DIY USB night light from an old flash drive. Do-it-yourself powerful LED lamp - development, installation Do-it-yourself LED USB lamp
DIY USB night light from an old flash drive. In the process of working on the computer, various USB devices such as flash drives, radio and infrared modems and other “whistles” accumulate. Some devices become obsolete or simply fail. The trash can becomes their most likely location. But don’t rush to throw away the “whistle.” The body of a gadget with a USB connector can become the basis for a night light. To maintain interest, a method of installing a multicolor diode into a burnt-out case is shown.
How to make a USB night light with your own hands
1. Take the case of an outdated or burnt device, in this case non-working USB WiFi adapter.
2. We disassemble the case. We remove part of the board, as shown in the video clip. We remove it so that the USB connector continues to be securely fixed in the case.
3. The light source can be any LED, but it is better to use ultra-bright LEDs with a wide beam of radiation. The example uses a three-color LED with a smooth change in each color. Such LEDs are widely used in networked and battery-powered Chinese night lights. The LED has a wide radiation angle, which is very convenient when making a night light.
4. To supply power to the LED, you need to unsolder the +5 Volt power supply connector pin from the board. USB buses. If this is difficult to do, then you need to use a sharp knife to cut all the tracks to the +5 Volt contact. In the example considered, it was possible to isolate the contact only after completely cutting through the entire board with a knife at the soldering point of the connector - the board turned out to be multilayer. The pinout of the plug is shown in the figure.
LED donor
Contact cleared
5. Extension conductors are soldered to the +5 Volt and zero terminals. Soldering was done with a 60 watt soldering iron, don't be alarmed by the photo. Of course, it is better to do this with a small-sized soldering iron or soldering station.
6. Solder the LED according to polarity. We solder a resistance of 100 ohms into the open circuit. The presence of resistance is required to limit the current through the LED.
7. Important! Before plugging it into the USB connector to check the operation of the circuit, check with a tester that there is no short circuit between the power pins of the assembled circuit. If there is a short circuit in the circuit, you may damage motherboard and lose your computer's USB ports. We insert the plug into the USB socket and check the operation of the LED.
8. Select the position of the LED on the “whistle” body.
9. With our own hands, using a drill or a sharp knife, we make a hole for the LED. We insert the LED and fix it with glue or hot glue. See photo.
Resistor limiter
“In this material, you will be presented with a simple and affordable technology for creating a USB lamp with your own hands, from an old flashlight and a wire from a computer mouse.
Today, throughout the Civilized World, the computerization of the population is in full swing; the computer is no longer the ultimate dream, but an everyday occurrence. Today it is already difficult to live without a computer and a telephone.
Many people nowadays have jobs or part-time jobs on the Internet and sometimes spend a lot of time at the computer, sometimes staying up late at night. Working with the lights on at night is not very economical, and in order not to disturb the household with light from table lamp 220 V, that’s what I came up with, or rather it was invented a long time ago, but still :)
In order to save energy and work quietly with sufficient lighting, I had to make a USB lamp, namely from a wire from a non-working computer mouse and an old flashlight, see what came out of this below.
And so, to create a USB LAMP, I needed the following components, their list is presented below.
Materials
1) wire from a (computer) mouse 2) LED flashlight 3) electrical tape
Tools
1) screwdriver 2) pliers 3) knife
The manufacturing process of a USB LIGHT.
And so from the very beginning I had to disassemble the old and non-working computer mouse, to disconnect the wire with the USB contact from it, and also disassemble the LED flashlight.
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In the photo you can see a disassembled computer mouse and a disconnected wire. Next, I disassembled the LED flashlight by simply unscrewing its upper part along the thread.
website I took the part I needed from the flashlight, namely its head with LEDs. 
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At the back there are contacts in the form of a spring and a metal ring, that is (+ and -)
website This flashlight has 9 LEDs, which is very good.
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Then I disassembled the head of the flashlight and connected the contacts, I did not solder for the reason that the flashlight can then be used again for its intended purpose, you just need to disconnect the contacts and screw the head back 😉
I connected it and made a small cut on the body to hide the wire there.
Next, you will be presented with an informative video on an overview of the operation and connection diagram of the USB LAMP. As mentioned above, this lamp can be powered from a phone charger and made, for example, a night lamp or something like that. If you liked the material, then we invite you to join our group.
It is for lovers of “self-construction” that we present step by step guide for the production of miniature LED lamp, the current source for which will be a computer (desktop or laptop).
To implement this idea we will need the following components:
ultra-bright LED (color to choose from) – 1 pc.;
resistor with a power dissipation of 0.5 W (resistance is calculated individually) – 1 pc.;
small-sized switch – 1 pc.;
old microphone – 1 pc.;
USB cable (length selected based on needs).
The color of the LED does not matter. In this case, its brightness is a priority characteristic. So, the cheapest component with a small operating current (10–20 mA) will do, but its capabilities will probably not be enough to illuminate the workplace. We chose a white ultra-bright LED whose nominal voltage is 4V at 80mA. Let us recall that the longer terminal of this component for its proper functioning is connected to the “positive” pole of the power source, the short one to the “negative” pole.
The characteristics of the LED determine the required resistor value. It is calculated based on Ohm’s law for a section of the circuit (R=U/I, where I is the operating current, U is the voltage in the circuit to which it will be connected). Since the voltage at the outputs of the USB port is 5 V, substituting numbers into the formula, we obtained the calculated resistance value, in our case 62.5 Ohms (R = 5 V / 0.08 A = 62.5 Ohms). We didn’t have a resistor of this value at hand, so we used an element with a resistance of 68 Ohms. To avoid failure of the LED, it is better to play it safe and take a resistor with a higher value than vice versa. The quenching resistor is connected in series with the LED. If it is not there, the lamp will burn out after several minutes of operation. Before getting down to business, we “arm ourselves” with the necessary tools - a soldering iron and its accessories, a drill, a needle file, installation wires, etc.
STEP 1
First, we disassemble the microphone and unsolder the only component present in it. To keep things simple, you can use microphone wires to power the LED. We solder our “light bulb” into its proper place.
STEP 2
We cut off the end of the USB cable, leaving only a wire with a connector that will connect directly to the computer. We only need the red (“plus”) and black (“minus”) wires needed to power the device. Some of the insulation needs to be removed from them and tinned before soldering inside the lamp.
STEP 3
Using a suitable tool, we make several holes in the base of the microphone (for the USB cable, the cord going to the LED and the switch).
STEP 4
We mount the switch in the intended place, fixing it with glue or screws. The main thing is that the connection is made rigidly and reliably. The red wire from the USB cable can be soldered to the center pin of the switch. After this, you need to connect a resistor to one of the two remaining contacts. A wire is soldered to the other end of the resistance, going to the “positive” contact of the LED. When working, you must be as careful as possible and prevent a short circuit in the circuit. The wire soldered to the negative of our “bulb” should be connected to the black core of the USB cable.
STEP 5
To reduce the risk of problems in the circuit to a minimum (broken wires, short circuits), the entire component base must be carefully insulated with heat-shrinkable tubing, electrical tape, or a second “bottom” made of PCB or plexiglass must be made for the microphone lamp stand, which will perform a protective function and increase stability of the device on the table.
RESULT
As a result, we got a pretty good mini-lamp powered from the computer’s USB port. The advantages of this solution include ease of manufacture, high brightness glow (in the case of using ultra-bright LEDs designed for large rated current) and neat appearance.
remember, that this decision- just an example of the simple device lighting, which is easy to do with your own hands. If you wish and have the necessary skills, the design can be improved (for example, adding a brightness control), complicated, or changed at your own discretion, based on the available components. In a word, everything depends on your imagination.
Nowadays housewarming is not celebrated. The tradition is lost. And before they invited guests. Guests came with gifts, including a chandelier. It was difficult to buy a chandelier; there were too few of them produced. Nowadays it’s difficult to buy any lighting device; they produce too many of them - your eyes run wild from the assortment. And so, when all the design projects were implemented, and there were no free sockets left in citizens’ homes, there was one of the advanced ones who pointed his finger at computer sockets. This is how a new product niche emerged. LED niche.
I bought this as a future souvenir for someone who likes to communicate with a netbook. Its full name is “FLARX USB LED lamp”. There is not a lot of information on the packaging, but it is quite enough to make a choice. Composition: polystyrene, steel. LED lifespan: 10,000 hours (which is impressive).
The openwork reflector in the shape of flower petals immediately makes an impression; its diameter is 85 mm, the total length of the lamp is 350 mm, the thickness of the flexible element is 5 mm, the USB plug is standard. It looks beautiful. However, it immediately becomes clear that the thin plexiglass petals will not last long.
In terms of overall dimensions, the lamp fits in with the overall appearance of a netbook, but in terms of design, it’s not very good, but functionally it’s definitely not. The LED glow is so weak that with additional lighting it cannot be seen at all. The verdict is simple - something needs to be done.
It was not possible to remove the reflector using the force of the fingers; a hacksaw blade was called in to help, which made a circular cut in the holder. After which it was safely disconnected from the flexible element. The LED itself and its resistor - the current limiter - appeared. The measurement established the resistance of the resistor - 58 Ohms. The solution is simple - you need to reduce it. The reflector petals were not glued and were removed from its lens freely. The diameter of the spherical light-scattering lens, also made of organic glass, is 24 mm.
New electrical circuit of the lamp
A certain suitable plastic part was put on the now free end of the flexible element, which was intended to subsequently act as a base for attaching a variable resistor. The constant resistor, as a circuit element, was left, but its value was reduced to 23 Ohms. A hole with a diameter of 2 mm was drilled in the side boss of the lens mount, through which connection wires with a variable resistor needed to regulate the strength of the light flux were passed.
With a total resistance of the limiting resistors of 493 Ohms (variable 470 Ohms and constant 23 Ohms), the current on the LED is 4.3 mA. We obtain the minimum possible luminous flux. With the variable resistor turned to “zero” and, accordingly, only the resistance of the constant resistor at 23 Ohms, the current on the LED is 47.3 mA. This is the maximum luminous flux. Well, the “truth” - best ratio the load on the LED and the illumination will be somewhere in the middle.
The base for mounting the LED is hollow, drill holes in it, pass wires through them, and then solder to variable resistor It wasn’t particularly difficult, and then installing the resulting regulator in place. The internal cavity was filled with Titan glue. In conclusion, a kind of lampshade was made and installed; it has no reflective abilities, but it will save the eyes from unnecessary light.
The keyboard backlight is in action: in a room in daylight and in a dark room. It is turned on at maximum brightness, it is quite possible to turn it down to normal.
It is already clear that, if necessary, a netbook with such keyboard lighting can be fully operated in this way. The beauty of the product has undoubtedly diminished, but it has become functionally suitable for the intended work. In general, I was in a hurry to buy this particular model; now more suitable keyboard lighting functions have appeared on sale. Review made Babay iz Barnaula.
Discuss the article USB LIGHT FOR KEYBOARD BACKLIGHT
Economical lighting lamps are already found in almost every home. We offer you to consider how to make an LED lamp with your own hands, what materials will be required for this, as well as tips on what criteria should be used to select them.
Step-by-step development of an LED lamp
Initially, we are faced with the task of checking the performance of the LEDs and measuring the supply voltage of the network. When setting of this device to prevent damage electric shock We suggest using a 220/220 V isolation transformer. This will also ensure safer measurements when setting up our future LED lamp.
Please note that if any elements of the circuit are connected incorrectly, an explosion is possible, so strictly follow the instructions given below.
Most often, the problem of improper assembly lies precisely in poor-quality soldering of components.
When making calculations to measure the voltage drop in the current consumption of LEDs, you need to use a universal measuring multimeter. Basically, such homemade LED lamps are used at a voltage of 12 V, but our design will be designed for a mains voltage of 220 V AC.
Video: LED lamp at home
High light output is achieved with diodes at a current of 20-25 mA. But cheap LEDs can produce an unpleasant bluish glow, which is also very harmful to the eyes, so we recommend diluting your homemade LED lamp with a small amount of red LEDs. For 10 cheap white ones, 4 red LEDs will be enough.
The circuit is quite simple and is designed to power LEDs directly from the network, without an additional power supply. The only drawback of such a circuit is that all its components are not isolated from the mains supply and the LED lamp will not provide protection against possible electric shock. So be careful when assembling and installing this light. Although in the future the circuit can be upgraded and isolated from the network.
Simplified lamp diagram- When turned on, a 100 ohm resistor protects the circuit from voltage surges; if it is not there, you need to use a higher power diode bridge rectifier.
- The 400 nF capacitor limits the current required for the LEDs to glow normally. If necessary, you can add more LEDs if their total current consumption does not exceed the limit set by the capacitor.
- Make sure that the capacitor used is designed for an operating voltage of at least 350 V, it should be one and a half times the mains voltage.
- A 10uF capacitor is needed to provide a stable, flicker-free light source. Its rated voltage should be twice that measured across all LEDs connected in series during operation.
In the photo you see a burnt out lamp, which will soon be disassembled for a DIY LED lamp.
We disassemble the lamp, but very carefully so as not to damage the base, then clean it and degrease it with alcohol or acetone. We pay special attention to the hole. We clean it of excess solder and process it again. This is necessary for high-quality soldering of components in the base.
Photo: lamp socket 
Photo: resistors and transistor Now we need to solder a tiny rectifier, we use a regular soldering iron for these purposes and have already prepared a diode bridge in advance and process the surface, working very carefully so as not to damage the previously installed parts.
Photo: soldering the rectifier As an insulating layer, it is fashionable to use the glue of a simple hot-melt assembly gun. A PVC tube is also suitable, but it is advisable to use a material specially designed for this purpose, filling all the space between the parts and at the same time fixing them. We have a ready-made basis for the future lamp.
Photo: glue and cartridge After these manipulations, we proceed to the most interesting part: installing LEDs. We use a special circuit board as a basis; it can be bought at any electronic components store or even taken from some old and unnecessary equipment, having first cleared the board of unnecessary parts.
Photo: LEDs on the board It is very important to check each of our boards for functionality, because otherwise all the work is in vain. We pay special attention to the contacts of the LEDs; if necessary, we further clean and narrow them.
Now we are assembling the constructor, we need to solder all the boards, we have four of them, to the capacitor. After this operation, we again insulate everything with glue and check the connections of the diodes to each other. We place the boards at the same distance from each other so that the light spreads evenly.
LED connection We also solder a 10 uF capacitor without additional wires; this is a good soldering experience for future electricians.
Finished mini lamp 
Resistor and lamp All is ready. We recommend covering our lamp with a lampshade, because... LEDs emit extremely bright light that is very hard on the eyes. If you place our homemade lamp in a “cut” made of paper, for example, or fabric, you will get a very soft light, a romantic night light or a sconce for the nursery. By replacing the soft lampshade with a standard glass one, we get a fairly bright glow that does not irritate the eyes. This is a good and very beautiful option for a home or cottage.
If you want to power the lamp using batteries or from USB, you need to exclude the 400 nF capacitor and rectifier from the circuit, connecting the circuit directly to a 5-12 V DC source.
This is a good device for illuminating an aquarium, but you need to choose a special waterproof lamp; you can find it by visiting any store of electromechanical devices; these exist in any city, be it Chelyabinsk or Moscow.
Photo: lamp in action Lamp for the office
You can make a creative wall, table lamp or floor lamp for your office using several dozen LEDs. But for this, the flow of light will be insufficient for reading; here you need a sufficient level of illumination of the workplace.
First you need to determine the number of LEDs and rated power.
After that, find out the load capacity of the rectifying diode bridge and capacitor. We connect a group of LEDs to the negative contact of the diode bridge. We connect all the LEDs as shown in the figure.
Diagram: connecting lamps Solder all 60 LEDs together. If you need to connect additional LEDs, just continue to solder them sequentially, plus to minus. Use wires to connect the negative of one group of LEDs to the next until the entire assembly process is complete. Now add a diode bridge. Connect it as shown in the picture below. Connect the positive terminal to the positive wire of the first group of LEDs, connect the negative terminal to the common wire of the last LED in the group.
Short LED wires Next you need to prepare the base old light bulb, cutting off the wires from the board and soldering them to the AC inputs on the diode bridge, marked with ~. You can use plastic fasteners, screws and nuts to connect the two boards together if all the diodes are placed on separate boards. Don’t forget to fill the boards with glue, insulating them from short circuits. This is a fairly powerful network LED lamp that will last up to 100,000 hours of continuous operation.
Adding a capacitor
If you increase the supply voltage to the LEDs in order to make the light brighter, the LEDs will begin to heat up, which significantly reduces their durability. In order to avoid this, you need to connect a 10 W recessed or table lamp with an additional capacitor. Simply connect one side of the base to the negative output of the bridge rectifier and the positive side, through an additional capacitor, to the positive output of the rectifier. You can use 40 LEDs instead of the suggested 60, thereby increasing the overall brightness of the lamp.
Video: how to make an LED lamp with your own hands
If desired, a similar lamp can be made using a powerful LED, but then you will need capacitors of a different value.
As you can see, assembling or repairing a conventional DIY LED lamp is not particularly difficult. And it won't take much time and effort. This lamp is also suitable as a summer option, for example for a greenhouse; its light is absolutely harmless to plants.
