Superflux / Piranha - Flat

Flat piranha LEDs (also called flat-top superflux LEDs) are the ultra-low-profile variant of the piranha LED family.

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Flat piranha LEDs (also called flat-top superflux LEDs) are the ultra-low-profile variant of the piranha LED family. They share the same square body and four-lead pinout as the 3mm and 5mm piranha LEDs, but eliminate the raised lens dome entirely. The flat top sits nearly flush with the upper surface of the square body, creating the thinnest possible piranha profile and the widest possible beam angle — up to 140°. This combination of minimal height and maximum light spread makes flat piranhas the best choice for applications where the LED must fit inside an extremely shallow enclosure and distribute light as broadly as possible across a diffuser or panel surface. We carry flat piranha LEDs in every standard color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white (warm and cool), pink, and UV.

Automotive gauge cluster and dashboard applications are where flat piranha LEDs truly shine. Many instrument cluster housings — especially in compact cars and newer vehicles with slimmer dashboard profiles — have LED cavities so shallow that even a 3mm dome would contact the gauge face overlay or light guide. The flat piranha solves this problem: it sits fully below the cavity opening and relies on its 140° beam to fill the entire cavity with even light. The result is smooth, artifact-free backlighting with no hot spots or bright rings. Flat piranhas are also the preferred option for HVAC control panel backlighting, seat heater button illumination, radio display surrounds, and aftermarket switch panel builds where the LED mounts directly behind a thin translucent overlay. The four-lead piranha footprint provides the same vibration-resistant mechanical grip that makes all piranhas the standard for automotive PCB work.

Signage, light boxes, and architectural accent lighting benefit from the flat piranha’s extreme beam width. In a thin light box or illuminated menu board, the LEDs mount on a PCB behind a diffuser panel. With a 140° beam, each flat piranha covers a larger patch of the diffuser surface than a domed variant would, allowing wider LED spacing in the array. Fewer LEDs per panel means lower material cost, less wiring, and simpler power supply sizing — a significant advantage for sign shops producing large-format displays. The flat profile also allows the PCB to sit closer to the diffuser without creating hot spots, enabling thinner sign housings that look sleeker and weigh less.

Electrical specifications for flat piranha LEDs are identical to the rest of the piranha family. The square body measures approximately 7.6mm × 7.6mm with four leads at 2.54mm pin pitch. Forward voltage depends on color: red/orange/yellow/amber at 2.0–2.2Vf, blue/green/white/UV/pink at 3.0–3.4Vf. Maximum drive current is 20mA. Despite the lack of a dome lens, flat piranhas still produce strong brightness (typically 5,000–9,000mcd depending on color) — the light simply radiates over a wider solid angle, so the perceived intensity per steradian is lower than a domed piranha even though total radiant flux is comparable. For applications where absolute on-axis brightness matters more than coverage area, choose the 5mm piranha instead.

Flat piranha vs. flat-top round DIP LEDs: standard flat-top round LEDs also lack a dome and produce wide beam angles, but they only have two leads and a round footprint. The flat piranha’s four-lead square footprint provides better mechanical stability on a PCB (critical in vibration-prone automotive applications), better thermal dissipation through four solder joints, and a form factor that tiles neatly in rectangular arrays. If your application uses a breadboard or panel-mount bezel, a standard flat-top round diffused LED is the simpler choice. If you are soldering to a PCB and need the flattest, widest-angle through-hole LED available, the flat piranha is the answer.

Installation and wiring follow the same process as all piranha LEDs. Identify the polarity notch on the square body, align it with the PCB silkscreen markings, insert all four leads through the board, solder, and trim flush. Each flat piranha requires a current-limiting resistor in series — use our LED resistor calculator to find the correct value for your supply voltage. For 12V automotive circuits, design for 14V to account for alternator charging. If your power source is AC (landscape transformer) or DCC model railroad track power, add a bridge rectifier and smoothing capacitor — see the AC/DCC wiring guide.

If you want to skip resistor calculations entirely, our 12V built-in resistor LEDs connect directly to 12V DC with no external components. For the simplest possible LED experience, our pre-wired LEDs ship with the resistor already attached to the wire — just connect power and ground. Browse all three piranha variants in the piranha / superflux parent category to compare sizes and find the best fit for your project.

Frequently Asked Questions

A flat piranha LED is a superflux LED with the same square body and four-lead pinout as standard piranhas, but without the raised lens dome. The top surface is flat, creating the lowest-profile piranha variant. This flat design produces the widest beam angle in the piranha family (up to 140°) and the smallest overall height, making it ideal for extremely shallow enclosures like thin gauge cluster housings and slim-profile signage channels.
Flat piranhas typically produce lower mcd (millicandela) readings than 5mm domed piranhas — usually 5,000–9,000mcd vs. 8,000–12,000mcd for the domed version in the same color. However, this difference is largely due to how mcd is measured (on-axis intensity). The flat piranha spreads its light over a wider angle (140° vs. 100–120°), so total light output is comparable — it is just distributed over a larger area. For backlighting applications where even coverage matters more than peak intensity, the flat piranha is often the better choice.
Choose flat piranhas when vertical clearance is your primary constraint — the LED must fit inside an extremely shallow housing where even the 3mm dome would be too tall. Also choose flat piranhas when you need maximum beam spread for even backlighting across a wide diffuser panel. If clearance is not an issue and you want the highest possible brightness per LED, the 5mm domed piranha delivers higher peak mcd ratings.
Yes. All flat piranha LEDs require a current-limiting resistor in series, just like every other bare LED. Without a resistor, the LED will draw too much current and burn out immediately. Use our LED resistor calculator to find the correct value based on your supply voltage and the LED’s forward voltage. If you want to skip the resistor entirely, our 12V built-in resistor LEDs connect directly to 12V DC.
Flat piranha LEDs typically have a viewing angle of 120–140° — the widest of any piranha variant. By comparison, 3mm domed piranhas measure 100–120° and 5mm domed piranhas also measure 100–120°. The wider angle means each flat piranha illuminates a larger area behind a diffuser panel, allowing wider LED spacing in backlighting arrays and thinner sign housings.
Absolutely. Flat piranhas are the best piranha choice for gauge clusters with very shallow LED cavities where a domed lens would sit too high and create bright spots on the gauge face. The flat top sits fully below the cavity opening and uses its 140° beam to flood the gauge face evenly. Desolder the factory LEDs, align the flat piranha’s polarity notch with the PCB markings, solder all four leads, and trim flush. Use a resistor if the cluster PCB doesn’t already include one.