Bedazzler: DIY non-lethal weaponry

Step 4 Build it: Testing & The Heatsink

Do lots of testing and be careful to connect power up properly since there are no protection diodes (image 4a)

You can load some PWM testing firmware onto the microcontroller to check the LEDs as you work (image 4b)

Complete soldering in all the LEDs (image 4c)

A final test PWMing through all the LEDs. It heats up fast so keep the max power low and/or dont run it more than half a minute. (image 4d)

Since we were too cheap to get a proper metal PCB, we'll be attaching a heatsink to the outside. While far from ideal, a spare AMD processor heatsink worked just fine. Remove the fan, take off the metal clip and then reattach the fan. Check the fan to see if it will run off of 9V. Ours did OK (image 4e)

If you have thermal paste, spread some on the heatink. If you didn't tent the vias, use kapton tappe or similar to prevent them from shorting to the heatsink (image 4f)