Example pics: RGB LEDs with Clear Buttons and a LED Wiz

[webgeek]

Hi all. Finally got around to putting together my button lighting experiment. I'm using:

• 1x Shawnzilla transparent microswitch button
• 2x LSDiodes 5mm RGB LED (http://www.lsdiodes.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=62)
• 1x LED Wiz
• 1x Doughnut made out of Lee Valley white poly stuff (The Kinevil method)

Without further ado:

Red	Green	Blue
Aqua (B + G)	Purple (R+ B)	Yellow (R+ G)
White (R + B + G)

Sadly, these colors are all washed out a bit. The photos were taken this morning in a dark room (before I left for work) and they are a bit over exposed. All the colors are actually more vibrant (less white). The buttons look pretty good in a lit room too. I don't know if I'll use three lights in the end or not as just two seem to cut it fine. I think you might need three if you were to use these in a room that gets a lot of sunlight.

One thing... By adjusting the intensity level of each color, you can easily come up with many different colors and hues. Additionally, the LED Wiz is a real piece of work, you can use it to dim the lights universally or  animate the buttons, etc. I don't have a video camera or I could show the cross fades I've set up from color to color as well as the fade-in/out I've created.

Please let me know if you want any other photos taken or have any questions. Thanks!

Mike

[lockburn]

Wow, they look nice!  Can you show a pic of how the LED's are inserted into the switch as well as the wiring?

Thanks!

[webgeek]

The lights are not inserted into the switch itself. I created a doughnut out of white plastic. This doughnut slips around the button and is held in place with the button nut. The lights are inserted into 3/16ths" holes that are drilled into the doughnut.  If you look at Knievel's Neon MAME, you will see something similiar with his leaf switch buttons. As for the wiring, there is nothing to see. It's simply two RGB LEDs wired in series and then tied into the first three outputs of an LED Wiz (with appropriate resistors in line). Basically, nothing to see. Besides, my soldering job is so bad I'm too embarassed to show it

I will take some more pictures tonight of other colors and I'll fix the white balance so it's more "accurate".

Thanks!

Mike

[Grasshopper]

I'd be very interested to know how the Shawnzilla buttons compare with the Groovygamegear ones.

[webgeek]

I don't have the GGG buttons, so I can't tell how first hand how they look. From the photos I've seen, I like the intense color you get with the clear buttons a bit more then the white but that's offset by the amount of effort it takes to set them up. I think Randy's little circuit board for the RGB LEDs is a stroke of genius

[lockburn]

I'm looking forward to see how you made the donut, and what the underside of the control panel looks like.  I'm getting ready to get my projecct off the ground soon...

[webgeek]

I appologize for reviving a long dead thread, but I wanted to provide the images I promised before.

Here is a picture of a button with collar:


The collars are created by first drilling a hole in the phenolic sheet that has the same inside diameter as the outside diameter as your button barrel (plus threads). Then I used a hole cutter in the same spot to create the doughnut. I just made sure the hole cutter was 1/4+ inch bigger then the barrel hole. Here is a picure of the scrap to help explain better:


Once you have done that, just drill a hole into each side of the doughnut to hold the LEDs. Sadly, the phenolic  material is a bit "squishy" and so caused me some headaches while drilling. Because of this, I made a simple drilling jig to simplify things. Here is a picture of the jig by itself:


and a picture of it standing up with a doughnut attached as it would be in the vise:


Once I had the knack down for making these, I started using my vertical mill to just race through a long line, first drilling the centers and then going back down the line cutting the holes. This sped things up greatly and saved a lot of time. All told, I did 30 doughnuts. All but 3 or so came out great. I will probably redo those last couple when I get bored. Might as well do it properly.

Have fun!