Fast, Quick, Cheap, Good looking LED room lighting (for anyone)

Step 5 POWER ON!

TURN IT ON!

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Future upgrades:
Use of capacitors for a glowing as the power is turned on (gradual lighting on)
and a motion sensor so as i come in the door the lights come on.

Thanks to all for reading :-)

if you want any parts (shown in the instructable i can sell them to you)
also any donations (as i an a poor student) are very much appriated!

Comments

[Sky_line91]

can someone just really quick explain what type of cable to use b/c that threw me off a little bit. please and thank you

[gaby1st]

Hi there,
you can use any copper cable.

[gaby1st]

I don't understand if the average of the led's affect the voltage rating like 12v and if I need a transformer to prevent that.

[wolfmane]

Just for future instructables you do, I'd recommend giving a basic circuit diagram/schematic from those readers who are visual or beginning electronics DIY'ers, it helps out a lot. I'm an employed electronics technician and working on my EE degree but even I have to pause and think about it when trying to decipher a circuit from only written descriptions.

[rseni]

You drill holes in the cable and put each LED inside. Drilling the holes also spoils the internal wires of the extension cable/cord. Then how do you connect the LEDs internally?
Even if the wires are not spoilt somehow, how do you connect the LEDS internally? I can't understand this.

Can someone re-explain the making step by step since I could not understand even after reading repeatedly.

How do you connect the LEDs internally? Stapling the inside wires? Does that really work?

Someone mentioned the use of safety pins to solder to the LEDs and push them into the wires. That's understandable and easier. But why do you need two cables? Is it that only the LED legs go in the cables?

Are the LEDs in series? With a single resistor? Would 20 LEDs work in series from a 12V DC supply and a resistor? The LEDs, if stapled to the wires, will be in parallel right?

If the resistor is really needed, then can't a high wattage wirewound be used? Just one would be enough for the whole bunch of LEDs.

I have two 6.3V sealed batteries which are not in use. Can I use these instead and add an existing charger for them? This way, I have the LED light even when the lights go off at evening / night.

I would like to add a switch after say every 5 LEDs which can be turned on and off to let the other LEDs light up or not as needed.

Regards,
RS

[pyro-jim]

The LED's are wired in parrallel so all the positives are stuck in one wire so that the leg is touching the copper wire inside the wires you run along the wall. The negatives are the same but in the other wire. The negative wire is attached to the positive on the power source and the positive is attached to the negative of the power source. Hope this helps

[rseni]

So you have two separate cables instead of single extension cord with double wires inside? Thanks for clarifying, RS

[junits15]

I think you punch the holes with a nail

[spenymoor]

could you put the resistor at the begining of the circut and run it all through one wire?

[edwardchen]

By only using one current limiting resistor, you run the risk of allowing different currents through each LED, based on the forward voltage. This *might* work alright if you are only using one batch of LEDs, but as you add different color LEDs in parallel, all the current will go through the LED with the lowest forward voltage, probably blowing that LED.

Even if all the forward voltages were identical, as you add more LEDs, the overall current draw will be the same, reducing the current (and brightness) for each individual LED.

[hjfast]

I think he means putting all the LEDs in series rather than having all of them in parallel as they are now. The calculation the author did for the total current you need (# LEDS * Current/LED) implies that they are all in parallel.

If you were to put all the LEDs in series you would only need 30mA (or less) current. However, you would need a much higher voltage supply (Ohms Law).

[Hubro]

What do you do with the other ends of the cable? Do you connect the ends together?

[junits15]

No Leave them disconnected

[cpallas2253]

so were is the power supply from and how would you do it so that you could run it off of a 120 volt outlet and would a capacitor be like the large thing in the power cable to a laptop and please explain i dont realy dont know alot of electrical terms thankx

[junits15]

The capacitor would go in parilell with the leds (make sure you get the polarity right)

[kikiclint]

Little wall wort transformers are good for getting good led voltage. Just make sure that you use the right resistors if the voltage is above the led working voltage.

[bio hazard]

You said this was your first instructable it was the best first time I've ever seen. You seem to have a vast knowledge of electronics. How did you learn, I would like to learn but there are like no electronics clubs or things like that in my area that i know of? O well back to the point awesome instructable hope you make lots more. Noi4224 soon to be bio hazard

[Melvin_Brown]

hey really great Instructable, but what kind of LEDs did you use?

[patchrules2000]

Nice great, easy and cheap way to do it. i was just wondering how u would wire in the capacitor and the motion sensor to the lights like u said in the last step. because the only way i can think of using the capacitor on the dc supply is to put it across the power pack 12v out which on startup would draw as much current as possible and then slow down as it gets full until it is full which would change the amount of current supplied to the led line and this would also work in reverse when u turn it off the capacitor would discharge into the led's. however as u might have noticed there is a problem with this and that is when u first turn it on it will max out the power pack which could do damage to it. and also with the motion sensor do u know of any cheap ones that can switch mains power on when they sense motion as that would be the easiest to do if it could because it could just be put in between the mains of the transformer for the led's and the wall socket.

[CameronC]

Put a diode and a resistor on it? So like... Charging it, resistor, discharging, no resistor

[mellink]

Hi, I would use a motion sensor that cuts the mains supply yup :-) and for the capatictor it i though id put it in series so that as the power came on the Capacitor will start charging allowing only a little bit of A through and as it charges up more and more surrent goes through. (LEDs get brighter) Then when the power is off the CAP discharges fast then slower (dimming LEDs) Just working with capacitors in physics (mainly blowing them up, but its all good stuff)

[Fridge Gnome]

How do I turn it on? Like if I want a switch to turn it on and off, how would I hook it up if I just want it around my door?

[patchrules2000]

just turn the wall plug on and off for the transformer. or if your using a powerboard and cant switch the wall plug on and off you can put a switch on the 12v side in series with the leds and then you can just switch that to turn it on and off.

[geeklord]

If you connect a capacitor in series with the LED's, the LED's will light up at first, but go dark once the capacitor is charged, and it won't slowly dim the LED's once the power is cut. If you put a capacitor in parallel with the LED's it would do this, but with your set up drawing 600mA, you would need a very very large capacitor. In response to patchrules2000 comment about how this could potentialy damage your power supply, unless you had a monstrousity of a capacitor, it wouldn't. I have connected many capacitors this way and have had no problem. Also, for the motion sensor addition, I would recommend some sort of microcontroller set up, with a PIR (Passive Infrared Red) motion sensor that can be bought for about $10 at Radio Shack, and a simple NPN transistor that switches the 12v out of the power supply. An Arduino is a great way to get started in microcontrollers and super easy to use. I could probably write the code for you. Hope that helps.

[geekazoid]

lol you have an awsome name! :P

[geeklord]

you too!

[mellink]

eh thanks?!?

[tinkerC]

Could you explain this idea with the capacitors?

[geeklord]

Explain how connecting a capacitor in parallel would work with a very large one?

[tinkerC]

No, in series.

[geeklord]

At first the capacitor draws lots of current as it is charging up; you see that current (in a sense) when the LED's light up. When the capacitor is charged, no more current flows through the circuit and the capacitor acts as a very high ohm resistor.

[tinkerC]

Wouldn't the charged capacitor allow power, while charging?

[geeklord]

While charging, yes, but once its charged it doesn't draw any more current.

[tinkerC]

Okay. Thanks.

[patchrules2000]

yo geeklord. i pretty much already said that in my second comment :P but with the motion sensor controller i still reckon for a very simple setup like this one a motion controller that switches mains would work the best and easiest. also i already have an arduino and was planing to use it for the fading and beating to music but i just didnt mention it because i wanted to save it for an instructable when i do make it myself. in the end i will probably use a relay to turn the whole system on and off and use a transistor to controll the fading and stuff as for long periods of time when not inuse i wouldnt want to overstress the transistor more than i have to and who dosent love the sound of a relay clicking into action and slight smell of ozone from the spark on contact :D .

[geeklord]

You can mention that you were going to use an arduino with this set up, I won't steal your idea. :D You do have a point, the sound of a relay switching does have a nice effect, and a correction for my last comment, don't buy the PIR sensor from Radio Shack, they suck in more ways than one. Order it from Digi-Key and buy the LED's and other cheap wonderful stuff along with it.

[mellink]

like i siad im no expert just started playing with capactitors. thanks for the comments

[geeklord]

your welcome

[patchrules2000]

the problem is if the cap is in series it sort of works in reverse because when it turns on it will start to charge and current will flow through the circuit lighting the leds. however as the capacitor charges it starts to sort of block the current of and sort of starts to turn into a resistor(realy basic explination :D ) then when it is full charged it would completely block all current and the leds would be off. then when the power is turned off it would discharge and the leds would turn on again and fade off. so in the end u get them fading out when u turn it on and fading out when u turn it off. thats why it needs to be in parrallel (or across the 12v out as i said in my first comment). and thats unfair we dont get to blow up caps in physics cause its a OHS hazard (f in bs if u ask me but i just do it myself at home anywayz :D gota love the toxic smell of burnt capacitor acid in the morning :-) ) once i get some money saved up im probably gona set it up like this however i will probably end up making it way to complicated with customisable fading, flashing, turnin on and off to music and stuff. oh well good luck with ur upgrades soon to urs and dont forget to keep us updated when u do put in the motion sensor and the fading and add a video when u do. thanks.

[wellcausedwall]

i'm curious about just leaving the LED and resistor wires uncovered, not that its a huge current or anything but if its anywhere near the ground stuff has the potential to brush up against it and either short it out or at the least knock it out of place. although it would be very easy to get some clear plastic tube and wrap it over- might also help diffuse the light if you want a bit more ambient light