Recycled CD lamp by lynspm

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Ever wondered what to do with old CDs and DVDs? Here comes the solution: turn them into a decorative lamp!
You will need
experience in building electrical equipment and knowledge to work with devices connected to mains voltage
soldering skills
24 white LEDs with 5mm diameter
a constant current power supply matching the power needs of the LEDs. In the given configuration, eight LEDs are connected in parallel, consuming around 150mA. Three of those eight-LED-strings will be connected in series, requiring around 8-9V. The design provides space for a power supply whose dimensions are 28x11x15mm. Try googling for 5W AC85-277V 150mA DC9-34V. You should be able to find something on aliexpress labeled "3-10*0.5W/150mA Candle Light Driver". I got mine on ebay.de however. Do not choose a version with more than 150mA, otherwise the LEDs will be overloaded (you may of course adapt the design to allow for more LEDs - it is just one variable).
a few cm/inches of internal cabling (thin insulated wire)
a power cable, preferably with a switch
a wire connector to connect the power cable with the power supply.
Assembly instructions:
Mount one column of eight LEDs at a time. Make sure all LEDs have the same orientation, i.e. the longer(anode) / shorter(cathode) wires must all be on the same side. Bend all wires down so that the wires from the upper LEDs reach the wires of the adjacent LEDs underneath. Solder the wires together, so that the eight LEDs are connected in parallel. This is not easy, because you will need to solder very close to the plastic, which does not like heat. Also, the wires may be a bit short, especially for the shorter side (cathode). In that case, you will need to fill the gaps with a liitle bit of solder. Don't try this if you don't have experience with soldering! Verify all connections with a multimeter before connecting a power supply!
Repeat for all three rows. Then locate the wiring holes running from one column to the next. Connect the anodes of one colum to the cathodes of the next column. In total you will have a series connection of three groups of eight diodes. Connect the positive output of the power supply with the anode side of the series and the negative output of the power supply with the cathode side.
You will want to check if everything works before final assembly. Warning if you do this with direct input from the line power, be extremely cautious not to touch any metallic part of the assembly! You have been warned!
The parts connect with a circular dovetail. Just set together and turn until it snaps in. Take care not to squeeze any cabling (see photo). That's it. Now fill in the CDs and cover the top, again with the circular dovetail. Have fun!
OpenSCAD version notice
The circular dovetail requires OpenSCAD 2016.xx or newer. It will not work with the current official release (2015.03) as this version does not support the angle argument in rotate_extrude(). You will need a development snapshot.