Hi everyone!

In this ible i'll show you how to build a funny and cool LED project.

I'll basically secure 6 blue LEDs to the spokes of the wheel.

The result will be fabulous! And it's also a useful project because these LEDs, while cycling, will make a perfect bright circle that will help car drivers to notice you in the dark.

Thanks for your support I won the "Squeeze More Out of Summer Contest"!

So..let's go to see materials and tools!!

Step 1: Materials and Tools

MATERIALS:

- 6 blue LEDs

- heatshrink tubing

- 3x 100 ohm resistors

- ON/ON switch

- 9V battery snap connector

- 9V battery

TOOLS:

- soldering iron

- solder

- scissors

- cable ties

- nippers

Step 2: LEDs and Resistors

As you can see in photo#1, we need to connect 3 couples of LEDs in parallel being careful to follow the right polarity.

I decided that 6 LEDs would have done enough light, and as I initially thought, the result is fantastic!
I suggest you to put 6/8 LEDs depending on the size of your wheel ;)

I wanted to make the result as clear as possible so I soldered two LEDs with a resistor, leaving the wires long as the wheel spokes (24cm) at the sides, and the double (48cm) in the middle. (this because the middle wire will connect two LEDs fixed on two different spokes, so it will have to go from one LED, down the spoke till the wheel hub and again up on the other spoke till the second LED)

Before attaching the LEDs to the spokes, I suggest you to check if all works correctly and if your LEDs are bright as they should be.

After you have soldered, tested and insulated all the three couples, you can go to the next step.

Step 3: Switch and Battery Snap Connector

In this step we will simply solder a switch to the 9V snap connector.

Step 4: Attach LEDs and Cables to the Spokes

Now comes the wearisome step! :P

In order to make an almost perfect circle when the LEDs are working and the wheel is spinning, I decided to secure them at 3,5cm from the bicycle's rim.

I have 18 spokes so I secured them with cable ties at the same distance spacing them 2 spokes. (I mean: 1spoke with LED, 2 free spokes, 1spoke with LED, 2 free spokes, etc)

Now you should have something that looks like photo#3.

Then it's time to secure the longer cables on the spokes with other cable ties. I suggest you to use a lot of them to be sure that the cables will not move around, but not too many otherwhise you will not end with a clean look like mine.

At the end of this step you should have secured all except for the 3 negative wires, and the 3 positive ones.

Step 5: Attach Battery and Switch to the Hub

Now it's time to plug the 9V battery to the snap connector, and to set the switch to OFF.

As you can see in the photo, I glued the switch directly to the battery with SuperAttack to keep it in place. (I know that I could have found a better idea to secure it like attach on the spokes, but this was just a quick solution.. I could not wait any longer ahahaha)

So I secured the 9V battery to the wheel hub with two cable ties, and I finally soldered the 3negative wires to the negative wire that comes from the battery, and the 3positive wires to the positive wire obviously.

At the end, I tested the whole project by playing with the switch and I insulated the two last connections.