I tried to make an AC LED light by doing the following:
Changing AC to DC with a Rectifier
Doing the math for 5 LEDs and then putting a resistor inline.
With a 3.3k resistor and 5 LEDs, I figured the math as follows:
110v - (5 x 3.6v) = 92 volts
92v / 3.3k resistor = 27.79mA current.
It all worked great, and the lights lit up reasonably bright - EXCEPT that the resistor got REAALLLLY hot! It started to turn brown, like it was burning up, so I unplugged the whole thing.
Obviously this resistor must be too small for this use. By small, I mean its wattage rating. Is that right? I believe I got a 1/2 watt resistor, and that's as "big" as they come, at least at Radio Shack.
Am I trying to limit too much current? In other words, do I need to use more LEDs? Or do I need to put more smaller-rated resistors in series? Or is there something else fundamentally wrong with my very simple circuitry?
Thanks in advance for the help!