Hi all
I've analyzed an LED taken from a votive candle.
Why is it flickering (they do that to remeber the fire of wax candles)? What's inside of it?
https://youtu.be/opU5CsuhHgAThanks
I saw Ikea LED candles all flickering exactly the same. I shut them off and then turned them on at the same time, and they were all synchronized.
They seem to be reading a pattern in ROM and just cycling through it. That should be part of the IC in OP's LED.
I saw Ikea LED candles all flickering exactly the same. I shut them off and then turned them on at the same time, and they were all synchronized.
They seem to be reading a pattern in ROM and just cycling through it. That should be part of the IC in OP's LED.
After seeing some rumours on the web, I tried hooking a piezo sounder across the leds on a bunch of old LED candles (COB rather than embedded in the LED). A few types did indeed play nice little oriental tunes - clearly dual use greeting card ICs. Others just produced nasty random noise, so at least some have (had) ROM lookup.
After seeing some rumours on the web, I tried hooking a piezo sounder across the leds on a bunch of old LED candles (COB rather than embedded in the LED). A few types did indeed play nice little oriental tunes - clearly dual use greeting card ICs. Others just produced nasty random noise, so at least some have (had) ROM lookup.
Can you explain better what you have done?
It's amazing (for me) the technology hidden in these cheap LEDs!
I once saw some extremely cheap "flickering candle" lights that had a curiously short and repetitive pattern: three short blips, then three slightly longer blips.
I've tried with my LEDs but their tune doesn't mean anything
My understanding is that flicker LED candles with external chips might play a tune as they re-use sound-chips. LEDs with an integrated flicker chip use specific PRBS chips. Probably the sound chips are too big to fit in a LED housing.
By the way. Here is one candle LED that is a bit more realistic:
Yes, I'm sure the dies integrated into LEDs are optimised for minimum size and best function, rather than re-purposing existing ones.
After seeing some rumours on the web, I tried hooking a piezo sounder across the leds on a bunch of old LED candles (COB rather than embedded in the LED). A few types did indeed play nice little oriental tunes - clearly dual use greeting card ICs. Others just produced nasty random noise, so at least some have (had) ROM lookup.
At some point I thought it's some 1st April joke.
Mine were from LIDL, with a single CR2032 batt from around year 2015.
They don't sing, only buzz in single tone pulses.
Mine were from LIDL, with a single CR2032 batt from around year 2015.
They don't sing, only buzz in single tone pulses.
The Germans have
no sense of humour!
(Sorry, that was very politically incorrect!)