side on the head. If so, this is the negative side of the LED.
3rd Way
If you couldn’t use any of the above methods, then look directly into the LED. (You must use backlighting if the LED is not High-Brightness).
You will see two plates almost touching each other. The biggest plate is USUALLY the negaive side.
2 comments
rasb
April 22, 2012 at 7:42 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
regarding the last method, i came across several LED’s that were the opposite…Now thats something that surprised me, but apparently im not the first one to notice that !!
Obrigado pelo website
Ricardo Dias
April 22, 2012 at 3:01 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Thanks “rasb”
Thank you for your reply.
I’ve also noticed that some LEDs are different in the this aspect. I doubted the quallity of the LED. Apparently, it didn’t happen just to me. Thanks for sharing
Best regards,
Ricardo Dias