Vacation Alert - August 27 to September 29

The PCBoard.ca team will be away in Japan and China visiting suppliers from August 27 until September 29.

Online ordering will be paused, and we will not be taking or processing orders during that time.

Online ordering and processing will resume on September 29.

SMD 1206 LEDs

Small LED Indicators

SMD LEDs (Surface Mount Device) LEDs are some of the most miniature LEDs available. They are available in several standardized sizes.

Model: 0603 (1608 Metric) measures 1.6mm (L) x 0.8mm (W)
Model: 0805 (2012 Metric) measures 2mm (L) x 1.25mm (W)
Model: 1206 (3216 Metric) measures 3.2mm (L) x 1.6mm (W)

These 1206 SMD LEDs can be used in many electronics projects, including hobbyists and model builders. They are commonly used in scale-models for everything from street and house lighting to tail and indicator lights on cars and scale model trains to model boats, planes, cars, spaceships, or anything you may want to add a tiny indicator light.

Other advantages of the SMD LEDs compared to incandescent bulbs, which run hotter and burn out quickly. LEDs are also available in a wide variety of colors.

The 1206 SMD LED is very small and will require tweezers to attached connection leads to them. We also carry pre-wired SMD LEDs to save you the trouble of connecting wires to the LED.

Power Requirements

Power to the LEDs can be over a wide range, but limit the current to the devices to no more than 0.02A (20mA). More current through the LED will result in a slightly higher-intensity brightness. Our Dropping Resistor Chart below shows the different LED models and power supply voltage options and the necessary dropping resistor to achieve maximum intensity. The LEDs will function well from currents from 2mA to 20mA.

SMD 1206 LED Power and Recommended Resistor Requirements

	3v	4.5v	5v	6v	9v	12v
White LED LED‑1206‑WHT‑01	10 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	100 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	120 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	180 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	330 ohm ½ watt	470 ohm ½ watt
Red LED LED-1206-RED-01	75 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	150 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	180 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	220 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	390 ohm ½ watt	560 ohm ½ watt
Green LED LED-1206-GRN-01	10 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	100 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	120 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	180 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	330 ohm ½ watt	470 ohm ½ watt
Blue LED LED-1206-BLU-01	10 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	100 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	120 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	180 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	330 ohm ½ watt	470 ohm ½ watt
Yellow LED LED-1206-YEL-01	75 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	150 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	180 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	220 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	390 ohm ½ watt	560 ohm ½ watt
Orange LED LED-1206-ORG-01	75 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	150 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	180 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	220 ohm ¼ or ½ watt	390 ohm ½ watt	560 ohm ½ watt

To use your LED over a wide voltage range (anywhere from 3V to 15V DC), we recommend using an inexpensive 820 ohm 1/4 watt series resistor.

Hooking Up The LED with Dropping Resistor

All LEDs require current limiting, without a current limiting mechanism, LEDs will usually burn out in under a second. Adding a simple resistor is one of the easiest ways to limit the current.

Our Online LED Calculator is an excellent way to calculator necessary dropping resistor values. The calculator allows for automatic calculation of the necessary current limiting resistor and power rating for operating your LED. We have precalculated common resistor values above for the LEDs, but you can use the calculator for custom voltage or current settings.