# @stem_antics on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DaN3kyZgBn_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/67391862-stem-antics-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ceef838385.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-06-30T16:33:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Stem Antics (@stem_antics) — https://gondola.cc/stem_antics

## Caption

Link in bio if you wanna build something on your own.
That wire is enamelled copper, often just 0.1 to 0.4mm across. Two parallel strands run the length of the string, and bridging them at intervals sit bare-die or tiny SMD LEDs. Every LED shares the same two conductors, which means the whole string is wired in parallel, not series.

That distinction matters:
- In a series string, one failed LED breaks the circuit and the entire run goes dark. The old Christmas-light curse.
- In parallel, each LED sees the same voltage independently. Lose one and the rest carry on unbothered.

But there’s a puzzle. Enamelled copper, the same magnet wire used in motor windings, is coated in insulating polyurethane. So how does current reach an LED bonded onto an insulated wire?

The answer is heat. Solderable enamels are formulated to thermally decompose around 350 to 400 degrees C. When each LED is spot-welded to the strand during manufacture, the localised heat burns straight through the coating, forming a clean electrical bond exactly where it’s needed and nowhere else. The insulation survives everywhere the heat never touched.

With no resistor at each diode, the string leans on a single series resistor or a small constant-current driver to set the total current, while the thin copper’s own resistance helps share it between LEDs. Run too far and the strands furthest from the supply dim slightly as voltage sags along the wire.

A drop of clear epoxy then seals each junction against moisture and strain, leaving only a glowing speck suspended on near-invisible copper.

Invisible engineering is still engineering. It just hides better.

#stemantics #electronics #engineering #LED #copperwire

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 238
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- **Comments:** 4

## Tags

stemantics, led, electronics, copperwire, engineering

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