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kebmo's water tower and handcart repair shed

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Comments

  • kebmokebmo
    edited October 16
    well, i got the leds installed and the rest of the details placed. then i took a 7" long 1/8" drill bit and popped a hole in the floor and through the base in the corner just inside the large door and stuck a straw (1/8" inch cocktail straw) in the hole and cut it flush with the bottom. heres a picture of the structure with the roof glued down:
    Finished!

    and now i have a question for those in the group that are smarter than me when it comes to lighting, and that's pretty much all of you:
    as you can see in this picture if you look close, i had twisted the four lead wires from the two leds together in order to be able feed them through the straw. in the picture they've been separated and unwound.


    my question is this: can i twist the two red wires together and the two green wires together, and then attach them to the 3v powser source without causing a short of any kind?

    thanks in advance.
    led wiring
  • Jim M
    edited October 16
    That structure looks fantastic, great work.
    I'm not an electrical guy, but I think that in the configuration of wiring that you're describing, the LED's are wired in parallel. Both LED's will get the same voltage and should work fine as long as the forward voltage (voltage needed to convert electrical energy to light) is achieved. I'd just do a simple bench test before mounting them permanently because forward voltage of an LED is dependent on the color of the LED (some need more than 3 volts to achieve that forward voltage). Also, most LED's that are sold prewired have a resistor to reduce voltage to the appropriate operating voltage but they might be for a 4.5 or even 9 volt power supply. If yours are meant to operate with 3 volts, wiring as you suggest won't hurt them. The worst that could happen is you wouldn't have enough voltage to light them both at the same time. I can't wait to see it all lit up.
  • MuddyCreekRRMuddyCreekRR
    Looking good...who'd you get the LED's from?.....Evans Design has small 3v powered LED's. If they are 3v....thats all you need on a short run.
  • kebmokebmo
    edited October 17
    i got 'em from evan design. they're 3v leds and i can run up to 100 of em on two aa batteries according to the folks at evan design. i just didn't know if they would short out because of all the wires "touching"
  • waynelp
    edited October 17
    I cannot see what kind of insulation is on the wires, a coat of varnish or actual coated insulation. All my Leds have "rubber" coated wires. IF the wires you twist together do not have a break in the wire insulation then you will have no problem.
    I hide wire going up into a building, if it may be seen, inside of a blackened brass tube which I disguise as a drain tube from the roof or someplace as that and it emptys into a barrel or tub. Almost all LEDs for our use operate wiih 3vlts. I use limiting resistors for reducing down any higher voltage.
    Wayne
  • MuddyCreekRRMuddyCreekRR
    edited October 17
    If they have either red or green shiny coating...they may be magnetic wire...normally used to wind motor armatures.....if they are regular insulation...that better....more durable. if you grab some liquid electrical tape....you can twist them then paint them down with that....and it should be good. as long as the original insulation is intact...
  • kebmokebmo
    they're from evan designs. 3vpico leds with 14" wires. today i tried touching the powered wires to them and nothing happened. i tested the power on another led and it worked fine. i'm so pissed..
    i'm calling it done for now. i gotta get started on a dollhouse.
  • Jim M
    Kevin, make sure the insulation has been removed from the magnet wire at the end where the connections are made. Sometimes that stuff is hard to get off. I use a blade and scrape it off.
  • kebmokebmo
    these wires are almost as fine as human hair. i can't imagine removing any insulation.
  • Jim M
    edited October 18
    The red and green coloring is the insulation. It needs to be scraped off to get to the copper of the wire. I'm assuming Evan design didn't do this.

    1000003353

    Scrape it off with a blade or even sandpaper. If you don't get down to the copper, it won't ever work.
  • kebmokebmo
    thanks. i had no idea
  • MuddyCreekRRMuddyCreekRR
    I've "melted" it off too...gust go easy on the flame.....
  • Jim M
    Kevin, any luck getting the LEDs to work?
  • kebmokebmo
    Jim M said:

    Kevin, any luck getting the LEDs to work?

    i put it on the back burner so i could start on my granddaughter's doll house.

  • ALCOALCO
    Some of my best dio work occurs when it’s on the back burner…LOL
  • Karl.AKarl.A
    I usually just scrape the coating off with a blade...
    we all look forward to you getting back to this build.
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