I have a string of Christmas lights made up of 10 warm white LEDs. The lights are connected in parallel (not in series). The string works with 3 AA batteries (that is, 4.5 VDC). And all that stands between the power source and the lights is one 200 Ohm resistor (this is a photo of the resistor, in case I read it incorrectly):
Now, that's all I know/understand of the string of lights. What I want to do is change the power source: I would like it to work off the 5 VDC that come from a USB output.
My basic knowledge of electronics tells me that there's basically 2 things I have to worry about here:
1) How do I drop that 0.5 volt I don't need? (Although, playing around with LEDs, I think they'll have no problem working with half a volt over what they were originally working with); and
2) Is the current coming out of a normal USB outlet (such as from a telephone charger, 0.8-1.2 amps) going to be too much and, if so, how can I drop it to the current needed? (If I'm not very much mistaken, the current will be too much because a normal LED takes 15-20mA, right?)
I understand this issue is very basic but so is my knowledge of electronics. I would really appreciate any help you can afford. I think that if I could "fix" this issue, find a way to get it to work, I would be able to understand a little more about how it works. So far, reading theory... well, it's all mixed up in my head; perhaps if I could solve this real-life situation, the little I understand could start falling into place and organising itself.
So thanks a lot in advance!
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