BEER LIGHT, BEER BRIGHT, First Beer That I Drink Tonight.

Add a safety feature to your beer can and drink prudently using the concave reflectivity found on the base of each beer can.

Pitch darkness mixed with insobriety has its problems; falling down holes, bumping into others, losing track of your beverage etc. ... this beerlight is designed for night- time outside parties where the only light is from the bonfire.

It easily clips onto each new beer can, with a red flashing led positioned next to the drinking hole and a bright white led at the base to facilitate finding dropped lighters, keys and contact lenses.

I've been to few of these parties recently and like most people on this site I imagine, I am overly prepared for most situations but most of my friends aren't , so I made a pair of these for my hosts; they enjoyed them immensly and could be seen randomly wandering around by their flashing lights.

So, this is a novelty item but it does actually work; throwing a nice shaft of light onto the user's walking area when they need it and ensuring that they will not lose track their precious refreshment.

Step 1: Parts.

The photograph below is a rough approximation of the circuitry.
Flashing red led.
Bright white led.
Small push to make switch.
Three button 1.5 batteries.
Wire. (I used lacquered wire from some discarded Christmas lights).
A resistor.
Bicycle spoke or stiff wire.
A can.
Gaffer tape or duck tape.

Step 2: Step 1.

1st photo- Hook the unthreaded end of the spoke into the ring pull

2nd photo- Bend it with pliers to bring it roughly parallel with the side of the can.

3rd photo bend it under the can.

It needs to have enough spring to actually grip the can; and to be able to be taken on and off a can easily.

Step 3: Step 2.

I know nothing about electric circuits but I'm having a go... please feel free it to correct it in the comments section.

What I do know is that an led will only work one way around but will not be harmed if it is placed the wrong way around.

One leg is longer than the other and I found that the longer leg needs to be attached to the positive end of the battery.

You can be sensible and keep track of which wire is which or, like me, use the frustrating method keep trying them each way until they work as you go along.

1st photograph- Solder the wire to the short leg of the red led, leaving enough to reach from the top of the spoke to about halfway down.

2nd photograph- With the long leg, first solder this resistor to it, (see 2nd photo), and then solder the wire to that.

3rd photograph- Tape it to near the top of the spoke.

4th photograph- Solder the white led to two wires that will each reach from the base off the can to halfway up the spoke.

5th photograph- Tape the white led to the bottom of the spoke, positioned so that it is facing upwards into the centre of concave base.

Step 4: Step 3.

If you don't have a real battery clip then tape the three batteries around the edge to hold them together.

Tape this onto the spoke, about halfway up, with the ends still open.

Step 5: Step 4.

Along the long leg wire of the white led wire, cut and solder in the push to make switch.

Tape this switch onto the spoke some where just below the battery.

Step 6: Step 5.

Find the wire that came from the shorter leg of the white led, place this onto the negative battery base; take the wire which came from the shorter leg of the red led, place this onto the negative battery base.

Tape them firmly in place.

Do the same with the remaining two wires but onto the positive end of the battery.

(This has to be taped on just before you start the evening unless you go to the trouble of soldering in another switch.)