My Step into the World of LED Lighting
Lighting is probably the most scary project for me in miniatures. Even though while in college, as a part of my Architectural Technology program we had to take course in Electrical Servicing, I am still very intimidated by the wiring of my miniatures.
I had picked up a set of battery operated LED lights from Grandpa's Dollhouse. The set had been in my electrical drawer of my workroom for over a year, waiting for me to get brave enough to use them. I tested one of the four LED lights in the kit to the battery pack, and wow, I got light!
Now the question was, do I wire the rest in series or parallel wiring (this is where knowing a little too much information on electricity can be more dangerous the good). First I tried wiring the four in series, no success, they didn't light. Then I tried wiring them in parallel and I got results, ah-ah, success! Four working lights, even though one light does look duller than the rest. Not being familiar enough with LED lighting I don't know if this is the norm.
This is the packaging instructions included with the four light kit.
I went ahead and drilled four holes into the ceiling of the bookstore.
Added four grommets, to give the appearance of pot lights, and then dropped in the LED lighting from the top down into these "pots."
My results, well, looks like I will be looking at a Plan B again. The LED lights, although looking wonderful on the table top, were simply not bright enough to light the room. More to follow on Plan B.
Until the next time.....
Wanda
Hi Wanda! I have used these little LED battery ensembles to light the very small rooms in my 1/4 scale Tree House rooms. The lights do lose brilliance as the battery runs down, and there are larger sized bulbs with larger sized battery packs too. I know electricity is a challenging topic for most of us... I have been learning how in a hit or miss - just try it method! (Yes, I learned the hard way about the LED's that they have a positive and a negative side and they must Never "cross"! (It kills the bulbs instantly!)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the lights!
Hi Wanda! I also have my issues with dollhouse wiring although I have had Years of experience with it. It is still a risky business at best. I recently purchase my First LED light because 2 of my wired lights went out (for no apparent reason) and LED'S were the only option left. I am now totally smitten with them! However, I would suggest that perhaps you could increase the brightness of them with a shiny brass eyelet rather than the darker ones which are probably absorbing some of the light, or even an increase in the diameter of the pot might help to distribute the light better!
ReplyDeleteAll the best! :D
Hello Wanda,
ReplyDeleteI['m sorry it did not work as you had hoped. I can't offer any input because I will only use the hardwire lighting system. Maybe you have too many bulbs on the battery pack. I remember hearing that bulbs suck the life out of batteries very quickly.
Big hug
Giac