# Easy LED pin spots



## Herman Secret (Oct 1, 2007)

Not sure if anyone has already posted this or seen this, but if you are thinking of doing LED lighting, this is an incredibly easy how to!






The cost of each pin spot works out to a little under $1. I ordered the LEDs from the supplier that the tutorial mentions, and found some 12v adapters at good will for a couple of bucks each. Just finished testing my first five, with a 12v 100ma adapter and they work great!


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## vfxpro17 (Aug 27, 2010)

Awesome, thanks for posting! Do you think the 5mm produce enough light for a graveyard scene? I'm trying to decide between 5mm or 10mm superbrights over my old flood lights.


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## Herman Secret (Oct 1, 2007)

I'm using 5mm Ultra Bright and they do throw off a lot of light, but I have not tested them in the dark yet. I have seen an adapter at Goodwill which was 12v 1500ma which if my math is right would allow 75 LEDs to be run off. BTW, The ones I bought from Niktronix were 48c each.


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## SmartHaunts44 (Oct 27, 2007)

Great job HS! I'll be buying my LEDs from niktronix like you this year!


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## Hallowennie315 (Oct 9, 2008)

I just bought my LEDS and I can't wait to make these! I love the pre-wired LEDS and I've used those garden steaks before but I never thought of using them in this way! I just have one question. I was thinking of using a speaker terminal to distribute poser from an adapter to the LEDS (like by using a couple of these: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DISTRIBUTED-BY-MCM-4-TERMINAL-INPUT-/50-020) Do you think this would work or is that a bad idea? Also, if this would work, has anyone seen a speaker terminal that has multiple terminals on them? Like 8 or so? Thanks so much!


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## Hallowennie315 (Oct 9, 2008)

I got my LEDS and made a spotlight - they're actually pretty bright - 1 will illuminate a tombstone. I'm gonna post a tutorial sometime next week because I have an easy way to supply power to them. BTW, the pre-wired LEDS are SOOOOOOO worth it for the price! Thanks for this tutorial Human Secret!!


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## OddTodd (May 31, 2009)

Good info... You are funny... loved the sub-titles


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## Kenpilot (Jul 9, 2007)

Great Tutorial!! A couple questions. 1). I run a yard haunt so I would use these outside. Any ideas on how to mount them in the ground? 2). At the end when you are highlighting the skull, how many LED's are you using? Were you just using 1 or was it all 15 that you bundled together? Just trying to get an idea of how many I would have to make to lets say highlight a prop or scene outside. Thanks!!


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## Herman Secret (Oct 1, 2007)

Kenpilot said:


> Great Tutorial!! A couple questions. 1). I run a yard haunt so I would use these outside. Any ideas on how to mount them in the ground? 2). At the end when you are highlighting the skull, how many LED's are you using? Were you just using 1 or was it all 15 that you bundled together? Just trying to get an idea of how many I would have to make to lets say highlight a prop or scene outside. Thanks!!


Unfortunately, I did not make the video or the tutorial, so not able to answer your questions 

However I am hoping to use these lights outside also, probably with either longer lengths of the wire used in the tut, or lengths of heavier gauge wire


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## Kenpilot (Jul 9, 2007)

Herman Secret said:


> Unfortunately, I did not make the video or the tutorial, so not able to answer your questions
> 
> However I am hoping to use these lights outside also, probably with either longer lengths of the wire used in the tut, or lengths of heavier gauge wire


Ahhh ok, thanks. Guess I'll try writing to the website in the video. Let ya know what I come up with.


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## Kenpilot (Jul 9, 2007)

Heard back from Allen, the guy who made the video tutorial, and he only used 1 LED to light up the skull at the end of the video and suggested using a long nail (8in + ) to tie the wires to and just stick them in the ground for us yard haunters. He also has some other great tutorials on his youtube channel. Check it out! 

http://www.youtube.com/user/StiltbeastStudios?feature=mhee


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## Allen H (Dec 13, 2010)

*Questions?*

Hey gang,
Im actually a member of this forum as well, I just didnt have it in my rotation of ones to check on a regular basis. It is now so I can answer any questions- seems like you guys got the other answers you needed. Glad you liked the tutorial and please check out my page and subscribe. I post a different how to every wendesday.
Allen Hopps
http://www.youtube.com/user/StiltbeastStudios?feature=mhee


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## GobbyGruesome (Sep 14, 2005)

Arrrgh! This looks like something I might actually be able to do, but the LED supplier in the video doesn't ship to Canada. Anyone know of a good Canadian source for this kind of stuff?


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## TwistedVet (Aug 9, 2011)

Thanks for this tutorial, it rocked...if I bought 3mm prewired 12V
Instead of the 5mm, will they still draw 20 mAmps. Thanks, Bill


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## Sleepersatty99 (Aug 16, 2010)

what would be the best way to weatherproof these for outside use?


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

I loved this idea. Here is a couple I made based on this tutorial. For the tubes, if you've ever seen those electronic cigarettes, they come with disposable cartridges. I and two co-workers all recently stopped smoking using these and we love them. The disposable cartridges are the perfect size and length for the Pin Spots, so I'm confiscating every one they would normally throw away.


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## [email protected] (Oct 9, 2008)

Do I want a 12Vac wall wart or 12Vdc?or does it matter?


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## Allen H (Dec 13, 2010)

yes, they are still 20 ma
I have used them as is outdoors for three years with no issues
neat idea on the cartridges, the tomato stakes give me plenty of tubes with no collecting time investment- but great idea.
12v DC it matters.


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## Sleepersatty99 (Aug 16, 2010)

I think I will have to order the prewired led's. I have a bunch of the non wired led's and resistors but man I really dont want to bother with them. LOL. So let me see if I 
have this right if each led is 20 ma and I have a power supply that is 12 DC @ 100ma does that mean I can only hook 5 led's to that supply?


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## Allen H (Dec 13, 2010)

Correct.
the math is right, I find the power supplies are easier to find in 400 and 800 ma than any thing else.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

Just an FYI for next year, because it's a little to late to ship them in from overseas at this time of year. But, I usually order my LED's in bulk through sources on Ebay. Pricing is advantageous if you don't mind waiting 15-45 days for shipping. I had ordered 500 5mm UV LED's @ $9 shipped earlier this year. No offence to the middle men, but the markup is rather high at stocking distributors stateside. It's pretty well the same story w/ LED strip lighting too. The 1 meter (1yd, 3") lengths, I usually get for around $5-6 per shipped, and here they'll try to charge more than $50 for the same exact parts from the same manufacturer. 

I don't have any problem with people making money, but when markup exceeds 500%...it gets my ire up. :/


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## Allen H (Dec 13, 2010)

@Ravens Hollow cemetary- Thats why I put that info in the tutorial. If you go with ebay prices then the cost is like $.33 each! Ebay is a great way to go for thriftiness. I do prefer to buy american whenever possible- its worth paying more to me, thats why I also included an american source.


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## Raven's Hollow Cemetery (Jul 3, 2011)

I don't mind using the closest stateside source when profit margins are kept inline. However, most of the time those companies are ordering from the same sources I do. Justifying putting all of that extra in their pockets, when the same percentage amounts are going back to the same suppliers/manufacturers I deal with regardless...in those circumstances, I'd rather cut out the greedy middle men. There aren't any current listings that are outstanding prices, but 50/$3 is a sight better than the 2/$4 at RadioShack, and still substantially better than $.33 ea. (which is a pretty good price on this side of the pond). 

I'm not commenting directly on your source.  Just the rampant profiteering that happens over here, and trying to help those that can't afford to spend the extra lining someone else's pockets. No offence intended. 

Btw, nice tutorial vid you did there


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

I'm almost positive I read somewhere that there are _*no*_ US companies that make LEDs for general sale (there may be a few that make them for their own products but not for sale to the general public... i.e. flashlight or headlight manufacturers), they're all imported from Asia. For me, buying from eBay is giving money to thieves (eBay's little triple dip scheme of eBay fees, PayPal fees, and sometimes Escrow fees and making it look like 3 separate companies) so I refuse to use them or PayPal.


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## dvillage (Sep 25, 2014)

Quick question.............. I know you need a 12volt power supply but could you conceivably run the LEDs off a 9 volt battery? Thanks for any info.


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

According to the video, No. If you are using 12 volt LEDs, you have to have a 12 volt power supply. But, you can purchase individual prewired 9 volt LEDs, which you could run from a 9 volt battery. I've seen them ebay, so I'm sure the electronic supply shops would sell them.


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

Xane, you don't have to buy LEDs from ebay. You can go online and get them at any number of electronic supply business. Here's a link where I order a lot of my stuff, and they're located about an hour from me in Scottsdale, Arizona. 
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/


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## dvillage (Sep 25, 2014)

Thanks for the info Ryan. I've already purchased the LEDs and on the package of each group it says Ultra Bright (10v, 11v, 12v, 13v, 14v, 15v). It does work with a 9 volt battery but I'm just not sure I'm getting the full brightness from it. I guess I'll hook them up to regular 12v dc power. Thanks again for the info.


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## ryanlamprecht (Oct 8, 2009)

Okay, also good to know that you can go higher or lower on the voltage to achieve a brighter or dimmer effect. I was just going off what he said in the video, which was that you have to have 12 volts for 12 volt LEDs, so not sure he was aware of that when he filmed it. I first saw his video a few years ago, and made a bunch of them with 3 LEDs in each PVC pipe, tipped with a 45 degree angle PVC fitting. I think I made a dozen in all. What I discovered was, for me, the amount of effect I gained after the amount of work it took to put them all out, and having the extra wires zigzagging all over my yard, simply wasn't worth it. I was using them in my graveyard to cast some different colors of light on my tombstones. I used them for two years, but they've just sat in a box ever since. I found I got far more bang for my efforts and my buck by just going with those little colored florescent party light bulbs for $5, and $5 for a cheap little light fixture stake. I mounted them in the insides of CD spindle lids with the insides painted silver, and the outsides painted black to camouflage them. At about ten bucks a piece, they really add a lot of great color effect. Since their ten bucks a piece to make, each year I add a couple more. Just works out better for me.


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## oldmanwoerle (Sep 27, 2014)

Just found a set of 50 prewired leds for 7.02 on ebay shipping out of CA.


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