electronics

Mr intrepid · Post by **Mr intrepid** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:22 pm

Has anyone ever tried to cast an LED into clear resin. There may be some heat issues (?) but it would be a way to light up a solid resin cast object. One could use very fine wires out where the stand would go. Paint the exterior dark, then the finish coat. Any thoughts on this?

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 3:33 pm

Most LEDs are just teeeeny crystals in a bubble of resin anyway, so why not? One thing to remember is that when you do that, any 'lens effect' from the front of the LED goes away and you get a general hemisphere of light coming from an almost pin point source. You'll have to place your LEDs carefully and the casting may take several tries to get the light dispersed evenly.

jwrjr · Post by **jwrjr** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 5:47 pm

Since leds are already cast in epoxy, you just need to be sure to observe the electrical specs - especially the max current. Make sure that the paint you use on the outside is transparent. (I once made a Police-style lightbar that way.)

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:15 pm

Like this?
http://www.kc6sye.com/techmages_4_15_04.html

or these:
http://www.kc6sye.com/techmages_2_2_04_b.html

These are cast at ~40 psi, my only concern with casting them was that the gas chamber in the LED might collapse cracking the LED or the expoxy of the LED around the leads would suffer stress fractures then leak after they came out of the pot.

If you've over over voltaged an lead they either burn out, pop, or you hear the hissing gas escaping out one or both the leg leads.