I bought some led's that have resistors already soldered on to them. When I was testing them I noticed the resistors get really hot, is this normal? Also is it okay to put electric tape on the resistors or do then need to breathe?

 

Yes resistors do get hot and its a good Idea to let them breathe but they dont have to because there ment to get hot. But if its enough to burn you or the tape then let it breath.

 

isn't electric tape suppose to with stand high temps?

 

anyone?

 

if your worrired about the resistors getting too hot you can always get a bigger one and resodder. that's what i used to do when i went to school for electrical engineering. I would see how big that resistor is and then go from there.

 

well i just want to put eletrical tape on it to be safe but don't want to melt the tape.

 

How hot is really hot?

You could invest in some heat shrink tubing...that'll take teh heat.

 

No, electrical tape is NOT designed to withstand heat. It is only designed to create an electrical insulation, not a heat insulation. It will melt and probably burn.

It is completely normal of resistors to heat up. That is in fact their very nature. The "resist" voltage by converting it to heat.

 

Why are you covering the resistor with tape anyways? you should be soldering the connections not taping them.

 

they already are soldered but where i'm placing the resistor it might be touching plastic and i'm worried it might melt the plastic... I also put heat shrink tubing on it as well but it still gets hot.

 

yep youre an engineer alright. you left out the important details. you could get a resistor with a bigger W rating. but a bigger resistance wouldnt give you the current to turn those leds on