I need help making a led light

I am new to this but wanting to try and make an led head piece like a miners helmet light it would be getting plugged into a 21v battery source i would like it to be able to change from white to red with just a switch on the light somewhere, so first question is there an led bulb that is able to do that or would i need to buy white bulbs and red bulbs? this light would be best to have a tight spot on it so what would be the best order to place them on the light aiming to use only 5 or 6 bulbs and still get plenty of power out of them... ideal it would be in a cylinder shaped housing around 2.5 inch in diameter and 3 inch deep any help would be appreciated thanks

:welcome:

So you want to drill your host on your own or do you aim to buy one?

There is a RGB emitter from Cree. It's based on the MC-E but instead of 4 white dies it has a blue, a green, a red and a white die. So you could just use on emitter and wire that up so you only use the red and the white die. But then you need an driver that can change between those two dies. I wasn't on here a lot lately but I doubt that it's easy to get on of those. Or you could just get two driver and two switch and operate them seperately.

So is this your first time building your own light?

rayman

yes this will be my first attempt at building one i currently have a 5 bulb led light that is only white so i have to put diffferent lenses on it to mess with other colors and not totally satisfied with it so i thought it would be a fun thing to try and see what i can get built

the RGBW LED would work, and use a DPDT switch up=white down=red and mid = off. then 2 drivers, 1 for each. just make sure you heatsink it well so it doesn't

where would i start to look to find everything i would need to build a light like this?

well most of the little parts you can pick up at RadShack, otherwise i'd keep my eyes open on the CPFMarketplace
and BTW:welcome:

lateround said:

where would i start to look to find everything i would need to build a light like this?

Click to expand...

Many LEDs and optics sit happily in the bottom of a 3/4" copper pipe endcap, with holes drilled to let wires in. Pipes, C, L, and flat channel pieces are quite fun. For good heatsinking, you want to use "thermal epoxy" when starting out, and press parts together carefully to have a thin layer of the stuff.

LEDs are fairly durable against water, but sitting water can rust wires and damage other electronics. I have used sliding switches on helmet lights I used in the equivalent of heavy rain with no trouble. The sliding action clears rust from the switch, but not heavy grit.