Easy And Cheap Helmet Led Solution

[xombie4less]

I was in Home Depot the other day and came across a small 4 bulb LED flashlight that clips on the brim of your hat to provide extra light where you are working, so I snatched it up.

To make a long story short, I got home, opened the case and added "extension cords" to the LEDs. The wires are actually 8 strands from one of the thousand or so PC IDE cables that I have lying around. I then split the 8 cables in half, leaving me with 2 flat cables with 4 wires each to use as the LED extensions. Then I just desoldered the LEDs, and then reconnected them with the extension cables (make sure you trace the cable so that you don't accidentally swap the posts), closed it up, and that's it.

The whole thing is tiny (no monster AA or 9V battery holder!), easy to mount, long-lasting, and best of all, wire management with flat cables is a breeze! I couldn't find a picture of the exact light that I bought, but here is a link to an eBay search to a ton of similar lights, just get one with the number of LEDs that you need.

http://shop.ebay.com/items/__hat-led

If you are as in the dark as I am when it comes to wiring LEDs and resistors, this is definately the easiest way to go. Sorry about the low pic quality, but I only have my camera-phone. Just let me know if I need to make a step by step with better pics for a tutorial or something.

 

[godsarmor]

nice tut but aren't leds easy and cheap to begging with just saying but nice detail you put in for the tut

 

[23Magnum]

Nice find. What size/voltage battery do they take again?

 

[xombie4less]

The light only cost $4.50. It comes with 2 batteries (3V CR2032) that will run for "over 10 hours of continuous use". The reason that I posted this is because there is only one piece to buy. You do not have to buy any LEDs or resistors and don't have to worry about cramming huge battery packs in your helmet. The whole thing is small an compact and there is no question about whether or not you bought the right components.

 

[xombie4less]

Here are 2 shots for scale. The whole enclosure is about 2" x 2" x 3/4"

 

[brychang]

that is actually a bloody good idea! good spot that man!

 

[jawshwaa]

thats actually what i was planning on doing...cept with a different device...they sell kids toys at the dollar store that have a bunch of lights in them and i was gonna pirate the electronics out of one of those....i'll let you know in a few hours how it turns out

 

[Adam]

This is maybe the most useful tutorial I've ever read on this site. *heads to home depot*

Noob-no-more.

 

[xombie4less]

Thanks!

 

[Adam]

Where in the store did you find it? Do you have the SKU for it?

 

[Spartan857]

Adam Double posting? OMG did you hit ur head lol.

Nice tut Xombie.

 

[iizahsum]

Nice tut, Sticky wrothy? I vote yes.

 

[xombie4less]

Where in the store did you find it? Do you have the SKU for it?

It was in the same section as the flashlights. I am headed there now for my daily fix, so I will get the SKU for you in about 20 minutes

 

[1ManBattalion]

this is great, it has saved me alot of trouble. Just bid on one on Aus Ebay! Thanks mate!

 

[Cadet]

Awesome!

If you don't mind, I would like to see more of a step by step tutorial, as I am even more clueless when it comes to wiring electronics. Heck, I had to make a special trip home from college just to get my dad to help me wire up the original set of LEDs in my bucket