I've been reading up a bit about basic lighting, and thanks to this site:
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
I've created a simple circuit for the flying sub. I decided to go "wireless" - I want to put the battery in the sub too. Here's my progress so far.


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The hull halves will be held together by small magnets which I have on order.

That's the smallest 'latching' switch I could find. There are smaller switches out there but they have to be held down to stay on.

The problem is with the batteries. I'm using 4x 1.5v watch batteries held in place with a butchered-to-fit coin battery holder. They won't stay in place though.


Can anyone think of a better way to get a 6v or 9v (for brighter lights) supply in there? I'm determined not to let this thing beat me!

I'm using two watch batteries stacked in a plastic tube with metal leads at each end.The arresting hook will be the on-off switch.alexander

3V should do it. If you drive the LEDs with 6 or 9 without resistors they'll burn out. LEDs are typically about 3V.

I'd go for 2 watch batteries and thinner wire. I'd probably still add a small resistor to reduce the voltage and increase the life of the batteries.

Thinner wire would make your life easier too (check out "magnet wire (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2036277&cp=&sr=1&kw=magnet+wire&origkw=magnet+wire&parentPage=search)").

Fabricating your own switch seems like the way to go too.

There are also smaller "surface mount" LEDs (http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog_name=leds&category_name=white+smd+led&product_id=ept2012rwf-a).

I admire your dexterity though. (throw in a coin for scale in your pictures!)

Edit:
Looking at the surface mount LEDs they all seem to be pretty low brightness, but they might be interesting for "interior lights".

holy crap: how about one of these for the seaview headlight? 17,000mcd! (http://www.eled.com/product.asp?catalog_name=leds&category_name=single+color+-+top+emitting+-+high+brightness+led&product_id=ea1011rwc9)

Have you thought of gluing the cross wires on the front of the LED's and drilling out the place where the cast in ones were for the headlights??

I found these at radio shack,of all places!They are not quite what I need,but are the size I will be looking for.When you press the button,the circut is complete until you let the button go.Like mentioned before one push on,and one push off is what I need.That way,when you push the arressting hook onnce,the lights come on,press again it turns off.alexander

I found these at radio shack,of all places!They are not quite what I need,but are the size I will be looking for.When you press the button,the circut is complete until you let the button go.Like mentioned before one push on,and one push off is what I need.That way,when you push the arressting hook onnce,the lights come on,press again it turns off.alexander

I have some of those sitting here - the darn things have to be held down. I was really annoyed at that. The one I have now is too big.


Anyway, I drilled out the bumps and put the LED in its place - see pics....

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I also tried drilling in halfway and putting in an optical fibre, it didn't look too bad.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/1453aa6f18.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

3V should do it. If you drive the LEDs with 6 or 9 without resistors they'll burn out. LEDs are typically about 3V.

I'd go for 2 watch batteries and thinner wire. I'd probably still add a small resistor to reduce the voltage and increase the life of the batteries.




Steve, what exactly would be the best way to wire that up? What exactly would I need? I don't fully understand the processes involved with resistance, voltage, etc.! :confused:
I think I may have found a smaller switch though.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2476

I'm holding the hull together with magnets so it'll be easy enough to switch on and off.

Lithium coin cells are 3 volts (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2882381&cp=2032056&accessories=accessories&custRatings=custRatings&summary=summary&currentTab=summary&support=support&features=features&techSpecs=techSpecs&tab=techSpecs), so you could do it with one. (This one is 20mm in diameter; this might be too wide to fit. There are smaller ones, this is just the first that I found online.)

I would dispense with a battery holder and just use conductive glue (http://www.amazon.com/American-Science-Surplus-WIRE-GLUE/dp/B000Z9H7ZW/ref=pd_cp_hi_0?pf_rd_p=413863601&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0000WSZC8&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0C2T8NGVY38J5EGYYJRZ) to hold the wires to the battery. Conductive epoxy (http://www.amazon.com/Chemtronics-Conductive-Epoxy-Circuitworks-Part/dp/B0000WSZC8) is best (it's the stuff of microchips) but expensive. You should be able to find some glue.

Consider using magnet wire (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2036277&cp=&sr=1&kw=magnet+wire&origkw=magnet+wire&parentPage=search) instead of thick vinyl insulated wire. Magnet wire is coated with a thin coat of insulating material. Just scrape it off with a knife where you connect it. Solder normally or glue it. I'd avoid the glue except on the battery where you want to avoid cooking it. Dunno if solder would adhere to a battery case anyway.

Typically LEDs are around 3 volts (the minium is somewhat less, the max is somewhat more), to wire two they would need to be in parallel (series would require a 6 volt source). Even though the source voltage is the same as the LED requires, I'd still throw in a 1ohm resistor since LEDs have virtually no resistance.

Here's a diagram of a parallel circuit I made from this handy web calculator (http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz).

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/3v_source.jpg

The specs on the lithium cell are 290 mAh, each LED draws about 20mA (40mA total) so you're looking at a life of about 7 hours continuous use before having to replace the battery.

For mine I will not be using resistors.Just two 3mm leds,two watch batteries at 1.5V each and the small on-off switch.I dont think you'll be lighting this up for a long time.alexander

Without resistors there is the risk of one of the LEDs not lighting, especially after the battery starts to wear down.

I'll test it out and let you know.

I found this today.Its not what I was looking for,but it does work.It is on its side.Push the blue part up and connection is on,push it again and it is broken.It came from a non flame candle,price $1.98.Plus it has a flickering LED,great for flame effect.I'll look into some more tactile switches.alexander

For mine I will not be using resistors.Just two 3mm leds,two watch batteries at 1.5V each and the small on-off switch.I dont think you'll be lighting this up for a long time.alexander


hey dude! got any pic's??

is this your final set up?

everything work ok??

I just bought some new supplies today but I didn't get a chance to try them out - I fell asleep when I came home from work! Whole evening wasted.
I got a coin cell holder (like this - http://radionics.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=0430669) as well as some thinner wire so I'll try hooking it up tomorrow (just past midnight here now.)

Still doing R&D.I'll post pics when I have it hooked up.alexander

I ordered some neodymium magnets that arrived in the mail today to hold the FS halves together, When I got home I found that someone left the envelope sitting on top of my laptop. :eek: I almost crapped myself when I saw it. Luckily the hard drive wasn't erased!

Going to try a bit of wiring tonight, will report back later!

So,here is the basic set up.The two magnet housings are glued in,and the interior dry fitted.I wanted to keep the pins,so that there would be no problem when putting the two halfs together.

Result! 2 white LEDs wired in parallel, with 1 ohm resistors attached. Powered by 2x 3 volt coin cells in a coin cell holder. Using a small slider switch instead. Need to get it all into the sub body now - should fit better this time!


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(See edit below)

You're overdriving the LEDs with a 6 volt source (2x3V=6V) and 1 ohm resistors configured this way. (they'd need to be 150 ohms to be correct in this layout.)

The 1 ohm resistors with the LEDs in parallel shown above were with a 3V source (a single lithium coin cell). I'm afraid you'll burn out the LEDs this way.

You can use a single 1 ohm resistor with a 6 volt source with good results as shown in the below diagram by placing the LEDs in series. This will drive them at the correct current. This would be a better circuit with a 6V source. Besides driving them at the correct current, your batteries will last a lot longer (so will the LEDs)

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/509/medium/series.JPG

calculator link (http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz)

Chatting offline with someone about this, he pointed out that coin cells have high internal impedance.

You should be OK with the 1ohm resistors in the layout you've got although 100ohms would be better (to allow for battery "sag" as they wear out) instead of the 150ohms I suggested. (white LED's are typically a little more than 3V).

Anyway you should be OK. The high internal impedance of the coin cell batteries will inherently keep it from driving too much current with 1ohm resistors.

The series layout wouldn't give you the brightness the LEDs are capable of delivering.

Here is the complete Flying Sub parts pack.I found that I need 3 button batteries,at 4.5V.So the LEDs needed 1/4W resistors each.Also the PE interior is VERY delicate,so I decided to solder the walls to the floor.Much stronger.Now is just trying to get all this in there and working.alexander

AWESOME!
can you give me the size of battery your using?
what size leds are you using?
not lighting up the interior?

sorry about all the questions but i want to start mine and i need help.

They're called button or watch batteries,1.5V each,so three will give you 4.5 volts.The Leds are 3MM white,and should light the entire cabin,headlights,and engine thrusters at the back end.Some brass strips will be the conductors between the batteries and the switch.

They're called button or watch batteries,1.5V each,so three will give you 4.5 volts.The Leds are 3MM white,and should light the entire cabin,headlights,and engine thrusters at the back end.Some brass strips will be the conductors between the batteries and the switch.

I managed to get 2x 3 volt cells, that should save a bit of space. Are you planning on drilling out the moulded headlights? I think my LEDs are now too far forward to illuminate the cabin. I don't think I'll bother lighting the engines.

AWESOME!
can you give me the size of battery your using?
what size leds are you using?
not lighting up the interior?

sorry about all the questions but i want to start mine and i need help.

John, try something like these -

http://radionics.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=4942419

only 16mm diameter, 2mm thick; 2 of them give 6v, works great for me!

I drilled a little crator on the inside,to have a referance to mask around.My LEDs will be further in the body so that it can light as much as possible.alexander

Another update! Got everything crammed in a bit neater. Just need to stick the magnets in now.


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That's pretty cool!

It's not too late to add more interior lighting!

Here's a cool LED (https://www.allelectronics.com/index.php?&page=item&id=LED-95&index=1) that changes color by itself. I used it for an IA Reactor. Link to it in action (http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/t/steveplj3/fs/reactor.avi)

Another idea for interior lighting is a UV LED (http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/category/340075/LEDs/5mm-Ultraviolet/1.html) and fluorescent paint on control surfaces that you want to light up.

That's pretty cool!

It's not too late to add more interior lighting!

Here's a cool LED (https://www.allelectronics.com/index.php?&page=item&id=LED-95&index=1) that changes color by itself. I used it for an IA Reactor. Link to it in action (http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/t/steveplj3/fs/reactor.avi)

Another idea for interior lighting is a UV LED (http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/category/340075/LEDs/5mm-Ultraviolet/1.html) and fluorescent paint on control surfaces that you want to light up.



I love the multicoloured LED! And there I was thinking of using coloured filters over the holes.
Can that just be wired in like a regular LED or is there anything else that has to go with it?

It wires just like a regular LED. It has its own microchip that runs it.

i could only find 5mm leds.
are these too big?

Hi John, 3mm LEDs are important if you want to drill out the moulded lamps and stick LEDs through in their place as they're the same size. Although if you want to leave the bumps unpainted and paint round them so light passes through, 5mm ones should do.
As for batteries, I used two CR1216 coin cells and a holder, see here:
http://radionics.rs-online.com/web/430653.html

All these should be available from any good electronics supplier, if you're in the US I think Radioshack is the biggest one?

hmm, i'll have to test out the 5mm and see how they look.

i got a batt holder but it did'nt work that well so i used the metal parts from it and made a batt holder out of tube styrene.

thanks for your help, guys! i'm so pleased i can light my FS!!

Hi John, 3mm LEDs are important if you want to drill out the moulded lamps and stick LEDs through in their place as they're the same size. Although if you want to leave the bumps unpainted and paint round them so light passes through, 5mm ones should do.
As for batteries, I used two CR1216 coin cells and a holder, see here:
http://radionics.rs-online.com/web/430653.html

All these should be available from any good electronics supplier, if you're in the US I think Radioshack is the biggest one?

radio shack is probably the most consumer friendly, and they have the most brick and mortar retail stores. Online there are many to choose from. Mouser (http://mouser.com/)comes to mind but it's pretty hard core. All electronics (http://www.allelectronics.com/) is more for the hobbiest. Check out their kits (http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/category/305/Kits/1.html). Lots of possibilities. For the LED purist there's eLED.com (http://www.eled.com/Default.asp)