How to Make a Tricolor LED

Tricolor LEDs consist of 3 different colored light-emitting diode (LED) lights, combined to emit a single bright light. LED lights are more efficient than typical incandescent light bulbs, so they make a great replacement for incandescent bulbs in flashlights or other small light devices. Because a single LED is considerably less bright than an incandescent bulb, make a tricolor LED light to combine the brightness of 3 lights into 1.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• A small flashlight
• 3 LED lights of different colors
• Wire cutters
• A drill
• Electrical tape

1. Select 3 different colors of LED light. Common colors are red, green and blue, and are all readily available in hardware stores.
2. Disassemble your flashlight and remove the incandescent bulb. Exercise caution when disposing of the bulb to avoid broken glass, and consider reusing the incandescent bulb in another device if it is not burned out.
3. Trim the ends off of the lead wires of all 3 of your LED lights. For a small flashlight, the leads should be about 1/4 inch, but they may need to be larger for certain models of light. Start longer and trim down.
4. Insert the leads into the bulb socket. Do not allow the leads from the same bulb to touch.
5. Test the tricolor LED by turning the light on. The lights may be dim, but if they turn on the flashlight is functioning. If the lights do not light up, try reversing the leads or removing 2 of the bulbs and testing the conversion using just 1 LED, adding the others when you have made one light up.
6. Cut a small sliver of electrical tape to bind the bases of the LED bulbs together. Remove the reflector piece from the flashlight and drill a larger hole to accommodate the tricolor LED, if necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• It may be necessary to convert the type of batteries used by the flashlight to achieve the maximum brightness of the tricolor LEDs. To make your tricolor LED flashlight as bright as possible, use N-cell batteries, which may require some spacing adjustments inside the flashlight.

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