Usb Neons and Lighting

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Von Theron

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Im looking for some cool looking usb neons or cathodes. I was looking around google but all i got was some wack reading lamps lol. If anyone knows any sites then please post a link thanks.

Von.
 
They're pretty easy to make. You just need a soldering iron, some lead-tin mix solder, and some stuff from Radio Shack.
 
If you decide to do it, you'll need an old USB cable aswell. You can use a printer cable, a cable from an old mouse or keyboard, whatever.

Cut the sleeving and you'll see 4 wires, RED, BLACK, GREEN, and WHITE, and then a bare wire that is a ground.

Cut off the GREEN and WHITE wires, and tape them so they don't short with the ground. Cut the bare wire (ground) off aswell.

Splice the RED and BLACK wires. RED is a 5v line, and BLACK is a 0v line (negative/ground type deal).

Then, go to Radio Shack or an electronics store, and get some ultra blue LED's (I think that's what they're called). They'll probally be somewhere along the lines of 2.5v, or 3v. So, ask the Radio Shack guy what size resister you'll need for a 5v line. A resister cuts power, so you'll be actually giving the light 2.5v or 3v, but the line is 5v.

Then, just solder the RED wire to the positive termal of the LED (if you look at the LED, I believe it is the skinny piece of metal) and the BLACK to the negative terminal (the wide piece of metal). I'm not toally sure which terminal is which, so rig up a small battery to test it first.

Make sure you get some small shrinkwrap while you're there. Put the shrink wrap on the wires before you connect them. Solder, and apply heat to seal the connection.

Good luck. :)
 
AH! NONONON, never buy leds from radio-shack, theyre usually less than 100mcd, and cost over $1 each, whereas most sites sell 5000+ MCD leds for $.20 a piece. If you still want some leds, let me know becuase I've got 100 blue, 100 red, and 100 white, all around 5000 MCD, for $.18 each + shipping. I also have correct reistors for them as well if you want.

btw, heres a pic showing how to wire up one led:
led.jpg
 
Quick one I whipped up for multiple leds:
Untitled.jpg


Btw, that led strip you linked, is probably for 12v, not 5v, so no, it would not work with USB.
 
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