the Internet's largest lightbar, siren, and emergency equipment forum
Forum options:  Search  Member list  Register  Profile  Log in to check your private messages  Log in |
Notice: Thanks for your patience as we work to restore full service. In the mean time, please try out our new chat room.
HOW TO: Make Your Own LED lights
| Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Next |
  |
| Author | Message | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kinnelonfire75 Suspended user Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 681 Location: Kinnelon, NJ (Morris County) |
|
||||||
 |
|||||||
| Changchungleds Regular  Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 181 Location: Distrito Federal, Venezuela |
|
||||||
|
|||||||
| drivin25 Regular Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 98 Location: Central Pennsyltucky (PA Rednecks) |
|
||||||
|
|||||||
| MarkClements Frequent Poster Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 1577 Location: Platteville, WI |
Thats sweet... where did you get the housing? looks like the shell from an old rotator? What kind was it? |
||||||
New member
Joined: 02 Oct 2007
Posts: 9
Location: Mahomet, IL
 Posted: Mon 28-Jul-2008 09:20 Post subject: |
 |
Here's a picture of the lighthead I built using the information found here:
Thanks to everyone who blazed the trail. The housing is some scrap plastic leftover from a basement ceiling project. It's the CeilingMax border edge for ceiling tiles. It's really rigid so it may not be affected by sunlight. Time will tell. I have since found some of the 3/4\" aluminum channel at Home Depot so I have that as a backup. I only burned up two LED's. The first one blew when I couldn't wait to test the second lighthead I built and must have shorted one of the LED's with my alligator clip. The second one blew when I forgot to use a resistor when I hooked it up to a 9V battery to test it to replace the first one. It was really bright for a millisecond then quickly fizzled. Doh! I'm happy with the results. |
|
Turbo Poster
Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 2757
Location: Detroit, Michigan
| Posted: Mon 28-Jul-2008 09:29 Post subject: |
|
Nice job man...videos please!  |
|
Frequent Poster
Joined: 27 Dec 2006
Posts: 1194
Location: Edinburg, Rio Grande Valley, Tx
| Posted: Mon 28-Jul-2008 09:40 Post subject: Re: |
|
| [quote:8b0bbc4dcb=\"cbpdogboy\"]Nice job man...videos please! |
|
+1 good job, can't wait to see some vids
joe
Regular
Joined: 02 Feb 2008
Posts: 390
Location: Helsinki, Finland
| Posted: Mon 1-Sep-2008 14:02 Post subject: |
|
| Here's one I did.
This is a practice light - I wanted to start small, to see how hard it would be and learn something along the way. Everything else I had lying around, I only had to buy the LEDs themselves, that set me back about 10 euros (15 US dollars, if you will). So, this is a deck light type (not weatherproof) 1st gen LED light, with 9 5mm red LEDs. Obviously, it needs an external flasher, unless you just want a steady red. The LEDs are 3 strings of 3, with a 330 ohm resistor for each string (or, in one case, two resistors in line - didn't have enough of the correct ones). The cylindrical housing is an old halogen spotlight, and the resistors are cannibalized from an old tape recorder. The round 'face' is actually part of a broken Inova LED flashlight. I apologise for the photos being somewhat out of focus. The beginning: 6 LEDs are in place, but only 3 are wired: 
The electronic part finished (lots of pretty colors for insulation  ):
The finished light: 
This picture really didn't come out well, but for comparison: 
That's Hawk-1 on the left, and my light on the right. All in all, a fun project. I'm still awful when it comes to soldering, but improving slowly. |
|
Turbo Poster
Joined: 28 Aug 2005
Posts: 2264
Location: Menifee, CA
| Posted: Tue 2-Sep-2008 16:43 Post subject: |
|
| Here is a good video, not emergency lights, but same idea and pretty good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtbDL0stkRA Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEeDJuwHxSI&feature=related Part 2 |
|
Frequent Poster
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Posts: 1577
Location: Platteville, WI
| Posted: Wed 3-Sep-2008 20:29 Post subject: Re: |
|
| [quote:fa17968598=\"PTR-Jason\"]Here is a good video, not emergency lights, but same idea and pretty good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtbDL0stkRA Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEeDJuwHxSI&feature=related Part 2 |
|
I like the idea of using the standard housing. I am planning on building some soffet lights for my garage and running them off a computer power supply. That would work out really well for that I think.
Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2006
Posts: 29
Location: Waco, TX
| Posted: Mon 8-Sep-2008 02:09 Post subject: |
|
| This post has been very informative. I have one question though. Would it be possible to make a light connected to a LED flasher that runs off a 9V battery? I would like to make a small light to display inside.
Thanks, Jonathan |
|
Frequent Poster
Joined: 20 Aug 2005
Posts: 1898
Location: Metro Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: Mon 8-Sep-2008 08:23 Post subject: Re: |
|
| [quote:0ba1ae04a4=\"Jonathan W.\"]This post has been very informative. I have one question though. Would it be possible to make a light connected to a LED flasher that runs off a 9V battery? | |
Yes, would need to recalculate the resistor value as you will have less voltage and most likely will be using one less LED per chain.
9Vs have little capacity in them... an alkaline will give you about 5 watts of power for an hour tops
Frequent Poster
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Posts: 1577
Location: Platteville, WI
| Posted: Mon 8-Sep-2008 11:49 Post subject: Re: |
|
| [quote:e35e552b9b=\"LFD-Mike\"][quote:e35e552b9b=\"Jonathan W.\"]This post has been very informative. I have one question though. Would it be possible to make a light connected to a LED flasher that runs off a 9V battery? | |
Yes, would need to recalculate the resistor value as you will have less voltage and most likely will be using one less LED per chain.
9Vs have little capacity in them... an alkaline will give you about 5 watts of power for an hour tops
+1 You will be far better off using the vehicle's 12v system. Can put it on a cigar plug if you need something portable.
Suspended user
Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 681
Location: Kinnelon, NJ (Morris County)
| Posted: Mon 10-Nov-2008 05:50 Post subject: |
|
| Alright breathing life to an old thread:
I want to build a small round light head. for that I need something to hold my LEDs in. I thought about a styrofoam ball but didnt do it cause that may be a fire hazard if left on too long. any ideas? |
|
Regular
Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 66
Location: Brockport, NY
| Posted: Mon 10-Nov-2008 08:59 Post subject: Re: |
|
| [quote:4824698d3a=\"kinnelonfire75\"]Alright breathing life to an old thread:
I want to build a small round light head. for that I need something to hold my LEDs in. I thought about a styrofoam ball but didnt do it cause that may be a fire hazard if left on too long. any ideas? |
|
Sounds pretty cheap but it was the first thing that came to my mind when you said round was some sort of flashlight head.
How big do you want this array?
Regular
Joined: 17 Mar 2007
Posts: 733
Location: Independence, MO
| Posted: Mon 10-Nov-2008 09:00 Post subject: Re: |
|
| [quote:94e038f311=\"kinnelonfire75\"]Alright breathing life to an old thread:
I want to build a small round light head. for that I need something to hold my LEDs in. I thought about a styrofoam ball but didnt do it cause that may be a fire hazard if left on too long. any ideas? |
|
Are you wanting something actually \"rounded\" or something round but flat, kinda like a PAR36?
Suspended user
Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 681
Location: Kinnelon, NJ (Morris County)
| Posted: Mon 10-Nov-2008 15:05 Post subject: |
|
| actually round. Considering between 6-12 LEDs. baisically me making a round lighthead is to make up for the fact that LEDs are directional and I want the light to be reflected all over the housing and out through the lens. (think deckblaster) | |
Frequent Poster
Joined: 20 Aug 2005
Posts: 1898
Location: Metro Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: Mon 10-Nov-2008 16:27 Post subject: |
|
| What you want is actually spherical and it is due to the optics on the LEDs you intend to use.
What kind of diameter are we talking |
|
Suspended user
Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 681
Location: Kinnelon, NJ (Morris County)
| Posted: Mon 10-Nov-2008 21:17 Post subject: |
|
| 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter | |
Regular
Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Joburg, South Africa
| Posted: Tue 11-Nov-2008 13:46 Post subject: |
|
| What about slicing off the top of a ping pong ball n mount the leds in that, taking a deoderant can type lid of similar size, wire it all up n slot them together then fill it up with resin to give it strength n hold it all together? cheap as chips and strong cos of the resin. or two pack acrylic if you want to throw it about at bit |
|
Frequent Poster
Joined: 20 Aug 2005
Posts: 1898
Location: Metro Milwaukee, WI
| Posted: Tue 11-Nov-2008 14:13 Post subject: |
|
| So... you want a sphere that is less less than 3/4\" in diameter and you want to stuff that with a half dozen to dozen LEDs. What LEDs are you planning on putting in this? Most of the brighter ones are not going to fit in that small of a space.
Some ideas came to mind- halloween stores used to sell a golf ball sized sphere that had 3 or 4 LEDs in them to clip onto clothing. I have also seen a variant used for dog collars. In both cases they used 5mm LEDs and were on an internal flasher, powered by 3 button cell batteries |
|
Suspended user
Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 681
Location: Kinnelon, NJ (Morris County)
| Posted: Tue 11-Nov-2008 14:53 Post subject: |
|
| I will attempt with a ping pong ball. my next question would be about the flasher. Can someone name me a good quality but small flasher. I dont care how many patterns it has as long as its small and has a few (7 is ok, less is fine too). | |
Suspended user
Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 681
Location: Kinnelon, NJ (Morris County)
| Posted: Mon 17-Nov-2008 16:04 Post subject: |
|
| alright to build on what ive done so far. recieved 16 5mm LEDs today. took a ping pong ball, cut it in half, hot glued every led on the the half ping pong ball. my question, ive been trying to figure it out on my own but cant get a conclusion.
from the positive wire entering the lighthead, how do i wire all 16 leds together, dont forget the resistors, and then the ground wire leaving last on the whole thing. what i dont understand is do i wire to every cathode and then to every anode? it makes no sense.  thnx |
|
Regular
Joined: 17 Mar 2007
Posts: 733
Location: Independence, MO
| Posted: Mon 17-Nov-2008 17:20 Post subject: Re: |
|
| [quote:cf741a0e3e=\"kinnelonfire75\"]alright to build on what ive done so far. recieved 16 5mm LEDs today. took a ping pong ball, cut it in half, hot glued every led on the the half ping pong ball. my question, ive been trying to figure it out on my own but cant get a conclusion.
from the positive wire entering the lighthead, how do i wire all 16 leds together, dont forget the resistors, and then the ground wire leaving last on the whole thing. what i dont understand is do i wire to every cathode and then to every anode? it makes no sense. thnx |
|
Well, it will depend. Are your resistors sized for three/four LED's in series or are they for each single LED? If they are for each LED, you will have to link all the cathodes together, then add a resistor to each anode, then linking each resistor together. If you are going the three/four in series route, you will link three/four LED's cathode to anode, then add a resistor at the end. Link the end of all the resistors together and link all the begining cathodes together.
Hope that makes sense.
Suspended user
Joined: 09 Mar 2008
Posts: 681
Location: Kinnelon, NJ (Morris County)
| Posted: Mon 17-Nov-2008 17:32 Post subject: |
|
| i am going the 4 leds:1 resistor route. so yes that does make sense. thnx. | |
| |
All times are GMT - 6 Hours |
|
By accessing any part of this site, you acknowledge/accept the terms and conditions laid out in our site guidelines.