Nite lite

Tags: #<Tag:0x00007fa4a5eabd88>
#1

lamp%20off
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Made this lamp in the X1 carbon. The current light in the kids room is too bright and keeping them up, but turning it off completly scares them. I found a light kit on makerworld, along with 3mf files for a variety of lights. Eldest loves anything crystal or dragons so this seemed like a winner!

lamp_on
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The only modification I did was adding some text via Bambu Studio. Printed like a dream. I used PLA as it was the only red filament in the space. I’ve tried leaving it on for a few hours, and it gets uncomfotably hot to touch. I was a bit worried abotu that and if I should have used PETG, but I’ve left the light on inside overnight, with no weaknesses in the print I can detect.

sanding
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The points were however suprisingly sharp to touch, so I had to enlist some help sanding them down.

20240508_182224
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Worked great at the night and looks even better than my camera can capture. However, the light is still too bright for my liking. It looks a little like a movie submarine set in there.

20240509_132832
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I cracked the kit open, and liiks like it’s just a pcb with some basic leds and resistors. I’m a little out of my depth doing much in the line of modifications, and my electronics is a little patchy. I think I can see a few solutions here I should be able to accomplish:

  • Put a towel over it. This is what we did with the old one. But it’s not very elegant or maker is it?
  • Solder a potentiometer into the input wire. Should be easy to to, adjustable from the unit. If I get a small one, I could cut a hole in the base unbit for it. Restricitng the current should make it dimmer right?
  • PWM. Turns it into a software project, where I’m more comfortable. I’ve got a PI Zero + hat that outputs a 5v PWM signal, that would work although it’s a little bulky. I’m not sure how to calculate the current it draws, but it’s made for servos, so a handful of LEDs should be good right?
  • Replace the entire unit with a neopixel ring. Makes things 100 software and entirely within my confort zone to just plug in, write some code and have it all work. However it feels a little wasteful to chuck the light I just got.
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#2

Friends don’t let friends using a raspberry pi zero to dim some LEDS.

Get a three position switch, get a multimeterd, I can see the leds are powered by 5v, so you need to figure out which resistor you need to drop the current enough for the light to just glow, you do that by putting the multimeter in current mode (A/mA) and then put it between the positive lead of the battery (?) and the LEDs, it will give you a reading, let’s say 450mA.

You know it’s 5v, you know it’s 450mA, now, let’s drop it half, this might not work as some LEDs has min amout of current needed to start.

You have to apply Ohm’s R = V/I, it’s the law.

you get your Resistance = 5v/225mA, put the resistance on one of the leg of the switch, the power in the center, no resistance on the other side, there you go, now you have an high and low power mode.

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#3

Nice. The only reason I thought of the pi setup was to add wifi control, so I can set the lights high while doing bedtime, then dim them right down once I know they are asleep, so it won’t wake them up. Sledgehammer to crack a nut over complicated, an esp + logic level shifter would be much more elegant, but I just happen to have the PI+Servo boads sitting in my boxes of clutter.

But now I think of it, they need to be checked on anyway. So a 3 ways switch is a much cleaner a solution, and more of a learning optutunity. Can’t just stay in our comfort zones and throw a pi at every problem, can we?

My only other idea is to just desolder the inner ring. I can’t quite make out from the board traces if it’s serial or parallel though. It’s way too solidly glued down to take it out and see the reverse. It -looks- like parallel, but I’m operating off high school electronics knowledge from 20 years ago.

#4

Be careful, automation is a slippery slope, you start with a light and you end up having an entire server to run Home Assistant :joy:

3 Likes