Need help building some lights for my wedding

[DigitalEternal]

Hi Guys,

Alright, these arent flashlights but their lights so I hope that counts lol

For the centerpieces for my wedding I we are having vases filled with red jewels, I want to put little lights in them so that they glow.

Ive got some 5mm white LED's on order, their have a forward voltage of 3.2-3.4
My first question is, in order to run these off of regular batteries, I was thinking AAA's, I would need 3 equaling 3.6v right? what resistor would I need to use to get the right voltage (I have no idea what resistor values look like) or could I get away with running one off of say 2 AAA's?

Next, does anyone know what the actual term for these things is :
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Lot-50-2-x-AAA-B...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a02cc0cc8

I know its not really called a "Battery holder case box", I want to see if I can find em cheaper but I have no idea what their actually called

Finally I want to throw a little on/off switch into the mix

So basically 1 5mm LED + AAA battery pack thing + on/off switch

I gotta make a ton of these so thats why I need to find the battery holders ultra cheap

Does anyone have and suggestions? any advice would be really appreciated

Thanks!

 

[csa]

2x Alkaline AAA is unlikely to light a white LED. 3 will damage your LEDs without a resistor depending on the batteries. Depending on your runtime needs and use case, coin cells might be a more practical option for powering these.

 

[saabluster]

One of my sisters just got married last week. They used some cheap 5mm LED lights designed to go into the base of a vase that are battery powered. Not sure where they got them from though. I can ask if you'd like.

 

[Robin24k]

I think using a CR2032 battery as the power source might be a better option. You can solder one lead directly onto the battery and shrink wrap or tape the other end when you're ready to use it. Much smaller too.

 

[DigitalEternal]

Thanks for the replies guys,

I need these to stay lit for about 4+ hours so the batteriest need to have a little capacity, the led's are 20ma

Budget is also a concern I need to get quite a few of these together so they cant cost much more thne 1-2$ per unit to make, I got 50 led's for like 3$ with resistors to reduce from 3.6v to 3.2

But if there is a better way then primaries to get the job done with the same price (dollar store AAA's are cheap lol) then Im all ears

@saabluster if you could ask that would be great! I tried buying some round "push lights" that fit in the bottom of a vase from the dollar store but the led's are blue and I really need them to be white

Thanks again guys!

 

[Robin24k]

I wonder how long a CR2032 will last? That will be the cheapest solution, no resistors or anything. Maybe you can grab one to test? I've removed demo blinking LEDs out of store shelf demo boxes of lighted Christmas goods, and they easily lasted more than a week on two little button cells (1.5V ones, CR2032 is 3V).

 

[DigitalEternal]

Well if Im doing my math right, the cr2032 has a capacity of 220mah, the led draws 20ma so that makes it 11 hours, which is more then enough.

I only have 2 concerns, they are only 3v and the forward voltage rating on the led is 3.2 so will it light? and second, their about 3$ a pop which is a little much unless I can find a cheap lot of them

 

[Robin24k]

I was able to direct drive white and blue LEDs off of 2AA's, so the 3V from the CR2032 should work fine.

Check Ebay. I found a lot of 100 for about $10 shipped from HK or 20 for $4.25 shipped from US.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280460104311

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200437347859

 

[DigitalEternal]

Thanks for the help! I just found thoes myself, do you think they will be of decent enough quality to get the job done?

I guess if I get 100 worst comes to worst I can always use two and put a 1400 resistor in there.

Now all I need is some super cheap on/off switches

 

[sprinkle]

Found this by searching on Google:

http://www.ledtealights.net/White-Underwater-LED-Floral-Tea-Light-12-Pcs-Box-No-Flicker_p_14.html

Not sure if they are any good, but might help steer you in the right direction in case you don't want to build.

 

[ti-force]

I had a project one time where I dimmed the illuminated reticle in one of my scopes. Initially, I used a 2032 battery for testing. I used 5mm green led's, and they lit fine. You can go to the following link to see a couple of pics. The green led picture is about half way down in the first post.
Click here

 

[ti-force]

BTW, my green led's were purchased in a pack of 100 on Ebay, just like previously mentioned.

 

[DigitalEternal]

Thanks guys,

Ive got 50 14000mcd whit led's comming, and now Im debating if I should get the really cheap 100 lot of cr2032's, or the slight more expensive lots of 100 Huifeng cr2032's, I guess if their even only 100mah they should still provide enough power to go for 4-5 hours

 

[jason 77]

Thanks guys,

Ive got 50 14000mcd whit led's comming, and now Im debating if I should get the really cheap 100 lot of cr2032's, or the slight more expensive lots of 100 Huifeng cr2032's, I guess if their even only 100mah they should still provide enough power to go for 4-5 hours

Did you look at the website http://cheapbatteries.com/

they sell cr2032's plus other coin batteries as well...

 

[DigitalEternal]

Thanks, I just checked it out, but I can get em cheaper on ebay, a lot of 100 for 10-15$, their probably pretty crappy but I dont need anything special for this application

 

[ackbar]

I'm surprised that your wedding coordinator didn't mention Litecubes. http://www.litecube.com/classic.htm

Almost every other wedding I work they have a few of these stuck in the centerpieces.

Bonus is that they can be frozen and placed in drinks and various other funky things that require a liquid proof seal.

 

[DigitalEternal]

the litecubes look really cool but their not cost effective, were on a pretty tight budget, I can make enough of these little lights for about 30 bucks, it would cost me a couple hundred for the litecubes

 

[ackbar]

I think they were around 3 bucks a pop the last time I looked at them. I didn't realize that you were on that tight of a budget.

Have you considered using fauxtons. I think they can be bought as low as 50c a piece in bulk if not lower.

 

[DigitalEternal]

Hadnt looked at thoes, although it could have worked, no matter Ive got all the parts on order to make these things now

 

[herulach]

Its a shame you've bought the kit. Assuming you can hide them well something like this:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253
would be ideal, all you need do is short the switch.

Ikea also sell a battery powered string of white LEDS that run off 2AAs, theyre just under £10 IIRC, so probably $10 over there.