LED Throwies

also wondering if anyone could guess at how many throwies i would need to put in a lantern for an outdoor wedding reception?

how big is the lantern?
a clever idea would be to buy a lantern that has the same effect as a frosted window, transfer a small light source over that large area, for a good lamp, i would say 15-30, depening on how you make the throwies

hi laurajean, there is a LOT of information on throwies (sans magnets) in paper lanterns at weddingbee.com. http://tinyurl.com/wedding-throwies the general consensus is that 3 leds work well in a 14" lantern. but, having tried that at my wedding, i can tell you it was a little dimmer than i would have hoped. four might give a better results... hope that helps!

This might be a good place for my idea of using velcro instead of magnets to hold the throwie in place.

can i use 5mm LEDs instead of 10mm? whats the difference?

yaaaa you can use any size of led(duh)
i did 7mm leds

this works also. it is called mini led-throwies

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100-DISC-ROUND-MAGNETS-10x3-mm-NEODYMIUM-NdFeB-craft_W0QQitemZ140323267176QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_WeirdStuff_RL?hash=item20abeb2268&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50Cheap magnets here!! 100 for £7

the magnets are alot cheaper herehere

The link you posted now shows magnets between $.50 and $.60 each for orders less than 100, but it may have been cheaper when you posted it.

oh wow! it was about $0.19 per magnet when i had posted that.

magnetic LEDs are available at thinkgeek.com. package of 20 = $9.99 Fab for holiday lights on the car! Plus cheaper than making them!

Do the ones you make last longer then 48hrs?

Totally expensive and the wrong magnets. For LED-Throwies you should use n40 or n45 magnets

would it not be wise to post a english link to LED-Throwies ? ;)

No, these things from thinkgeek are pathetic.

First of all, does the Graffiti Research lab know about this? Second of all, theirs last for a paltry 48 hours, and probably don't stick very well because of shotty magnets and cheaper than dirt batteries. The ones I make last weeks. And each magnet has 16lbs of pulling force, so when you lob one, it sticks, guaranteed (unless you have poor aim).

My opinion after having done these for a couple years now: Do it right, buy the supplies online, build them yourself. Its a fun project, and making them is part of the fun.

Its kind of disgust to me to see something like this being mass produced and marketed on a "geek website".

if that be so....is there a battery that would last longer????
I was thinking of using these to lite my dollhouses

I'm sure geeks that used to build (make) their own computers said the same thing when they started being mass produced

amen

It'll be bad when people green clusters of these on street lights, or are those plastic...I can't remember.

I bought a pack of LEDs from radioshack, and the leds are not bright enogh, does anybody know why?

There are several reasons why this could happen.

The batteries could indeed not be good anymore, but... leds are also quite diverse. One red led will give a certain amount of light while other red leds give much more or much less light. Its like buying an oldfashioned light bulb, available in 20-1000watts variants, they also differ a lot in output.

Besides a difference in light output different colors Leds need different voltages, just like an european 240V lightbulb will hardly give any light when used in a 110V country while the opposite would show a lot of light (and a quick destruction of the bulb).

You should look for the terms "High power led" or seek one with a relative high "mcd" value. The beam of Leds can also differ, a led with an 20 degree angle beam will give a lot of light when you stand right in front of it, but it's much less visible when you're not. A wide angle beam is probably best for this type of application.

To all, this project may seem like harmless chaotic fun and I agree it's fun, but keep in mind that the batteries used are pretty toxic, so get rid of them in a safe way once the lights go out. After that you could use the magnet and led... again.

most leds in the early 80s early 90s were dim used only as indicators in computers and stereo equiptment the first high intensity white led i remember was in 1997 stream light slim line but leds will take the place of the hid lamps in video projectors wow no lamp replacement ever.

Most of the LEDs are 1.5 v. The CR2032 batteries are 1.5v. So they should have been fine.. Unless you got some batteries that were dead or dieing... That is the only other thing that I can say on that behalf.

Your batteries are dead.
Or if you try them with 2 good-brand AA batteries (1.5V x 2 = 3V) and they are still dim, try diffusing them or returning them and buying some online.

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-5mm-Colorful-Slow-Flash-RGB-LED-FREE-RESISTOR-SCF5_W0QQitemZ290271440816QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Electronic_Components?hash=item290271440816&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

can you make them without a magnet

the magnet is so you can stick them to stuff, so yes you can.

where do you get LED lights

At all Electronics Corp in California they have the same led's at Ten for a buck now if your at the website you have to pay shipping!

www.goldmine-elec.com or allelectronics.com they are relatively cheap

thanks, i see all of these instructables that include LEDs, and i don't know where to get them

if you've got an old magnetix set (the magnetic sticks with ball bearings, a sort of kiddie building toy) you can hit it with a hammer, and the magnets pop right out. they're not necessarily super- strong, but they're stronger than your regular magnets.

The Ni-Cu-Ni plated magnets are pretty spendy for just a few. Do the magnets HAVE to be Ni-Cu-Ni plated??? or can they be nickle plated?
I found Rare-Earth Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) magnets that are nickle plated and come in large packs for 9.00$ here
http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/SearchResult-CategoryID-28.html
Are these yay or nay for the use in LED throwies?

also, how long do the throwie LEDs last? couple of days or...?
and how do they stand up to weather conditions like rain, snow, wind, etc.? thank you for any help.

rare earth are indeed a yay for throwies. theyre probably the best you could use and its what im using. you can also get away with using smaller sized ones if they are stronger.
arent Ni-Cu-Ni plated rare earth anyway? pretty sure it wont matter if the coating isnt as fancy. your whole setup is an led strapped to a couple of watch batteries relying on their internal resistance so as to not burn it out.... I dont think the coating on your magnet will matter in the scheme of things.

basically, cheap and nasty. get the cheapest you can find and just spam the buggers.

If you live in europe http://www.supermagnete.de/eng/index.php is also a good place to buy strong magnets

or for neodymium magnets: magnetportal.de

Found a really awesome place to buy magnets: dealextreme.com Some of their magnets go for 6 cents per when you buy in bulk (100 or more). They do ship the magnets internationally I believe so it may take a bit.

http://www.buy-leds-online.com/Throwie.html still win with great prices for leds and batteries though

at buy-leds-online you will be lucky to get your product at all, and if you do it will take months.

i've been finding stuff a lot cheaper than this, packs of 100 leds for $2, lithiums for $.20, $5 per 100 neodymium magnets, cost estimated at 36 cents each

[no offense but] i deem this comment useless without further information!!

where bro????

Here is what I found, and I have ordered many times from this site and they are great.

Magnets for $13.50 per 100 - http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13513

Batteries for $3.47 per 20 - http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.831 OR http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.751 (for $3.66)

LEDs (5mm not 10mm) for $0.07 each - http://www.newark.com/spc-technology/mc20455/led-lamp/dp/87K7081

Total cost = ~ $.38 each

Newark has a huge selection and great prices from my experience, but 10mm LEDs seem quite a bit more expensive and not that much more light. The link above points to ones with 100 degree viewing angle. Keep the viewing angle in mind when purchasing any LEDs.

where have you found this stuff for cheaper? thanks

I got magnets at 14 cents each (100 minimum order) at https://www.magnet4sale.com/xcart4/product.php?productid=16260&cat=295&page=3

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=ZD1 for magnets
http://www.batteriesandbutter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CR2032G-1 for batteries
http://mpja.com/listitems.asp?dept=116&main=122&type=1 bulk packs for leds
still need to save up $60 for batteries

the magnets you link to are 533 cubic millimeters, the magnets these guys are using are about 5054 cubic millimeters, so there's actually almost ten times the amount of magnet there. use the cheap ones and tell us how well they stick, though ^.

also, I assume they use 10mm diffused LEDs since they are brighter and can be seen from a wider angle.

the LED's at the site you gave are different than the ones it says to use. Have you tried making them with your LED's? Does it work as good?

would regular super glue work instead of epoxy?