# Light Plate...



## carlinb17 (Jul 23, 2021)

Howdy, I'm interested in doing a light plate for a couple of pedals, I'm dumbfounded by the best way to have them light up... It seems like it should be a simple answer but I keep going over it and the dots don't connect... Do you just point an LED inside at the plate or is it better to adhere some sort of LED to it...Any suggestions or examples would be fantastic.


----------



## Stickman393 (Jul 24, 2021)

I've got a wah light plate that's pretty simple...just four 5mm holes in the perimeter with flat top 5mm LEDS shoved in there, wired with two series pairs in parallel, dropped the current limiting resistor to like 100 ohms or so.

Honestly, I'd probably do it a bit differently the next time around.  LED's tend to put out the majority of their light at the tip...maybe sliding them on their sides might lead to more dramatic effects?  Or painting the bottom plate bright white to take advantage of reflections...

It'd be pretty cool to get some of those slow progressing multicolor LEDs synced up and put in a diffused light plate.


Let there be bling, my friend


----------



## Bricksnbeatles (Jul 24, 2021)

Stickman393 said:


> It'd be pretty cool to get some of those slow progressing multicolor LEDs synced up and put in a diffused light plate.


I’ve done it many times. 
Not really a way to sync them up, but they’re pretty consistent in rate, and they always start at the same point in the cycle when power is applied, so they stay pretty closely synced regardless. They drift out of phase with each other after an extended period of time, but even that looks cool, and it’s not like you’ll typically have one pedal engaged nonstop for 2+ hours, so it’s not an issue anyway


----------



## Sturdag Lagernathy (Jul 24, 2021)

I've had luck drilling a small concave area directly on top of the led lens with a 60° cutting angle drill bit, and lots of sanding with no more than 220 grit to get the entire lens milky. Pretty good at evening out the light dispersion. Just sanding the lens works pretty well, too.


----------



## carlinb17 (Jul 25, 2021)

Thanks I will give it a go and show the results...


----------



## Paradox916 (Jul 25, 2021)

I’m actually working on something like that at the moment... experimenting with the difference between 5mm LEDs and SMD.


----------



## phi1 (Jul 25, 2021)

I’ve just drilled a through hole on the middle, and stuck a 5mm diffused led in the hole. If the led is bright enough, one in the center is enough to light it up well.


----------



## Uberschall (Jul 25, 2021)

Stickman393 said:


> It'd be pretty cool to get some of those slow progressing multicolor LEDs synced up and put in a diffused light plate.


Umm... those sound awesome! Do you have a link to them?


----------



## Paradox916 (Jul 25, 2021)

both are bi tone panels with common cathode.


----------



## Stickman393 (Jul 25, 2021)

Uberschall said:


> Umm... those sound awesome! Do you have a link to them?


These are the ones I got. Pretty cool, I've used em in a few builds.



			https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X9Z3FW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_BV02PPS5TPB6H2QRA577?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


----------



## Uberschall (Jul 28, 2021)

Stickman393 said:


> These are the ones I got. Pretty cool, I've used em in a few builds.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X9Z3FW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_BV02PPS5TPB6H2QRA577?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1


Thanks, I ordered those!


----------

