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LED Spotlight tutorial

59K views 98 replies 33 participants last post by  Fright Boy 
#1 · (Edited)
There are many tutorials out there for LED spotlights. I've read a lot of them and came up with these lights that are very cheap, and for the most part, very effective.. Most tutorials aren't complete. They omit just enough information that newbies can be a little intimidated. Even though there are many ways to make an LED spotlight, I decided to post a complete tutorial so that you have a good place to start from.

Our MnT group did a test using spots with 3 of the cheapo 5mm Leds and compared them to the single 10mm Led spotlights. The 3 Cheapo LED design was far superior for overall color saturation and intersting patterns. In this Tutorial I will eventually show you banks of 3, 6, 9, and 12. Since some colors from Asia Engineer vary in intensity, you might want info on constructing a stronger multi-LED Light.

With that Said, New LED's are being introduced almost daily. I'm going to continue to experiment with some of the "uber bright" LED's that I'm beginning to see out there. I'm also still looking for an affordable UV LED that is in the 365nm- 385nm range. They are available, but kind of costly. My goal is to eventually replace 110 bulbs entirely for my haunt, as well as some all season outdoor lighting. Feel free to use whatever LED's suit you.

You can see the origins of this project, ask questions, and make comments about this tutorial here until I get the entire tutorial finished and edited.

This tutorial will come in segments since it will take a lot of time to gather all of the documentation necessary. USE THIS FIRST POST to start collecting bottle caps. You will need 2 per light fixture. It took me a long time to gather enough caps since I don't drink soda. I began looking for bottled water with the caps I needed, and even hit the recycycling yard, (till they told me I couldn't take any caps), and scavanged the neighborhood on recycling day.

The standard disclaimers apply. "I am not responsible etc". In other words, proceed at your own risk. This system is very SAFE but there's always someone that could touch thier tongue to a frozen flagpole when a "double dog dare" comes into play. Use common sense as you will be working with electricity and various tools. I also reserve the right to make mistakes or omissions and correct them at a later date. I'll do my best to be thorough.

=========================================================

LED Spotlights part 1: PARTS AND TOOL LIST

To build these ultra cheap (Less than 75 cents apiece with mounts) LED spotlights you will need these materials:

MATERIALS:

-1" thin wall PVC pipe. Be careful to get thinwall and not the thicker sched 40 stuff (Home Depot or Lowes) 10' makes about 29 spotlights
-Old style 2 Litre bottle caps (manufacturers are beginning to change thier cap designs but these are still readily available)
-Super Glue (Cheap dollar store stuff actually works best)
-#8 X 2" bolts (Home Depot) 1 per fixture
-#8 Wing nuts (Home Depot) 1 per fixture
-# 8 washers (Home Depot) 1 per fixture
-Ceiling hangers (Home depot) 1 per fixture
-Wood for platforms (Can be scrap, but must be at least 3/4" thick and about 3" wide. NOT Plywood)
-Flat Black or Dark spray paint
-Hot Glue sticks
-LED's and free Resistors from Asia Engineer. You must special order your free resistors since the values are different than standard.
UPDATE: The resitor values below are the Closest available values available from Asia engineer that I found on thier site. The calculator says that these values are at the lower limit of acceptabe but the did just fine for mine.
100 Ohm resistors for White, blue, green and pink. (Free) These are also at the low end of what's acceptable, but they didn't have a closer match. Mine work fine at this value.
360 Ohm for Reds, and Ambers. Also at the lower limit, but they work fine for mine.

To help insure you get the correct resistors, At the bottom of the order page there is a space for a note. Specify the resistors you want for EACH COLOR that you order. Once you complete your order, Back up the request by sending another note to "Giorgio" through E-bays "Contact this seller" with the same information. REQUEST CONFIRMATION of your resistor values. Eg- "Please send 100 Ohm resistors for Whites. Please send 360 Ohm resistors for Reds. PLEASE CONFIRM RESISTOR ORDER", Etc. Remember you are ordering a product from Asia and thier english is a little limited, so use simple language, Be concise, and use common words.
They will respond and ship usually within 12 hours.
-Copper weather strip nails (#17 X 3/4"- not show in picture below)from Home Depot for the vampire connectors. -
Alternate connection system.
Joe (Hpropman) has an alternative method of connecting these lights together. See pics here. HP's RCA Connection system
-Finish Grade Plywood for Vampire connectors (Scraps if possible)
-Landscape wire (16-2 14-2 or 12-2) Home Depot
-Scavanged computer power supply with on-off button (heavy duty toggle switch if no on-off button exists)
-12V Wall wart for LED testing.
-Telephone wire (radio shack) or light guage speaker wire for pigtails.
-Solder
-Dollar store Hair ties (to secure vampire connectors)

TOOLS
Safety glasses
Mitre saw (preferably power)
Drill press (preferred), or hand drill.
Drill bits 3/16", 13/64' 1/4"
Soldering iron
***** (wire clippers)
Fine needle nose plyers
Fine 45 degree needle nose plyers (optional)
Regular plyers
Wire strippers
Multi Meter (not necessary but helpful)
Vice
Smooth face hammer
Helping hands soldering station (make one cheap here) Thanks to Hpropman
Sandpaper or a belt sander
Hot Glue gun
Patience and time

These are the type of bottle caps you need. If you have any doubt, buy the thin-wall 1" PVC first, and cut a small sample of it and keep it in your pocket. Wen you find a bottle cap at work or on recycling day, and it fits snugly into your sample piece than your good to go. These are specific sized and shaped caps and ONLY these and similar will work in this design. ALWAYS test fit untill you become familiar with these types of caps. Strangely, you will soon be able to Identify different caps from different distributors....


This is the hardware that you'll need. Ceiling hangers on the left and the others items are easy to read. All were bought at Home Depot.


This is the wire I used to wire the LEDS in the fixtures (to create the pigtails from the LED's to the main line). Any double stranded wire will do, Light guage speaker wire, Lamp chord wire, anything light guage. The wire in this picture isn't braided, but it has held up well to date. Solid wire won't hold up to constant adjustment as well as braided wire, but for most of us we only adjust sour lights a few times during the season so this wire should be fine. It works for me since it's SOO Cheap. Yes there are 4 wires inside. I'll show you how to effectively remove them from thier sheathing.


Here's two tubs of materials in the process of constructing the main bodies of the lights. I tend to "production-line" the things that I need to make a lot of. Here's a hint, make a lot more than you think. Once I realized how to blend the colors for different effects, I wanted a lot more lights. It wasn't to make everything brighter, but to bring more life to the scenes I had createed. You ALWAYS need more lights for that SPECIAL effect.


Here's a picture of the ceiling hangers and some base's that I precut and drilled/ Your base wood should be approximately 3"X 4" and 3/4" thick (Min). Some use 2X4' scrap and that works too, albiet not as inconspicuous.


This should be enough to get you started. It takes a week or two to get your LED's and probably longer to gather all the caps you will need (2 per fixture). If you have any question at this point than please feel free to ask. There are some other pics in my "LED Lighting post" which is in the atmosphere section here. Some of you can create them by just viewing that post alone, but a complete tutorial is yet to come. So be patient and enjoy.
 
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#33 ·
Great tutorial, I just ordered my red and orange LEDs this week so I can now make spots in those colors too. I made single bulb spots last year with blue and green for my grave stones that had a copper wire that i can just push into the ground for the proper hight, but I want to wash the house with red this year and I think 3 bulb spots will work great for it. Thanks again for a fantastic tutorial
 
#34 ·
Thanks for the kind words.

Just a note of caution about the Red LED's from Asia engineer, For some reason, they are amongst the weakest (dimmest) colors available from them. You might want to make the 9 or 12 LED pattern shown in the thread. Even then they might not give you a nice strong "Wash" effect on a house. You could always buy stronger LED's from another supplier, or get thos colored compact flourescent bulbs. Another solution would be to use the white LED's and use a colored gel to get your wash.

The reds LED's seem to be best for a close up type spotlight for grave markers, ground breakers etc. Since you ordered them already, give them a try and let me know. My house happens to red already, so I can't really test that color for a wash tyoe effect.
 
#38 ·
I'm all about forwarding knowlege and simple solutioins for our fellow haunters. In the spirit of cooperation and sharing, check out Allen H's LED TUTORIAL . His lights are simple and MUCH easier to build. THere are some disadvantages to his system which many haunters won't care about. If you want a fast fix, You'll really like his solution. But if you need brighter lighting and greater flexibility, I still feel my setup has a slight edge.

With my system you can have up to 150 Multi LED fixtures on one computer power supply which can be turned on and off with one simple timer.

My lights have the potential for MUCH Briighter lighting, mostly to throw light a longer distance. You can have 3 or 6 or 9 or even more LED's in one fixture.

Connectivity: I know there is a LOT of controversy about this topic. but MAN.... IF you haven't used the Vampire clips for a season or two, you have NO Idea how much time it saves. I don't know ONE haunter that just sets thier lights and leaves them there. I, Like others, want that special effect from any lighting and I'm always moving them to get that "Sweet spot" that will fulfill my vision. If there was One thing I could convince people of, it's the Vampy system".

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Allens lights. I love the simplicity. But with simplicity comes some restrictions. They will work VERY WELL for about 50% of the haunters that want to make thier own lights. For others they might fall a bit short.

If you wnat to make lights for this year, I'd make some of Allen's. They are SUPER QUICK. and Guess what??? they can be used with a computer power supply as well. So they are adapatable for future uses with my setup.
 
#39 ·
LED Question??

Are these LED spots really bright? I have never seen them against a prop or lighting a whole display. This would be a last min project for me and I am concerned about replacing my good ol' colored flood lights..lol If they are pin spots I have no use for them I need some bright washing coverage for my yard haunt. Can someone post some pics or vids or give advice so I can make up my mind? Thanks. :jol:
 
#40 ·
Are these LED spots really bright? I have never seen them against a prop or lighting a whole display. This would be a last min project for me and I am concerned about replacing my good ol' colored flood lights..lol If they are pin spots I have no use for them I need some bright washing coverage for my yard haunt. Can someone post some pics or vids or give advice so I can make up my mind? Thanks. :jol:
Hi Bob,

The simple answer is No they aren't as bright as incandescent spotlights, especially if you build the "3" in one LED configuration. I built some 6's and some 9's and even some 12's which came much closer to the effect you are seeking.

What I do is use a Lot of lights at many different angles and distances to acheive "Wash" effects. At under $1 for each LED fixture (Complete), and with incandescent spotlights costing substantially more, you could get the effect you desire for the same price. The major factors for using LED's are, Energy savings, Longevity, Less bulky fixtures, Easier to control lighting effects (The lights are already inside a tube), and a lot less extension chords with 120 volts running around your haunt. I expect most of my lights to last 10 years or more, now there's some savings.

I still use CFL's for certain areas of my haunt to get a much fuller wash, and to get some colors that I can't easily get in LED's. For me, I really dislike Traditional floodlights because I run ALL of my lighting for much less overall cost. Once I went LED, My electric bill for the halloween season was cut in half, and I had 80+ fixtures. THis year there will almost 175 fixtures, and I suspect my entire bill will go up by less than $5. Did I mention that my lights are on Every night for the entire month of October.

These May work for you, and May not. It's personal preference. You're welcome to visit my haunt anytime in October, as I will have enough lighting set up to give you an Idea of weather this is for you or not. If I know your comming, I can set up a "Wash" demo for you. I will also help you build some if you like the effect.

These pictures are 100% LED, and are pretty accurate to what your eye would see.







 
#41 ·
I really liked the flexibility of the vampire clips. However I didn't feel like making 13 sets of clips.

I kept an eye out at yard sales and found a set of Malibu brand landscaping lights, I have some in the yard already and knew they had these kind of connectors.

You can also get them in a pack of two from home depot
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

If you are in a hurry building lights this year, this could help speed you up.

Thanks for the ideas Niblique
 
#43 ·
I also question vampire clips in weather do you ever have a problem? I imagine they cant be water proof right?
The vampire clips are home made versions of commercial Outdoor landscape lighting clips.

Last year my setup was outdoors for 40+ days with 0% failures. I did notice that the clips on the lights that I had outside for 8 months (As a test), the plywood stated to delaminate slightly, but I believe I solved that issue as well.

As for the copper nails, if the clips are hooked up correctly to the main line, 90% of the nail(s) will be embedded in the main wire and fairly well protected. A tiney Dab of Di-electric grease and you will have a more durable and longer lasting clip than the commercial grade vampire clips.

The only expense that can freak people out is the main wire. Last time I bought wire, a 250 roll of 14-2, I believe it was on sale for like $80. With Copper prices skyrocketing I have No Idea what it will be this year. I estimate that the main line could easily last 10 years or more, even longer if it's stored indoors during the off season.

Bob, Come by ANYTIME for a demo. I can have one set up for you in 5 minutes. For that matter I could bring my setup to your place and have it set up just as fast. If you come here, Bring some of your spotlights and we can do a side by side comparison.
 
#44 ·
Greg, Thanks for the offer. I might take you up on that. I was thinking about other options for the housing of the LEDs like dollar store flash lights etc. I'm sure the reflective cone in a flashlight would help big time. I'm also playing with the idea of building them right into the patio type spots sold at home depot and Lowes...more weather proof and more room for LEDS. I know the cost will go up but lighting is key with yard haunts so I shell out the cash...lol :jol:
 
#45 ·
I'm sure the reflective cone in a flashlight would help big time. I'm also playing with the idea of building them right into the patio type spots sold at home depot and Lowes...more weather proof and more room for LEDS. I know the cost will go up but lighting is key with yard haunts so I shell out the cash...lol :jol:
Just FYI, Most LED's already have directionality built into them through the plastic lens they are housed in. You will get a slight benifit from the reflective flashlight cone, but probably not nearly as much as you'd expect. Given the angle of emitted light from most LED's, my tube setup actually concentrates as much or more light than a reflective cone, especially if you use a slightly longer tube and set the lights a little deeper.

The Other FYI is that (and I learned this through great embarrasment), almost Landscape light power supplies are 12V AC. The LED's WILL work, but will Flicker at 60 hz, meaning they'll go on and off 60 time a second. Most people won't notice this flickering, but it could greatly reduce the life of your LED's.

Lastly you could modify landscape light fixtures quite nicely. You could even use the 12AC power supply as I mentioned. The only factor as you mentioned is Cost.

On the other hand, if you were to make 50 fixtures or more from this tutorial, you could probably make up to 100 of 'em in a weekend (Once all the materials are onsite). I can help you either way.
 
#50 · (Edited)
Hopefully this doesn't sound stupid.

I have been collecting bottle caps and I have noticed that the diameter is closer to 1.25". A 1.25" disk can't fit into a 1" pipe, right? Additionally, where does one find thin wall rigid PVC pipe? Do I have to go to a plumbing store, or are they decorative tubes?


*edit: I think the hint I needed was "Class 200 PVC"
 
#52 ·
Hopefully this doesn't sound stupid.

I have been collecting bottle caps and I have noticed that the diameter is closer to 1.25". A 1.25" disk can't fit into a 1" pipe, right? Additionally, where does one find thin wall rigid PVC pipe? Do I have to go to a plumbing store, or are they decorative tubes?

*edit: I think the hint I needed was "Class 200 PVC"
If you look carefully you should find 1" sched 40 (Thickwall) Pvc tubing and 1" schedule 20 (thinwall) tubing. I used the schedule 20 thinwall for this project.

Edit: THe manufacturers dont want to make EXTRA fittings for 1" thinwall pipe. So 1" thinwall fits into 1" schedule 40 fittings. Therefore the inner diameter is larger on the thinwall... hey I didn't make the rules LOL they still call it 1"... I've not used my micrometer on it yet.. but I know it's a larger opening

CPVC is an entirely different animal. You might find bottle caps to fit into certain dimentions, and if you do please report back so we have an alternative solution.

Bottlers in our area are starting to change thier bottle cap designs. They are using a cap that uses less plastic. Also, it's a tapered cap and doesn't work well for this tutorial. THe old style cap is still available in some drinks like aquafina water (20oz or more) and some pepsi products. Coke (out here) has gone almost completely with the new bottle cap....... Dissapointing..... cause this will make it challenging to find a new medium to mount the leds that is this SUPER Cheap.

If I can remember to do it... I'll post a quickie tut on what ones work and what ones won't in the 1" thinwall pvc
 
#53 · (Edited)

Attachments

#60 ·
Can you run more than one light off the 12v wire connector? I"m wondering if running say 3 lights off one connector would work? I can see where I'd place more than one light close by another and maybe having just one connector for all 3 lights to the landscape wire would be OK instead of 3 separate ones?
 
#61 ·
Yes you can most definately run 3 or more lights off of one connector. In fact My original build I made platforms with 3 fixtures built on them wired with one connector. I only made a few like that and that worked great, especially for clusters of white lights or single colors.

I found that I liked having individual fixtures better, with a few exceptions.
 
#63 ·
Unfortunately I haven't made them yet. The economy has been crappy and I've not had any extra "Funny Money" to play with. I plan on experimenting once things improve.

I did find the old bag of UV LED's that I got from an old order. I built a few of those this year and they seemed to work well with Highly flourescent paints. I think they come in around 400nm, maybe a little shorter wavelength. But just barely UV. I used them in my entrance tunnel and they did give an acceptable effect.
 
#66 ·
I got some of the UV LED's to try this year and they seem to be more power hungry than the other colors I've used. Does this seem correct? I tried to test them with a 9v battery and was barely able to get them to light, which might be the battery, I tried a 13v 300 mah wall wort and nothing, then 7.5v 1000 mah and they flickered. When I used a 12v 1000 mah wall wort they lite up just fine. Any suggestions on how many to use for a spot light? I'm thinking more might be better with these say 9-12?
 
#68 ·
The voltage depends on how many resistors that you will be using in a circuit and the value of the resistor. See these two threads for information on the resistor calculator and the new way that we are making the multiled spotlights. I recommend that you use the 1 1/2 pipe and go with 12 leds (4 circuits of 3 leds each)

How to use a led resitor calculator
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30658

The new way that we make the lights now
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30656
 
#67 ·
I have made one improvement to the process that I want to share. It might be obvious.

For the soldering and gluing steps (and maybe the painting step), I lopped the tops off of 8 plastic bottles and stapled them to a small 2x4. This way the caps are steady and I just move from one to the next.

I was also lucky that I had a 5mm drill bit and didn't need to glue the LEDs to the cap.
 
#70 ·
vampire connectors

So has anyone came up with a better/diffrent Idea for the vampire connectors.Well as the copper nails in a board seem to work,It just seems like there may be a better/diffrent way.
 
#72 ·
Ghoulishcop Did a Video on a Plug in System. The advantage is that you can plug in without the clips. The disadvantage is that if you need more lights or need to move your lights, you have to add more junctions. IUt's much less flexible if you have a large haunt. Hoever, With a Smaller haunt (Average) it could be the way to go.

HPropmans Plug and Play system ... tutorial by GhoulishCop
I personally like it a lot, but It just won't work with my haunt already having 900' of wire. and 200 Led Fixtures
 
#73 ·
Or you can use a combination of the two systems. You can have a few of the power distribution boxes with vampire clips on them for those quick moves or additions. Another option is to install a pigtail with a female RCA plug using the clips that Jaybo mentions above. both systems have there place it really all depends on your set up. I run my main power lines off a computer power supply with 2 pigtails every 6 feet and my power distribution boxes have 6 foot cables on them so you can get power to wherever you need it. you can also daisy chain the power distribution boxes by plugging one into another. I have at least 2 hanging off each pigtail and in some cases 3 or 4 boxes. it is a pretty flexible system. and it you trip on a wire it just pulls out of the box without damaging the led spots.
 
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