All-in-one Rainbow LED part

[Charmed Snark]

I recently had an outdoor Rainbow [LED] Lamp
apart to repair it (it recharges with usual
solar panels). It is one of these LED lamps
that cycle continuously through red, green and
blue inside of a crystal like globe at the top.

It surprised me to find out that the LED only
had two wires on it. So I took the LED out
and applied 3V through a resistor, to see it
cycle through all the colours on its own. Cool.
Obviously the "smarts" for this are built into
the LED.

Now I would like to order some of these LEDs
for other construction projects (without having
to buy the full lamps, wherever my wife bought
them).

I am having difficulty figuring out what the
correct part number / terminology for these are.
I'd like to find out if Mouser or Digikey for
example, have these as parts.

I tried searching with "rainbow LED", "all-in
-one LED", "tri-color", "multi-color" etc. I
am only interested in the 2-pin variety (I'm
not interested in building driving circuits).

Anyone have any advice on how to find these
parts?

Snark.

 

[Tim]

I saw some on e-Bay that cycle through r/g/b either fast or slow. I do
not think they are the "fading to colour" type though, just cycle each
colour.

- Tim -

 

[Michael Black]

I recently had an outdoor Rainbow [LED] Lamp
apart to repair it (it recharges with usual
solar panels). It is one of these LED lamps
that cycle continuously through red, green and
blue inside of a crystal like globe at the top.

It surprised me to find out that the LED only
had two wires on it. So I took the LED out
and applied 3V through a resistor, to see it
cycle through all the colours on its own. Cool.
Obviously the "smarts" for this are built into
the LED.

That sort of thing has been around for at least 35 years.
You could get blinking LEDs, albeit single color, back
then. You could also get LEDs with a built in constant
current source so you didn't need a current limiting resistor.
IN both cases, the circuitry was on the same surface as
the actual semiconductor that emitted the light.

Now I would like to order some of these LEDs
for other construction projects (without having
to buy the full lamps, wherever my wife bought
them).

I am having difficulty figuring out what the
correct part number / terminology for these are.
I'd like to find out if Mouser or Digikey for
example, have these as parts.

They likely don't exist. At the very least, they
aren't generic parts that you'd get in small quantities.
They are specialty items cooked up for the end product.
They decide they can sell enough, so it's worth creating
a new device for it; after all, fewer parts means less
inventory and soldering, so if it costs a tad more per
device to have a special LED, the cost is recovered over
the full life of the design.

If they are buyable parts, likely they are from
Asia and won't appear in the local catalogs.

Michael

 

[Charmed Snark]

Michael Black expounded in @darkstar.example.net:

I recently had an outdoor Rainbow [LED] Lamp
apart to repair it (it recharges with usual
solar panels). It is one of these LED lamps
that cycle continuously through red, green and
blue inside of a crystal like globe at the top.

It surprised me to find out that the LED only
had two wires on it. So I took the LED out
and applied 3V through a resistor, to see it
cycle through all the colours on its own. Cool.
Obviously the "smarts" for this are built into
the LED.

That sort of thing has been around for at least 35 years.

Blue LEDs haven't, at least in affordable form.

...

They likely don't exist. At the very least, they
aren't generic parts that you'd get in small quantities.
They are specialty items cooked up for the end product.
They decide they can sell enough, so it's worth creating
a new device for it; after all, fewer parts means less
inventory and soldering, so if it costs a tad more per
device to have a special LED, the cost is recovered over
the full life of the design.

If they are buyable parts, likely they are from
Asia and won't appear in the local catalogs.

Michael

I suspected that but there is no harm in
searching. The outdoor lamps are made in China,
so I expect that your reply is on the money.

Snark.

 

[Charmed Snark]

Tim expounded in

I saw some on e-Bay that cycle through r/g/b either fast or slow. I do
not think they are the "fading to colour" type though, just cycle each
colour.

- Tim -

Do you recall what the auction called them? My recent
searches have come up empty. I wonder what
ppl are calling these things. That may aid my
search.

Snark.

I recently had an outdoor Rainbow [LED] Lamp
apart to repair it (it recharges with usual
solar panels). It is one of these LED lamps
that cycle continuously through red, green and
blue inside of a crystal like globe at the top.

 

[Tim]

Do an e-Bay search on "rgb flash led"

I found 282 hits with that search

- Tim -

Tim expounded in

I saw some on e-Bay that cycle through r/g/b either fast or slow. I do
not think they are the "fading to colour" type though, just cycle each
colour.

- Tim -

Do you recall what the auction called them? My recent
searches have come up empty. I wonder what
ppl are calling these things. That may aid my
search.

Snark.

I recently had an outdoor Rainbow [LED] Lamp
apart to repair it (it recharges with usual
solar panels). It is one of these LED lamps
that cycle continuously through red, green and
blue inside of a crystal like globe at the top.

 

[Charmed Snark]

Matt Chaney expounded in @o36g2000vbl.googlegroups.com:

I recently had an outdoor Rainbow [LED] Lamp
apart to repair it (it recharges with usual
solar panels).  It is one of these LED lamps
that cycle continuously through red, green and
blue inside of a crystal like globe at the top.

It surprised me to find out that the LED only
had two wires on it. So I took the LED out
and applied 3V through a resistor, to see it
cycle through all the colours on its own. Cool.
Obviously the "smarts" for this are built into
the LED.

Now I would like to order some of these LEDs
for other construction projects (without having
to buy the full lamps, wherever my wife bought
them).

I am having difficulty figuring out what the
correct part number / terminology for these are.
I'd like to find out if Mouser or Digikey for
example, have these as parts.

I tried searching with "rainbow LED", "all-in
-one LED", "tri-color", "multi-color" etc. I
am only interested in the 2-pin variety (I'm
not interested in building driving circuits).

Anyone have any advice on how to find these
parts?

Snark.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/ Super Bright LEDs stocks two versions
of an RGB LED similar to this. I had a very difficult time finding
them, myself. I had ordered a different variation a few years ago, and
I cannot find that one now. The 'Fast' model on superbright just
blinks through the colors at about 1hz, without fading between them.
The 'slow' model fades in and out and changes colors about once every
4 seconds. They both work fine with 3V sources.

Thanks. Someone was also kind enough to tip that
there are some here as well:

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1245

Snark.