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Homemade DIY LED Bulb

dukeofmarshall

So the general idea here is to make my own LED bulb that screws into a 120V light socket. I had a CFL bulb that recently went out. I dissected it for the main container and after some research I believe that I am now ready to move forward. However, I just wanted to run this by people who may know more than I do in order to help prevent burning the house down or electrocuting the cat.

 

I researched several sources for the diagram and getting the required components. Here is the source for schematic that I settled on.

 

Using AC with LEDs (Part 2) - and make this handy counter light.

 

I currently only have .25w resistors. I plan on using a polyester capacitor from the CFL dissection and 4 clear 5mm LEDs. Here is the schematic I came up with.

 

image

From my research, the array of resistors should come out to 2K and .5W. Is that correct? Also, would this entire circuit be worthy of screwing into a 120V light socket? What concerns, if any, are there? Thanks.

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  • Hi Todd,

    Your resistors will come out to 1K 1 watt as configured in your schematic.

    John

  • in reply to jw0752

    Thanks for the information and correction. I have gathered further research concerning over-voltage and made a modification to the project.

     

    image

     

    Would this schematic and project work/be safe? Thanks.

  • in reply to dukeofmarshall

    Hi Todd,

    I am assuming that you are using 120 volts 60 Hz AC power for this LED light. If this is the case your 272 capacitor will have approximately 1 meg of capacitive reactance Xc. This would mean a current of only 0.1 mA. This will not be enough to make your LEDs visible. If they are garden variety indicator style LEDs I would expect something close to 20 mA to be necessary. If they are LEDs suitable for usable lighting the mA will be much higher. I suspect that the configuration of the LEDs in your latest schematic will work if supplied with the proper power but personally I liked the way you had them wired in the first schematic better. I can think of no reason to connect them in the center of the LED array. You can try it but you may find that a 274J 1200V capacitor or a 474J would get you closeer to the current needed for regular indicator LEDs, similar to those used in a night light. 

     

    A word of caution!!!!! Your questions indicate to me that you may not have the experience necessary to mess with the 120 volt mains. The 120 volts in this circuit can; burn you, injure you, and even kill you or someone else. Proper techniques need to be followed to experiment with 120 volts and proper construction techniques must be followed to produce a device that is properly insulated and able to be in an environment where children or others may touch it.

     

    Since I do not know you or your technical experience I just wanted to make sure you are safe.

     

    John

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  • in reply to dukeofmarshall

    Hi Todd,

    I am assuming that you are using 120 volts 60 Hz AC power for this LED light. If this is the case your 272 capacitor will have approximately 1 meg of capacitive reactance Xc. This would mean a current of only 0.1 mA. This will not be enough to make your LEDs visible. If they are garden variety indicator style LEDs I would expect something close to 20 mA to be necessary. If they are LEDs suitable for usable lighting the mA will be much higher. I suspect that the configuration of the LEDs in your latest schematic will work if supplied with the proper power but personally I liked the way you had them wired in the first schematic better. I can think of no reason to connect them in the center of the LED array. You can try it but you may find that a 274J 1200V capacitor or a 474J would get you closeer to the current needed for regular indicator LEDs, similar to those used in a night light. 

     

    A word of caution!!!!! Your questions indicate to me that you may not have the experience necessary to mess with the 120 volt mains. The 120 volts in this circuit can; burn you, injure you, and even kill you or someone else. Proper techniques need to be followed to experiment with 120 volts and proper construction techniques must be followed to produce a device that is properly insulated and able to be in an environment where children or others may touch it.

     

    Since I do not know you or your technical experience I just wanted to make sure you are safe.

     

    John

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