TransWikia.com

What is the purpose of this diode?

Electrical Engineering Asked by st4rgut on December 7, 2020

I’m not experienced at electronics, so please forgive the simplicity of my question. But what is this diode in the picture below doing? The circuit is made of 3 in-series leds wired in parallel (3×3). Each path has a 150 ohm resistor. There is also a path from power source to ground with a diode (I think) which I can’t figure out the purpose of. When I apply 12 volts to the circuit, the diode burns up, and if I bypass it, the circuit lights up fine. If it maters, these lights used to be powered by AC to 12V adapter, and I’m now trying to power directly with 12 V.

enter image description here

enter image description here

One Answer

Totally agree with the comments given. By looking at the photos given, I could draw the circuit below.

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

The "mystery" component 'X' is definitely a Zener diode. Also, from the photo you can see the darker portion typical from common Zener diodes.

Correct answer by Eloy Calatrava on December 7, 2020

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP