Tools: Saw, Drill (1/16), Soldering iron
Materials: Wire (18 ga. speaker wire), LEDs, Resistor (value depends on # of LEDs, and voltages), 3/4" I.D. or larger clear vinyl tubing, Circut board, solder, electrical tape, anything else I forgot.
Begin by cutting the circut board width to fit in the tube
Draw a line lengthwise right down the middle of the board.
Draw a line lengthwise 1/8" off on both sides of the center line.
Draw lines widthwise every 1/4" down the board.
Drill holes at the intersecting lines (not including the center line) so that all the holes are 1/4" from each other.
Mark one side of the board with a + so you know which side will be positive and which will be negative. Usually the long post on an LED is the + one.
Your posts should be just long enough that you dont need wire but it makes the next steps easier.
Seperate the speaker wire into 2 seperate wires.
Strip the insulation from one end all the way back to the last hole.
Superglue the stripped end of the wires on the outside of the first holes and lay the speaker wire next to the holes all the way down. Super glueing where needed to hold the wire straight and to your board.
Thread the + post on your first LED through the first + hole, and the other post through the hole just to the side.
On the underside of the board bend the posts so they lay parallel and on top of their wires, then solder them to their respective wires.
Continue down the board until you get to the last LED.
Now use a resistor calculator like the one at:
http://www.rc-cam.com/led_info.htm to figure out the resistor you'll need. Then solder the resistor inline on the + side of your circut board. Also:
http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/H...ngLEDEyes.html is a great place to learn about LEDs, however they use series circuits and we are making a Parallel circuit. The advantage being if one light burns out it won't ruin the whole strip (think christmas lights, The nice expensive ones that glow even with only 1 bulb)
After that just slide the boad into your tube and seal up the ends if it needs to be water tight (hot glue, electrical tape, duct tape, whatever...) Or if its just gonna be interrior then it shouldn't matter unless your car gets real cold, or wet on the inside in the winter. Connect your positive to the + side of your circuit, and the - to your car's ground.
All sorts of glowing goodness!!!!
**Note** This is a D.C. circuit, so batteries, ect... ok, Wall outlet VERY bad! Gawd help you should you plug this into your wall. Also do not let anything conductive bridge one side to the other, that is called a short circuit, if this happens you'll blow up and probably die.
I take no responsibility for how, when, or where any of the knowledge contained in this tutorial is used by anyone. If your break a law its your fault not mine, if you kill yourself, get electrocuted, or destroy your car, you should have thought about that before you even got out the soldering iron.
After all this if your still confused, or unsure, continue to send me ludicrously large sums of money on a regualr basis (1-7 times a week) and I'll make something for you.