Cool Florescent light effect


S

souleman1948

Member
I came up with what I think is a pretty neat idea for creating lighting under an awning. As I'm sure all of you know, LED's are pretty directional. (really bright circle of focus where ever the light is pointed). I didn't think that would be very good for under the awning on the drive in restaurant I built so I came up with the idea of putting the LED in a drinking straw. I capped the end of the drinking straw with some Hydrocal and mounted it under the awning. The effect is like the awning has a florescent light under it with a nice even glow under neath it. Hopefully I will be able to figure out how to upload the photos to give you a better idea how it worked.

Mike
 
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Sounds very effective, you might have invented the non fluorescent, fluorescent replacement. Put a tiny piece of shiny foil in the other end and it might reflect the light back again to create a more even glow.
 
Photos for florescent lights

The photos should have attached.
#1 pieces used to create light
#2 hydrocal plug on the end of the straw
#3 Used hydrocal to secure LED in the straw
#4 Glued assembly to bottom of the awning
#5 light check to see how it will look
 

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Very effective, that LED looks similar to some I got off ebay. 12-18V AC/DC warm white. I found the ones I got could be dimmed with a 12V train controller, down quite a lot, so extra resistors should do the same if required.
 
Depending on color, all LEDs operate between 1.7 VDC and 3.4 VDC +/- 0.2 V, typically, with red being at the lower end and blue being at the upper end. Any other claimed operating voltage includes a resistor.

PS: Mike, that's a really neat idea. I'll try it with one small modification. It might help diffuse the light if the surface of the LED is lightly sanded. So now all I have to do if find some white straws. The ones we currently have have red and blue stripes.
 
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Kevin, Yes those ones I spoke of have a resistor attached to the LED, covered by the black shrink tubing. The OP's have the same.
 
I think it's a great idea too although i'd recommend a second led at the other end of the tube.
 
Dave,
Compared to the size the wire harness would be too big to put a second light in there. If I were to do it again I would take Tutnkumin's idea and put a piece of foil in front of the plug to bounce some of the light back. The picture really shows the hot spot. In reality that spot is not that noticeable. The whole place when I finally install it will be lit up like a Christmas tree. Interior light in the drive in and 3 street/parking lot lights. I'm excited to see what it looks like. Glad you guys like the idea.
Mike
 
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