LED Lighted Key Head

[chuckr]

Just did this. Works fantastic ! for about 18 dollars and a trip to Radio Shack
you get twice the light.
Rennbay.com :

[wildcat077]

Thanks for the tip ...
Going to look into it as well for my keys!

Cheers !
Phil

[porschenut]

Thanks! It's on my to-do list.

[Joe Bob]

SO it needs two batteries because it has a higher output bulb?

EDIT: WARNING......The RENNBAY tutorial has the polarity backwards.....

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

SO it needs two batteries because it has a higher output bulb?

No... A LED (light emitting diode) is a solid state device that uses much less power than an incandescent bulb but the LED he used in the tutorial works with 7.2 Volt (3.6 x 2 = 7.2v)
The same LED won't work with 3.6v. Well It might but it may be too dim.

Note: 5mm LEDs... The guys at Radio shack should be able to help you get the right one to suit the voltage of the two batteries.
BTW: The batteries would last for years and years of constant use.

-------------------------------------------

OK... This is a great tutorial. The incandescent bulb fell out of my lighted key about 8 years ago.
Thanks for posting.

[kidrock]

I cleaned all the contacts, replaced both the battery and the incandescent bulb....and it STILL doesn't work. AAARRRRGGGGGHHHH

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by kidrock

I cleaned all the contacts, replaced both the battery and the incandescent bulb....and it STILL doesn't work. AAARRRRGGGGGHHHH

Ditch the the battery and the incandescent bulb and use the LED and batteries option.
Imagine not opening you key for years and years,

I'm on my way to Jaycar (Radio shack equivalent)

[DRACO A5OG]

Hey Kidrock,

Move the contact around to insure the contacts don't touch the same surface of the battery (++ or --). Test before you re-assemble.

or Mail it to me and I will fix it for you :-)

Stay well Brother!

J

[Red Clubbie]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Ditch the the battery and the incandescent bulb and use the LED and batteries option.
Imagine not opening you key for years and years,

I'm on my way to Jaycar (Radio shack equivalent)

Peter,

Can you let us know what the make and model number of the LED is and what batteries you are getting........at least I'll know what to ask for at Jaycar.....

Cheers,

Geoff.

[sc_rufctr]

Geoff

Will do.

[Red Clubbie]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Geoff

Will do.

Thanks mate.....

Cheers,

Geoff.

[dw1]

Thanks, chuckr

Interesting link. I thought that in order to substitute an led for a bulb, one would have to add a resistor.

Ok, I get it - by using (2) #389 batteries, the source voltage is 2 x 1.55v = 3.1 v, and this Radio Shack led is 3.2v typ., so the current limiting resistor would be about 1 ohm if the led was run at the battery max voltage. 1 ohm is in the range of typical contact resistance.

I wish I knew this when I needed a replacement bulb for my old lighted Saab key and the bulb was NLA.

[chuckr]

One thing to mention... the instructions in the tutorial are incorrect regarding the led polarity.
the longer lead off the led goes on top of the battery. The comment at the end of the post brings this up.

[pete917]

That's cool. Another job for a rainy day!

[DGW]

The copy I have also contains this information:

5mm White (or any other color) LED 3.6 volt, 20ma 1100mcd RadioShack # 276-320
I found the Radio Shack LED (p/n 276-320) was not available at any store nearby, but was able to order 20 of them off Ebay, shipped from China, for LESS than what 1 costs at Radio Shack
For those of you interested in the ebay seller I purchased these from, the sellers name is hktaiyuen and the EBAY store link is
hktaiyuen LED store items - Get great deals on LED - 5mm, Flash LEDs items on eBay Stores!

The LED description I purchased is : 20x 5000mcd 5mm White LED Ultra Bright Free Resistors. That gets you a qty of 20 LEDs, and the resistors are not used. The current price is $0.99 and $4.00 shipping.

I checked the ebay site and its still there, although there is currently one bid for .99 so you would have to pay a bit more.

[pete917]

Originally Posted by DGW

The copy I have also contains this information:

5mm White (or any other color) LED 3.6 volt, 20ma 1100mcd RadioShack # 276-320
I found the Radio Shack LED (p/n 276-320) was not available at any store nearby, but was able to order 20 of them off Ebay, shipped from China, for LESS than what 1 costs at Radio Shack
For those of you interested in the ebay seller I purchased these from, the sellers name is hktaiyuen and the EBAY store link is
hktaiyuen LED store items - Get great deals on LED - 5mm, Flash LEDs items on eBay Stores!

The LED description I purchased is : 20x 5000mcd 5mm White LED Ultra Bright Free Resistors. That gets you a qty of 20 LEDs, and the resistors are not used. The current price is $0.99 and $4.00 shipping.

I checked the ebay site and its still there, although there is currently one bid for .99 so you would have to pay a bit more.

Good find. Bought mine for $0.99 plus $4 shipping for 20.

[carslutt]

nice lill mod

[FIG]

Did it...

Awesome :-)

[Buckterrier]

Allright, I'm not an electrical mental giant and obviously either are the folks at my local Radio Shack. I'll have to rely, (thank you in advance), on the Pelican brain trust. This is what I was given, will it work...


2 - 1.5 volt watch batteries. They are 389's as the article said
1 - 5mm LED 3.2 volt - 20mA- 6.2 cd, (what ever that all means).

They said all watch batteries are 1.5 volts.

Again thank you.

[FIG]

Originally Posted by Buckterrier

Allright, I'm not an electrical mental giant and obviously either are the folks at my local Radio Shack. I'll have to rely, (thank you in advance), on the Pelican brain trust. This is what I was given, will it work...


2 - 1.5 volt watch batteries. They are 389's as the article said
1 - 5mm LED 3.2 volt - 20mA- 6.2 cd, (what ever that all means).

Again thank you.

Should be good to go!