Working with LEDs for a custom - looking for help

Basically I'm looking in to how to make an LED work on a custom. I like the looks of the ones that came flashing on the Sigma6 packs, but not the blinking.

What are your suggestions?
I'm looking to have two LEDs run off one battery, and a switch to control the two.

How hard is this? i figured I'd pick up the LEDs from Radio Shack.

I may have just the thing for you:

http://www.angelfire.com/mech/jinsaotom ... Guide.html

This is for a 6" Marvel legends scale figure but the technique is the same. However Radio Shack leds are probably going to be too big for GI Joe figs, so are their switches. I salvage mine from dollar store toys and clip-on booklights often. Or you can go to http://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc and check out their selection. All their stuff is scaled tiny.

I may have just the thing for you:

http://www.angelfire.com/mech/jinsaotom ... Guide.html

This is for a 6" Marvel legends scale figure but the technique is the same. However Radio Shack leds are probably going to be too big for GI Joe figs, so are their switches. I salvage mine from dollar store toys and clip-on booklights often. Or you can go to http://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc and check out their selection. All their stuff is scaled tiny.

Size is not a big deal because I'm using them on a vehicle. The size that came with the Sigma6 is about perfect. I knew you be the man to ask. I'll check out the link when I get a chance.

I like the Scavenger method as well...unless there's a specific color or such need from the LED..

It's a ton easier to just pull somthing like a battery box out of a junk toy or the S6 figs boxes, than it is to fab it up with contacts and everything yourself.

[joemichaels70]

...than it is to fab it up ....

//sorry man, that's just a funny phrase. and by funny i mean _______.

I like the Scavenger method as well...unless there's a specific color or such need from the LED..

It's a ton easier to just pull somthing like a battery box out of a junk toy or the S6 figs boxes, than it is to fab it up with contacts and everything yourself.

I would use the SIgma6 but they blink.

Plus, this is something else to add to the bag of tricks.

[pluv]

I like the Scavenger method as well...unless there's a specific color or such need from the LED..

It's a ton easier to just pull somthing like a battery box out of a junk toy or the S6 figs boxes, than it is to fab it up with contacts and everything yourself.

I've done both and quote this for truth. Radio shack will have any and all colors blink and non blinking and a ton of sizes that you could think of. But the power parts and switches are very limited like a total of 2.

For scavenged stuff I've used everything from those halloween light sticks to book lights to those fake tea light candles to light up lolly pops. They all work. For adding a light you will need a soldiering iron to connect the other light to the same power source. If you're running the lights pretty far (for the vehicle) away from the power source it is all about wiring. If you want to PM what you had in mind I could probably even recommend something to help you.

More importantly as a customizer it is usually cheaper to buy something that is prefabbed and alter it to your desired dimensions than it is to buy the parts seperatly.

[joemichaels70]

I would use the SIgma6 but they blink..

correct me if i'm wrong -- but the LED doesn't blink on it's own, right?
there must be a capacitor or resistor or both in-line for it to blink?

if so, just removing the light and bypassing the other electronics should get you a solid light?

[pluv]

I would use the SIgma6 but they blink..

correct me if i'm wrong -- but the LED doesn't blink on it's own, right?
there must be a capacitor or resistor or both in-line for it to blink?

if so, just removing the light and bypassing the other electronics should get you a solid light?

Actually I think it is the buld. Think of it like chrsitmas lights. Change out a bulb or two and all of a sudden the string blinks. I know radio shack sells leds that blink and ones that don't. I don't think there is anything that tells the bulb to blink or not. Maybe in something more elaborate but not in something that small. Something like those light up sticks for instance have a program board in them because the blinking patterns change depnding on how many times you push the button. But for a simple blink or don't blink I think that is the bulb.

Actually I think it is the buld. Think of it like chrsitmas lights. Change out a bulb or two and all of a sudden the string blinks. I know radio shack sells leds that blink and ones that don't. I don't think there is anything that tells the bulb to blink or not. Maybe in something more elaborate but not in something that small. Something like those light up sticks for instance have a program board in them because the blinking patterns change depnding on how many times you push the button. But for a simple blink or don't blink I think that is the bulb.

Probably so. I tried bypassing parts of the board for the bulb (using a screwdriver to bridge the connections) and I just changed the blinking (sometimes it would speed up).

But the bulb still blinked.

yeah...pretty sure it's the LED itself that controls the blinking or not...

I'm pretty sure the board on the S6 LEDs controls how fast they blink...because I can't get the 5 or so that I have to all blink at the same time.

Still...the battery box is great to steal...just snip the wires and solder them were you need...couldn't be easier.

Try this link...lots of good LED info

http://www.fichtenfoo.com/02GiantRobots/02c-leds.html

I would use the SIgma6 but they blink..

correct me if i'm wrong -- but the LED doesn't blink on it's own, right?
there must be a capacitor or resistor or both in-line for it to blink?

if so, just removing the light and bypassing the other electronics should get you a solid light?

Actually I think it is the buld. Think of it like chrsitmas lights. Change out a bulb or two and all of a sudden the string blinks. I know radio shack sells leds that blink and ones that don't. I don't think there is anything that tells the bulb to blink or not. Maybe in something more elaborate but not in something that small. Something like those light up sticks for instance have a program board in them because the blinking patterns change depnding on how many times you push the button. But for a simple blink or don't blink I think that is the bulb.

It is the diode, and it works on the exact same principle as the "blinker" christmas light bulb. The circuit is closed, the diode lights, heats up, and expansion opens the circuit, causing the light to stop and the diode to cool, closing and relighting it.

A great source for LED'S, though perhaps hard to get at this time of year, is those strands of LED christmas lights. You can get a strand of 50 or a hundred at the dollar store for the cost of two Radio shack LEDS. They aren't very good as christmas lights, but the leds pull out just like the regular wheat grain bulbs. I've got a ziploc bag full of them. They're plenty bright, the covers can be trimmed for colors, or you can color the led's themselves easily. The bases can be trimmed to hold the leds just like the holders they sell at Radio Shack.