# Change light colors in those little on/off LED clip-on lights



## spinachetr (Nov 12, 2009)

I bought a whole bunch of these little LED clip-on lights with an on/off button from meritline.com on sale for about $.79 each,








but I didn't like the white light they put out and wanted to change them to different colored LED lights.








I've seen the how to's making LED spots wired with a wallwart, but I think you are limited with where to put them (with the clip-ons you can put them/clip them almost anywhere). You also have to solder them to a resister, etc. There is no soldering with this method. I'm not even sure this is a viable method since you could also just put colored film over the end of these lights too. Oh well it was rainy this morning and I wanted something I could do from my easy chair.

First unscrew the top and remove the light and reflector 

















Use a sharp pair of needle nose pliers and pull out the little copper plug thing in the center (it's small so set it aside so you don't lose it)


















Next pull off the silver washer looking thing (I'm sure there is a technical term for it).









The existing LED light wires are solder on, just use your pliers to break the solder and the light should easily come out. There is a slot in the back







.

Put the LED wires through the hole in the reflector and then take the long end of the new LED light (this goes to the + side of the batteries) and bend it to the side slot that goes down the side of the back of the reflector. 








press the little copper plug back into place.


----------



## spinachetr (Nov 12, 2009)

Clip the wires short.









Next put the silver washer back on, you may have to bend the washer to help it make contact once reassembled.









Screw the top back on and that should be it. I bought a lot of different colored LED lights from ebay and used those


----------



## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

Great tut!!!


----------



## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Very handy project. Thanks


----------



## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

*What a great idea!!!!*


----------



## Dark Carver (Dec 6, 2009)

Yeah 79 cents and a little work doesn't seem too bad. Thanx!
And it wasn't a waste of time. Those LEDs are WAY brighter than the original. Great job.


----------



## Wolfman Joe (Apr 20, 2010)

Nice tutorial, thanks!
A question for those of us who aren't so handy with electronics: can any sort of colored filter or gel just be used over the light to change the color? 
Has anyone here used a gel on anysort of LED light, and how was the effect?


----------



## lzrdsgal (Aug 9, 2009)

Thanks that is too cool, I needed something like that.


----------



## Not-so-sunny-lane (Jan 31, 2009)

I just cut out a small circle of colored gel and it worked great! Since I know absolutely nothing about electronics this was the most logical for me.


----------



## lzrdsgal (Aug 9, 2009)

N-S-sunny... where do you get colored gel?


----------



## Decorinator (Sep 16, 2009)

Thanks for the nice tutorial - I picked up some of these at the dollar store, thought they might be a cheap solution for lighting eyes behind masks on some props. I'm unskilled enough that will probably just use gels or colored cellaphane- but it's nice to see how to step up my effects with such clear directions!

Colored gels are usually available at music stores or DJ web sites, you can make one square go a long way!


----------

