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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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122661 No.122661 [Reply] [Original]

[spoiler]so i'm having a little party/shindig thing at my house at the end of the month and for part of the decorations i was thinking of getting balloons and putting glowsticks in them and apparently glowsticks are around $1 a piece

BUT radioshack has this 20 pack of assorted LEDs for $3 so i think i'm just going to put those in these balloons.
i've never really done anything with LEDs before so, how much power would each one need?</spoiler>

>> No.122675

[spoiler]>>122661
as far as i know very little.
(2 Volt)
u should offer a little more information for us to be able to tell you how to connect it.
what's the data for your leds?
do you want them to work on batteries? (what kind do you have?)
do you have access to a variety of resistors?</spoiler>

>> No.122679

[spoiler]from what i've read about this particular pack is that there is no specs on the pack but one review said 330 ohm at 5v.

like i said, i've never really messed with electronic stuff before so i don't know anything as far as resistors go.
and i was basically just planning to run a battery to each individual one so there could be one per balloon.</spoiler>

>> No.122682

[spoiler]Just put a watch battery in-between the leads of the LED, that should do it. I'd only do this as a temporary thing but it doesn't sound like you'll need these long term.</spoiler>

>> No.122687

[spoiler]LED typically are fully bright at 150mA

Ohms law is V=I*R

So your voltage on the battery is your V and the internal resistance of the LED is your R. In this instance you will be using small batteries so as long as the current (I) you calculate is less than .150A you should be ok just hooking the + and - sides of the LED directly to the battery and have light for 3-4 hours. If you buy a battery that actually gives you your milliamp hour (mAh) you can calulate how long it will last for example a 100mAh light would give you 100mA for 1 hour.</spoiler>

>> No.122688
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122688

[spoiler]>>122675
You can connect them directly to a watch battery that's between 2 and 2.5v. If you want to use something else use this forma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_circuit#Series_resistor_calculation</spoiler>

>> No.122701

[spoiler]show me a pic of the leds and i'll draw the circuit/values for you.</spoiler>

>> No.122717

[spoiler]wow thanks for all the info guys, really helpful stuff.


now, as far as batteries go, all the smaller ones i find are like $3 each. is this typical or is there somewhere that offers 2.5/3v in a cheap bulk pack? this is just going to be for one nite so i don't want to spend a bunch on it.</spoiler>

>> No.122727

[spoiler]Dollar stores usually have cards of assorted disk batteries some of which are 3v and most are 1.5v. Withe the 1.5 just use 2 together.

I've done the balloon thing for Halloween and the LEDs last for days! Biggest hassle is getting them in the balloon!</spoiler>

>> No.122729

[spoiler]>>122717

try harder bro

http://www.amazon.com/AG13-LR44-Batteries-pointers-electronics/dp/B004HJRNQE</spoiler>

>> No.122730

[spoiler]oop found some cheap ones, nevermind.

>>122701
haven't bought them yet i wanted to come here first and see what i was up for first.</spoiler>

>> No.122733

[spoiler]Just tape the leds leads to the battery as per the 'throwie' info. No need for a resistor</spoiler>

>> No.122776

[spoiler]Why not use strands of hair thin wire (the type you find in a cracked open transformer) to go from one main battery to the leds and then use that wire to tie down your balloons. You will need to place a few resistors in your set up.</spoiler>

>> No.122794
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122794

[spoiler]led throwies</spoiler>

>> No.122817

[spoiler]>>122794
instructables has some great tutorials on these
probably your best bet OP</spoiler>

>> No.123293

[spoiler]>>122729

if you don't want to wait for these, BJs and sams club and probably other wholesale clubs have 30 packs of duracell branded hearing aid batteries for $10-15</spoiler>