How to Make an LED Lamp

A light emitting diode, or LED, is a small tube with two electrodes within that create a very clean, bright light. You can use a single LED to make a powerful lamp that can light a large amount of space. You can personalize the lamps to your liking, by changing the style of the lamp housing or using different colors of LED to make the light. The lamp comes together in just a few minutes and will allow you to recycle some items you may already have lying around. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Drill a hole in the middle of the bottle cap with a drill press. The hole should be as wide as the LED you have.

2

Pass the leads of the LED through the hole in the bottle cap, from the inside of the cap. The leads are wire connectors sticking out of the bottom of the LED.

3

Place a very tiny amount of glue around the base of the LED where it meets the cap using a glue gun. The glue should be out on the inside of the cap, so once in place on the bottle you wont be able to see it.

4

Attach the red, positive wire of a photocell to the positive lead of the LED with electrical tape. The longer lead is the positive one.

5

Connect the black photocell wire to the shorter lead in the same way. The exposed wires should be completely covered with tape.

6

Place the cap back onto the bottle, with the LED pointing down, inside the neck. Use pliers to compress the ridges of the cap around the opening of the bottle and make it secure.

7

Connect the photocell to the heads of a 9-volt battery and wrap the connecting wires around the body of the battery. Use a piece of electrical tape to secure the battery on top of the bottle cap.