LED CD Lamp

A while ago, I built a prototype for this lamp. It consists of a multi-color LED, and 3 potentiometers (these allow you to mix the colors). The entire project took me about an hour to build. If you have any questions or problems about this project, just comment below.

Materials

Items:

-wire

-6 cds (i used printable dvds)

-project box (I used a 6x4x2 from radioshack)

-3 potentiometers

-on/off switch

-PVC piping (about 4'')

-7-color LED (mine had 4 ''legs'')

-knobs for pots (optional)

-2 AA battery holder

-black spray paint

Tools:

-soldering iron

-phillips screwdriver

-small flathead screwdriver

-hot glue gun

-hot glue gun sticks

-solder

-pvc cutter

-duct tape

-drill w/ various size bits

Prep. the Box

Mark on the box where you want the 3 potentiometers and on/off switch to go (i used a t-square so that they were even), then mark another spot where you want the pvc pipe to go (again i used a t-square and tape measure so that it was in the center of the box, behind the controls).

The Box

Find the drill bits that would work for the potentiometers and switch and drill out holes where you marked. Then install the potentiometers and switch and make sure they are secure.

Soldering

Solder one wire from each potentiometer to a short lead on the led (1 pot per lead). Then solder a wire from the long lead to the swtich, and another wire from the other terminal on the switch to the negative terminal on the battery holder. Solder another wire on another terminal on each of the potentiometers, then solder these together. solder a wire on the positive battery holder terminal and solder the other end of this wire to the group of wires you just soldered from the potentiometers. Put heat shrink or electrical tape over this if you want.

NOTE: make sure that you use enough wire on the led so that it can go through the pipe. (my pvc pipe was 4" so i used about 6 inches of wire going from the LED to the potentiometers and switch)

Finish the Box

Now pull the LED through the hole you drilled for the pvc pipe. I wrapped electrical tape around the LED leads. Screw the lid onto the project box. Finally put the knobs on the potentiometers (this is why you need the small flathead screwdriver).

The Lampshade and Pipe

Cut the pvc pipe to the desired length (again, i cut mine to 4"). Now coat the pipe with a coat of spray paint. While this dries, you can work on the lampshade.
For the lampshade, i used a box to hold the cds in place. i put them so that the shiny side was facing outwards. Glue them in place and secure the hold with duct tape. For the last dvd, i didn't want to deal with gluing it, so i put strips of tape on the dvds where the last dvd would go, then i put it there and just used the tape to hold it in place.

Final Assembly

When the pvc pipe is dried, pull the led through it and hot glue it to the box (i also used hot glue to secure the led). When the glue dries, put hot glue on the top of the pvd pipe and put the dvd lampshade on it (make sure led goes through one of the holes in the center of the dvds). I also glued the inside of it where the led is to make sure it is secure. Finally, just wait until dries and test it out.

Video

I posted a couple videos below. I hope you enjoyed this instructable. Please rate and comment. Thanks for viewing :)

Downloads

1.wmv

2.wmv

3.wmv