# LED Lighting



## Hallowennie315 (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi everyone. I don't know if you have been on darklight's website reciently but they have new LED spotlights, the brightest being 1 watt. I have made spotlights before but have never found LED's that are as bright as 1 watt. Instead of paying $34.99 for one on their website, does anyone know where I can can some cheaper 1 watt led's that I can make into my own spotlights? Also, I've been looking for these for a long time and can't find them. The new lights contain an adapter at one end that you can use to connect them. (Like in the picture below)








I was wondering if anyone knew where I can get the "male/female" adapters like that so that I can also incorporate them into my own LED lights. Thanks, and Happy Haunting!
- Mike


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

I don't know if it will help but our NJ/PA group recently built LED spotlights as one of our projects. I Modified the mounting design as well as the wire connection technique. It works REALLY WELL and is CHEAP and EXTREMELY fast and flexible. It's based on landscape lighting with a Main trunk wire.

I just finished a lighting test last night and I'm extremely happy with the results. I connected 12 clusters of (3 lights each) in less than 5 minutes and then moved 6 of them in less than 3 minutes simply because I didn't like thier position. The brightness of the Blues, Greens and whites were fantastic although I was dissapointed in the brightness of the reds and ambers. I want to try to post pics in this thread as soon as I can take them.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=20809

Hope this helps.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

I suppose all the 'usual' surplus places would be a good place to start...alltronics, allelectronics, meci, nebraska, etc. I know allelectronics has one watt leds in white, yellow, red, green and blue. Digikey is also a good source, though may cost a bit more, you probably have a wider selection. I can't specifically see the connectors in the photo, but I suppose any low voltage connection would work. Sometimes you can buy male/female ends with the wires already molded in, then all you have to do is hook up led and power supply for a clean look. Or even just buy a male/female cable and cut it in two, then you have the mating ends.


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

Deal Extreme has a pretty good selection of LEDs.

The connectors they use are called barrel connectors. MCM Electronics has some, although I couldn't find any inline barrel jacks on their site. A quick Google search should turn some up, or you could just get creative with the panel mount version.


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=/leds.htm
They have 1 and 2 watt LEDs


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## Darkmaster (May 9, 2009)

*My LED spotlights*

I just made my own sets of LED spotlights.

They are powered by wallwarts and wired with a resistor. Wire lengths are 5' long and placed inside a PVC pipe. These pipes can screwed into the walls or placed anywhere possible.

I have used clear and blue ones. I am very pleased with the output and casting of light.

The LEDs and resistors came from Electronics Goldmine. the walwarts are from various places.


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## thrilltainment (Apr 8, 2010)

Mike, I'm glad you're interested in our product --- and understand that $35 for a single light may seem a bit expensive so I can offer you some suggestions for making your own:
1. you can order high power LEDs from: http://www.luxeonstar.com/
2. you'll also need special optics found on their website: http://www.luxeonstar.com/Narrow-Beam-Lenses-for-Rebel-LEDs-s/59.htm
3. check the current rating on the LED and get the necessary resistors
4. the most difficult part is to find the proper housing to hold your assembly, perhaps you can find a metal pipe and use hot glue
5. note, the housing needs to be metal or thermally conductive because you'll want it to dissipate the heat from the LED (1W LEDs do get slightly hot, and will burn out sooner or later if not vented)

for these basic features, i'm sure it won't add up to $35, the only thing is --- you usually have to purchase LEDs and components in bulk to get good rates.

our products offer to following advantages over DIY versions:
- dual polarity (you can connect + and - terminals either way and the light will always turn on), many times people hookup the LEDs in the wrong way and have to go back and redo the wiring, what a hassle.
- water resistant, you can use it outdoors in the rain
- no heat dissipation problem - 1W LED needs a heat sink, if you don't have one, the LED will have a shortened lifespan
- current stabilization circuit - not all DC power sources are created equal, our precision Z spotlights have circuitry to keep the current level optimal for the LED to prolong its lifespan
- easily adjustable angles
- plug + play, you can swap between colors and models w/o cutting wires
- drop proof

I think by the time you make something yourself with all these features, it's probably going to cost you more than $35 in time and materials simply because you're not producing them out of a factory in large numbers. So when you calculate in how much your time is worth (your opportunity cost), perhaps $35 for a professionally built product isn't too expensive.


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## thrilltainment (Apr 8, 2010)




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