# DIY LED "mini spot" style



## Old Man Bakke

Ahh simplicity....love it! Do you have any pictures of it in action? What do you attach the light to?....a stake, mount it to a wall, ???

Do you think the 1 LED would be enough to light up a tombstone?


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## Dminor

I don't have any pictures of it in action, unfortunately. But I will say that one LED will be enough to light a stone. I've used HauntTheYard's design (found HERE) for the last 2 years and it's worked great.

I built a terminal box (based off of Hallowennie315's design HERE) that's connected to a regulated 12V power supply and it powers all of my LEDs.


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## Dminor

Just had another thought, as it relates to the "plug & play" nature of these spotlights. I haven't tested it, but in theory you should be able to attach an RCA jack (male or female) to the LED wire leads and then you'd have the ability to swap out lights as needed. Just make sure that the speaker wire that goes to the terminal box (power) has the corresponding connector on one end.


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## Dminor

O.k., just did a test and you can use RCA/Phono jacks as quick connects.










Then connect your power to one of these:










And now you've got a RCA/phono jack based plug & play DIY LED mini spotlight!


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## Old Man Bakke

Can we see the back of the back ( how it is wired up) of the female terminal box


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## Dminor

It's not wired yet. LOL. But here's how you'd do it...You'd do the same wiring for each terminal, it was just getting too confusing to show every wire.










What you do is to cut 8 red and 8 black wires and solder them to each connection (red/positive to the center post and black/negative to the outer post). Once you've done that, connect all of the positive wires (including your power cord's positive side) together and either screw on a wire nut or solder all the wires together. Repeat for the negative wires. That's it. You're all wired up and can start plugging in your lights.


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## Old Man Bakke

Duh, so essentially a series circuit. Did you buy those RCS jacks in bulk?


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## Dminor

No..it's a parallel connection. No, I haven't bought them in bulk, simply because I wasn't sure if it would work. haha.

Now that I know it does, I'm looking. The hardest part is finding the connections in black only, since most sell in pairs of red/black. fenggang18 on eBay has them in black and it looks like they sell in quantities of 10 ($3.79 + $2.99 s/h) and 50 ($9.99 + $4.49 s/h)


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## Nepboard

Now you're talk'in Dminor! Looks great!


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## Dminor

Ok, had a chance to solder the leads and plug it in.










And a close up


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## Dminor

Just a quick video explaining everything...


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## DaveintheGrave

Great video tut, Dminor! I like the way you used the RCA jacks and plugs for power. Great idea!
Where did you buy your regulated 12 volt power supply?

I made some LED spotlights many years ago using PVC. Mine looked like this:


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## Dminor

DaveintheGrave said:


> Great video tut, Dminor! I like the way you used the RCA jacks and plugs for power. Great idea!
> Where did you buy your regulated 12 volt power supply?


I got it through monster guts. They're $20 a piece, which is a bit pricy and I'm sure I could have found them cheaper, but I had them laying around, so I used it.


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## BobbyA

Do you have the part number or link to the source for the LEDs handy ?
FYI your diagram shows them to be wired in parallel, series would have led 1 red wire connected to the supply, with led 1 black connected to led 2 red wire, and led 2 black connected to led 3 red wire, etc. until the last diode's black wire connects back to the supply. Generally like Christmas light strings.
Your wiring diagram shows the correct method for 12V LEDs.


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## Dminor

BobbyA said:


> Do you have the part number or link to the source for the LEDs handy ?
> FYI your diagram shows them to be wired in parallel,


I don't have a part # but if you search eBay for 10mm pre-wired led you'll have plenty of sellers to choose from. As for how the box is wired, you are correct. It's parallel, not serial/series. I can never remember which is which. Lol


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## mystic manor

Nicely done. The RCA jacks are a great idea. Thanks for sharing!


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## SavageEye

I remade mine with the RCA Jacks and it works great!


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## SavageEye

I remade mine with RCA jacks and it works great! I will post a picture of my new power set up too.


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## Dminor

SavageEye said:


> I remade mine with the RCA Jacks and it works great!


Awesome! Glad to hear that you found it useful!


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## Spooks-Magee

Hi,

I found these on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/321054455801?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

will a lower voltage LED be less bright?


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## Dminor

Yes, that's my understanding (but I could be wrong)


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## Abunai

Spooks-Magee said:


> will a lower voltage LED be less bright?


The "MCD" (millicandela) rating on an LED is the indicator of brightness. The higher the number, the brighter the LED.

I'm actually in the process of building dozens of LED spotlights right now. 
I bought my LEDs from "Asia Engineer" (in China) on Ebay.

My spotlight design, and technical information is based on a thread by Niblique71 on (ahem) another forum.
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=25530&highlight=led+spot+light
Great, in-depth technical info there.

I did, however, use Dminor's idea and went with RCA plugs and jacks for power distribution. I found dozens of the 8 phono port panels on Ebay for cheap, and I am finding 3 lead, 15 foot RCA cables at thrift stores for less than $2.00 each. Quick and easy. Great idea.


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## Mkozik1

We used the heads of Home Depot flashlights, the kind you get 10 for $10! Took the heads off, attached an "L" bracket to a small plastic electrical box and attached some wire to a transformer. Cut circles from the gels that come with the small strobe lights giving different colors to each. Made the tombstones really pop!!


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## creeperguardian

what type of wire do you use??


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## Mkozik1

creeperguardian said:


> what type of wire do you use??


Not sure who you are asking this of, but I used a small gauge speaker zip wire. Worked well as it was pliable and not a great deal of current passing through. And it was cheap!!


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## SavageEye

I like to use a small gauge stranded wire. Stranded wire coils up nicely and lays flat. Where as the single solid wire will retain its shape and not lay flat.


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## Dminor

Can't remember what color bulb is in your spot? Grab an oil-based paint pen from your local hobby store and color code them.

This spot is UV, so I used a light purple color.

I should also note that I started adding on about a 2" piece of shrink tubing and it makes the spot feel much more sturdy. I also was able to find an eBay seller that had bulb male or female RCA connectors in black. The other benefit to this particular connector is the long "neck" off the back side of it. Helps to keep from pulling on your soldered connection too directly.


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## Dminor

Mkozik1 said:


> We used the heads of Home Depot flashlights, the kind you get 10 for $10! Took the heads off, attached an "L" bracket to a small plastic electrical box and attached some wire to a transformer. Cut circles from the gels that come with the small strobe lights giving different colors to each. Made the tombstones really pop!!
> View attachment 151608


Nicely done!


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## Dminor

Here's a picture of the finished product!










Capable of powering 32 individual LED spots and the whole thing cost under $75. Not too shabby, if I say so myself!


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## SavageEye

Question… Do you know if there is a maximum run between your power source and the ultimate location of the LED light?


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## Dminor

SavageEye said:


> Question… Do you know if there is a maximum run between your power source and the ultimate location of the LED light?


In my yard the farthest run from the power terminal is about 35' and I didn't notice a loss of power/brightness. I'm sure at some point there's probably an issue, but because these LEDs require so little power, I can't imagine the average haunter would ever need a cable long enough to have a problem.


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## Dminor

Jegrry said:


> Now you're talk'in Dminor! Looks great!


Thanks, I appreciate it!


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## Old Man Bakke

Dminor-

What did you use for the box that the female jacks are located in? It looks really clean and professional! Is it plastic?


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## creeperguardian

i know frightprops has like led wiring and stuff would i be able to use this http://www.frightprops.com/ to connect all the wires from the audio jacks??


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## Mkozik1

Dminor said:


> Here's a picture of the finished product!
> 
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> Capable of powering 32 individual LED spots and the whole thing cost under $75. Not too shabby, if I say so myself!


Nice - I might have to "borrow" this idea if it is not a problem! Beats the heck out of the wire nut approach I have been working with


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## Dminor

Old Man Bakke said:


> Dminor-
> 
> What did you use for the box that the female jacks are located in? It looks really clean and professional! Is it plastic?


It's a plastic project box that I picked up at a local electronics store. You can find them on ebay for next to nothing, which is what I would do if I were going to make another one of these.


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## Dminor

creeperguardian said:


> i know frightprops has like led wiring and stuff would i be able to use this http://www.frightprops.com/ to connect all the wires from the audio jacks??


Yes. Their LEDs have the same power requirements that this terminal box outputs, so you should be good. Although it's considerably cheaper to make the LED spots yourself. Each spot is about $2.


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## creeperguardian

Dminor said:


> Yes. Their LEDs have the same power requirements that this terminal box outputs, so you should be good. Although it's considerably cheaper to make the LED spots yourself. Each spot is about $2.


yea im gonna make the led spot lights just going to use the wire piece from frightprops to wire the rca jacks to it so I can use the outlet plug I have from frightprops


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## Blarghity

SavageEye said:


> Question… Do you know if there is a maximum run between your power source and the ultimate location of the LED light?



For the 3 volt line, about 10 feet.
For the 5 volt line, about 40 feet.
For the 12 volt line, about 100 feet.

You can go further with all three, but in doing so, your power supply has to fight the natural electrical resistance of the wire, which increases over distance, and eventually you can reach lengths that overload the power supply and burn it out without ever realizing it. 

Those lengths are for LED lighting. If you're using something with a more substantial draw, like electrical motors or props with sophisticated electronics, I'd suggest reducing the maximum length by 25%. If you're using it for something like a pressure pad trigger where all you're doing is working with a simple open/closed circuit switch application, you can get away with increasing the distance by 50%.


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## SavageEye

Blarghity said:


> SavageEye said:
> 
> 
> 
> Question… Do you know if there is a maximum run between your power source and the ultimate location of the LED light?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For the 3 volt line, about 10 feet.
> For the 5 volt line, about 40 feet.
> For the 12 volt line, about 100 feet.
> 
> You can go further with all three, but in doing so, your power supply has to fight the natural electrical resistance of the wire, which increases over distance, and eventually you can reach lengths that overload the power supply and burn it out without ever realizing it.
> 
> Those lengths are for LED lighting. If you're using something with a more substantial draw, like electrical motors or props with sophisticated electronics, I'd suggest reducing the maximum length by 25%. If you're using it for something like a pressure pad trigger where all you're doing is working with a simple open/closed circuit switch application, you can get away with increasing the distance by 50%.
Click to expand...

Great rules to live by! Thanks!


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## jtmonsman

So, what about resistors? Pardon my ABSOLUTE ignorance, but I'm making a jump from pre-installed-plug floods with extension cords to this!!! Where do the resistors go? Inside the shrink wrap of the pre-wired led's? Thanks for any reply and understanding that electronics is not my strong suit!


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## jtmonsman

Also.... What is the actual name of the female RCA output? Again, sorry I'm a noob at the tech stuff.


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## Dminor

jtmonsman said:


> So, what about resistors? Pardon my ABSOLUTE ignorance, but I'm making a jump from pre-installed-plug floods with extension cords to this!!! Where do the resistors go? Inside the shrink wrap of the pre-wired led's? Thanks for any reply and understanding that electronics is not my strong suit!


The pre-wired LEDs have the resistor already wired in (hence "pre-wired"). That's the beauty of using them!



jtmonsman said:


> Also.... What is the actual name of the female RCA output? Again, sorry I'm a noob at the tech stuff.


It's a female RCA. You're not as noob as you think!


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## jtmonsman

First, thanks for the very fast reply!!!! Also, I figured they were pre-wired but def. wanted to clarify! And I do know female... In plumbing that setup would be a gang valve. In electronics, is it a coupling? A multi jack? I'm searching online and it seems as though I can't get my language correct to pull it up! 
As for not so noob.... Well see once I start messing with electronics and moving parts!!!! Ordered my first vent motor a week ago!


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## EviLEye

Take a look at the video Creepy Creations created that discusses the LED and why a resistor is needed as well as how to calculate the size of a resistor for a circuit.


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## jtmonsman

Evil eye-thanks! I've actually been trying to do my homework-and saw that video about 2 days ago! (Funny too!) which was why I asked about resisters in this set up! Definitely don't want any small explosions! Well, no un planned explosions!


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## daddywoofdawg

for those looking for a search term to start with,this pulls up a list on flea bay. 8 phono port panel.
looking at the photo.could you solder row 1 black wire to row 2 black wire with little jumper wires,same with the red?Or does each jack have to have it's own set?
What Dia hot water tubing you using?




Dminor said:


> It's not wired yet. LOL. But here's how you'd do it...You'd do the same wiring for each terminal, it was just getting too confusing to show every wire.
> 
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> 
> What you do is to cut 8 red and 8 black wires and solder them to each connection (red/positive to the center post and black/negative to the outer post). Once you've done that, connect all of the positive wires (including your power cord's positive side) together and either screw on a wire nut or solder all the wires together. Repeat for the negative wires. That's it. You're all wired up and can start plugging in your lights.


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## jtmonsman

Thanks for the search key words wolfdawg. Just what I needed to find it!


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## Dminor

daddywoofdawg said:


> looking at the photo.could you solder row 1 black wire to row 2 black wire with little jumper wires,same with the red?Or does each jack have to have it's own set?
> What Dia hot water tubing you using?


Absolutely, although, if one connection goes bad, everything connected to it will stop working. So you run the risk of losing a bunch of lights vs. one or two individual.

As for the hot water pipe, it's 1/2"


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## Dminor

Here's a PDF we created for 2013's ScareLA Halloween convention that will help explain how I made the spots and it also touches on the power supply.

http://www.betterhauntsandgardens.com/socalvalleyhaunters/led_spotlights_tutorial.pdf


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## jtmonsman

so, will 22 guage wire work for this?


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## jtmonsman

So, I really wasn't sure if I could do this. Very unsure.
I figured I'd give it a go, since I wasn't happy with the floodlighting from 2013's display.
I bought the 2x4 jack harnesses, connectors, switch, project box and prewired led at RadioShack. I bought low voltage test leads at harbor freight. I had the power supply lying around. I had a few of them which were not strong enough to power this, so I used the wire from that to wire up the inside of the box, as I didn't know if my 22guage would handle the power.
( I have since found out that it should be just fine! )
Seriously- a very sincere thank you!!!!To everyone who is involved in this. 
I'm so pumped that I was able to do this.
I wired up the box and tested it with the low voltage circuit testers attached to the RCA male ends.
Now-I've got to order tons of black RCA plugs and and pre-wired LEDs, and build the body of the spots, but I am very confident that this is the start of something awesome! I am really looking forward to next year, and this should be a major improvement!
Thank you thank you thank you!!!!


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## jtmonsman

All my jacks worked! I can't believe it! If I can do this ANYONE can.


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## Dminor

Nice touch adding the on/off switch! Looks VERY clean!


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## jtmonsman

Thanks Dminor! I highly doubt that the switch will see much use, as I plan on having the whole display on a timer, but I figured I'd add it for a couple reasons- one, i think it looks cool, two- I wanted to see if I could figure it out, and three:- in case I ever participate in a pro haunt. The cleaner (read as "mass produced in a factory") something looks, the less likely it will get flagged by inspectors as "dangerous".
PS- the outside looks clean... The inside.... Rats nest! But first time attempting to splice or solder, I'd say the fact that it works means it doesn't need to look pretty! I have to make another one as my yard has a walkway right down the middle, so maybe that one will look a little less nest like! Maybe.....


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## daddywoofdawg

the light on the switch also tells you your getting power to the box.helps with troubleshooting


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## jtmonsman

Quite a valid point that I hadn't yet considered! If that power supply gets messed up, I'll know not to take the whole thing apart!


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## daddywoofdawg

in the LED SPOTLIGHTS
AND MODULAR TERMINAL BOXES, it keeps saying:• Sand LED Bulbs, really? why?I have never tried that. what does it do and what grit do you use?


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## jtmonsman

Sanding them changes the way the light is "thrown" kinda like the difference in a in house mirror... If you do it, you are supposed to use fine grit, I've heard.


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## Dminor

The sanding basically diffuses the light. I've found that LEDs hot spot when you don't scuff up the front of the bulb a bit. Any grit works, I use the medium grit sanding blocks from Harbor Freight on them.


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## jtmonsman

I like Dminor's answer better, I'm limited to one half completed project a looking around online for a few hours!


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## jtmonsman

Dminor..... You have created a monster and my wife won't be happy about it! Payday is Friday.... And I'll be ordering a bunch of pre-wired LEDs.... And male and female rca connectors. Also, green blue and red rca male connectors. That is, of course if I can set up PayPal or find a source other than e-bay for the connectors. I figure instead of the paint dot, just use a colored connector, as I'll be shrink wrapping those connections anyways!


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## Dminor

jtmonsman said:


> Dminor..... You have created a monster and my wife won't be happy about it! Payday is Friday.... And I'll be ordering a bunch of pre-wired LEDs.... And male and female rca connectors. Also, green blue and red rca male connectors. That is, of course if I can set up PayPal or find a source other than e-bay for the connectors. I figure instead of the paint dot, just use a colored connector, as I'll be shrink wrapping those connections anyways!


Not sure why...the LEDs are cheap, the PVC pipe is cheap and if you order everything on ebay, it shouldn't cost you more than $30-40. As for the connectors in a variety of colors, I'd suggest not doing it simply because you'd be able to see them. The reason I went all black was so that they would disappear in the grass. 

I don't think you'll be able to shrink wrap both the connector and the wiring, simply because the size of shrink tubing that would fit the connector won't shrink enough to work for the leads coming off the LEDs.


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## matrixmom

Thanks for all the great info here. Do you have any pics of your mini spots in action (yard haunt?) I'm trying to get a "schematic" overview of how it works. Like I have said in the past, for me AC/DC was a band.


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## jtmonsman

Lol- cheap for sure, but she keeps a CLOSE eye on the accounts! I hadn't thought about visibility. And now I'm wondering how to make those connections as weather proof as possible.... Perhaps I'll be making "tubes" out of black nitrile glove fingers and electrical tape it.... ADVICE? Thanks for all of the input. Honestly, ive learned more from this thread them in a few hours of surfing other sites!!!! Keep up the amazing work!


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## Dminor

matrixmom said:


> Thanks for all the great info here. Do you have any pics of your mini spots in action (yard haunt?) I'm trying to get a "schematic" overview of how it works. Like I have said in the past, for me AC/DC was a band.


Here's a PDF we created for 2013's ScareLA Halloween convention that will help explain how I made the spots and it also touches on the power supply.

http://www.betterhauntsandgardens.co...s_tutorial.pdf

Here's a proof concept video:






And here's a picture of them lighting up a tombstone and bust:


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## jtmonsman

Bugger. E-bay purchase of make rca ends. 100 of them. They were supposed to be new. Obviosly they were on a wire and cut off. So now, do I simply snip foo the old wire bits and connect my wire, send them back and hope I get a refund, or spend hours unbending the crimped part and de-soldering the tiny bit of wire!? Well, at least I haves this before I really need them!


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## daddywoofdawg

write them, tell them you want a full refund,unless it says there used.take to long to "fix" them to use.


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## Rclsu13

Not sure if anybody has mentioned this yet, but I know it's a good resource. Allen Hopps does a good DIY pin spot tutorial:

http://youtu.be/rf3PltSCxSE

I think he said in the video each one comes out to just a buck or two. I know I'm going to give this a shot next season.


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## jtmonsman

I saw the stilt beast one that he did, my reason for using this one was multi fold. His appear perfect for small props, but for lighting a stone in an outdoor space seemed possibly weak. Also, I won't be attaching them to walls, and the polished look of Dminor's added to The premise of these being plug and play was just too hard to pass up!


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## Dminor

Thanks for the compliment jtmonsman! I'm just happy that I was able to use things I learned here and apply some of my own ideas and help out other haunters. I can't wait to see what the next person comes up with!


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## FearingtonHouse

Here's what I've been using for my homemade mini-LED spots. There is one (input) connector on the inside of the hollowed-out foam skull for the power supply and six (output) connectors on the back of the skull (like a bunch of pony tails) for the lights.

















Night shot


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## GhoulishCop

Dminor,

Just stumbled across your tutorial here and I really like your mini-spots. I've been using others that are based on 1/2" PVC, but I like the more compact look of your spots. I had thought a few times about building the ones shown by StiltBeast Studios, but I like the simplicity of yours better for some reason.

And the plug-n-play hookup is genius. I actually did something just like that last year (that's why it's genius, great minds think alike! LOL!), though I used speaker wire to hookup my LEDs and seemingly wired it slightly different than you did. I wired the jacks in series using a single wire rather than a gang of wires inside. I actually did a video tutorial on it too.






I'm changing up my haunt this year so I was already planning on redoing my lighting and was looking for something newer and sleeker, which is why I stumbled across your tutorial. Previously I've done my own spot wiring but I think I'm just going to go with the prewired ones from now on. A lot less headache and opportunity for something to go wrong. 

One other thing I like is the larger project box for several jack plates to sit on. One thing others may not have realized is you can actually connect the various boxes together too with RCA jacks so that you only need to have one wire running back to the power supply. Thanks!

Rich


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## FearingtonHouse

Checkout this deal... 20' of black wire with RCA connectors on each end. Times 2. ...for 97 cents. Cut each one in half, pull the red side from black side and you have four 10' light wires.

http://www.parts-express.com/recoton-ac237-stereo-rca-patch-cable-20-ft--249-064

I'm always looking for wiring deals like this and buy 10 at a time of this cable for my lights: http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/CB-119/14-CABLE-W/2.5MM-PHONE-PLUG/1.html


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## Rclsu13

jtmonsman said:


> I saw the stilt beast one that he did, my reason for using this one was multi fold. His appear perfect for small props, but for lighting a stone in an outdoor space seemed possibly weak. Also, I won't be attaching them to walls, and the polished look of Dminor's added to The premise of these being plug and play was just too hard to pass up!


Yeah not at all saying Allen's are the end all be all. Just saw this thread late and knew Allen had a tutorial for one. I noticed that they were great for small props too. You know what they say "more than one way to skin a cat."


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## jtmonsman

Lol- there sure is. I'm actually thinking of incorporating his idea into this one for my colums I'm working on. I'm putting "bronze" signs on two colums, and the stilt beasts are very low profile, I thing thes be perfect!


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## Dminor

The other thing of note about how Allen Hopps does his, is that he uses the 5mm LEDs, while I used the 10mm LEDs. I don't think the 10mm would fit inside the tubing he uses in his tutorial, but if you could find a larger diameter tubing, it would work just as well. It's all a matter of preference. There is no right or wrong.


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## Hallomarine

Mkozik1 said:


> We used the heads of Home Depot flashlights, the kind you get 10 for $10! Took the heads off, attached an "L" bracket to a small plastic electrical box and attached some wire to a transformer. Cut circles from the gels that come with the small strobe lights giving different colors to each. Made the tombstones really pop!!
> View attachment 151608


I'd like to see the tutorial on this - it sounds very cheap and easy! Not just for Halloween, but for security lighting hooked to a motion sensor!
HM


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## Joven76

*This is a question for DMinor, but I was curious if you know what the Ohm of the resistor on the prewired LED's are. I just got a BUNCH of resistors from work that they were throwing out, and if they are the right Ohm, I may just do the work myself. 

Thanks!*


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## Dminor

Not sure. They just say that they're for a 12v power source. http://bit.ly/16f9vuF


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## MonsterMike

Really noob question. Can this be hooked up to DC power such as a 9volt battery. Im thinking less wire and mess as I have enough wires running thru my yard as it is. Example: 1 led bulb with resistor to a 9 volt battery with on and off switch in a plastic box. Screw the box to the pvc and I now have 1 led light to put anywhere I want without the hassle of wires. Anyone?


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## EviLEye

Yes, you could drive the LED with a 9V. It will be slightly dimmer due to the lower voltage, but it will work as I've modified other props in a similar fashion (e.g. added red LEDs to the eye sockets for a skull). The battery should get you through the night.


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## MonsterMike

Outstanding. Thanks!!!


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## daddywoofdawg

you could also just use mini led flashlight


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## SavageEye

daddywoofdawg said:


> you could also just use mini led flashlight


Yes and not nearly as much fun! When you make things yourself, you're learning, when you're learning you extend your life...


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## theblackesteyes

Dminor,

Just wanted to personally thank you all the info you provided throughout this thread. In the past week, I've been able to use it to build (6) mini spots and a RCA control box. I don't have a lick of electronics skill, but with a little practice I was able to succeed. I could have easily purchased the spots from Frightprops.com and been on my way, but building them myself has been much more satisfying! 

Thanks again!
Bob


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## zacharybinx

Knocked out 40 of these today. 15 Green, 15 Blue and 10 UV. I'm super proud of the RCA Box:


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## PirateDex

Super job Zacharybinx. That is one snazzy power distro box, definitely something to be proud of.



zacharybinx said:


> Knocked out 40 of these today. 15 Green, 15 Blue and 10 UV. I'm super proud of the RCA Box:
> 
> View attachment 211493


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## SaltwaterServr

zacharybinx said:


> Knocked out 40 of these today. 15 Green, 15 Blue and 10 UV. I'm super proud of the RCA Box:
> 
> View attachment 211493


You couldn't ask for a more apropos distribution box. Big old thumbs up.


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## Sleepersatty99

Dminor sorry if you answered this but, how is the bulb held in place? Also how are the connections protected from the weather?


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## Dminor

Brilliant idea! Just make sure that it has a good sealant on it, so that the soft wood doesn't warp.


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## viccez

Awesome you solved my lighting problem!!


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## civi

Dminor, this is simple and elegant, my favorite combination. The LEDs are simply plugged in and the user is good to go. This gives a very clear approach in which there is minimum chance of someone jumbling up the connections or connections getting shorted. However, What if instead of those plugs on the multiple LED board as you have displayed, you can use a two pin plastic connector which will have lesser chances of connection shoring.

electronic assembly


----------



## Dminor

I tried that originally. Another forum member introduced the idea (their name escapes me right now) and it did work well, but I found the RCA plug to be a better/easier solution (one plug vs two wires).


----------



## andjarnic

How do you determine how long each wire can be x tons of them before there isn't enough power to distribute to all the LEDs? I am also wondering if I can use an old computer 12v 350watt power supply to power about 20 to 30 LEDs. I can't find the tutorial with the 1/2" PVC, but I bought the LEDs and PVC last year and it's just been sitting around.. hoping to start on it this weekend. The power supply is what concerns me the most, just hoping either A) I don't overpower LEDs and blow them out and/or B) I have enough power to power all the LEDs. I think the longest run I may have is 25 to 30 feet.


----------



## Dminor

andjarnic said:


> How do you determine how long each wire can be x tons of them before there isn't enough power to distribute to all the LEDs? I am also wondering if I can use an old computer 12v 350watt power supply to power about 20 to 30 LEDs. I can't find the tutorial with the 1/2" PVC, but I bought the LEDs and PVC last year and it's just been sitting around.. hoping to start on it this weekend. The power supply is what concerns me the most, just hoping either A) I don't overpower LEDs and blow them out and/or B) I have enough power to power all the LEDs. I think the longest run I may have is 25 to 30 feet.


Sorry for the late response. I've never taken cable length into consideration, to be honest, and it's never been an issue for me. As for the computer power supply, you definitely can use one as your power source. I don't care for them because of how bulky they are, but if you've got one, I'd say go for it.

My power supply is 9v 2amp, which is plenty to power about 20 LEDs. I've also used a 12v 5amp power supply and had no issues with that either. I think you're alright if you use the pre-wired (or you wire them yourself) LEDs, since they have a resistor inline. So you'll never have to worry about the bulb receiving too much power and burning out.


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## SaltwaterServr

I did the RCA jack method this past Halloween. Once I watched a video on how to solder correctly, it was smooth sailing. Everything I learned about LED's came off of this site right here, and probably this thread to be honest.

My only suggestion for someone doing this for the first time is to buy white LED's only and then use photographic gels to color them since there is a huge difference in brightness from say a white to an orange LED.


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## Joven76

The amperage (A) of the power supply determines how many LED's you can put on it. Typically one LED uses 20 milliamps (mA). So in DMinor's example above, he's using a 9V 2A power supply. There are 1000 mA in 1 A, so basic math shows that there are 2000 mA in his power supply. Dividing 20 into 2000 gives you 100, or 100 LED's you could use on that one power supply.

As a general rule of thumb though, you shouldn't put exactly that many. As SaltwaterServr said, there is a difference in the different color LED's and some may require more amps than others. For a 2A power supply, you could get away with 90 LED's and be just fine.

Now, in regards to wire length, it is true that the longer the wire the resistance will increase, so the voltage will drop. I found a wire resistance calculator that, based off the length of wire you need along with voltage and amperage of the power supply, it will tell you the best gauge of wire to use so you won't see that big of a drop in the voltage.

http://www.bulkwire.com/wireresistance.asp

Also, one more thing to note. The good thing about mA is that whatever load you're putting on the power supply (i.e. 20 LED's) they are only going to use what they need. So you don't have to worry if you're only putting 20 or 50 on the power supply and overloading the LED's. It's the voltage you have to worry about. If you have a 9V power supply and are using LED's that are only capable of handling 3V, without any resistors, you'll blow the LED's. You need to make sure there are resistors on the LED's that will drop the voltage down to a level the LED's can handle as DMinor said.

Hope this helps.


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## BobbyA

Just wanted to toss this out there. When you use a resistor to drop that 9V down to 3V to power your LEDS you are only using 1/3 of the power supply capacity.
So in the above example of 9V powering 100 LEDS, you are wasting twice that much power, you are powering the resistors with the other 6V.
As an option you could use a more efficient voltage converter to drop the 9V to about 3V and use that extra power. This is one from feebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-Buck-Ste...978?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e936d9fda

This would more than double the number of LEDs you can power from that same 9V supply. You might need smaller resistors, but also might be able to skip them completely by adjusting the output down to 2.7V 
BTW you waste even more powering those LEDS from a 12V supply, actually using only 1/4 (3V of the 12V) power supply capacity lighting LEDS and wasting the rest warming resistors. 

Good advice in the previous post about selecting white LEDS and adding gels. Enough white light leaks through the gels to allow guests to see the other color layers used on your props. Monochrome light washes out the other colors.


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## Joven76

Bobby,

Everything I've ever learned about LED's and power supplies is that it's not the voltage on the power supply that determines the number of LED's, it's the amperage. If I'm reading your post correctly, you said you could double the amount of LED's by using the step down converter instead. For example, going by my example above, if you put 180 20mA LED's (3600mA total) on a power supply that is only capable of producing 2A (2000mA total), the power supply can't handle the load and it will burn out.

Am I incorrect or can you explain how the step down converter allows the doubling of the LED's? I'm actually very intrigued by the step down converter.


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## BobbyA

Sure thanks for asking. Let's take a step back for a moment. 
These PC (as well as other types) "power" supplies are often rated in power output, i.e. 600W
If it were a single voltage output supply (say 12Vdc) that would imply it could provide 12V and up to 50A 
Power in Watts (W) is equal to Voltage (V) x Current (A), 12V x 50A = 600W.
However to be useful for a PC they typically divide up the 600W capacity to also provide other needed voltages.

There is a good chance the power pole in front of your house carries something around 13,000 V.
Say the pole was only able to carry 100A. Since Power (W) is equal to V x A you have 1,300,000 Watts available.
Also say the transformer on your pole converts 13,000 down to about 130 V, and is fused to give you up to 100A
That would mean you have 130V x 100A = 13,000 W available to your house. 
Rinse and repeating this around the neighborhood, you see there is enough "power" on the pole to give about 1,000 houses the same 100A @ 130V.

In a similar fashion to the pole transformer, the converter after chopping the 12V DC (input) up to (really) high frequency, it passes it through a tiny transformer, then filters the chopped up output of the transformer back to DC and makes it available on the output. The really handy part of this device is it only chops up as much input as needed to produce 3V output at current as the load requires, and thus only uses as much of the 12V current capacity as required to create the amount of power needed at 3V.
Which leaves the rest of the 12V power supply capacity available for the next converter (device or load) what ever you want to use it as. These converters are about 90 to 95% efficient so you should factor in about 10% of capacity will be wasted. 

If you were powering a 100ma diode with 3V which is 0.3W (V x A = P or 3 x 0.1 = 0.3), the converter would only need 25 ma of your 12 V supply's capacity.
Which also results in 12 x .025 = .3 Watts. Energy can't be created or destroyed, but it can be transformed.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask questions.


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## Sundevilfanaz

Hey,

I hope this is not a dead thread as I constantly reference. 

This Halloween I am attempting my first ever electrical project. With that said, I know very little about electronics and electrical work. I have practiced soldering in order to duplicate the RCA Jack port for the LED spots. I should be able to do this with ease.

However when talking with a friend about it today he mentioned that a series circuit would be a better option to run off of a wall wart (should I use something other than a 12v for Prewired LEDs?).

Since his idea differed than the drawing shown on page one I wanted to double check if this is indeed a series circuit and if it would work.

Can someone please verify for me that this would work so I can begin on it ASAP?

In the drawing the big black and red lines represent the positive and negative from the wall wart power cord. The other rectangles and circles represent the RCA jacks.


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## Dminor

This is more like how you'd do it. The way you did it in your picture is sort of a mash up between serial and parallel.


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## Sundevilfanaz

Thanks for clarifying the diagram Dminor. That will be a big help.


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## berzerkmonkey

Well, I decided to upgrade my lighting setup, and, as per usual, I purchased half the parts, and it turns out that you can't find the other half anymore. Radio Shack doesn't sell the 8 plug phono plate, and I can't seem to find one anywhere for a reasonable price. Does anyone know of an online electronics shop (preferably in the US) that sells them? If I have to construct these boxes using individual plugs, I don't think I'll be able to get this done in time...


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## Dminor

Have you used the radio shack location finder to see if any stores near you may have them in stock?

http://www.radioshack.com/board-with-eight-standard-type-phono-jacks/2740370.html


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## Dminor

This person on eBay has 2 for sale: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/191677874225?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82

This eBay seller has a bunch and sells them in sets of 3: http://www.ebay.com/itm/RadioShack-...90c461&pid=100338&rk=5&rkt=10&sd=191677874225


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## berzerkmonkey

Dminor said:


> Have you used the radio shack location finder to see if any stores near you may have them in stock?
> 
> http://www.radioshack.com/board-with-eight-standard-type-phono-jacks/2740370.html


Yeah - I've got two near work, and both only had a couple each. They are clearing them out, and I was able to get them for under $2 per unit. I have enough for my lighting this year, but I won't be able to expand.


Dminor said:


> This person on eBay has 2 for sale: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/191677874225?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82
> 
> This eBay seller has a bunch and sells them in sets of 3: http://www.ebay.com/itm/RadioShack-...90c461&pid=100338&rk=5&rkt=10&sd=191677874225


I saw the Ebay listings, I was just cringing at the price (though I was basing that off of what I later realized was Radio Shack's clearance price.) Thanks for the links though.

As an aside, I was thinking about the "main" box in a setup - other than losing two of the jacks (one in, one out) do you see any drawbacks of not using an RCA on the side of the box for the power input? I figured I'd save a couple of bucks and not have to mess around with the integrity of the sides of the box. In one of your earlier photos, It looks like you wired your power directly to one of the jacks in your project box. Any reasons not to do this?

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, what did you use to wire your connections in your project box? I was looking at standard insulated wire, but it looks like you used bare copper of some sort?


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## daddywoofdawg

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-2-pin...ector-WP2-3-/310853221437?hash=item48604bbc3d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Pcs-64mm-...9fa6da7&pid=100005&rk=2&rkt=6&sd=321590757018


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## Brendan Vaughan

i got a 20pak off amazon for 5 bucks and they were all factory rejects... couldnt use have of them...


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## Sundevilfanaz

Got them finally done and set up yesterday. After four hours of set up, the rain began to come in so had to shut it down.

Thanks for all the huge help on this.


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## Aldeross

I love rhus thread and idea. Will be doing it soon. Is there a way to make them strobe? And what about the weather proof situation. I would love to not have to turn them off if it rains as it does every year around here in hollowen


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## Aldeross

Would this work. I want to use it for a central box for all my props. Do u think it would work for the power going to the Junction box that all the led lightso would plug into?
http://m.ebay.com/itm/360549291441


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## Sundevilfanaz

As for the weather here in Arizona we don't have to worry about that too much. When it rains I just turn the power off the the lights for a day to let them air dry. I put the junction box in a Tupperware container to keep it out of the elements. Our rains last week didn't bother it


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## Old Man Bakke

Dminor said:


> Here's a picture of the finished product!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Capable of powering 32 individual LED spots and the whole thing cost under $75. Not too shabby, if I say so myself!


I would really like to duplicate this set up. Do you remember where you obtained the RCA jacks and the project box from...?


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## GhoulishCop

You can usually find them at Radio Shack, if there are any still by you and you want them now, today! Or you can find them online. Amazon has both project boxes and RCA jacks.


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## Sirmeili

I have some quesitons for those that have used this setup. I bought all the stuff except the PVC (which I will get locally).

1). How are you holding them in place? the little L bracket is no where near long enough. My grass is cut to 4" thick. I suppose just laying them in the grass will work as well.

2) The most important question. What do you guys do about rain? I live in FL and it will more than likely still be raining as we get towards Halloween. For my outdoor lights, I don't think it matters too much if the connections get wet. What about these? Should I be super vigilante about turning them off if there is water or perhaps even consider waterproofing the connections somehow?


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## Dminor

Sirmeili said:


> I have some quesitons for those that have used this setup. I bought all the stuff except the PVC (which I will get locally).
> 
> 1). How are you holding them in place? the little L bracket is no where near long enough. My grass is cut to 4" thick. I suppose just laying them in the grass will work as well.


Ditch the L bracket and take an additional length of pipe, heat and pinch one end and drill a hole in it. Mount the mini spotlight to the pipe. On the opposite end of the pipe, cut a 45 degree angle so that it can be used like a stake.


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## GhoulishCop

Sirmeili said:


> 2) The most important question. What do you guys do about rain? I live in FL and it will more than likely still be raining as we get towards Halloween. For my outdoor lights, I don't think it matters too much if the connections get wet. What about these? Should I be super vigilante about turning them off if there is water or perhaps even consider waterproofing the connections somehow?


For those that will be used outdoors, I take them and put them inside a plastic container with a lid, like Tupperware or used cold cuts containers. I cut a hole in either end to allow the wires to run through, then use a silicone sealant to make it watertight. The pop off lid keeps the rain out but allows quick access to the box if necessary.


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## Sirmeili

GhoulishCop said:


> For those that will be used outdoors, I take them and put them inside a plastic container with a lid, like Tupperware or used cold cuts containers. I cut a hole in either end to allow the wires to run through, then use a silicone sealant to make it watertight. The pop off lid keeps the rain out but allows quick access to the box if necessary.


are you talking about the connections at the light or at the box? I plan on putting the distribution box in a place that will not get wet. It's mainly the leds in the PVC and then the RCA Connections just outside of them. I thought maybe I could wrap them in something, but wasn't sure if 12v was really affected much by moisture.


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## Sirmeili

Dminor said:


> Ditch the L bracket and take an additional length of pipe, heat and pinch one end and drill a hole in it. Mount the mini spotlight to the pipe. On the opposite end of the pipe, cut a 45 degree angle so that it can be used like a stake.


Thanks for the idea. So simple I'm surprised I didn't think of it, but sometimes the simplest things escape us.


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## GhoulishCop

Ah! Yeah, I don't worry about my LED fixtures. So long as the connections themselves -- at the light and at the box -- are protected (and my LEDs are lengths of PVC so the wires are inside them) I haven't had a problem with water shorting them out.


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## David_AVD

I made some 12V LED spot lights out of PVC bends and solar garden stakes and did a write-up on da-share.

The LED end is filled with clear silicone:


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## Sirmeili

So went a bit overboard with the actual light. The cost went up significantly (still pretty cheap, but considering what the cost of 12' of 1/2 cpvc it is more ).

Here is what I have:
45 degree bend 1/2 pvc
1/2" coupler
lens made from thin plexiglass like stuff from home depot (the 8x11 sheet was like $2.50)
Soda/beer can (empty)
pre-wired LED.

I started with the plexi like stuff and cut a circle to act as a lens. I didn't get it right, but after some sanding, it fit perfectly into the coupler. Eventually I lightly sanded one of the sides to give it a frosted affect. This helped diffuse the light more.

I then took the couple and cut a 45 degree angle off one side. This is so that water won't get trapped in it.

If you look closely, the PVC bend has 2 of the sides flattened out. I was gonna try and use white LEDs and cut some gels I have lying around so I could change the color easily, but the gels just cut out too much of the light (at least the red did). The next ones may not have this depending on the brightness of the LEDs I get from china (I've only made 1 light housing so far).

I didn't like that I had no way to hold the LED so it was pointing straight out, so I took a can and cut a cross and pushed it into the end of a spare piece of 1/2" pvc using a piece of round wood I had that fit perfectly. I then drilled a hole in the bottom (I didn't quite get it centered), and pushed the led up through. The fact that it's shiny aluminum doesn't really help any because LEDs are directional.

I will eventually paint it and silicon in the lens. I'm still not 100% on the gels. I have 60 white leds, 10 red, 10 green, 10 blue, and 10 orange or yellow. I can always order more. 50 of the white LEDs are not here yet and might be brighter than the ones I got off amazon, so they may work better with the gels. I'll have to wait until later this month to find out.

I have some extra solar light stakes in the back shed I'm gonna see if they fit in the flanged end of the 45 degree bend. If they do I will pull the power out the side of the bend and silicon it in 

Here is what I have so far (from tore down to completely put together, but not painted yet):
All the pieces:








The LED in it's "holder":








LED and holder put into bend and lens put in coupler:








Everything put together straight on view:








Everything put together side view:









I have also started on the box to distribute power. This is my first time soldering, but so far so good. I'm waiting on some other parts from china on that as well, but i Have the box, RCA jacks (Individual jacks, I will drill holes in the top of the box for each one), and power supply. I'll post pictures of that when I get it done 

Thanks for this, I got to try something new (soldering) and get to better control my lights for Halloween. This is gonna be awesome!

Note: I may make some like the OP did to see how they are in comparison. I'm in no way saying mine are better, but I tend to "over-engineer" stuff a lot...LOL


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## David_AVD

Using coloured LEDs will always be more efficient than using gels over white ones. I do get why you wanted to try that though.


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## Sirmeili

David_AVD said:


> Using coloured LEDs will always be more efficient than using gels over white ones. I do get why you wanted to try that though.


Yeah, unfortunately I already ordered 50 white ones....lol. I'll order some colored ones. Any suggestions for the best colors? I'm thinking red and green definitely. Any others?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


----------



## David_AVD

For my spots I used high brightness diffused oval LEDs. The diffused ones will soften the light edge. The clear type are usually way too pointy for the job in my opinion.

I had a heap of the oval ones in stock at work (we make LED scoreboards), but 5mm round ones will do fine. Look for something that's specified as at least 1000mcd brightness.

eBay has packs of 120 (20 each of 6 colours) for only a few dollars. Most sellers will have somewhat bogus figures listed for the mcd rating, but it's a cheap way to get something half reasonable.

I use 3 together in series (with a resistor) for each spotlight and run them on 12V. This allows me to bend them out slightly (before I silicone them in) to get a larger beam if want. It also increases the brightness of course.


----------



## Old Man Bakke

anyone find a black light 10 mm prewired LED anywhere??? I see some "UV" stuff but unsure of the black light quality...


----------



## Sirmeili

So I finally got one prototyped (Been splitting my time between the lights and the distribution box).

Here is the light... I did do one with the jack coming out the side, but I thought that would be harder to store them that way, so I did this one:


















And here is my distribution box. It will end up with 49 outlets. I am using a 2a power supply, so that means I can do 2 of these boxes. I'm thinking of adding an RCA port on this box on the side next to the power inlet. This way I can daisy chain two of these boxes together if I want. However, I don't think I will create a second box this year. By time I run RCA cables and use splitters, I may get up to 100 with just this one box. I still have quite a few more RCA jacks to solder wire to. Then I need to figure out how to join 50 wires together (thinking of getting a distribution block).

















My final addition, but not likely added this year, is to add something like a Raspberry Pi so I can control either individual lights or groups of lights (Found a way to control 8 relays, checking to see if I can do more). This way I might be able to do light shows next year


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## GhoulishCop

OMB,

http://lighthouseleds.com/10mm-12v-pre-wired-led-uv-purple-ultra-bright-7-000-mcd.html

Rich


----------



## annamarykahn

Old Man Bakke said:


> anyone find a black light 10 mm prewired LED anywhere??? I see some "UV" stuff but unsure of the black light quality...


for a true black light effect with minimal visible light leds with a wavelength of 365nm is what you'll want ... unfortunately, those are still expensive, although the prices are still coming down ... most uv led wavelengths are in the high 300nm or even low 400nm range ... basically you don't want to see any/minimal/much "purple" light

i do a ton of black light & at this point in time, fluorescent black light bulbs are the way to go

the compact fluorescent bulbs that i've previously purchased from walmart, lowes, home depot & other places are very good ... i put them in work light or brooding reflectors ... sometimes i use 2 with a splitter in the reflectors ... to make them rain/water resistant, shower caps are effective ... it is advisable to use ground fault protection for all outdoor 120vac power

amk


----------



## dawoof

These look great. I will be making some for this year. One question... I didn't see where it mentioned the diameter of PVC you are using. I noticed it seems to come in 1/2" and 3/4". Can you enlighten me?


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## Dminor

dawoof said:


> These look great. I will be making some for this year. One question... I didn't see where it mentioned the diameter of PVC you are using. I noticed it seems to come in 1/2" and 3/4". Can you enlighten me?


Look for hot water pvc pipe (also known as CPVC), which has an outer diameter of 1/2". It's typically found in the hot water heater section of home depot/lowes.


----------



## Stuff 'N Junk

Dminor-

Thanks for starting this thread! Last year in September I had the annual flare-up of my "Must-Build-Something-For-Halloween" Disease, saw your post on these mini spots and dove in, buying parts and pieces. But, as frequently happens, life intervened and I was unable to finish, so I am resuming this now for this year. Had a couple quick questions, regarding the soldering of the wires to the 8-port RCA Phono Jack:

!. Did you use 22 gauge wire for the red and black "feeders" to the back of the RCA ports? And am I correct that these are also called hookup wires?

2. Was it solid or stranded wire? I ask because I used wire that I had available, which was 18 gauge stranded, and it's a huge PITA to solder to the tangs. (Or maybe I just stink at soldering!)

and

3. Is it my inexperience with soldering or is it really tricky trying to solder the inner lines (black wires) because the spacing is so tight on the back of those 8-ports?!

Thanks in advance for any info!
Dave


----------



## titleist1

Thanks for this tutorial, I made a few and this is the resulting effect of the lights. I was testing green and blue to see which i liked better. The spot on the torso will be spread a little better when put it closer and angle the spot upwards more.


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## Korax

If you want the light to spread out more (wider angle), try using those "eagle eye" LEDs people stick on their cars. Theyre pre wired and waterproof.


----------



## Dminor

Stuff 'N Junk - see my answers below:



Stuff 'N Junk said:


> !. Did you use 22 gauge wire for the red and black "feeders" to the back of the RCA ports? And am I correct that these are also called hookup wires?
> 
> *I don't recall the gauge, but if I were guessing I'd say 18 or 22.*
> 
> 2. Was it solid or stranded wire? I ask because I used wire that I had available, which was 18 gauge stranded, and it's a huge PITA to solder to the tangs. (Or maybe I just stink at soldering!)
> 
> *It was solid core*
> 
> and
> 
> 3. Is it my inexperience with soldering or is it really tricky trying to solder the inner lines (black wires) because the spacing is so tight on the back of those 8-ports?!
> 
> *Nope, they're a pain in the butt!*


----------



## LadyMage

Sirmeili said:


> So I finally got one prototyped (Been splitting my time between the lights and the distribution box).
> 
> Here is the light... I did do one with the jack coming out the side, but I thought that would be harder to store them that way, so I did this one:
> 
> View attachment 323489
> 
> 
> View attachment 323497
> 
> 
> 
> And here is my distribution box. It will end up with 49 outlets. I am using a 2a power supply, so that means I can do 2 of these boxes. I'm thinking of adding an RCA port on this box on the side next to the power inlet. This way I can daisy chain two of these boxes together if I want. However, I don't think I will create a second box this year. By time I run RCA cables and use splitters, I may get up to 100 with just this one box. I still have quite a few more RCA jacks to solder wire to. Then I need to figure out how to join 50 wires together (thinking of getting a distribution block).
> 
> View attachment 323505
> 
> 
> View attachment 323513
> 
> 
> My final addition, but not likely added this year, is to add something like a Raspberry Pi so I can control either individual lights or groups of lights (Found a way to control 8 relays, checking to see if I can do more). This way I might be able to do light shows next year


Is that just a plastic box you're using for the RCA box? I havn't been able to find jack boards for anything resembling a decent price if at all, so I thought to just drill out holes for individual female connnectors in a project box. Of course, now that they were delivered this week my anxiety kicked in and I'm having second thoughts.


----------



## Dminor

LadyMage said:


> Is that just a plastic box you're using for the RCA box? I havn't been able to find jack boards for anything resembling a decent price if at all, so I thought to just drill out holes for individual female connnectors in a project box. Of course, now that they were delivered this week my anxiety kicked in and I'm having second thoughts.


Yes, I found a small plastic enclosure that fit the jack board. Anything would work, it doesn't have to be the one I used. This post is a few years old now and the jack boards are nearly impossible to find these days. You're on the right path though and I hope it all worked out for you!


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## Korax

I found some waterproof connectors on ebay, so I used them to make a 12V supply line with outlets spaced 6 feet apart. My led's are mounted on 16" long wooden dowels with eye-screws, making them adjustable up and down. All the connections were soldered, insulated with heat shrink tubing and coated with leak sealant. I'm using 14 of these to replace my incandescent floodlights. Hopefully they're bright enough, and still work in the rain.


----------



## Kwll2112

I'm assuming those are the Eagle Eye LEDs you referred to. I'm interested in where you got them, and/or if there are any issues with ordering colors (I.e., some better than others?). 

Also, what's your power supply?



Korax said:


> I found some waterproof connectors on ebay, so I used them to make a 12V supply line with outlets spaced 6 feet apart. My led's are mounted on 16" long wooden dowels with eye-screws, making them adjustable up and down. All the connections were soldered, insulated with heat shrink tubing and coated with leak sealant. I'm using 14 of these to replace my incandescent floodlights. Hopefully they're bright enough, and still work in the rain.
> 
> View attachment 550829
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> 
> View attachment 550831
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> 
> View attachment 550833
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> 
> View attachment 550835


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## Korax

Kwll2112, Yeah, those are Eagle Eyes. They're from ebay as well. There's red, amber, green, blue, violet and white. I've only tried the blue ones, so I can't say how good the others are. They get slightly warm in use, but not enough to worry about. The power supply is from amazon for $25. Its a 12v 10 amp voltage-regulated unit specifically for led strips. Its worth the extra cash for a good power supply because the cheaper ones voltage output varies with current draw and how many lights are connected.


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## Rick_H

So I have been reading this thread for a while now and wanting to make some to change out with my push button battery powered LEDs (PITA to turn them all on and off every night). 
So I designed and 3D printed a couple parts that fit together with 1/2” PVC. 
First is a plug that holds 5mm LEDs that fit into the end of the pipe. I made one with 1 LED, 5 LEDs and printing off a 4 LED one now. 5 LEDs barely fit, and was really bright even with the 9V battery I was using to test. 
The second piece slides over the LED and can adjust the diameter of the spot light by sliding it back and forth. This one is about 2” long, but I may try longer ones to see how it looks. 
The angle bracket/stake idea wasn’t going to work for me, so I came up something that works better for me. The last piece is a stand that slides along the pipe and can be set down and adjusted to get to the height you need the spot to shine. I may need to make a larger stand once I start placing them, but I’m gonna start with this one. 
I still need to crimp and seal the bottom end, drill a hole for the wires and add a plug, but I think it’s gonna work for what I need. 
Thanks to Dminor for this thread! So much great information in here to get someone started.


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## Dminor

@Korax You've inspired me to switch to waterproof connectors and eagle eye lights. 

The cost to have the waterproof housing on the bulb absolutely makes it worth doing. I was able to get 20 of the eagle eye lights for $15.77 on ebay (20 pre-wired 10mm LED bulbs from LighthouseLED are $13.09). So only a $2.68 difference to get those. No brainer. If you wanted to get them and don't mind waiting, you could get 20 on aliexpress for $9.01, so it's actually cheaper to go with the Eagle Eye bulbs.

The connectors are another story, but aliexpress.com has a lot of sellers of the 2 pin screw on type as well as splitters and T connectors, so I'll be able to create 2 long runs with off-shoots for each light and not have to wonder how I'd setup in years past or spend time removing the rust from the RCA connections.


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## Halstaff

Dminor, do you have any links to the connectors, splitters or T connectors from Aliexpress?


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## Dminor

Halstaff said:


> Dminor, do you have any links to the connectors, splitters or T connectors from Aliexpress?


Sure thing!

1/2/3/7/10' Cables: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot...107.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4b014c4djCLoqy

Y splitters: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-P...417.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4b014c4djCLoqy

T-connectors: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-P...417.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.44654c4dv1mYjE


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## David_AVD

Ray Wu (and others on on AliExpress) sell 2, 3 and 4 pin waterproof connector tails and T pieces. I use them a lot for my Christmas and Halloween displays.


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## Dminor

Decided to go nuts on this project and redo EVERYTHING! So I spent some time over the past few days working in Fusion 360 #D modeling software and designed my own housing for the eagle eye LEDs, a new mount that fits onto my existing 1/2" CPVC hot water pipes that has a small cable strain relief (I hated the idea of the cable just jetting out off the back of the housing) and even threw in a little branding (I'm a graphic artist with a focus on branding - I couldn't help myself).

Once the lights arrive and I can confirm they fit, I'm going to have these printed in resin and will make a silicone mold so that I can make a bunch of copies for my display, rather than 3d printing 20 of them at 3.5 hours each. Plus they'll be more sturdy as cast resin pieces than they'd ever be as 3d prints.


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## Dminor

Korax said:


> I found some waterproof connectors on ebay, so I used them to make a 12V supply line with outlets spaced 6 feet apart. My led's are mounted on 16" long wooden dowels with eye-screws, making them adjustable up and down. All the connections were soldered, insulated with heat shrink tubing and coated with leak sealant. I'm using 14 of these to replace my incandescent floodlights. Hopefully they're bright enough, and still work in the rain.


Did you notice any power/brightness issues? I've been chatting with a fellow haunter about it and he seemed to think that because of the .5amp power draw for each light I'd need a single cord for each bulb rather than multiple connections from one line like you've done.


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## Korax

Hey, I'm glad to have given back some good ideas after stealing so many off this site for so long. Those housings look awesome by the way!

I checked the link you posted, I'd be surprised if they actually are 1.5W each. The ones I bought made some ridiculous claim of 9W each. I checked the current draw at 12V , it was only 70 milliamps. That's about 0.85W. 

Double check the actual current draw to be sure, but you probably won't need a separate power cord for each LED. I just used heavy speaker wire, no problems. Just make sure to get a voltage regulated power supply, so the brightness is the same whether you have 1 connected or 20. I'm happy with the way mine turned out this year.. WAY better looking than incandescent floodlights. I'll have to post a few pics when I get a chance.


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## Dminor

So I may have gone crazy with the 3d modeling. I've been posting updates to my local haunt group's FB page and have gotten feedback and feature requests, so now it's a whole lighting "system." LOL. It's both a ground stake style and a surface mount style with beam inserts since the Eagle Eye LEDs are REALLY wide.









Lord help me. hahahaha

If you want to download the 3d files, I've posted part of them here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3215175 and will be updating the files as soon as I finalize the design.


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## trhooper123

Dminor said:


> So I may have gone crazy with the 3d modeling. I've been posting updates to my local haunt group's FB page and have gotten feedback and feature requests, so now it's a whole lighting "system." LOL. It's both a ground stake style and a surface mount style with beam inserts since the Eagle Eye LEDs are REALLY wide.
> 
> View attachment 578333
> 
> 
> Lord help me. hahahaha
> 
> If you want to download the 3d files, I've posted part of them here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3215175 and will be updating the files as soon as I finalize the design.


Love the look of this Dminor , any chance you have a version for the 23mm eagle eye leds?


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## Whitewatervol

Some great ideas in this thread.


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## trhooper123

Ended up making a version to fit the 23mm spots. I can share the files if interested. Here are some pics of the finished product. I had a friend 3d print one copy and then I made a mold and resin cast the rest that I needed.









Original 3d Print









Casting with smooth on 

























I spray painted the white ones and then switched to using epoxy dye for the remaining. 









wired with a 23mm eagle eye led with a waterproof connector on the end


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## Halstaff

I would appreciate the file if you don't mind sharing!


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## trhooper123

Halstaff said:


> I would appreciate the file if you don't mind sharing!


Here you go





__





Light Housing.zip







drive.google.com


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