fast quick cheap good looking led room lighting

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Fast, Quick, Cheap, Good looking LED room lighting (for anyone)by mellink on June 20, 2009

Table of Contents

License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) .............................................................................

Intro: Fast, Quick, Cheap, Good looking LED room lighting (for anyone) ....................................................................

step 1: Costs ................................................................................................................

step 2: Cable up the room ......................................................................................................

step 3: make the LEDs .........................................................................................................

step 4: .....................................................................................................................

step 5: POWER ON! ..........................................................................................................

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Comments ...................................................................................................................
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License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)

Intro: Fast, Quick, Cheap, Good looking LED room lighting (for anyone)Welcome all :-) This is my first instructable so comments are welcome :-)

What i hope to show you is how to make quick LED lighting that is on a TINY buget.

What you need :

CableLEDsResistors (510Ohms for 12V)Stapels

Soldering ironCutters and other basicsHammer and a nail!

(NOTES FOR n00bs)

LEDs need about 30 milli amps (0.03 Amps) or they burn outTo work out your resiance use:

V=IR

Voltage (V) = 12Amperage (I) = 0.03 (30*10-3)Resitance (R) = ?

SO :

V/I=R

12/0.03=400Ohmsor more...i used 510 so my LEDs arent running at the brightest they could be
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/


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step 1:CostsCosts:

Cable : 8.51GBP high grade white cable per 50m ($13.99)

LEDs: 6.18GBP (Cheaper by the 1000) (the LEDs i used are 13,000 and 6,000 mcd with a angel of 25 degrees)

Resistors x100: for 0.99GBP

Staples: Well cheap...

Which works out at:0.89 per metre!

Spacing of 1 LED per 10cm is enough (get the spacing right or it looks strange)

which isnt bad for really nice lightening that on average the leds will last 11+ Years!

I used a power adapter i had lying about but anything that is 12V and lying about will do fine :-)Just as a general rule you need 30mA per LED. (this isnt strictly true, but it will keep you within tolerences)

so if you had 20 leds you need (30*10-3)*20=600mA or 0.6 A


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step 2:Cable up the roomQuick and easy you need to run 2 cables and make sure you dont cross them over at any point or itll get messy

Seen in the picture is what your cableing should look like all the way around the room (or where ever you want the LEDs)


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step 3:make the LEDsNow what i love about this system is that you can switch, move and change colours so easily!

How to ready the LEDs...

Bend one corner of the resitor and the + (positive) leg of the LED and hook them together.Then put on the solder.Then cut the extra off.

And who said soldering was hard!

Then bend the legs like shown in the picture so that both the legs point downward and make them the same length. about 4mm not long

ok now do that as many times as you want... Its easy...

step 4:Put it all together!

Ok so LEDs only work one way around so make sure all the LEDs + (positive) legs (the end with the resistor) goes in the same cable.

Take the nail and puncture the cable cover so that you can stick the legs of the LED into the cable

Now do the same every 10cm...


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step 5:POWER ON!TURN IT ON!

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Future upgrades:Use of capacitors for a glowing as the power is turned on (gradual l ighting on)and a motion sensor so as i come in the door the lights come on.

Thanks to all for reading :-)

if you want any parts (shown in the instructable i can sell them to you)also any donations (as i an a poor student) are very much appriated!

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Comments

50 comments Add Comment view all 211 commen

runwithscissors17 says: Oct 4, 2009. 2:09 PM REPThis project was by far my favourite. It work out so well.What i did that was cool tho, instead of hooking the lights up to a wall outlet, i took a speaker (like a surround sound speaker) and hooked it up to one ofthose black boxes that hook up to your tv. Then i put the lights into the back of the speakers as well, so it would draw power from there, and now, whenevetheir is a beat, the lights will flash. The result = colorful flashing lights that beat to the music. Party on!

mellink says: Oct 26, 2009. 8:26 AM REPlove the idea so much i did it too. happens to be that my desk is just to the left of the picture so i just plugged it into the back of my amp.

wotot2 says: Nov 22, 2009. 11:41 AM REPI've been trying to figure out what resistors im going to need to do that, are you saying that 510Ohm resistors will work for this no matter what?

mellink says: Nov 22, 2009. 2:14 PM REPNo. if you use a different voltage input ie anything other than 12VDC you will have to change the resistors to allow enough power to flow througthe LED to lite it up.Read page one the maths is explained

natman says: Nov 12, 2009. 1:17 PM REP

would you be able to use the tri changing leds for a cool effect???

runwithscissors17 says: Jul 17, 2009. 5:22 PM REPJust wondering, is this safe? I mean can this cause a fire or short in a line somewhere?

j03tv says: Oct 30, 2009. 11:26 AM REPThis is totally safe. I mean, depending on where you get a short it can either provide too much current to an LED and blow it out or damage the powersupply. Just make sure after everything is connected properly and use some hot glue or electrical tape to seal the wires from making shorts if they areclose together.

runwithscissors17 says: Jul 17, 2009. 7:51 PM REPAlso, when i got this working, i found that the resister became really really hot. Is this normal?

j03tv says: Oct 30, 2009. 11:32 AM REPBends and twists wont do anything to cause heat. For these simple projects, you shouldnt feel much heat through any of thecomponents.Maybeyouare probably using a too low of resistor value with a high voltage.

runwithscissors17 says: Jul 17, 2009. 8:42 PM REPFurthermore, would it be getting hot because their are a lot of bends and twists in the resister?

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:39 PM REPYes resistors getting hot= normal. Resistors drop voltage, and that energy has to go somewhere therefore the energy is converted into heat.Effectively everything has a resistance (unless your a cool science guy with supercooled metal haha) which is why we use heat sinks and fans cool our electronic equipment such as a computer.

Applecore807 says: Sep 26, 2009. 10:07 PM REPumm the capaictor future upgrade, wouldnt the lights come on first then dim with a capacitor and would it be on every led or just the start of the power leadim still trying to get my head around capacitors ;l

Hubro says: Aug 4, 2009. 8:39 AM REPAre you using a AC adapter or a DC adapter?
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amishra123 says: Sep 3, 2009. 8:39 AM REPabout the phone charger just thought i would slip this in! You can also make a usb charger! Just cut the bit you plug into the phone and u will have twowires one red and one black just take the male usb part and solder the red and black wires together and there you have it a wall usb charger!! for youripod or whatever!!!

mikemmcmeans says: Aug 6, 2009. 2:25 PM REPhe's using DC. leds only work on DC. if they were ran on AC they would blink at 60Hz.

Hubro says: Aug 10, 2009. 2:06 AM REPThanks! But I have a 4.9V DC cell phone charger lying around. Can I use this?

mikemmcmeans says: Aug 10, 2009. 3:41 PM REPprobably. it depends on the power rating ov your adapter. (like he was saying in the cost section) each LED will use about 20mA so... if you hava 500mA adapter, you can run 25 LEDS on it. 350mA -> 17LEDS get the picture? if you're under that rating too much(using only half the leds) tvoltage will increase. your resistors will only be caculated for 5V, and the voltage will be 6-7V on the otherside (if you're using too many leds) thvoltage will go down, and the leds will dim proportionately to the exceded rating. to fix both those problems get a 7805 voltage regulator and a 712V adapter. it will always output 5V no matter load (long as its


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Thenwcp says: Aug 16, 2009. 6:54 AM REPA cell phone charger is just a step down AC to DC converter, basically your just cutting off the phone plug and using the output of the phonecharger

R0y4L says: Jul 21, 2009. 11:25 AM REPhello, i am whats it called a n00b at this. i have found some 220ohm resistors. i am not really good at this, but i wqa woundering, could i put two resistors foeach LED, would tht make it work? or am i just making something very stupid.

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:35 PM REPJust an add on to what Mell ink was saying...

Resistance equations

Series...... R1+R2+R3= R(total)Parallel.... 1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3)= R(total)

also if you have just two parallel resistors you can be fancy and use this equation R1*R2/(R1+R2)

also with parallel if you have two of the same resistances you can just cut the resistance of one resistor in half and that will be you total

mellink says: Jul 21, 2009. 2:54 PM REPyour bang on the money with 2 resistors in series (ie link together) just add up there values...(but you can buy resistors at 1p per resistor :-) so hardlyseems worth the extra messing about...ebay it someone like pheniox lighting and then go to their website buy more than 5 get free shipping :-) ) if youput them in parrel...ie over each other you would half there values because the current has 2 routes to travel down... THE RESISTORS AS I SAID VARDEPENDING ON YOUR LEDS but i used 510 ohms at 12V to produce 23mA (could run up to 35mA) but i t depends on your leds most need 30 mA orless... so at 12V your safe to use 512Ohm

rseni says: Jul 22, 2009. 6:35 AM REPI used a 5V travel adapter and no resistor. It's working and no heating of LEDs yet. Am I doing wrong?

R0y4L says: Jul 21, 2009. 3:07 PM REPwow...i actually worked it out myself hahaha. feel so smart lol... :) thanks for that. It made my day :D

errow says: Aug 6, 2009. 6:07 PM REPif i used a 6v power supply would i need resitors ?

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:18 PM REP

yes, because resistors do not limit voltage or current very well and will burn out quickly even at voltages as low as 3V

errow says: Aug 6, 2009. 5:42 PM REPwhere can i buy the cable?!?!?!?!?!

skrubol says: Jun 25, 2009. 7:00 AM REPRunning like this is quite ineff icient, also your resistance calculation is a bit off. White and blue LED's run at about 3v, so you are burning 9v in the resistorsand 3v in the LED. About 25% efficient. Also, for your resistance calculation, for 'v' you should use 'Vsupply-Vf'=12-3=9v. So your LED's are really only usi18mA.If you want to double or triple your efficiency, you can run 2 or 3 LED's in series with one, smaller valued resistor. 2 LED's with a 200 ohm resistor would geyou 30mA. 3 LED's with a 100 ohm resistor will be a bit less stable (LED's will get brighter as they warm up, and small variations in your power supply willshow.)

aarons123 says: Aug 2, 2009. 1:28 AM REPok, you could do this, but how would you get the same cool effect XD around 10 cm apart

spaz_behindyou says: Jul 4, 2009. 2:31 AM REPand also, what ohm were the resistors?
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10/11


drbill says: Jul 4, 2009. 11:50 PM REPi would think that using a 12v. power supply you could use a 47 ohm. i do

spaz_behindyou says: Jul 7, 2009. 7:29 AM REPCan i use a higher ohm, like 100, or would that disrupt the circuit?

pyro-jim says: Jul 25, 2009. 8:09 AM REPtoo low actually. He says in the intro that he used 510 ohms because it needs to be at least 400 ohms

wolfmane says: Jul 14, 2009. 10:19 AM REPJust for future instructables you do, I'd recommend giving a basic circuit diagram/schematic from those readers who are visual or beginning electronicsDIY'ers, it helps out a lot. I'm an employed electronics technician and working on my EE degree but even I have to pause and think about it when trying todecipher a circuit from only written descriptions.

rseni says: Jul 14, 2009. 8:58 AM REPIf using enough LEDs, can this thing replace regular house lights / bulbs?

rseni says: Jul 14, 2009. 8:40 AM REPI was able to punch a few LEDs into a speaker cable and it works. But I used a direct 5V DC from a travel adapter. If I use any resistor, it gets too hot.Another thing. I want to use the already installed speaker wire all round the house by punching the LEDs in to it every 10cm or so. Say if it is 100 to 200LEDs, what is the best voltage I need and what current capacity of the transformer? If I wish to use good batteries along with this, what voltge is best and

what amp.hour? All help appercited. RS

rseni says: Jul 9, 2009. 3:53 AM REPYou drill holes in the cable and put each LED inside. Drilling the holes also spoils the internal wires of the extension cable/cord. Then how do you connectthe LEDs internally?Even if the wires are not spoilt somehow, how do you connect the LEDS internally? I can't understand this.

Can someone re-explain the making step by step since I could not understand even after reading repeatedly.

How do you connect the LEDs internally? Stapling the inside wires? Does that really work?

Someone mentioned the use of safety pins to solder to the LEDs and push them into the wires. That's understandable and easier. But why do you need twcables? Is it that only the LED legs go in the cables?

Are the LEDs in series? With a single resistor? Would 20 LEDs work in series from a 12V DC supply and a resistor? The LEDs, if stapled to the wires, will in parallel right?

If the resistor is really needed, then can't a high wattage wirewound be used? Just one would be enough for the whole bunch of LEDs.

I have two 6.3V sealed batteries which are not in use. Can I use these instead and add an existing charger for them? This way, I have the LED l ight evenwhen the lights go off at evening / night.

I would like to add a switch after say every 5 LEDs which can be turned on and off to let the other LEDs light up or not as needed.

Regards,RS

pyro-jim says: Jul 11, 2009. 5:41 AM REPThe LED's are wired in parrallel so all the positives are stuck in one wire so that the leg is touching the copper wire inside the wires you run along thewall. The negatives are the same but in the other wire. The negative wire is attached to the positive on the power source and the positive is attached tothe negative of the power source. Hope this helps

rseni says: Jul 11, 2009. 9:39 AM REPSo you have two separate cables instead of single extension cord with double wires inside? Thanks for clarifying, RS

junits15 says: Jul 9, 2009. 3:02 PM REPI think you punch the holes with a nail

spenymoor says: Jun 25, 2009. 1:55 PM REPcould you put the resistor at the begining of the circut and run it all through one wire?
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11/11

http://www instructables com/id/Fast Quick Cheap Good looking LED room lighting/

edwardchen says: Jun 25, 2009. 2:19 PM REPBy only using one current limiting resistor, you run the risk of allowing different currents through each LED, based on the forward voltage. This *might*work alright if you are only using one batch of LEDs, but as you add different color LEDs in parallel, all the current will go through the LED with the loweforward voltage, probably blowing that LED.

Even if all the forward voltages were identical, as you add more LEDs, the overall current draw will be the same, reducing the current (and brightness) each individual LED.

hjfast says: Jul 10, 2009. 9:12 AM REPI think he means putting all the LEDs in series rather than having all of them in parallel as they are now. The calculation the author did for the totalcurrent you need (# LEDS * Current/LED) implies that they are all in parallel.

If you were to put all the LEDs in series you would only need 30mA (or less) current. However, you would need a much higher voltage supply (OhmLaw).

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