Can LED's be socketed?

Frequent question abouts LED and other types of diodes.
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Spefinzephyr
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Post by Spefinzephyr »

I wanna experiment with different color LED's on a circuit I'm building on vero and I was wondering if I could use the led with a 2 pin socket I fashioned out of some big IC socket.

Will there be any issues with the connection?

I should say that I also want to socket it rather than solder it because I can't tell which end is the - or + on the layout :lol:

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square wave
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Post by square wave »

Any through-hole part can be socketed. The point of the socket is to make a permanent connection from board->socket, rather than the normal board->part, so parts can be swapped in and out without having to de- and re-solder every time. The type of part doesn't matter so long as you make a good connection.

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Liquitone
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Post by Liquitone »

Image

The longest lead is always the v+, but once you cut the leads you can still see it by looking at the parts inside the LED, where the smallest part is connected to the v+ lead.

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Post by DrNomis »

Yes they most certainly can be socketed, just be mindful of getting the Led connected up the correct way as it won't light up if it's connected up incorrectly, also make sure you have a current limiting resistor connected from the +V supply to the Led's anode, at least 1k for a standard led with a +9V supply, if you don't include the current limiting resistor the Led will explode and will stink.... :thumbsup
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