LED Throwies

Developed by the Graffiti Research Lab a division of the Eyebeam R&D OpenLab, LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood. A Throwie consists of a lithium battery, a 10mm diffused LED and a rare-earth magnet taped together. Throw it up high and in quantity to impress your friends and city officials.

Click on this link to see the LED Throwies in action in NYC thanks to resitor and fi5e!

Step 1: Materials List

LED throwies consist of only a few inexpensive parts and can be made for ~$1.00 per Throwie. You can reference the parts list below or download the attached spreadsheet for more info on parts, part's numbers, vendors and application notes.

Part: 10mm Diffused LED
Vendor: HB Electronic Components
Average cost: $0.20 avg per LED
Notes: Cost reductions for larger quantities. Comes in red, blue, amber, white in both diffused and clear. Diffused works better than water clear for the Throwie application. HB has even created a Throwies packs page with deals on 10mm LEDs and lithium batteries!

Part: CR2032 3V Lithium Batteries
Vendor: CheapBatteries.com
Cost: $0.25 per battery
Notes: Cost reductions for larger quantities. With the 2032 Lithium batter, depending on the weather and the LED color, your Throwie should last around 1 -2 weeks.

Part: 1-inch wide Strapping Tape
Vendor: Your local hardware store
Cost: $2.00 for one roll
Notes: One roll will make many throwies

Part: 1/2" Dia x 1/8" Thick NdFeB Disc Magnet, Ni-Cu-Ni plated
Vendor:Amazing Magnets
Cost: $13.00 per 25 magnets
Notes: Cost reductions for larger quantities

Part: Conductive Epoxy
Vendor: Newark In One
Cost: $32.00
Notes: The epoxy is optional.

Comments

[everythingdigital]

I have posted a how-to on making throwies with removable tabs where you can pull it out to turn the LED on and slide it back in to turn it bad off. It's not very hard to implement, and is quite useful for conserving battery power.

Here's the link: http://flickr.com/photos/everythingdigital/sets/72057594069888500/

I'm also working on throwies that automatically turn on upon sticking to something and off when they are removed (as suggested above), and I have a few prototypes working but there are still some bugs to work out.

[Q-Branch]

I have included your how-to on the G.R.L. Throwies site and in the upgrade section of the throwies instructables post. Thanks so much for the mods and looking forward to the next rev!

[sensoryhouse]

fun with LED throwies

[Kirbsome!]

INTRODUCING:

Throwies on steroids -
The LED ULTRIE!

7 LEDs arranged in a ring

[frenzy]

I have great news, you are today's winner of the "I Made It" Challenge for the month of june. Thank you so much for being a part of the instructables community and encouraging authors to post more projects!

For winning you are receiving a 3 month pro-membership.

http://www.instructables.com/community/June-is-I-Made-It-Challenge-Month-Win-a-Pro-Mem/

[contactscolored]

Thanks for adding to the legitimacy of this practice. I've been doing this for years. It's amazing the valuable things people throw out

[frankygtd]

here you can find magnets on http://www.supramagnets.com

[frankygtd]

I think these ideas are interesting and this site is very good.

[JensonBut]

romance,
your doing it right.
Thank's also for PDF file for downloading!

[DividersMaker]

Thanks for youre awesome guide!. Great job on the code aswel.

[amandc]

The parts of LED throwies are really cheap, I think.
Thanks.
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[dubai123]

Desert Safari Dubai it looks so beautiful. so amazing.

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[miamibeach]

slullin says: Mar 28, 2012. 9:29 AMReply
if your leds are 3volts and 0.02 amp,

0.02 x 20leds = 0.4amp per hour

0.4x24 hour per day = 9.6 amp on 3v for one day,

if you have a battery pack, 4AA batteries, 6volts, and the best amp possible (actually 2.7) , you can hold around 13hours,

with a car battery(12v 60Amp) , with 5x4 leds, you can hold 25,71 days

(12*60)/(9.6*3)

hope that it's right, and that it helps you ;-)
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[nelson rodricks]

LED throwies looks very beautiful and colorful too. We can use it to decorate our house.
mappsolutely

[nelson rodricks]

The main feature of LED is it is not expensive. It can be used for special occasions too.
mappsolutely

[dubstepmaker]

awesome!

[miamibeach]

Amazing instruction! It will help me to make Christmas decoration. I wonder how ling those batteries last. Tanks

[m3harri]

How long will 2032 run the LED?

[coverhiser]

Yea this is very surprising description can be very accommodating to public. Buckyballs

[KevinScottKerin]

Is the epoxy necessary to fixate the bulb to the battery, or will a simple point connection work, if it's well adhered by tape or something? Love the concept and am going to use it as a hidden lighting method in a model I'm designing.

[fkhan25]

It is very nice to see here about this.Can you please share something more about this.I am also working in it but i am unable to get over here.
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[sharpesharpe]

Does anyone know if i can do this LED thing with a larger battery so that i can run at least 20 lights for 4 weeks? can i use any battery?I have an art show that will up for a month and i want to light something up that does not have a power source nearby.

[slullin]

if your leds are 3volts and 0.02 amp,

0.02 x 20leds = 0.4amp per hour

0.4x24 hour per day = 9.6 amp on 3v for one day,

if you have a battery pack, 4AA batteries, 6volts, and the best amp possible (actually 2.7) , you can hold around 13hours,

with a car battery(12v 60Amp) , with 5x4 leds, you can hold 25,71 days

(12*60)/(9.6*3)

hope that it's right, and that it helps you ;-)

[anna889maria]

Yea this is very surprising description can be very accommodating to public.

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[prosch]

Hallo haben Sie auch eine Übersetzung der Webseite??
Look here Übersetzung | Übersetzung von Betriebsanleitungen

[crouchingwolf]

wow! talk about a viral instructables! +1!!

[snow2801]

how can they be a temporary alteration? They will still be there even when the battery has run out as the magnet will hold them in place, they could be too high to be removed.

[ilpug]

big deal.

[asadkhan12]

I like this posting.e urdu point

[scottz29]

If I was a landlord, I certainly wouldn't want to clean them off my building, but hey, no big deal to you...

[asadkhan12]

I certainly wouldn't want to clean them off my building, but hey, no big deal to you...e urdu point

[ChrisSmithUK]

This has made me laugh so much. I have never seen the use of a 'Throwie' but wondered if anyone had combined the popularity of LEDs with Neodigm magnets, and this was the first thing that came up.

[Fend1952]

LED Fun, first image is amazing.

Now i have a project to wokr with

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[dada11]

hi!,
I'm new here and I want to learn how to make a solar throwie. can someone teach us?. thanks

[CenterChannelSpeaker]

So Bright and cool

[JuriusV]

Hello
Just wondering of you NEED to use an rare-earth magnet or if you can use an simple magnet
Would want to make one but dont know where to get those magnets because I live in UK

[ReMorris]

Really this site is very interesting.thanks you
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[RelientOwl]

Uh, how  long do they last?