Light Emitting Diode or LED is a light technology used in many devices such as flashlights. Today, you can choose from those that emit infrared wavelengths, ultraviolet lights and those with extremely bright settings that can light up a very dark area.
The more sophisticated and the more features integrated, the more expensive it gets. This DIY project will clue you up on how to make your flashlight that uses LED lights technology and one where you can adjust and control brightness settings.
Iron Solder
The following steps are your winning guide to finishing this project:
Step 1: Before starting, you have to prepare all the materials you will need such as wire stripers, battery, white LED lights, resistors, power tools such as soldering iron and wire cutter.
Step 2: Get the wire stripers. Using the wire cutter, cut 2 insulated copper wires each with 3 inches of length. On their ends, snip off half an inch of insulation to reveal copper wire inside.
Step 3: Purchase a potentiometer. Connect one wire using the soldering iron to the center terminal of the potentiometer. This has three terminals so choose the middle one.
Step 4: Now you can install the small white LED lights. Use pliers to secure the light and then solder one end to the wire connected to the middle terminal of the potentiometer. Get the longer part of the LED and then connect it to the resister. This resister should use 100 Ohms of energy. This will work as long as the longer end is connected to the resister.
Step 5: Now connect the resister, the one not connected to the LED, to a battery preferably with 9 volts of power. Use another copper wire to make the connection. Solder the resistor to the wire. Connect the battery to the switch terminal located just below the potentiometer.
Step 6: Now you can connect the other end of the potentiometer to the other end of the battery. Switch the light on. The potentiometer will help you adjust the brightness. You can see there a switch. Just turn the switch to adjust brightness.
You can place this device in a much attractive shell. You can use a make-shift shell if you want. This is a good project you can do at home so you have something to use during power outages. This way, you can have a lot of spare lighting at home.