Wiring help Iron Man 3 Arc Reactor

Duo Monkey · Jul 3, 2013

So! I have a round PCB kit, six 5mm LEDs, and 9V battery snap connector. Unfortunately the guy wasn't very clear on what to do. Do I jus lie the ends of the LEDS on the disc, poke through the little holes? Then how do I attach it to the battery? Solder? Help please!

mpick67 · Jul 3, 2013

Duo Monkey said:
So! I have a round PCB kit, six 5mm LEDs, and 9V battery snap connector. Unfortunately the guy wasn't very clear on what to do. Do I jus lie the ends of the LEDS on the disc, poke through the little holes? Then how do I attach it to the battery? Solder? Help please!

Yes, you will need solder to attach the LED's. Note that one of the leads coming from the LED is longer than the other. This is your positive lead and you need to make sure you attach in the correct orientation in regards to your PCB kit. Also, I assume that that this PCB kit has a voltage regulator of some type built into it. Otherwise you will fry your LED's as they usually run off 3.3 volts for white LEDs.

Duo Monkey · Jul 3, 2013

Does this help in helping me?

schrodinger555 · Jul 4, 2013

If you have a design you're thinking about in terms of the layout of the LEDs that would help a lot. As far as I can tell the arc from iron man 3 is lit mostly from the outer edges and not as much on the inside. You may want to get some more LEDs to make it even around the PCB.

Honestly once you have an idea of how you want to design the lighting system the rest comes a lot easier.

-Mili

Duo Monkey · Jul 5, 2013

schrodinger555 said:
If you have a design you're thinking about in terms of the layout of the LEDs that would help a lot. As far as I can tell the arc from iron man 3 is lit mostly from the outer edges and not as much on the inside. You may want to get some more LEDs to make it even around the PCB.

Honestly once you have an idea of how you want to design the lighting system the rest comes a lot easier.

-Mili

I wasn't sure how many to get. I was thinking two LEDs for each side of the triangle. But I don't even know how to put them in the PCB and hook the battery up.

mpick67 · Jul 5, 2013

Duo Monkey said:
I wasn't sure how many to get. I was thinking two LEDs for each side of the triangle. But I don't even know how to put them in the PCB and hook the battery up.

There are some really good videos out there on youtube showing you how to solder, and you will need more than 2 leds if you want a good looking arc reactor. (Protip: buy your LEDs on Amazon if your not pressed for time. You can buy in bulk and save a lot of money.) You will also need resistors for your LED's. Like I said on my previous post. 9 volts will fry your LEDs.

Here is a website for calculating the correct resistor for your setup: LED series parallel array wizard

Figure out your design/layout for your LED's, watch some youtube videos on soldering, and then go on from there.

schrodinger555 · Jul 5, 2013

It depends on your battery/power source and the kind of LEDs. For my arc reactor I'm using 7-11 1 watt LEDs and they run fine off a nine volt. I'd say the first step is to learn the basics of an LED circuit first mpick67 said and then play with your options.

ObiShane · Jul 6, 2013

From a person who wires up and installs lightsabers I would offer a bit of advice. Don't rush things, take your time and read. Buy a variable temp soldering iron and learn how to use it on old junky computer parts ( the one for 25 bucks at radio shack works ok). There are many tutorials out there. Use silver bearing core solder and pretin leads to get the to stick. Good luck and enjoy!

I know that wasn't much help , I would offer more if I did arc reactors.

Wiring help Iron Man 3 Arc Reactor

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