LED Lighting in a Miniatures Showcase
I’ve been answering questions about our new Extrabrite LED striplights and how to use them (and a picture is worth 1000 words!), so here’s the scoop:
LED lights are perfect for lighting up a display.They are small, easy to install, and easy to keep out of the way; they are bright and use very little power; and they last a long, long time. But the big advantage in LEDs inside a closed display is that LEDs turn most of their power into light – they make much less heat than incandesent bulbs so there’s no need for venting or fans. How do I wire the LEDs? |
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LEDs attach to stripwire or solid wire using eyelets and an EL-66 electrification tool. This project used stripwire, but it could have been done with solid wire too.![]() |
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The Power Jack |
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Connect the Jack to the StripwireThe other end of the wire is inserted (copper to copper) into holes poked with the EL-66, then secured with eyelets. The EL-66 has a broad handle that makes it easy to push or pound the eyelets in. |
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Keep “copper -to-copper” |
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When wiring for LEDs, I am careful to always connect copper to copper. The positive (+) side of the transformer has to be connected to the positive (+) side of the LED strip, and keeping copper-to-copper all the way thru the wiring lets me keep track of this. | ||
Attach the stripwire to the backerThese displays have angled Backers for the LED strips that aims them back and down. I have a flap of tapewire hanging off the Backer for making the connection to the display wiring. The Lightstrip is adhesive backed, and it is stuck to the backer and tapewire with the “+” on the lightstrip lined up with the copper lead of the tapewire. Connect the Extrabrite LED to the tapewire with eyelets. |
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Attach the Backer to the frame (or any valence) |
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Now the backer can be attached to the back side of the floor frames in the showcase (or behind a valence in any dollhouse). I am driving in the brads most of the way, leaving a little so I don’t pound the LEDs by accident.The flap from the backer overlaps the tapewire, and is connected with eyelets. Plug in the power supply to see if all the “+” line up ;^) | ||
Connect the tapewire with eyelets and the EL-66 electrification tool |
… Here’s the connection from the inside
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And here’s the lighted Miniature Display… Lots of light!Gary |
June 7th, 2010 at 11:30 am
ExtraBrite LEDs use under 2 watts per foot, so the MS-600 shown above uses about 14 watts and is powered with a 20 watt power supply (12 volt DC). Make sure you allow for other wiring in your display when choosing a power supply (although you can always up-size later).
February 17th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
I would like to use your LED strips with a battery. any suggestions?
February 21st, 2011 at 10:13 am
Alkaline batteries are 1.5 volts, so you would need 8 of them in series to get 12 volts, which is needed for the lights to be at their brightest. You can use a 9v battery for just a few lights, but they are small and won’t last long if you power very many lights with a battery, so this option will end up expensive in the end. I would use rechargable batteries, and would get battery holders from Radio Shack or somewhere similar. NiMH Rechargable batteries are often 1.2v, so they would use 10 (check the voltage of your battery). The size battery would be chosen to fit under the foundation.
February 25th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Where do you find the DC power jack you mention?