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Step 15Wiring - LEDs
The pedal will work now, but in order to actually see the nifty backlit labels painstakingly carved into aluminum foil you'll need to add some more LEDs.
I added a total of five blue LEDs, one for each label. I chose blue because the intended recipient of the pedal is colorblind can't see red or green - otherwise I may have used green instead. White LEDs would actually look quite nice, come to think of it.
I wired the LEDs in two series chains, one with 3 LEDs and the other two. Each chain has a current limiting resistor. I used a 120 ohm resistor for the three LED chain, and a 270 ohm resistor for the two LED chain. You could of course add more LED, but there isn't much point.
Select one LED from each chain and solder the resistor onto one of its leads. It doesn't really matter which one, but take note of which lead it's soldered to (anode or cathode) so you can wire up everything with the correct polarity later.
Glue the LEDs in place, so that they point in the general direction of one of the labels. Then run wires between them, being aware of polarity. Make sure each chain eventually reaches ground on the cathode side and V+ on the anode side.
Check for shorts throughout the circuit, then try plugging it in. The LEDs should all turn on. If they don't re-check your wiring until they do!
I added a total of five blue LEDs, one for each label. I chose blue because the intended recipient of the pedal is colorblind can't see red or green - otherwise I may have used green instead. White LEDs would actually look quite nice, come to think of it.
I wired the LEDs in two series chains, one with 3 LEDs and the other two. Each chain has a current limiting resistor. I used a 120 ohm resistor for the three LED chain, and a 270 ohm resistor for the two LED chain. You could of course add more LED, but there isn't much point.
Select one LED from each chain and solder the resistor onto one of its leads. It doesn't really matter which one, but take note of which lead it's soldered to (anode or cathode) so you can wire up everything with the correct polarity later.
Glue the LEDs in place, so that they point in the general direction of one of the labels. Then run wires between them, being aware of polarity. Make sure each chain eventually reaches ground on the cathode side and V+ on the anode side.
Check for shorts throughout the circuit, then try plugging it in. The LEDs should all turn on. If they don't re-check your wiring until they do!
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I think if you used a small sand blaster (the craft etching type, or airbrush size ones) to frost the labels, and glue the LEDs to the plastic just to one side of the label, to create a "light pipe" that may work as well.
Check out the bottom of this page - the light flows inside the plastic until it hits a frosted section or cut edge:
http://metku.net/index.html?path=mods/glowpad/index_eng