LED Light Bulb
Hi first instructable.
I will be showing you how to hallow out a light bulb and put an LED circuit on the inside.
It will work of 3 volts but you ca adjust the resistors to fit your needs.
Be creative with your bulb.
I am supportive of criticism as long as it is constructive so if you have any idea on
making this better shoot me a comment or message,.
THIS INSTRUCTABLE WILL REQUIRE YOU TO BREAK GLASS AND PLEASE BE CAREFUL.
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU GET INJURED IN THE PROCESS OF THIS PROJECT
THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
Helping hands if you have any
Wire cutters
Light bulb
solder
3 LEDs (or more)
resistors 56 ohm (depending on your source voltage.)
Hot glue gun and sticks
Screw driver Philips or flat head
Spare wire ( preferably single strand.)
Salt
Needle nose pliers
LETS GET STARTED!!
I will be showing you how to hallow out a light bulb and put an LED circuit on the inside.
It will work of 3 volts but you ca adjust the resistors to fit your needs.
Be creative with your bulb.
I am supportive of criticism as long as it is constructive so if you have any idea on
making this better shoot me a comment or message,.
THIS INSTRUCTABLE WILL REQUIRE YOU TO BREAK GLASS AND PLEASE BE CAREFUL.
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU GET INJURED IN THE PROCESS OF THIS PROJECT
THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
Helping hands if you have any
Wire cutters
Light bulb
solder
3 LEDs (or more)
resistors 56 ohm (depending on your source voltage.)
Hot glue gun and sticks
Screw driver Philips or flat head
Spare wire ( preferably single strand.)
Salt
Needle nose pliers
LETS GET STARTED!!
Removing the Bottom
All light bulbs are basically the same to hollow out.
I used a 60 watt.
Heat up your soldering iron and melt the bottom of the light bulb.
You will notice that a small hole will appear unhook it from the metal tab.
Try and remove as much solder as possible.
After that grab the edge of the metal tab and pry it up a little with your finger nail.
Once it is up use needle nose pliers to grab it and pull it off.
Now that that is out of the way go ahead and grab your wire cutters or needle nose pliers and
squeeze the black part as hard as you can till it breaks or cracks.
After that gab a screw driver and try breaking it even more. Whatever works basically.
I waited till it cracked enough so i could go ahead with the pliers and twist it and break it off!!
I used a 60 watt.
Heat up your soldering iron and melt the bottom of the light bulb.
You will notice that a small hole will appear unhook it from the metal tab.
Try and remove as much solder as possible.
After that grab the edge of the metal tab and pry it up a little with your finger nail.
Once it is up use needle nose pliers to grab it and pull it off.
Now that that is out of the way go ahead and grab your wire cutters or needle nose pliers and
squeeze the black part as hard as you can till it breaks or cracks.
After that gab a screw driver and try breaking it even more. Whatever works basically.
I waited till it cracked enough so i could go ahead with the pliers and twist it and break it off!!
Hollow the Bulb
Literally grab a screw driver put it in the hole and tap hard straight down to break the glass.
Use the screw driver to break all the surrounding center glass.
Break all sharp edges, don't worry about the light bulb the metal screw holds the outside
glass in place.
You will notice that in the light bulb there is a wire that you already unhooked and a wire still intact.
Grab your needle nose pliers and pry it out..
Once the glass is completely broken carefully empty it out into the trashcan.
A lot of light bulbs will be white so to clean it out get a good amount of salt in the bulb and put some water and vigorously
swirl it around.
Use an old tooth brush if you have to.
Let the light bulb set upside down so that it can fully dry with out leaving smudges,
Use the screw driver to break all the surrounding center glass.
Break all sharp edges, don't worry about the light bulb the metal screw holds the outside
glass in place.
You will notice that in the light bulb there is a wire that you already unhooked and a wire still intact.
Grab your needle nose pliers and pry it out..
Once the glass is completely broken carefully empty it out into the trashcan.
A lot of light bulbs will be white so to clean it out get a good amount of salt in the bulb and put some water and vigorously
swirl it around.
Use an old tooth brush if you have to.
Let the light bulb set upside down so that it can fully dry with out leaving smudges,
The Circuit
I was working with 1.9 volt leds and i had a source voltage of 3 volts so i used 56 ohm resistors.
I calculate my resistors by hand but you can use this site to suit your needs.
http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz
Try and make the legs as long as possible.
Solder your resistor to the positive side.
It really doesn't matter which side but it helps to follow these instructions haha
To tell which is positive and negative the shorter pin is negative and the longer one is positive.
We will be wiring these in parallel.
THESE NEXT STEPS WILL BE EASIER IF YOU SEE THE PICTURES.
Get two of your wired LEDs and wrap the bottom of one resistor to the other.
Solder that point to make a good hold.
Grab your other wired LED and connect the bottom of that resistor to the bottom of the second one.
Making sort of a tree like thing.
Again referring to the pictures helps!
Now that you have that is it time to wire up the negative legs!
Grab some wire and strip it.
It helps if the wire is single strand.
If not then strip the wire about 3 inches and roll the wire so that is turns into a sturdy strand.
Connect one end to one LEDs negative leg.
And use that same wire to connect all three negative legs together.
The last picture helps.
Snip off any excess wire.
I calculate my resistors by hand but you can use this site to suit your needs.
http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz
Try and make the legs as long as possible.
Solder your resistor to the positive side.
It really doesn't matter which side but it helps to follow these instructions haha
To tell which is positive and negative the shorter pin is negative and the longer one is positive.
We will be wiring these in parallel.
THESE NEXT STEPS WILL BE EASIER IF YOU SEE THE PICTURES.
Get two of your wired LEDs and wrap the bottom of one resistor to the other.
Solder that point to make a good hold.
Grab your other wired LED and connect the bottom of that resistor to the bottom of the second one.
Making sort of a tree like thing.
Again referring to the pictures helps!
Now that you have that is it time to wire up the negative legs!
Grab some wire and strip it.
It helps if the wire is single strand.
If not then strip the wire about 3 inches and roll the wire so that is turns into a sturdy strand.
Connect one end to one LEDs negative leg.
And use that same wire to connect all three negative legs together.
The last picture helps.
Snip off any excess wire.
Creating the Last Leg
Grab your wire and strip about 6 to 7 inches off.
Make a small hook out of it.
Solder it to the strand of wire that connects all of the negative wires.
Look at the pictures for reference.
Yay you now have positive and negative leads!!!
Remember which is which!
Make a small hook out of it.
Solder it to the strand of wire that connects all of the negative wires.
Look at the pictures for reference.
Yay you now have positive and negative leads!!!
Remember which is which!
Putting the Circuit in the Bulb
Grab your circuit and squeeze it all close together so that it will fit in through the bottom of the bulb.
When it is in the light bulb keep in mind that you want the positive and negative leads sticking out still.
Now grab a pencil, screw driver, stick or anything that can fit in the hole and try and spread out the circuit.
This part will be very tedious.
But worth it!
Once you are done and it is the way you like it ready your glue gun.
Center your circuit and start gluing the inside.
Try to not get the glue all the way inside, just at the base basically.
Keep the circuit centered.
Let the glue dry.
YAY your all done!!!
When it is in the light bulb keep in mind that you want the positive and negative leads sticking out still.
Now grab a pencil, screw driver, stick or anything that can fit in the hole and try and spread out the circuit.
This part will be very tedious.
But worth it!
Once you are done and it is the way you like it ready your glue gun.
Center your circuit and start gluing the inside.
Try to not get the glue all the way inside, just at the base basically.
Keep the circuit centered.
Let the glue dry.
YAY your all done!!!
Done
Hook up your power supply and let it glow!
You can incorporate this into anything you want.
The last picture is what i did with mine.
But i have another light bulb by its self.
Post pictures of your ideas!
You can also put other circuit parts into the light bulb to make it flash or something
Or add different color LEDs
You can incorporate this into anything you want.
The last picture is what i did with mine.
But i have another light bulb by its self.
Post pictures of your ideas!
You can also put other circuit parts into the light bulb to make it flash or something
Or add different color LEDs