[Guide] Lego LED lighting - DIY!

By Kreatyvny - stycznia 15, 2020

In this guide I will show you how I make lighting for my comics.
Thanks to this guide, you will be able to illuminate your constructions in an easy way and you will be able to modify the level of light brightness, not like in the case of purchased sets for usb.
My way will give you freedom and you will be able to use the diode once soldered many times.

1. Diode LED SMD
I use SMD 2835 LEDs in my work.
It is a diode perfectly matching the dimensions of the blocks.
The voltage it needs to shine to 2.5 - 2.9 V.
Diode dimensions: 2.8 mm x 3.5 mm

 2. Wires
In my works I use two diameters of wires.
Depending on whether the cable is easy to hide or not.
In most cases, I use 0.35mm wires.
However, when I need to hide the cables under the bricks so that they are not visible, I use a 0.10mm diameter cable.
I use it only in fixed constructions, because this wire is very thin and it is easy to break it.

3. Soldering

Before our diodes light up, you need to solder the wires to them.
It's up to you what wires you will use.
They can be wires with a completely different diameter than the ones I use.
It all depends on whether you intend to hide the wires between the blocks or whether you even drill holes to hide the wires in them.
To be honest, I often drill blocks to hide wires in them.

4. Breadboard
Thanks to the breadboard, we can create a connection of diodes that will be able to power e.g. a torch and be car lights at other times.
All thanks to the fact that we do not need to solder the wires to e.g. a USB plug, and this gives us the possibility of very quick assembly and disassembly.
You will also need a usb plug with isolated and tinned wires.
Remember: red is + and black is - power.
If you have already managed to do this, plug the wires into the breadboard.
You can connect a USB plug to a power bank, for example.
In this way, our board will be powered by 5V, but our smd diode needs power from 2.5 to 2.9V, so with the current 5V connection it will be burned.
A resistor will help us, which will lower the voltage.
I used a 330Ω resistor. [Ohm]
With this configuration, the diode does not consume full power, thanks to which it does not shine very much.
What if I gave a smaller / larger resistor?
The calculations show that if we have a voltage of 5V and we want to power a diode that needs 2.9V and would have to draw 20mA (standard power consumption at the diodes) then I should use a 105Ω resistor. [Ohm]
For me, the diode with such a resistor shines too bright and does not look satisfactory in the pictures.
Of course, you can use a 100Ω resistor, but not less because you will burn the diode.
For example, notice how the light intensity varies depending on the resistor I used.
You don't need to know the formulas to calculate this, you can use the calculator.

5. It lights!
If your LED lights up, it means that everything went according to plan, and the components used are perfectly matched.
Now it remains only to put the diode through the blocks, hide the wires and you can enjoy the wonderfully lit building.
How you hide the wires depends on you and the diameter of the wires you have chosen.
For example, see how I installed the diode with 0.10mm diameter wires.
This photo was taken to a large approximation, note that the wires are thin enough that you don't have to drill or destroying the blocks to put them through.
Now see what it looks like ready-made illuminated construction.

6. End
As you can see, this is not a very complicated process to make your buildings look even better thanks to lighting.
It is also not associated with buying expensive ready sets, which by the way are often dedicated to ready sets from LEGO and it's hard to use them in your MOC. [my own construction]
You can buy all the necessary components in the electronics store.
If you do not have one in your area, you can always order them from Ebay or AliExpress.
I wish you good luck in lighting your buildings.

I also invite you to like my fanpage on Facebook: Kreatyvny Comics
Throw in your buildings there, which you managed to light my way.

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