LED Belt

This is an awesome, simple LED belt that almost anyone can make. The only special knowledge is how to solder, but it is simple soldering, and everyone here probably already knows how. If not, there is probably an Instructable for it.

*edit*

This is the first instructable that I ever posted.  It's crap.  Super crap.  But, I leave it up as a reminder of how not to do things.  :)  A few years later, I realize how naive I was back then.  But I still love that belt.....

Step 1 Get your supplies.

In order to complete this instructable, you will need:
- A belt, preferrably leather, pleather, or cloth. PLAIN.
- Between 10 and 20 LED lights. I used nineteen.
- Stranded Wire. One wire that is as long as your belt.
- A nine volt Battery.
- A nine volt battery clip. Stole mine from an old smoke alarm.
- Electricians Tape.
- Duct Tape. All hail duct tape.
- Soldering Iron.
- Solder.
- Strong scissors or wire cutters.
- Something to put holes in a belt, such as the awl thing on a leatherman, or just a hammer and a nail.

Comments

[zmanalansan]

Are they waterproof? Is it safe to use if you got wet?

[Mdob]

I just made one and it's rather sweet, gonna wear it to TRON: Legacy sometime perhaps. A tip is after you punch the holes jam a hobby knife in the backside and twist it some times so that you can press the LED in from the back, this gets rid of a lot of the touching wire grief and also allows the belt to slide through the belt loops MUCH easier. The LEDs appear not as raised. Thanks for the great 'ible! I may post some pics later.

[jillg]

im making one now and ledcalc.com tells me to use an 18 ohm resistor, is that value low enough that i could go without one?

[techman9]

 no you still need it

[NiKiToS]

Well If you are as crazy as me, you can use a lighter, go outside the house and light one end, the plasticky bit will start dripping which is great fun as well. :)

[MattySmith]

cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..................................................l

[mhdguy]

I went overboard with mine !!!!!

[Kratos55]

hey, I want to make a belt like yours with two rows of blue LEDs. i have a belt with pre-punched 4mm holes ( purchased at target ) and i would like to know if i could solder it led wire to led wire and if a resistor is needed than could i wire it led-resistor-led? if you want to see what i am talking about go to led calculator . net than put the power at 9, voltage drop at 3.5, the mA at 20, and the number of leds. Thanks

[mhdguy]

id use pre-made "packs" of 2 LED's in series with a 1/8 watt 100 ohm resister kinda like this : "+9v_+led-_+led_100ohm_-" and than you can put as many of those "packs" together in parallel as you want to

[melartweaver]

I love your NERD belt! I feel so inspired by that!

[coolkid109]

Awesome belt. Nice job :D

[santy22]

i think it says hero

[hifromshreya]

Lol! Fun-ny! But good Q!

[LaxLuvr]

Does that say "NERD" or "HERO"

[Wafflicious]

I think HERD

[assassinazz]

hahahahahah HERD hahahahhahah

[Wafflicious]

yah...

[mhdguy]

it says NERD cause i am one and proud of it :P

[Jduffy]

Looks more like nerd, because I really don't see a hero making an led belt. Don't you think a hero would use his time for something more helpful to the community, like killing dragons?

[theRIAA]

truly awesome

[Doctor What]

awesome!!! it's like an acid trip - belt form.

[JAGleason11]

I tried to make this with different LEDs alternating color for my school colors. Old Gold and Blue for WVU but the LEDs wouldn't work I found out that resistors are required if you want to alternate because the current needs to be identical for each LED or it won't work in a parallel circuit. Just FYI

[JAGleason11]

I added a small switch so I could turn the lights on and off it is really easy and is also you can use it to impress some one with the "Grand Lighting of your Pants". LOL.

[milamber]

yo about cleaning slag off soldering iron use emery/sand paper/file or even scrape with a knife or just buy a new tip for like 2 bucks

[thoraxe]

hey, brilliant idea. place the switch in an altoids tin and use the tin as a belt buckle. that'd be awesome. a duct tape, led, altoids tin belt buckle belt *drool*

[lavert31]

hey, do you know the spec of the leds: mcd? angle? Thanks, Etay

[bob3lazer]

hey were did u get most of this stuff

[dudejetfighter]

radio shack

[Zem]

Nice Ible'. If I do add a resistor, do I only add one? Or one at each LED?

[Doctor What]

According to comments I've recieved, you need a resistor for each LED.

[elinventor21]

wouldnt that battery be to much for the leds? i still dont get that if each led can only take about 3v then how can u use a 9v battery is it because they are in series? please respond a.s.a.p.

[Doctor What]

It is. This project was done when I was an LED novice. Add resistors to your liking.

[Barrettkg]

I made one except used duct tape, to make the belt and is powered off of 2 AA batteries. I mounted the battery pack onto the belt buckle which is hardwired into the belt itself. Plus as an added luxury I attached a push button switch which people love .I wear it to school all the time and get awesome comments. Its great when people see it and think its just "another duct tape belt" and you turn the LEDs on right in front of them

[coolkid109]

How would i put a message in mine that would be awesome and do I have to use the same color LEDs throughout the whole belt or can I switch it up?

[coolkid109]

Or does the color matter at all?

[Doctor What]

Color doesn't really matter at all, just worry about resistors. This was an early project, so I was stupid and didn't use resistors. But now, as I look back, I was just lucky that it didn't burn out twenty LEDs.

[jillg]

what value resistor did you use

[wax54]

I am going to use this at school it was hard to make but worth it

[wax54]

Just heat it up and scrap it on some steel wool

[Werecow]

Just a note on LED polarity: you can't depend on the lead length to determine which is anode ("positive") or cathode ("negative"), because this does vary by manufacturer. However, the cathode lead is ALWAYS the one nearest the "flat" or notch at the base of the LED.