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LED will not turn off with pot

wingnut

Aug 9, 2012
255
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
255
Hi all

Can someone please tell me why the LED does not dim completely when the sweeper is fully at ground. Thanks.

My apologies, its dimming completely now. I think the ground of the pot was not making contact.

circuit.png
 
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Harald Kapp

Moderator
Moderator
Nov 17, 2011
13,700
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
13,700
A potentiometer is not a good way to control the brightness of a LED. A potentiometer is not designed for comparatively high currents as required for a LED. Use the potentiometer instead to control a transistor which drives the LED current.
A modern way of controlling LED brightness is by using PWM. Much less power dissipation at the cost of higher parts count.
 
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