# LDE flashlight questions? Lighting a layout on a Zero budget..



## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

*LED flashlight questions? Lighting a layout on a Zero budget..*

So I have a bunch of LED flashlights I was wondering if they could be taken apart and used to light buildings etc.. I know some of them have a funny color that might not look proto but at this point it will be a long time before I will be able to spend any cash on the layout. 

The ones I have contain 9 LEDS and it is ran by 3 AAAs. So I don;t really want these to be battery operated. I do have a few extra DC power packs. Also recently we were talking lights and power on another thread and I think NIMT suggested using random power packs from printers and cell phones etc. I also have a bunch of little keychain type if those would be any use. 

I am far from an electrician (never been hit by more than 240V) however I can wire up a car stereo etc. so please don't get all technical on me. Pics seem to help me If you have anything that might help. 

Again I am out of work and I don't see that changing anytime soon so I have a garage full of crap I can pull "MacGyver" parts from.
So how many LEDs per whatever? 
I tried a LED a while back on a DC power pack and it worked for a while then the lights seemed to quit.

I am headed out to the garage now to find my trusty Harbor Freight Multi meter thingy. Again speak slowly I haven't a clue how to use it the proper way.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice or laughs :smilie_auslachen: I can muster up amongst you TrainHeads! :thumbsup: .......CP....... ​


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

DOOOOOHHHHHH. LDEs. :laugh: Can one of the Mods fix the title for me please? Greg or TJ I know its a LED.  :laugh::laugh:


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Sorry, that's above my paygrade.
I can edit the text of posts, but not the titles. It's ok, everyone here knows what you meant. 

If it was LDS, the thread could be about Mormon flashlights. 

Greg


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

choo choo said:


> Sorry, that's above my paygrade.
> I can edit the text of posts, but not the titles. It's ok, everyone here knows what you meant.
> 
> If it was LDS, the thread could be about Mormon flashlights.
> ...


 :laugh: That's funny Greg! :laugh: Don't derail my Thread before I get some help.  As funny as it could be wait till I get help!


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

> If it was LDS, the thread could be about Mormon flashlights.


Great, Now I just can't stop laughing!:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
Sorry, CP, I'll get back to you in a min!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

concretepumper said:


> DOOOOOHHHHHH. LDEs. :laugh: Can one of the Mods fix the title for me please? Greg or TJ I know its a LED.  :laugh::laugh:


Don't feel bad ... I had an "LED" brain fade moment some months back. T-Man was explaining to me how and why he wired his LED circuit a certain way. Intrigued with how the circuit worked, I asked him why he didn't use a diode instead, with a diode acting like a one-way current check valve. T-Man offered a chuckle and explanation back, and that was my "duhhh" moment ... LED = Light Emitting Diode ... emphasis on the Diode part.

Cheers,

TJ


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Yes you can use LED from anything, The one's from Flashlights, might be too bright though.
But because LED's put off very little if any heat you can cover the LED's with a colored or fuzzy material to buffer the light that is emitted.
To hook them up you just need to disconect them from whatever circit board that they are on. Solder wires to the ends add in one resistor 750 to 1k ohm to one of the wires. Apply 5 to 12 volts and enjoy the glow. Hook up a bunch more and light up your world.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

NIMT said:


> Yes you can use LED from anything, The one's from Flashlights, might be too bright though.
> But because LED's put off very little if any heat you can cover the LED's with a colored or fuzzy material to buffer the light that is emitted.
> To hook them up you just need to disconect them from whatever circit board that they are on. Solder wires to the ends add in one resistor 750 to 1k ohm to one of the wires. Apply 5 to 12 volts and enjoy the glow. Hook up a bunch more and light up your world.


You make it sound so easy!   What is a resistor? :dunno: :smilie_auslachen: hwell: Pic please. What can I steal one out of? Maybe a little drawing of how they are wired and where does the resistor go?  

I have a Tyco PAK1 it says Output 6 VA total. Would this work? How many light can one of these run?


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

A 6 VA Output can power a lot of them!
You need to spend a buck and go to radio shack and pick up some there.
1k @ 1/4 watt resistor.
I have a ton of resistors, humm have a ton of LEDs too
Sorry I don't have any LDE's though.:laugh::laugh::laugh: 
I'll work on the how to for you. Have you been practicing your soldering skills?


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

NIMT said:


> A 6 VA Output can power a lot of them!
> You need to spend a buck and go to radio shack and pick up some there.
> 1k @ 1/4 watt resistor.
> I have a ton of resistors, humm have a ton of LEDs too
> ...


Ummmm yea.  No but I am looking to keep busy.  A how to would help tremendously! Thanks again!


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## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

I know you said you don't want to spend any money, but here's a cheap option. I've got a bunch of these in my boat and other customers' installs. They're very bright, so like NIMT said, you may have to buffer it.

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-superflux


















They've got resistors built-in, so all you have to do is put 12V on them.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Sweet I love the colors, I've never seen one in Blacklight before, I gotta get me some of those!:thumbsup:


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## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

Here's my boat with a few of those superflux LED's, just for reference on how they look. There are 4 on the left side (1 in each cupholder), 2 on the right side (1 in each cupholder)


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Ah an innocent mind!!!!!

Let me check my WAY BACK MACHINE  here

If you have DC you only need a resistor not the diodes unless you use the Accesssory terminal. If you use a red and green together use 1k for the red and 470 for the green to get the brightness to match.

They run on 3 volts and draw .02 amps. I get mine wherever I find them. Mac D toys are my favorite. I keep a three volt watch battery handy to test the leads for which is +.

One drawback is brightness. Bright ones are more expensive and for what two costs you can get a package of colors from Radio Shack or just take apart Xmas lights..


NIMT, the Black LIght ones are sold by LEmax at craft stores in the fall, Halloween timeframe.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think taking flashlights apart for LEDs is overkill. You can buy bare LED's already removed from the flashlight for peanuts!


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Remember, guys, when you're out of work "peanuts" is a LOT of money!
Bob


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Sure, but you're taking apart flashlights that have to cost more than a 10-20 cent LED.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

T-Man said:


> Ah an innocent mind!!!!!
> 
> 
> Not really!
> ...


Thanks Tman. I checked the link and that is a little too tech. for me! 



gunrunnerjohn said:


> I think taking flashlights apart for LEDs is overkill. You can buy bare LED's already removed from the flashlight for peanuts!


I have dozens of them and can get more if needed. My parents do promo Advertising and I get them for free. Radio Shack is ten miles across town. My truck gets about 15 MPG if I'm nice. Even if they were free I couldn't get there! 



raleets said:


> Remember, guys, when you're out of work "peanuts" is a LOT of money!
> Bob


Thanks for reading the whole post and understanding. I am currently fresh out of Peanuts! hwell: 


SOoooooo how about Xmas lights? I have bunches of those. These would be the opposite of LDS lights I guess?  Right John??? :laugh::laugh:

I imagine I could cut out the lights not being used and use 1/2 of the string or whatever lights are needed. I have the new LED looking Xmas strings as well as the older style little lights. This might be a lot simpler for me. Not to mention no peanuts out of pocket! 

Anyone ever used Xmas lights? Will the string die if I cut out some of the lights? Like on some where one light dies and the whole string (or 1/2) goes dead.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

LED bulbs are bright for flashlights. so I am guessing the LEDs are running on 3 to 3.5 volts. The batteries are producing 4.5 volts. Since batteries drain you have an extra volt to keep it going super brite. The LED Xmas are 3 volts and strung to work on 120 AC. The older ones vary in voltage and depend on the number of bulbs. 

With that said what are you using to power the lights on the table?
You need to give the voltage output. 

Each case is different and now you are making it confusing by adding more when the questions should be getting more specific. Simple, is just one way to do it without really understanding how.

The Xmas string lights are 2.5 volts from 50 to 200 lights.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

T-Man said:


> L
> 
> Each case is different and now you are making it confusing by adding more when the questions should be getting more specific. Simple, is just one way to do it without really understanding how.
> 
> The Xmas string lights are 2.5 volts from 50 to 200 lights.


Thanks for trying Tman. :thumbsup: 
Sorry for being confused. hwell: I guess it must have been the boat that appeared on my thread.  :dunno: I am still trying to figure out what that has to do with lights and Trains???  

I guess its time to do a little trial and error.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

A simple way is at post number 4 of the link I gave you.

Your ac Accessory terminals have 16 to 20 volts.

So you will need to solder two LEDS and a 1 k resistor to work.

The techy part You need to find the pos wire of each LED and solder them to the neg of the other.

What this means is the LED has a long and short wire. The long wire has to be connected to the short wire of the other. If you don't they will burn out with AC. 

To do this How? use a battery or attach the 1 k resistor to the DC power pack at half throttle The LED will light in one direction.




















This explains post four. The resistors are 5 for 99 cents.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

For 2.5 volt Xmas lights String 8 together to run on 20 volts AC. They will work on 18 or 16 but will not be as bright. Eliminate one bulb for 18 and two for 16 volts.











You need solder and an iron to do it.

Simple Right!:thumbsup:


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

CP,
I can certainly feel your pain. I'm also "technically challenged" when it comes to electronics, but T-Man's simple drawings look pretty easy to follow :thumbsup:
When I hired into Motorala Commucations (from which I'm retired) in sales, they told me "You sell 'em, we've got other guys to fix 'em", so I didn't pay any attention to mother boards, father boards, diodes, triodes, and resistors.
In my eyes a "resistor" was someone who was a tough sell :laugh:
Now, later in life with everything so high-tech, I wish I would have cheated just a little bit 
I used store-bought LED's to light my buildings. They already had the resistors soldered in place so all I had to do was connect them to an old 12 volt DC charger and my whole layout was lit up. Didn't even have to worry about positive or negative wires 'cause they worked either way.
My grandfather told me as a young child "a smart man knows what he doesn't know"  I've always tried to live by that advice. And, I can assure you that I know NOTHING about pouring concrete!
Have fun,
Bob


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Thanks raleets, Tman did make a sweet How Too for those who understand all the tech talk.

I guess I am gonna just Nix the light idea for now being I have No Peanuts. And I am confused with Marine accessories.  :laugh: :laugh: Maybe I need to try the ones you used. Seems simple enough being pre wired with the resistor or whatever is necessary.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

CP,
Send me a PM and I'll fill you in on the details.
Thanks,
Bob


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

If you really have free flashlights, just suck the LED's out of the heads and wire them up. If you're strapped for resistors, tell me how many lights you are planning and the values, and I'll mail you some. Diodes? Same deal, I can send you a few of those too. If you like, I can solder you up a few assemblies that just need to be connected to power.

I'm also unemployed, but around here it's called retired!


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I thought for sure you wouold go for the Xmas lights. No costs. People are chucking the old lights left and right. 

The prewired are more expensive.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

CP,
I have sent you a PM, but that sounds like a swingin' deal from grjohn 
FREE is my favorite four-letter word starting with an "F" 
Bob


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## dan (Feb 23, 2011)

if you ever need to change your title of the thread you post, go to your first post on page one, and click edit to post #1...then it should give you an option to click edit advanced...afrom there you can see your title that you typed in, and edit out whatever you want.
:thumbsup:


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

dan said:


> if you ever need to change your title of the thread you post, go to your first post on page one, and click edit to post #1...then it should give you an option to click edit advanced...afrom there you can see your title that you typed in, and edit out whatever you want.
> :thumbsup:



:thumbsup: :laugh: Sweet! Thanks Dude!


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## dan (Feb 23, 2011)

concretepumper said:


> :thumbsup: :laugh: Sweet! Thanks Dude!


well i figured since i have no idea how to help with your question i can at least help with your to know how edit something if you mess up on it...:thumbsup:


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The only problem in using LEDS from a flashlight is the length of the lead you have to work with.

You may want to use them as a group and save time. Then all you need is a plug in power source.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, you can solder extensions on the legs of the diodes. I've soldered right at the base of LED's, and haven't killed one yet.


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