Adapter for 5 mm led

[oupulino]

Hi I bought 5 mm led they are rated for 12 V now I like to connect 12 of them,I have 1 Adapter 12V DC 1000mA if I connect this adapter to 12 led it does nothing then I connect to 3 led it works great,then I have second adapter 12V 500mA this one can run 6 led not so bright I don't understand what I have to do to run 12 led ,what kind adapter I need

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

i have done this a while back
here is a starting informative site about led arrays and sequences.
should be easy to follow.
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

[oupulino]

I have no idea about resistors the are same on each led I don know which one I ask the seller about this info we see what happen

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

ok this is how i remenber it.
your 5mm led are probably the basic ones.
white or blue led 5mm forward voltage should be no more than 3.3v and 20 mA for forward current.

Solution

• each 120 ohm resistor dissipates 48 mW
• the color code for 120 is brown red brown
• 1/4W resistors are fine for your application
• together, all resistors dissipate 192 mW
• together, the diodes dissipate 792 mW
• total power dissipated by the array is 984 mW
• the array draws current of 80 mA from the source.
• the 12v 500mA power source you have is plenty for your array.
• fill in the gap in the site i originally posted and you get a drawing graph of you array.