LED Fan/Party Light

Are you bored with dinner parties? Are you looking for a simple way to make your next get together a little snazzier?  Then this simple circuit is the project for you.
This instructable will teach you to create a mercury switch that will morph your ceiling fan from a dull wind machine into an LED light show. The basics are simple; turn your fan on and the lights will shine--pointed towards the ceiling or to the floor. Turn the fan off, and it's a subtle sign to your guests that they have eaten all of your food and drank all your boos, and it's time for them to head home.

There are a few different ways to achieve the party experience, depending on your intended level of awesomeness:

Three circuits on the fan

Just one circuit on the fan

 Three circuits on the fan
 

Step 1 Parts Needed

This is a very simple project, so there are not many parts needed.

Parts:

4"x3"  Project Board (or smaller, I actually cut mine into three parts about to 1" x 3")

3 volt Button Cell Battery

Button Cell Battery Holder

Mercury Switch (tilt switch)

5mm LEDs (I used Blue, White, RGB, Blue Flashing)

Sticky Tack (blue gummy sticky stuff)

Tools:

Wire Cutters

Soldering Iron

Solder

Hack Saw (for cutting Project board)

Comments

[Munchys]

Tilt switch made without mercury http://www.instructables.com/id/Tilt-Sensor-cheap-easy-nontoxic/

[Wesley666]

Good idea, bad tilt switch. You can get tilt switches that use a steel ball bearing instead of mercury, much safer.

[HarveyH44]

Yeah, was surprised to see that mercury switch, don't see them much anymore. For something like this, kind of risky. If the board flies off, and slung up against a wall or something, tiny pieces of glass is hard enough, but the mercury is even worse. Really bad for pets and small kids crawling around. The tiny amount wouldn't do much to an adult.

[Wesley666]

Ya, I wonder where he got it from? I have to admit its cool looking though, I have a bottle of Mercury, about half a liter I have collected (Safely) from things over the years from anything that had Mercury in it. Its fun to look at but that's about all. Very heavy.

[Adam Manick]

You can get them easily in old and thermostats

[Wesley666]

I know that, where do you think I got half a liter of Mercury? (Thermostats and other places) What I meant is that Mercury isn't used in Thermostats anymore, old ones are somewhat hard to come by, and that they usually don't have the long leads like the ones in this Instructable, the ones the author uses look brand new.

[dark sponge]

Clever, I like them!

[dark sponge]

Also, you might want to balance it out by putting a counterweight on the opposite blade that the light is on. If the fan spins fast enough while out of balance it could shake unstablely and maybe do some damage.

[Wesley666]

I find these ceiling fans usually shake anyhow, at least mine does, so you could probably balance it using this.

[AngryRedhead]

My ceiling fans don't shake, but we used small weights to correct any wobbles that were there. You can buy the weights in the lighting department at big box DIY stores.

[Wesley666]

Ahh, ya, they are made to pivot and ours shakes a bit, you can see it, but this would balance it out, and would look cool too.