I received a bag of 200 blue LEDS in milk white packages from Goldmine-elec. These put out a diffused blue light that has a wide beam pattern.
I’ve been thinking about colored LEDs, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the colored LEDs I use don’t need to be in a clear case and the light doesn’t need to be concentrated in a beam. This is because almost all colored LEDs I use are for decoration, not for illumination. White LEDs, on the other hand, are mostly used for illumination and should have a light beam.
These blue LEDs have a diffused light, which is good for decoration. When I build a Joule Thief or Blue Blinky, the light doesn’t need to be directional, it should be easily seen from a wide area. I connected a few of these up to a power supply. The diffused light from these LEDs is bright, and this seems to back up Goldmine’s claim that they are prime parts. The blue light is a shorter wavelength which gives a deeper, prettier blue.
I think they are worth the 8 cents apiece. If you don’t need a 100 bag, you can buy them in smaller quantities.
Update Aug 27 – I thought it would be a good idea to separate the 200 LEDs into a bag of 100 and 2 bags of 50. I counted out 100 and put them in another bag, then I started counting 50 for the second bag. I got part way through counting, and noticed the pile was getting very small. Soon I was done with the 50, and there were only 5 left in the pile. I had received only 155 LEDs, 45 short of the 200 I ordered. Goldmine shorted me! I’m going to email them a complaint, and see if I can get the rest of the LEDs.
I looked on their website and couldn’t find an email address for the above issue. Instead they have a toll-free 800 number in their FAQs. I called them and I was very surprised to get a real person on the line, not a menu of numbers to press. They took care of my problem and said they will ship them out today. I really like that kind of service.
I found out a few things that I didn’t know when I read the FAQs. They don’t ship to most countries because those countries have a “ROHS Directive” which is ‘Restrictions On Hazardous Substances’. I don’t understand why they call it restrictions when it is actually a BAN on substances such as lead and cadmium. Also, there is a minimum $50 Purchase when shipped to those few countries they can ship to. Perhaps they should sell stuff on eBay.