I am looking for advice on how to use LED Christmas lights for interior structure lighting. Specifically, I have a string of 100 NOMA LED lights and I am wondering if I can cut them up and use them inside structures. The bulb sockets are molded around the LEDs so they can't simply be popped out of their sockets. I searched the forums for advice on this but all I could find was a vague reference to someone cutting the plastic off of the LEDs but there was no details on how to do it. Also, I don't understand how the voltage is dropped from 110 volts to light the LEDs. There is no transformer - it just plugs directly into the 110v outlet. Do all of the LEDs work together to drop the voltage? So, my question is (before I mangle a $32 set of lights) has anyone taken a similar string apart and if so what did you find? Are the LEDs usable or would I be better off to just hang them on the Christmas tree like my wife originally planned? (BTW - she is fully in favour of using the lights for the train thing if I can - great wife!!)
Thanks
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
If you cut them apart, each one is an ordinary LED and can be used as such. Different types are different, so the string you have must not have an easy way of popping the LEDs out liek some other do. If you paid $32 for it I would keep it for the tree though, it's getting close to what you cna get plain LEDs for on eBay. Check back AFTER Christmas when they put all the leftover stuff on clearance and get a set to rip apart then, probbaly for a lot less. Of course it's a gamble, they might not have any left. But if you are going to pay nearly full price per LED then you might as well get ones that don't have some odd palstic around them that you can't get off.
Unless they are all white - and hopefully not the bluish white, in which case 32 cents per LED is pretty cheap.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
hon30critterI don't understand how the voltage is dropped from 110 volts to light the LEDs. There is no transformer - it just plugs directly into the 110v outlet. Do all of the LEDs work together to drop the voltage?
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I'm not sure if we paid full retail for the LED lights. I doubt the we would have been that dumb (but you never know!). $32 is the current regular price. However, thanks to some posts in other threads I have been able to find some warm white LEDs for$.375 ea if you buy 100 (try Quickar.com) so it would seem that taking the string apart is hardly worth the effort even when you add in the cost of a resistor which can be as low as 5-6 cents each. If the LEDs were easy to remove from the sockets it might be a different story but these look like they will be a lot of work to extract. I do have some background highrise buildings with lots of windows so simply using the existing string with light blocks on some windows might work. I will give it a try and tell you how it turns out. Thanks for explaining the technical details of how the light strings work to manage the voltage.
I just bought string of 60 LEDs at WallyWorld for 6.98. Thats only 11 cents each. And they are warm white, with a tiny dab of yellow dye or paint. Haven't cut them up yet, but I plugged them in and they do look like incandescent. They likely are about 2 volts each. I plan to cut some styrene strips, and make lighting for passenger cars.
Hobo9941: Could you post a close up picture of the string that you are using? Also, could you show us the finished (before install) lighting strip and the actual LED that you have extracted from the string? What about resistors etc? I am not sure what you are working with but it seems to sound a lot simpler than what I am working with.
Several stores/chains, including Walgreens, have 50-led strings on Black Friday specials now. Take a look at the Dec. RMC for structure lighting with Christmas led lights. Gary
I haven't started it yet, and it may be a while. I plan to use maybe three LEDs in a styrene strip maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide, by the length of the passenger car. I will use a small resistor on each LED, and stick the strip to the roof of the car, with double sided tape. I will post pics when I do the project, but it will be a while. I've got some other things going right now.
I get the sixty count strings from Wally's, Tarjay, etc. the ones in the 7-10 dollar range.
You can use both types of whites for structures, the cool white LEDs have the bluish cast to them and work great for florescent type lighting, while the warm whites have a slight yellow cast which works great for incandesant light.
the warm whites are great for loco light replacement too!
here the drugstore has the cool white, and the camera shop in the same building has the warm white.
Pretty cool. How many LEDs in the corner store, and what are you using to difuse the light.
hobo9941 Pretty cool. How many LEDs in the corner store, and what are you using to difuse the light.
one in each, no difuser, the xmas LEDs are the inverted cone type which reflect most of their light out the side of the LED.
When I use them for headlights, I file down and polish the end to remove the cone so the light projects out the end.
day shot of same scene
Home Depot has 400 LED lights for 32 bucks:
http://www.homedepot.com/Decor-Holiday-Decorations-Christmas-Lights/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xgyZbd6tZ1z11erc/R-100686936/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
Springfield PA
The picture shows each set containing 100 lights, and there are 4 sets in the case. The text above the description and the fine print at the bottom says each set has 400 LEDs, making it 1600 total. If it's 1600 LEDs - that's only 2 cents per. Great deal.
From a tip in Model Railroad Hobbyist online e-zine (did I just blaspheme here????), Walgreens has 50 warm white LEDs (5 mm size w/ cone shaped end diffuser) for $5.00 right now. And I am sure that the more clever among us will grab some up right after Christmas, as well. I started using these with resistors wired in series and they are great and economical (an attractive adjective these days!)!!!
Cedarwoodron