Three types of LED wiring: series, parallel and series-parallel, how should we choose?
LED wiring methods - series, parallel and series-parallel comparison
How you wire your circuit determines the voltage and current it needs to operate properly. The two circuits below use five LTST-C191KFKT LEDs . This is a 2V 20mA LED. As you can see, there is a significant difference between the voltage and current required to operate each circuit.
Lite-On 's LTST-C191KFKT
in parallel
Each parallel element has the same voltage, but the current fluctuates.
Circuit total 2V@10mA
Series
Each series element has the same current, but the voltage fluctuates.
Circuit total 10V@20mA
Series and parallel
Circuit total 10V@100mA
Ideally, it is best to connect an LED strip in series to a constant current driver for reliability and lighting continuity. Longer LED strips usually cannot use a series circuit because a very high voltage is required to drive the LED strip, and if one LED in the LED strip burns out, the entire strip will go out. But if a combined series-parallel wiring is used, only part of the strip will go out, and the rest will still glow.
Note that when one or more LEDs burn out, are damaged, or are disconnected , the remaining LEDs may also be damaged because the original total fixed current may be too high for the remaining LEDs. This is another reason why constant voltage drivers are easier to use and are often preferred for series-parallel combination circuits.
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