How to make a Traffic Light Subwoofer. by amdsk8r
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Please DONT steal the traffic light&. As a driver and a pedestrian Im telling you there put to better use directing traffic then shaking you house or car with the music of your choice.


But lucky for me I found a small red light in my next-door neighbors garbage. Its small but it will work until I find a full size traffic light. At which time I will post another instructable.

What you need.
1 Plexiglas or wood
2 traffic light
3 speaker - 1 or three depending on what type of traffic light you are using.
4 speaker wire
5 speaker inputs

(electric cross over if necessary)

 
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Step 1: Clean.

The first thing you want to do is clean the light up& after all its probably been sitting outside collecting dust for some time.


No picture necessary&
Sharp_Tack says: Apr 5, 2012. 7:55 PM
AWESOME!!!!
Vinsu says: Jan 14, 2011. 9:49 AM
Reverse polarity of the speaker and add reflextube/airvent to the frame, would sound much better I think...
ilpug says: Mar 3, 2012. 2:25 PM
+1
Vinsu says: Jan 14, 2011. 9:41 AM
Strong epoxy or glassfiber resin (don't know if correct word) would keep atleast a small speaker element in place.
nmesis_02 says: Nov 1, 2009. 8:41 PM

Taychon is right. One thing you could do to help is add one or more ports (usually two will be enough). This will increase the efficiency of the system if done correctly. Otherwise you could just have the speaker faing outwards from the remaining walls of the enclosure. 

Great idea though 

israel.prz says: Jul 11, 2009. 6:51 PM
Why "no screws"?, I think them should hold better the speaker, don't you?
bmlbytes says: Jun 10, 2009. 8:31 AM
To add light you could use a speaker like this one. Although you may want to try to find a red one instead.
bobobob1230 says: Nov 2, 2008. 4:06 PM
it does look cool, maybe drill a few holes around the outside of the light?
superpat182 says: Dec 29, 2008. 3:23 PM
you could flip around the driver and have a better but less ascetically pleasing cover in the rear. you could even add lights that way using the current to the speaker.
erie94550 says: Nov 11, 2008. 4:56 PM
For the people in the the bay area, San Jose has a shop called weird stuff that sells used electronics and they have a bin has used traffic lights.
Tachyon says: Oct 11, 2008. 3:40 PM
You said it sounds bad. No doubt. There are some things to consider/try. - cabinet volume. All woofers work best when they are matched to the cabinet they are in. Do your best to estimate the volume of the traffic light enclosure and then buy a speaker with a 'Q' that matches that volume. - Sound projection. Where is the sound supposed to come out? I wouldn't drill holes in the light, that ruins the look of the project, and then what would be the point? Instead, why not put a port in the back of the unit? Again, use the speaker manufacturers specs and or online tools to match the port diameter and length to the frequency of the speaker. - Cancellation. Make sure that the front and rear of the speaker are sealed from each other. Otherwise the soundwaves from each face of the speaker cancel each other out and reduce volume. If it's bad enough, this can even destroy your speakers or amp. - Vibration and resonance. You may need to put some baffling into the body of the light. Some insulation might not be a bad idea either. Also, remove any weird projections inside the case. - Crossover. Make sure to use a crossover with a sub. Keep high frequencies from being sent to it. Either use the one in your amp (if it has one). Scavenge one from an old speaker/sub, or build one. They're simple, cheap and easy to make. Please update this if you make any more mods or find a bigger stoplight.
Rossiroller says: Oct 8, 2008. 7:51 PM
Buy them at flea markets! I got one there for 5 bucks... The guy that sold it to me was mad because I had him hold onto it for an hour so I could check out some other stuff, and he said people were offering him like 40 bucks for it.
parttimeninja says: Oct 8, 2008. 5:07 PM
sweat but put some L.E.D's on it and other lights like green and yellow plus an ipod hook up with a clock on the bottom. Ahhhhhhhhh dream stereo!
nobody394 says: Oct 4, 2008. 11:53 AM
Throw in some colored LEDs and maybe a switch that goes through the colors and a have two stacks of red yellow and green oohhh and a pipe going through them and hang it on ur wall that would be sick
sonic_dan says: Sep 22, 2008. 2:10 AM
now you need two more so you'll have red, yellow and green, stacked. now THAT would be awesomerer...
Dark JoJo says: Oct 1, 2008. 12:41 PM
awesomerer?
shooby says: Sep 22, 2008. 7:50 AM
Sometimes in the US, traffic lights have a larger red light than they do green and yellow. Perfect for speakers.
evanwehrer says: Sep 23, 2008. 7:44 AM
Where can I get a traffic light?
svenson says: Sep 28, 2008. 2:31 PM
I got mine from a theme park that used it on their Go-Kart track. They switched to an electronic throttle control and the light had just been sitting in storage. Might be a good place to start looking.
svenson says: Sep 28, 2008. 2:29 PM
This is great, I've actually got a full traffic light exactly the same as this and have been looking for something to do with it.
crearc says: Sep 28, 2008. 12:08 PM
Add some LEDs in there...that'd be sweet.
ikoda says: Sep 21, 2008. 9:13 PM
Make the red glass removable. Have it open up like a door.
amdsk8r (author) says: Sep 22, 2008. 4:43 PM
take a look at step 4. There all ready is a door.
ravebot says: Sep 22, 2008. 2:37 PM
woooooops i thought you said steel them oh well now i have lots
ravebot says: Sep 22, 2008. 2:37 PM
steal sorry
killerjackalope says: Sep 22, 2008. 12:31 AM
I like it, maybe try putting lots of small holes in the plastic cover, should make the sound better when it's on.
amdsk8r (author) says: Sep 22, 2008. 4:01 AM
the red glass is like 1" thick "glass". so it would hard to drill through.
killerjackalope says: Sep 22, 2008. 7:26 AM
Ah right, the newer ones I've seen lately are a bit more flimsy in comparison...
LinuxH4x0r says: Sep 21, 2008. 8:30 PM
Nice, but it still needs some work. I'd love to have these once they get a little more refined. 4/5
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