Film Canister LED Flashlight

by comodore in Circuits > LEDs

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Film Canister LED Flashlight

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In this Instructable I will show you how to make a flashlight out of an old, 35mm, film canister and some ultra-bright LEDs!
You don't need to spend 10$ on a flashlight that isn't even that bright. For 4$ or less, depending what you have lying around the home, you can make a really bright LED flash light. Its got for camping or just for back yard fun.
This flashlight is easy to make,looks cool and most importantly, effective!

Components

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You aren't going to need many components for this project.

1. 4x Ultra-bright, white LEDs (picture 2)

2. Film canister

3. Push switch

4. 3V coin cell battery

5. some wire (I used telephone wire)

Tools

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Tools:

1. Wire cutter

2. Wire insulation stripper

3. Soldering Iron

4. Solder

5. Electrical tape

6.Scissors whit pointy edges (or a needle)

7.Something to make a hole for the push switch (I used a drill that fit the diameter of my switch)

Lets Get Started

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OK, you got the parts, you got the tools, lets get started!

Make small holes on the cap of the film canister whit the scissors or the needle, two on every side, so the LED will go trough.

Soldering

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Cut out 8 pieces of wire(like in picture 1) and strip the insulation on the ends.

The LEDs are connected in parallel, that means that all the negative (shorter) sides are connected together and all the positive (longer) sides are connected together.
Take the wire and solder it on the LEDs. One by one connect two same sides (longer whit longer shorter whit shorter) whit wires and solder them.(picture 2,3,4 and 5)

Don't cut all the end of the LEDs, leave two, one positive (long) and one negative (short) (picture 6)

Test it. Take the 3V coin cell battery and put it on the leads in correct manner. If all is good so far the LEDs should lite up.(picture 7 and 8)

On one lead of the LED solder a longer wire. Strip a bit more of the insulation on the oposite side and bend ti. (picture 9 and 10)

Switch

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Take the switch and cut out two longer pieces of wire.(picture 1)

Strip off the insulations on the end. On the end of one wire strip a bit more of the insulation and bend the un-insulated wire. (picture 2 )

Solder the wire from the switch to the remaining lead.(picture 4 and 5)

Battery

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The two end of the wire that we bended (picture 1) connect to the battery.
Connect them to the battery whit the electrical tape (picture 2) and your circuit is done!(picture 3)
Test it by pushing the switch, if all is good the LEDs should lite up.

Make the Hole for the Switch

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On the film canister make a hole for the switch. You can use a drill or anything that can make a whole.

Put It All Togother

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Now put it all together. Put the switch trough the hole, put the battery in the canister and close it all up.

Done!

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You are done!!!
You have built your own ultra bright LED film canister flash light!!!

Thanks for reading, place leave a comment and don't forget to rate!