Hello,
Welcome to my Easy LED Flashlight

What do I need?
(1) LED Light--White or Blue. Make sure that on the box it says 3 Volts or more.
(1) AA Battery Holder
(1) 9 Volt Battery Clip
(2) AA Batteries
(1) Altoids Case, Chewing Gum
(1) Push button switch with two leads on the bottom.

Purpose- The purpose of this project is to make an easy, affordable, AA battery LED Flashlight. The light is good for little nooks and crannys, and also for finding your wa around the house at night.

Step 1: Drilling Hole for Pushbutton and LED

Ok, so this is an easy step.

First, with a Sharpie marker, draw a dot where you want to put your Push button and your LED. On my Altoids Flashlight, I put my light on the front, and the PB (Pushbutton) switch on the top.

Take a drill, and drill the holes to size. Make one hole, check it, and then make it bigger if it is needed.

I used a Dremel tool to drill the hole, but you can also easily use a drill.

It cannot be that hard.

Step 2: Lets Get Ready Solder!!!!

Ok, so if you do not have a soldering iron right now, I would suggest you purchase one because many DIY projects that use LED's use the help of solder.

The LED from Radioshack that I used has a max voltage of 3 Volts, and I am using 2 1.5v batteries to that works out very well. So no need for a resistor.

Lets Get Started!

In the schematic/cartoon below, there are several things you must identify.

The smaller lead of the LED is the NEGATIVE lead.
The black wire from the battery snap is also NEGATIVE.
The red wire from the battery snap is POSITIVE.
The wire going from the second lead of the PB switch is hookup wire.

So,
1) The negative lead of the battery snap gets connected to one of the leads of the pushbutton switch.
2)Get a piece of hookup wire it to the SMALLER lead of the LED and the ohter lead of the pushbutton switch.

MAKE SURE THERE IS NO SOLDER BETWEEN THE TWO PUSHBUTTON SWITCHES!

3)After you do this get the RED, or positive lead of the battery snap. This will connect to the LONGER lead of the LED.

I do not need to show you what to solder together because the picture below is all you need. Whereever a wire is touching a lead of a component, you have to solder it.

Next Step: Fitting it into a tin.

Step 3: Fitting It Into a Tin.

So right now you should have tested the light to see if it works. It should work. Make sure you test it before you put it in a tin.

1) Drill a hole for the LED. I did mine in the front and I attached the switch to the top.
2) Once you have the hole drilled, place the LED into the hole so the light sticks out

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59 Comments

chuckr44

10 years ago on Introduction

You don't have a resistor so the 4.5v LED just blew from giving it 9v.

cry_wolf

15 years ago on Introduction

I want to make this project so badly, but i don't have a soldering iron...

nodoubtman

11 years ago on Introduction

why a 9V battery when you can use a 3 v battery with a protective resistor?

to find the proper resistor the formula is this one :
9V - (voltage of your led) / (led intensity in A)

thanks!
:)

brandon-scott

12 years ago on Step 2

One suggestion is add a Resistor so you don't blow the LED just place one between the positive on the battery and LED.