# LED Spotlights



## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

I just found this website: https://minispotlight.com/ and I'm interesting in making some spotlights for this year.. They are charging 10 bucks for one, and I'm thinking I could make some for much much cheaper. I have worked with LEDs before... But I don't have much knowledge with them... Is there a way to make it so I can plug a single LED into a regular outlet? I'm assuming I'd have to use some kind of adapter or something... Any suggestions???
:jol:.


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## pshort (May 6, 2008)

The last time that I looked Wirekat over on www.planetchristmas.com was selling a variety of MR16 LEDs left over from a coop buy. The prices are a fair bit lower than the minispot LEDs, although I'm not sure how the brightness will compare.

As for powering them, the ones that Wirekat is selling will run from either 12VDC or 12VAC, so they can be powered from a variety of light controllers (or even from a 12 VAC transformer like the ones used for lawn lighting).


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## Devils Chariot (May 23, 2007)

*first!!! just kidding*

http://www.johnnyspage.com/ledspothowto.htm


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## GOT (Apr 17, 2007)

No need to deal with AC. You can easily make one with a resistor and a 9 volt battery that will last for 2 days straight.


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## pshort (May 6, 2008)

GOT said:


> No need to deal with AC. You can easily make one with a resistor and a 9 volt battery that will last for 2 days straight.


Depends on the LEDs. The MR16 LEDs that I referred to will turn on with 7 or 8V, depending on the color, but they draw several hundred mA, and I suspect that the ones that the OP found are similar. So a standard 9V alkaline battery (650 mAH) will last for 3 or 4 hours, perhaps. Look for a more robust battery if you want to run them for longer, perhaps Lithium or lantern battery(s).


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## grump010 (Aug 15, 2007)

I use the WireKat MR16's and I've had great success with them. An old computer power supply works great. In conjuction I use a lightorama DC board and sequence the lights to the background music.


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## DarkShadows (Feb 6, 2006)

Im going to be making these and selling them in a few weeks..


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## dynoflyer (Oct 8, 2006)

There's several great how-to's on LED Spots on this forum, even I posted one. http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=4382&highlight=LED
LED Spots using a 9V battery will last 6 or 7 nights if you unplug the battery each night, or you can recycle old wall warts* and power your spots on AC with a timer. Get your LED's from Best Hong Kong on eBay and buy an assortment of resistors from one of the online electronics supply houses. Then sit down with your favorite chilled malt beverage, a soldering iron and have some fun. It's a simple, fun project that can add greatly to the atmosphere of your haunt.

* If you didn't already know, wall warts are those black AC power convertors that come with calculators, portable phones, cell phones, mp3 players, etc. You probably have a several old ones in the closet already. If not, ask your neighbors, they'll be happy to get rid of their old ones. Just look to see what current it puts out and match that to the number of LEDs and resistors using the online LED wiring wizard. http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz


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## Richie (Jan 4, 2007)

You also may be able to get some LED flashlights for a great price to do the same job if you don't know how to build some of these LED spot lights.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

If you want a little FX lighting with your LEDs, I built (using heresjohnny's mini-spot design and some circuit help from pshort) a flicker circuit mod that lets your LED spot throw "firelight".


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## The_Caretaker (Mar 6, 2007)

Revenant where is the how too


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

The_Caretaker said:


> Revenant where is the how too


Um... I haven't written it yet?

I'm making a set for someone else tho, so as soon as I get my new LEDs in the mail I'll start on them and take pics this time.

Til then, the circuit diagram is in this thread and a pic of the finished lamps I made is in the Secret Reaper thread (I gave the first set of them to Pyro).


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