Lego LED Flashlight

I got bored one day, so I made this. It is very bright. This is my first instructable, so give me feedback.

I made this before I made the instructable, so it might not be clear.

If you want me to start selling them on ebay, let me know.

Step 1: Get your legos

you need several things for this light

-a 2x6 lego brick
-a 2x6 matching lego panel
-small flexible insulated wire
-electrical tape
-1 superbright LED (white is nice, but you can get a color to match a brick)
-a switch (i used a small toggle switch from RadioShak)
-3 LR1130 button cell batteries.

reccomended tools

-needle nose pliers
-something to make the holes in the plastic for the LED and toggle switch

Step 2: Prep the brick

use needle nose pliers to rip the inside of the brick out.

then, using any method, make two holes in the ends of the brick. the hole for the LED should be small, and steadily make it bigger, until the LED fits snugly in the hole.

make a hole for the switch, just larger than the threads. put the switch in, and screw on one nut(or two). dont make it too tight.

Step 3: Electrical

IMAGE 1 - get two of the LR1130 button cell batteries. stack them, top to bottom. place an insulated wire, ends stripped, on top and bottom. DONT USE BARE WIRE! YOU RISK SHORTING ALL OF IT, AND RUINING YOUR LIGHT! wrap it in electrical tape

IMAGE 2 - on the left should be the stack of two batteries from image 1. run the wire coming from the top of the two to the bottom of the third. run another wire from the other end of the battery, and wrap it in electrical tape.

IMAGE 3 - very messy, so here is what you do:
1) run a wire from one of the switch terminals directly to the LED.
2) run one end of the battery pack you made to the other terminal of the switch, and the other end of the battery pack to the other LED connection.
3) flip the switch. if LED does not light, check wires to make sure there are no wires crossed anywhere. if still no light, swap the battery pack connections around so it is reversed from how it was. LEDs only light in one direction.
4) when all is correct, fit it all inside the lego brick. the batteries only fit if they are not all stacked.

Step 4: Finishing touches

get the 2x6 lego panel you had. snap it in place. test it quick to make sure it still works. sometimes it won't stay closed on its own(mine didn't). if yours doesnt stay closed, you have two options:
1 - tape (so you can replace batteries)
2 - glue (you wont be able to replace batteries, but it looks nicer.

Step 5: Some quick tests

its done! i did some brightness tests

IMAGE 1 - the lego LED light is on.
IMAGE 2 - this is the Lego LED light and a mini maglite shining at a wall from 1.5 feet away. the LED is the light on the left
IMAGE 3 - once again, the Lego LED light and the mini maglite, STARING DIRECTLY AT THEM from 10 feet away. the Lego LED light is on the right here.

POST PICS OF YOUR LIGHT WHEN DONE!

Comments

[jomac_uk]

Its very cool, could i add a comment to something that is already good, it may make it even better?

Instead of the toggle switch,which could accidentally be turned on in your pocket, could you not with the aid of a craft knife, carefully cut off one of the lugs or posts on the top of the brick, then with the aid of a dremel, cut a clearance hole for the post to slide through. Then on the inside of the brick, mount a miniature PCB switch with a long shaft on it (often found in consumer electronic equipment on panel buttons) glue the switch in place with a hot melt gun and then glue the log/post onto the shaft of the switch (cutting the shaft to length so the lug/post sits on the same level as the rest. So from the outside it looks like a standard brick, apart from the LED.

What do you think?

[flipout]

good idea!!!

[praiser2005]

Just a note, in order to get the most life out of the led and batteries you might want to consider the addition of a load resistor, LEDs don't "need" them like a lamp does but it helps sustain the life, i'd say 100 ohms is plenty

[ejohnson16]

For the closure on the bottom, you could try to fit a sort of hinge or hinges and an outside closure that looks nice, so you don't have to rip it off the glue or continue to re-tape it. But i realize that might be difficult, considering the fact of the thin plastic and the likely chance that it would break. Other than that, love this! i made one for my lego-loving nephew, he LOVED it!

[mchristiansen3]

That is way nice, Jonna Bu me some mors Lego monday and Ty it out, got a cheap light, chop chop. And a small camera batteri. Want to remove the upper 2, and put in on/ off y/r .what a nice idea you got

[ninjasamurai]

good idea

[Zackdenley]

With an LED one "leg" will be larger so knowing that you know which is the positive side, long leg is positive. XD

[ninjaaa]

That's actually a nice idea ;) Great job!

[mariomaster856]

sell em' on ebay!

[2live]

yeah lol lol lol :')

[smanzie4]

this is great, i made it and it works perfect tanks for posting!

[Ronanoke]

This is interesting. I would modify it though: Use a metal casing (durability) Use a top-mounted button (switch might get torn off, etc.) Red light (I would imagine using something like this when checking settings on a camera in the night, and red light is less detrimental to night vision) Protect LED (it's fragile, if it breaks that's it)

[cdousley]

hey its called "lego" led light not "metal case red protected led light"

[berky93]

I made one of these a little while ago out of one of those special edition gold 2X4 bricks from a long time ago, it works great and is holding up well, but I wish it was a 2X6 or 2X8 so everything would fit better like yours.

and I have to know, where did you get that sick autodesk multi tool?

[Pyromaster951]

what you could do is get a rechargeable 4.5 volt battery and put a charging plug in the circuit ? it might work if somebody does it tell me i would love to see it

[talons95]

do the 2x6 brick and platform have to be the same color

[jebro391]

of course not! your preference man, be creative and original!

[talons95]

ok thank you sorry it took me so long t reply

[aeronut01]

cool instructable. for the power supply, couldn't u just use one of those 3V button cells or would it be too wide to fit?

[CybergothiChe]

make a heap of them and them clip them together, like Lego, and have like a super bright light thing!

[newbieslinger]

Kind of new to this, but how about removing one of the dimples from the top and replace it with a red on of button.

[twitsl]

Did you get the pocket tool at the first robotics competition?

[the_builder]

This thing is awesome! 5 stars!

[twitsl]

I'd go for a 3 by 6 Lego and use AAA batteries because button cells are so expensive.

[raykholo]

not really -- u can get a tray of 50 or 100 of the small ones from dealextreme for under 5 bucks

[twitsl]

I also like how it has a switch not a button but i would use a smaller one.

[clank1108]

for the bottom instead of using tape you could also use a hot glue gun because you can snap the bottom right off, peal the glue, and replace it with new glue. great idea though

[daelans]

teeheehee i just wanna be at the top lol lmbo(but) dud this thing is uber ponage i have not built it yet, i made a couple of protoypes outside of the lego, then i found your 'ible

[daelans]

also i used blue lego cause i had a blue led

[daelans]

nvm i cant make it i accidentaly broke the witch (im so dessapointed) ive been scavenging parts for this for like 3 frickin days excuse me while i go smah all my stuff then cry in a closet till i srown in my own tears (im not that sad but i think i do need to go cry under the blanket for like 30 secs then ill be fin and just use a reg flshlight) but all my prototypes work really well so i can see as this will

[clank1108]

i love it!!! i'm going to make one right away!!! for your first instructables it's like professional!!! awesome job!!!

[deth2all]

we should make a group on instructables for lego hacks... led, usb, sneakatokes, ect, ect

[bassclarinet23]

I really want to try this but I'm not great with electronics and it is a little confusing.

[batman96]

it is soooooooooo simple

[lego-man]

hey, thanks for all the great feedback from everyone on this. I really appreciate it. If I get the chance, I'll edit this some so that it looks a bit more professional, and is easier if possible. Thanks again everyone! :)

[batman96]

you could use a longer brick and use a AAA battery

[batman96]

i love legos

[atomicturkey27]

(Sprints to radio shack, buys switch makes this ownage project) +5

[struckbyanarrow]

leathermans are better but they cost an arm and a leg

[bassclarinet23]

I think it's cool. The electrical step is a little confusing if you are semi-inexperienced at wiring.