Extremely Easy L.E.D. Installation

Intro: Extremely Easy L.E.D. Installation

This may possibly be the easiest installation of L.E.D. (Light Emitting Diode) Lights in the world, if not THE best. In just a few simple steps, YOU can make a small portable L.E.D. installation that will last for ages! It is especially useful in applications such as remote control cars and small, tight spaces.

STEP 1: Materials

All you need in this instructable are three simple materials that you will easily find in an electronics store as well as some tools including scissors.

You will need:
1. L.E.D. (Light Emitting Diode) Light

2. 1.5V Button Cell (found in watches)

3. Electrical Tape

STEP 2: Installing the L.E.D. to the Cell

Using the picture below as a guide, touch the ends of the L.E.D. to the polars of the cell. If the L.E.D. doesn't light up, switch the L.E.D. around. If it doesn't light up again, you may need to try again, or use another L.E.D. or cell.

STEP 3: Putting It All Together

If you are happy with the position of the L.E.D. Tape the whole "she-bang" together using the electrical tape and, VOILA! You can make as many as you want to use as "neon" underbody lights for your remote control car.

Comments

[ilpug]

this is just a throwie...

[hazmatt_05]

what does it mean by "throwies"?

[jonmhartwig]

a "throwie" is the same thing only instead of just using electrical tape you put a magnet in with it so you can literally throw the LED and it will stick to a metal surface. a lot of people use this to make light art in down town city areas.

[Small Things]

 Isn't this exactly the same as an LED Throwie

[aike]

how long does the led light in hours? cause I want to get them in my pc case :D

[cristiSpecialfx]

Hello there,

if is a good LED , then it might take you 2 ages..about 100 000 h life @ normal power and spec. For an average one , I think about 35 - 50 000 h is a good approximation... We work with Luxeon II LED's, the manufacture gave us a full 3 years warranty ... check out on http://specialfx.ro/html/led_pixel_wall.html something we did with this Luxeon type LEDs... Maybe the post will help.
Best regards,
Cris

[aleinlegs]

there is one huge problem to this, you cant turn the light off with out tearing the entire thing apart, or just letting the battery die out!

[mattccc]

good job

[Ankush]

Wow, simple yet elegant.

[bduffman]

o by the way it would be easy to add a switch to throwies just no one dose get led wire then switch then attack to positive side of battary then negative to negative and bam done all u would have to do would be wire negative and wire positive to switch then tape then put it together like normal and the postive wont touch the battary only the tape

[klee27x]

Just wanted to point out that the particular battery in your intructable appears to be a 2032 lithium 3V coin cell, or a similar lithium watch cell. A 1.5V alkaline button cells would barely light up a red led for a short time, and would not light up any other color, other than infrared.

[Kiteman]

As other have said, you've never heard of throwies, but this is still a nicely-done Instructable. We've now had throwies, floaties, sinkies and (I think) blinkies - the next thing that needs to be added to the genre are throwies with switches, or even remote-controlled throwies. Anyone?

[GorillazMiko]

Nice job, these are extremely easy to do, they're just like LED Throwies, without the magnet. These are good, but I like to add in a resistor so the LED doesn't burn out.

[Patrik]

Also have a look at Graffiti Research Lab's instructable on LED Throwies. Just add a little magnet, repeat a few hundred times, and you're ready for some LED graffiti!

PS: here's the parts list they used, copied from the link above. With the right choice of supplier, they got it down to less than half a dollar per cell:

Part: 10mm Diffused LED
Vendor: HB Electronic Components
Average cost: $0.20 avg per LED
Notes: Cost reductions for larger quantities. Comes in red, blue, amber, white in both diffused and clear. Diffused works better than water clear for the Throwie application. HB has even created a Throwies packs page with deals on 10mm LEDs and lithium batteries!

Part: CR2032 3V Lithium Batteries
Vendor: CheapBatteries.com
Cost: $0.25 per battery
Notes: Cost reductions for larger quantities. With the 2032 Lithium batter, depending on the weather and the LED color, your Throwie should last around 1 -2 weeks.

[ledzep567]

silly, theres no magnet involved!

[thearchitect]

So I assume the word 'throwies' doesn't mean anything to you?.. :-)