Sage-Tips

Which terminal of LED is grounded?

Some people define negative pin of supply as ground. So you can say that LED cathode is grounded. But cathode is not ground.

Which side of the LED is positive?

anode
For an LED to work it needs to be connected to a voltage source with the correct side. The voltage supply side of the diode is the positive (+) side, this is called the anode. The negative side is called the cathode.

How do you tell which side of a LED is negative?

You can try to find the longer leg, which should indicate the positive, anode pin. Or, if someone’s trimmed the legs, try finding the flat edge on the LED’s outer casing. The pin nearest the flat edge will be the negative, cathode pin.

Which way do I wire my LED?

Determining LED Polarity: The cathode should be connected towards the ground or negative side of the driving voltage source, and the anode toward the positive side. LEDs usually have their cathode marked in some manner.

Do LED lights have a ground wire?

Yes, all LED’s have to have a ground circuit. By that, I mean, an individual LED with two leads. A long and a short one.

Does an LED light need a ground?

Now, any fixture that uses LEDs, or a bulb that uses LEDs to replace an incandescent bulb, must be grounded, similarly to the incandescent-bulb-using fixture. If not grounded, these fixtures use 110/120 volts AC power and might cause injury.

Which side of LED is which?

The longer leg is the positive side of the LED, called the “anode,” and the shorter leg is the negative side, called the “cathode.”

Will LED lights work if not grounded?

Power is power and our LED light products won’t discriminate between grounded and ungrounded power so long as it’s coming through an adapter. A.K.A. as long as you’re feeding it DC power your lights will work just fine, grounded or not.

How do I know if my light fixture is grounded?

Find the hot wire (typically black or red) using your non-contact voltage tester. Next, you’ll need a circuit tester. Touch one of the tester’s probes to the bare end of the hot wire and the other to the box. If the light glows, the box is grounded.

Do LEDs have to be grounded?