# LED tutorial!



## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

Hey guys here is a tutorial on how I make LED spotlights for my haunts.


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## mattjfishman (Jan 2, 2009)

LOL, "lead then in like an octopus"


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## pennywise (Aug 5, 2008)

Awesome tutorial! I'll be ordering LEDs soon as I have wanted to try LED spots for a while now. At $0.78 each, that's a great deal! Thanks.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

Very well done Allen.


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## HallowEve (Apr 13, 2009)

Great tutorial thanks for sharing!!!!!


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

So I took the plunge and ordered a bunch of LEDs pre wired. I think I will start here and maybe move more toward the other tutorial on spot lights As I go. I notice you use 16 gauge speaker wire. It seems like it is about half of the price as the landscape wire but you can't use the vampire style clips on it as it is too thin. Is there another way to splice in the wires from the spots without cutting the speaker wire and twisting them into caps? 

If that is the best way to work with the speaker wire, I may go with the landscape wire so I can vampire in the clips where I need.


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## psyko99 (Jan 11, 2008)

Nice. I've made several of these using brass tubing but I did not realize the tomato stakes were tubing. Great idea and much cheaper.


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

Spider climber- I actually hate vampire clips, for several reasons. but they do sell vamp clips as well as simple terminal blocks that you can use to secure them. The wire nuts I can keep in a pocket and do super easy repairs and add lights during the show, I have just found the vamp clips to be a pain and more expensive and time consuming than wire nuts.
The fornt end is cleaner as there is no stripping, but if a light dies or I need one shot in another direction then adding with nuts is easier than with vamp clips in my mind, and I dont need to wait on clips as the nuts are easier to come by.
But that is my preference, and I know sometimes I decide not to like something before I hammer the bugs out, but the nuts work well for me. So vamp clips might be better for you. I was just trying to get across the power supply and fixture style and cost.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks for the response. I understand the concern with the vamp clips. I have some concern myself. I am just trying to find a good connection medium that I can modify the haunt lay out and change the lighting without issues. all of my lighting will be outdoors in the yard and exposed to the elements so the connection points are important. Because of the design and how I know i will move lights over and over throughout the month, I want a quick connect design without alot of issues. I am still thinking about how to do that. I kind of like the idea of telephone jacks but they are not water proof so the thought process continues.


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

I use the LEDs on my trail, and they are out doors and fairly exposed to the elements, never had an issue.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

How simple is that...pure gold! I've been going back and forth over how to light my yard this year and you just cured my woes. I shall call mine ALLEDs in your honor! Thnx. :jol:


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

Great Tutorial Allen. A much simpler solution for the average haunter than my take on LED spotlights. Both designs have advantages and disadvantages, but I really liked your solution. Simple, clean and easy, and not as intimidating.

As for connections, I still LOVE My home made Vampy clips. My haunt is also outdoors, and my setup endures about 40 days of weather each year. To date, not one failure with the 90+ lights. Switching locations is SOOOOO Simple. No need for any wire nuts or tools OR Extra wire when you need to move a light 10' over.

Either way, I liked your Tut. Many will build these just due to the simplicity. GREAT JOB!


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Got up this morning and went straight to the hardware store to purchase materials to make these. Just waiting on delivery of the LEDs!

Niblique71, looked at your tut as well—very nice end product—just a bit too time consuming for me this year given the time left and all I want to accomplish.

I was afraid all my hard work was going to be hidden away in darkness this year, so thanks again!


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## Hallomarine (Jul 16, 2011)

Absolutely Awesome Allen! Finally! A simple tutorial that doesn't involve grafts and charts and other mind numbing crap, not to mention where-tos as well as how-tos. By the way, just for another source of tubing, I use spent rounds from the local gun range, and mount them to 1" corner braces. What I save in tubing, I spend in braces and screws. However, your wire idea opens up whole new mounting scenarios for me. All in all Allen, I can't thank you enough. HM


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

Niblique- Your tutorial and fixtures are awesome- no doubt. We have different approaches to a similar problem. Im pretty quick and dirty in most of my projects. I honestly think a ton of people will make my style fixtures and power them with a computer power supply and use your vamp clips. 
My style came about partially because I need to find activities on my "Craft nights" for the 20 actors to make for the haunt. The activities cant demand to high of a knowledge/ skill level and need to be able to be completed in about three hours- we made over 200 fixtures in two hours with four people on that project. 
Im glad people like the tutorial and Im sure everyone will put their own spin on it, thats one of the cool thing about haunts!


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

Allen, Hopefully I didn't rub you the wrong way. Before I say ANYTHING else, I feel you are one of the most resourseful and imaginative haunters I've ever seen in here or anywhere else. You're willingness to invest time and money into teaching haunters ultra cheap and highly effective techniques is BAR NONE!! In fact I'm going to use your new Corpsing technique for one of my buckies this year. I Love your Humor too. Please keep up your fantastic work.

My concern is that todays haunters that are venturing into LED's are trying to replace incandescent floodlights and CFL lights. While my setup won't replace old tech lights 100% (with todays technology and pricepoints), it does offer something closer to incandescents and CFL's than a single LED in a single fixture, even if it's a "Super bright" LED. Most haunters aren't yet that experianced with LED's and might build some expecting to get much brighter results.

On another side note: True superbright LED's are an entirely different technology and cost a LOT more. They need special regulator chips and actually emit quite a bit of heat unlike our familiar 5mm "so called" super bright LED's. I bought some last year and have yet to test them. 

THe downside to my current setup is that it took me over 2 weeks this past winter to build another 100 new spotlights. They are much more labor intensive than yours. BUT, the final result is much closer to what haunters expect from a "Spotlight" especially if your using Reds, ambers, or pinks which have a much shorter wavelength. The technology just hasn't caught up with the brightness of Blues, Greens, and whites.

So there is Middle ground here. Your design is super cheap, ultra compact and a brilliant solution for a close up spot. But if you want to illuminate something further away (Say 20') it's unlikely to be effective, and many of your loyal subscribers will be left wanting a little more. I can see people building some of each for thier different applications.

FYI I will be building some of yours for specific applications, I love that they are so small.

Dude, In short, I LOVE Your lights and your giving spirit, and I will be a fan forever. I just want people to know that led's are progressing rapidly, and perhaps one day a single LED can actually replace an incandescent spotlight at a reasonable price. But for now, you have to add multiple LED's in a fixture to get a reasonalbe facsimile of incandescent or CFL lights.


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

No worries, I didnt feel rubbed. the design I posted gives the same effect as a mini spot light from minispotlight.com. I tried to show their results at the end of the video accurately. you get a circle of light, about four feet from 10 to 12 ft away.
And thanks for the kind words, I make a ton of mistakes- I try to share my succeses so others dont have to make the same mistakes I did.
Allen H


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Well I plan on combining the two designs, 3 prewired LEDs in a pop cap, going to the main line with either vamp clips or hard wired. I don't want to solder everything together so this is going to work out best for me. I will do some singles and I will combines some red and ambers for brighter spots. I like both techniques. Thank you for both your designs. Now stop bickering and make some more cool prop how to's.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Not trying to hijack this great thead, but since Greg mentioned that LED newcomers may be concerned about the brightness of single LED spots I thought I'd add my 2 cents. I spotted these 1" circular boards at Sparkfun:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8809
They should hold up to three or four 5mm LEDs and the resistor, and they fit very nicely on the end of a 1" OD plastic pipe; just a bit of hot glue will hold them in place. I'll be using the black ABS pipe from HD/Lowes to make some spots with these boards. The boards are backordered at this time, but should be in soon.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

I completely understand N71's concerns about the amount of light a single 5mm LED will provide, but for me, my yard has been so minimal in years past, that it has pretty much sat in darkness until now (do skull lanterns count?), so any amount of light is an improvement.

That said, I've found a couple pre-wired Piranhas for this project as well, which should give off a little more light. They should fit nicely into some larger tubes I have already. And given that the 5mm lights can be bunched together and mounted on the same screw, I also plan on building enough that multiple lights can be grouped for greater illumination on a single object. I'll also try sanding some of the 5mm tips down flat and re-polishing for greater dispersion of light (you can buy them, but nobody had any when I ordered), then moving them even further toward the front of the tubes. 

My biggest like of this method besides no soldering is just the ultra-simplicity of that mounting bracket—a wire—genius!


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

Great Job Allen! I made a few similar to these but using film canisters for the tubes. I placed 10MM leds in them. I also would like to correct something that you said in your video about the current that the leds use. This might save people some money by not having to purchase so many power supplies. The amount of current supplied by the power supply to the leds does not need to be matched to the number of leds that you connect to it. The leds (or load) that are connected to the power supply are only going to use the amount of current that they need. so with that said you can hook a computer power supply with 12 volts at 15 amps or more to a single led with the correct resistor (which are same as the ones you are using) will still only use 20ma. The power supply does not force 15 amps down the line only what the load needs which is this case of one led is 20ma. Also, it will not shorten the life of the led by using a higher current power supply. Now I realize that this example may sound extreme but I am am just trying to show that having a larger current power supply will not hurt the leds in any way and you can connect more lights to them so you will not need to purchase so many smaller supplies. One computer power supply that you can prob find at curbies or can be purchased cheaply can power you entire haunt of leds spots (unless you have like 3000 of them). Or a few of the ones in the 2 to 5 amp range. We at the NJ haunters group have had many members solder there own leds at our make and take meetings and many of them have no electronics experience at all and they all came out just fine. I am sorry to be a little long winded but I just wanted to clarify that point about the current.


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

Awesome, thanks for the info! i will post on my channel and add it to the info on the video. Good to know.
Allen H


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## QDance (Aug 16, 2011)

Do you think this would be easy for a beginner like me? I have absolutely no experience with LEDs, or any type of wiring.
I'm young, but will have my father to help me with it.

Thanks for the awesome tutorial!


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

I couldnt think of a better first project.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Allen, Do you have the name/model # of the power source you are using. Went to the site you mentioned and I didn't see it there (way cool surplus shop BTW). I do have a spare 5.1 volt 700a I could use, works on my test light, but I don't know how that would perform with 15 LEDs, and I don't want to experiment with my new lights when they get here! I tried the electronics store around here, but ® didn't have what I need.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

Any 12 volt power supply will work as long as it has at least 300ma of current you should be fine. Regulated would be better but the unregulated ones will work also. A computer power supply would work also. Look around the house and the office for wall warts that are 12 volts.

these will work:

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=18295+PD

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17563+PD

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=18598+PS

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=18034+PS


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

the 12V 2A here is good
http://www.sciplus.com/search.cfm?u...894=&term=transformer&btnHand.x=0&btnHand.y=0


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks guys.


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## blacklightmike (Nov 2, 2008)

Great video, Allen! Thank you.


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## pennywise (Aug 5, 2008)

I've finally got the chance to make these, but I can't find tomato stakes. I thought I'd add my solution for ultra cheap tubing for these...pens. I went to the dollar store and score 2 boxes for $1 and each box contain 12 pens. I'm taking them apart and cutting them in half to give me 24 tubes per box!!


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

That was an awesome tutorial. I've wanted to make my own LED spots for a while now, but wasn't sure how to do it, being a near total electrical newb and afraid of zapping myself or burning down the house. 

I think though, after watching this (and probably a few more times) I can do it. In fact, it might even be doable for this year, but I'm not going to count on it.

Thanks!


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## dank (Aug 3, 2012)

Totally cool how to! I have a question about finding out what size wall wart I'd need with the info in the ebay auction link below, Voltage it's got. But how can I figure out amps for each light? I'm guessing either a 1A or 2A wall wart.

Also, everything you've shone is running in series from the power source, What would happen if you ran parallel?

Thanks.

I'm wanting to run 58 of these smaller LEDs for candles.

warn white LED ebay

The MCD of the LEDs I'm looking at is only 900 to 1100. And the 50% power deg is only 100 to 120. The LEDs I'm looking to get are on my watched list.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

the leds are 3.5 volts at 25ma, it says it in the chart further down the listing. you can run 58 of them each circuit will be one resistor and one led then each circuit will use 25ma. you can also wire them in groups of 3 in series with one resistor that circuit will also use 25ma but light 3 leds instead of 1. to find the current that you need just add up the circuit currents. So 58 single leds circuits will use about 1.4 amps so a 2 amp or more supply would be suitable. If you are running the leds in 1 led circuits then a 5 volt power supply would be fine but if you are running 3 leds (in series circuit) then you would need a 12 volt power supply. Hope that helps clear it up


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## dank (Aug 3, 2012)

Thanks hpropman. Yes that makes sense. I have another question. I would like to make each LED it's own circuit. Like a strand of Christmas lights. What size resistor will I need for each LED?


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

it depends on your voltage that you use. see this thread to learn how to use a resistor calculator.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30658&highlight=resistor+calculator

you might find this link helpful also

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30656


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## dank (Aug 3, 2012)

Totally TOTALLY cool! Going to the last cal listed (LED series/parallel array wizard) was the most helpful for me. Now I have another question. The wiring diagram and the schematic given both show the resistor on the negative side. Your how to and a vid or two I've seen on Youtube show it on the positive side. Positive side right? Or as long as they're all on the same side it'll work?


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

it really does not matter which side as long as the resistor is in the circuit. I like to do the same way every time to maintain consistency so I know that they are all made the same way. It is just a good habit to get into, it will save you some headaches if one does not work.


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## madmomma (Jul 1, 2009)

Great tutorial-best I've ever seen. Now if I can only figure out the amps of the led spot sets I made two years ago I'll be in business!


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## randomr8 (Oct 24, 2009)

Made 30 of these with your direction. Work great!


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

madmomma said:


> Great tutorial-best I've ever seen. Now if I can only figure out the amps of the led spot sets I made two years ago I'll be in business!


Debbie those spots that we made have 3 leds in series so each spot of 3 leds will use 25ma of current. So as a general rule I do not like to use a power supply much more that half of its capacity so a 12 volt 1 amp power supply can easily hold 20 to 25 of our 1 Inch spot lights


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## dank (Aug 3, 2012)

I've got my LEDs and resistors. Still waiting for the power supply. One more question. I heard that electricity only flows one way threw a resistor. is this true? If so then how can I tell what side the current should come from?


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

Dank the resistor direction does not matter it flows either way. You are referring to a diode that the current will only flow in one direction. Bear in mind that the leds are a type of diode and have to be wired properly to light. If you get the wires backwards nothing bad will happen to the led it just will not light. Remember the longer lead on the led is the positive. Just follow the tutorials. There is a link on my website the will teach you basic electronics it is worth the read.


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

Ugh. Okay. Thought I was ready to buy, but now I'm confused.

It's my impression from the tutorial that the mA is what determines how many LEDs you can power through your wall wart. Such as, in the tutorial, AllenH has a 12V 300mA power supply, so he can run up to 15 12V LEDs from that single supply safely.

But I'm reading a lot about it's the voltage that is important, and the Forward Voltage number is what determines how many you can run off a single power supply.

This has me totally confused, because it's two very different numbers. Not to mention the fact that my LED source, lighthouseleds.com, (same as used in the tutorial, just a different name now), is listing 9V 5mm LEDs as having a Forward Voltage of 9V. WTH?

I have a 9V, 1A power supply. Based purely on what AllenH says, I could run 50 LEDs (at 20mA each) off that single wall wart. But if I'm understanding what is being said on that other Halloween forum place, they are saying I could only run a single LED off that power supply, since the LEDs are listed at 9V Forward Voltage.

HELP!!!

If I get a quick enough answer, I can still get LED spots in time for the Big Night!

Thanks in advance.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

Erik,

Do not panic. We will get you up to speed. most leds of the type that we are talking about 5mm and 10mm leds. The leds by themselves only need anywhere from 2.2 volts to 3.6 volts to operate. It all depends on the led itself (this is why you can not mix different types of leds in the same circuit). Now lets say that you have a led with the following specs 3.2 volts and 20ma (typical) if you provide that led with 3.2 volts you do not need a resistor because the led will use all 3.2 volts. Now if you were to use a 9 volt or a 12 volt power supply for the same led then you will need a resistor to protect the led from the extra current supplied by the higher voltage. (remember voltage never moves only current moves, Voltage is just the force that pushes the current down the wire - Think of current as water in a pipe and voltage as the water pressure) Now we take that same led and punch the numbers into the resistor calculator (link below) for both 9 volts and 12 volts and you will get 2 different resistor sizes depending on you source voltage. the higher the voltage you supply the larger the resistor needs to be to absorb the extra current from the higher voltage (higher water pressure if you will). So the same led can be used on any voltage between 3 and 12 volts. You can go higher but I do not recommend it unless you are using 4 or more leds in series (in a row) also the resistor may get hot if the voltage is too high. Stay with 9 to 12 volts and you will be fine. Lets use the example above we plug in the numbers for 1 led (3.2 volts @ 20ma) with a supply voltage of 9 volts and it shows us that a 330OHM 1/4 watt resistor will be fine. Now the same led at 12 volts we would need a 470 ohm resistor 1/2 watt (if you are not sure always go with 1/2 watt). Now lets add 2 more leds at 12 volts so we have 3 leds in series with one resistor. Now in this case we only need a 120 ohm 1/4 watt resistor because each led eats up 3.2 volts for a voltage drop of 9.6 volts just for the leds so the 120 ohm resistor only needs to absorb 2.4 volts worth of current. so all they are doing is using a different resistor for the 9 volt leds. Call them and ask them for a 12 volt resistor if that is what you are set up for. I hope this clear things up but if not ask away.

Resistor calculator

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread...tor+calculator

you might find this link helpful also

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30656


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

Okay, cool.

Still unsure however. The LEDs in question are the ones just like AllenH uses, as in, a resistor is already built in. So I don't need to calculate what type/size of resistor to add into the circuit.

The key data I have:

Power supply: 9V, 1000mA (don't remember if it is regulated or not)
LEDs to purchase: 5mm, ultrabright red, operating voltage of 9V, 20mA current, Forward Voltage of 9V.

Like I said, my confusion is if I follow just AllenH, I should be able to string in up to 50 LEDs (20mA each) up to that 9V 1000mA power supply. But going purely on the idea of Forward Voltage, it would be only a single LED and that seems utterly wrong.

And I will by following his advice and using the prewired LEDs.

Thanks for the help so far.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

OK when you say string the leds together you do not mean wire one led to the next and so on down the line because that will not work. Look at the diagrams below

this is the wrong way to wire the leds










this is how they have to be connected to the power supply










One other thing 50 leds at 20ma is 1 amp or 1000ma but you should not push a power supply more then 60% to 70% of capacity. I would not hook up more then say 35 leds per a amp of power supply. if you hook up 50 you run the risk or shortening the life span of the power supply. I hope this is what you were looking for.


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

Ah, I'm _pretty_ sure I get it now. Strangely, for me, the picture actually helped. I was missing a key element on how these things are put together and the pictures helped fill in that missing link.

Oh, and I was planning on 30 LEDs max, given the current and near-term projected layout of my yard haunt, so I should be well within limits.

So now off to go place my order...and hope they show up in time!


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

Just a by the by, they did come in time (lighthouseLEDs.com did right by me, very nice) and I was able to create four LED spots in the course of a few hours. I used some left over PVC barrels to hold them all together and I'm quite happy with the results.

Very nice. Now to work on a strand of blues to use on the tombstones next year.


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