Hello everyone!
I want to show you how I converted some daily used objects into a stylish array of four LED lamps that can be used anywhere in the house. I made them for the kitchen table, and they look so good that I will make another set for my desk.
These are not capable to replace your standard bulb and only add some light above the place you hang them on. They will add a stylish touch to any room.
I have tried to make lots of photos to avoid reading long boring texts, so if you need more info, just tell me! Check out my photos and instructions and leave your comment. I will be glad to hear what you have in mind!
I want to show you how I converted some daily used objects into a stylish array of four LED lamps that can be used anywhere in the house. I made them for the kitchen table, and they look so good that I will make another set for my desk.
These are not capable to replace your standard bulb and only add some light above the place you hang them on. They will add a stylish touch to any room.
I have tried to make lots of photos to avoid reading long boring texts, so if you need more info, just tell me! Check out my photos and instructions and leave your comment. I will be glad to hear what you have in mind!
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I have tried to use only stuff that was laying around the house, we all want to be sustainable after all.
Do you always recycle glass bottles?
What about wood material such as cork?
Where do people bin the nail polish that they don't need?
How many energy saving lights do you have at home?
Answering these questions shows where my inspiration came from. I was just thinking about daily life sustainability ... all items which come in shiny packaging and when we don't need them ... we throw them in te bin.
What you may need to buy is:
You also need some tools like:
Don't forget!
- Glass bottles
- Phone charger
- Bottle cork
- Nail polish
Do you always recycle glass bottles?
What about wood material such as cork?
Where do people bin the nail polish that they don't need?
How many energy saving lights do you have at home?
Answering these questions shows where my inspiration came from. I was just thinking about daily life sustainability ... all items which come in shiny packaging and when we don't need them ... we throw them in te bin.
What you may need to buy is:
- LEDs (I used 32 white 5mm LEDs)
- Resistors (fixed and variable)
- Cables
- Prototyping PCB
- Switch
You also need some tools like:
- Screwdriver
- Drill
- Wood carving kit
- Soldering iron and wire
- Glass cutter
Don't forget!
- Safety glasses
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but, could you incorporate this http://www.instructables.com/id/Phone-line-powered-flashlight/ into the design??
So, next time, just use an emery board if you don't have sandpaper handy. From your manicure in one of your shots, I'm betting you have some of those around!
Very well-written Instructable!
Just some question that may help me understand the whole thing: what did you use to join the 4 ligths cables with the regulation one? Did you use some kind of external box joined to the ceiling? And, OK for the phone charger, but how did you bring the CC to the ceiling? Thanks in advance for your answers (and be patient with my poor english...).
I used just two pieces of shrink tube. I soldered all connections on one spot, then put the shrink tube on top and heated a bit with a lighter.
And all the lights and cables are hanging on a piece of wood attached to the pipe that is the exhaust pipe from the flat heating system - this is a plastic NOT hot pipe.
What do you mean by CC?
thanks for sharing!
:)
with pleasure.. :D
You can put red LEDs instead of the white ones, this is not a problem. A problem could come if you wish to mix different colours (and use this schematic that I use) because they have different voltage drop. If you mix colours each LED should have its own limiting resistor.
Best way is to put some resistor, say 2kOhms and power the LEDs with 5V DC. If they burn right away, put a bigger resistor. Then measure what current flows through one individual LED and choose such resistor to limit the current to around 15mA. Overcurrent may damage the LED and it will shorten its life.
If you wish to remove the potentiometer, remove the 8.2kOhm resistor below it too. Leave only a resistor between the supply and the chain of LEDs - I think around 1-2kOhms. Experiment with bigger values of resistors and measure current, then try different resistors.
Any other questions, please ask me!
A great Instructable! Thank you.
The LEDs could put off more light if you buff them up with sand paper first. Maybe on the next set.
Your LED luminaries act more like spot lights, so you have good light under them.
I did the same in my kitchen, used 36 LED for each spot, parallelizing 12 series of 3 white LEDs to use existing halogen lamps 12V power supply. Current limiting resistor needed of course.
Like both the bottles and the (lovely) cork switch!
BTW, how you solved the sharp borders problem ?
I actually tried to diffuse some of the light to the sides by bending the LEDs just while soldering. So they are soldered a bit sideways and emit to the side.
The sharp edges you ask - well I have not sanded them to make them safer, what I did is to put nail polish on the edge. This makes it better in two ways. 1st you see the edge, 2nd you paint over the sharp bit slightly. I know this is not the correct way, but I am doing this for the first time and I have never worked with glass ... it is safer to give the bottles to an experienced glass cutter I would say.
Making my own, might be the better route.
IF you operate LED's at their maximum voltage, they go into thermal run-away, where their resistance drops off and "unlimited current" flows through them and they burn out.
But - and here is the clever bit, LED's have their own inherent resistance, which is voltage dependant, AND when they are UNDER driven on the basis of voltage, their own resistance, limits the current flow.
The under driving means that they are only a little less bright, than when driven at maximum voltage and current - as their discernable brightness is only slightly brighter, than when self limited, through their own resistance.
The self limiting works like this (in simple terms).
Assuming we have say 10V and for the purposes, or as far as the LED's are concerned, we also have unlimited amps.
We have 5 LED's all rated at a maximum voltage of say 2V.
The theoretical natural electroharmoic is to run 5 LED's in series to give the maximum power through them, but this gives them too much electrical pressure and the current flows through them with very little resistance - and without current limiting, in the form of a resistor or a power supply, they burn out.
The ideal situation is to run them at about 80 - 85% of their natural peak voltage, which simply means adding some more LED's in series, to increase the natural resistance of the circuits, and to keep the LED's below their thermal run away point - where the resistance drops off and they burn out.
So if we increase the amount of LED's from 5 in series, to 8 in series, each will then be driven at 80% of their rated maximum voltage.
This way, they are only discernably less bright and they now last almost forever, and you avoid the hassles of complex current regulators, and wasted power with resistors.
The other benefit is that while they are running "slightly less bright" - is that there are MORE LED's providing the light.
You can vary the string, from each LED getting about 80% of the voltage, by adding or decreasing the amount of LED's in the string, in this case, by one.
An extra LED will start to dim the string, and one less LED will brighten the output, but I'd say that increasing the voltage per LED, from about 80%, to 90% will start to put the LED's into the area of thermal run away - and thus they unshine.
But about dividing the voltage to about 80 - 85% seems ideal.
If you cannot get fairly accurate voltage division, and one LED either way, will either lower the voltage between them to about 75% or up to about 90% or higher, then go the lower divided percentage.
Beyond about 75% divided voltage they start to dim a fair bit...... but there are more LED's - but there is also a threshold when the lighting is for a necessary application like ones study desk etc.
The only thing to be careful of, is to have a reasonably stable voltage as the supply, for instance if you have a lead acid battery, hooked directly up to a SMALL solar panel (LED lighting only - or you boil your battery dry quite quickly) , with no voltage regulation - and simply use a blocking diode on that circuit, then your voltage can rise to about 17V (or higher) and you might be running your lights off that, with your LED's holding stable on say 14V divided into about 90% of the available peak voltage of the LED's, from the battery, and the increased voltage in the circuit from the panel, can drive the LED's into thermal run away.
The other idea is to have a day and night switch to switch in an extra string of LED's for the day lighting, and to switch them out for night use, on the primary lighting string of LED's.
As maybolicious requested do you have any information on how you connected the 4 lights, switch and power adapter?
The instructable was great and well written. Just missing that one part.
Thanks and again Great Job !!
I have what you are asking about on step four. If you don't understand how to read/ implement these schematics, then look at what I have answered to "maybolicious" below. I think I have explained it there. Still, if you need more info I can try and draw something by hand.