DIY LED Bat Top joy sticks

[tylerwerrin]

Hot melt is hot glue gun glue, correct? I'll give it a whirl -- i bought some 22ga led strip wire -- it's the same type of wire that i think you used on the RGB drives (4 colors in one ribbon.) I'll give that a go -- the hot melt trick sounds like a winner -- i could also put a blob at the end to hold the LED onto the pipe.

What i found to be very successful with the slender style competition bat tops is that there is a plastic sheath with disguises all trace of the pipe -- very discreet!

One other snag, which i have yet to perfectly figure out is to get each stick exactly the same shade of white. I use "one drop" from the Castn' Craft pigment bottle, but the problem is, a "drop" is different every time, ever so slightly. Since the pigment goes a long way with a little, its tricky to get the exact same shade. The only way around that would be to make more than one at a time, with the same batch of resin -- but I haven't had a chance to craft a jig for that yet, and I'm out of OOMOO.

[Cornchip]

   I haven't looked for some time, but I'd really like to find a online electronics store that has 4 pole 3.5mm male/female jacks to build a new RGB stick. It's been almost 8 years since I did my LED bat top. Where has the time gone.

Cornchip.

[Brutick]

   I haven't looked for some time, but I'd really like to find a online electronics store that has 4 pole 3.5mm male/female jacks to build a new RGB stick. It's been almost 8 years since I did my LED bat top. Where has the time gone.

Cornchip.

I'm assuming something along these lines?

http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/SP-35401/CP-35401SP-ND/2638984

Enjoy

[tylerwerrin]

ahh, dammit -- nothing lit up! ugrrgghhhhh!!!

I got the LED wired to my LED blinky and no go -- not sure what the issue is. I checked for voltage at the LED itself (probed the cathode) and it was getting 5v from my PSU. What could the problem be? The LEDs i purchased are 20ma 5mm diffused RGB type. I have the correct resistors in place. Is there something that I could be missing? I did the "Simple LED" test in LED blinky -- all my buttons came on as they should but no dice on the LED intended for the joystick....

[armi0024]

   I haven't looked for some time, but I'd really like to find a online electronics store that has 4 pole 3.5mm male/female jacks to build a new RGB stick. It's been almost 8 years since I did my LED bat top. Where has the time gone.

Cornchip.

I can look for them, Slickstick sent me the info on what they were using a while ago.

[RandyT]

ahh, dammit -- nothing lit up! ugrrgghhhhh!!!

I got the LED wired to my LED blinky and no go -- not sure what the issue is. I checked for voltage at the LED itself (probed the cathode) and it was getting 5v from my PSU. What could the problem be? The LEDs i purchased are 20ma 5mm diffused RGB type. I have the correct resistors in place. Is there something that I could be missing? I did the "Simple LED" test in LED blinky -- all my buttons came on as they should but no dice on the LED intended for the joystick....

RGB LEDs come in two varieties: Common Anode and Common Cathode.  You need Common Anode for most controllers, including the LED-Wiz.  You can check this by reversing the polarity of your connection (I.e. connect the common to Ground and connect the positive to one of the colors.)  If it lights up, you have the wrong kind.

[tylerwerrin]

I finally got my new LED's and hooked them up -- very disappointed with the brightness! I am not sure if it is due to the diffused nature of the LED lens, or my resistors are keeping the brightness too low, but either way, the joystick barely lights up at all, and even out on their own, the LED's are very weak.

Randy, I was wondering what type of LED's you use for your ICE buttons, and the resistor pellets -- i asked you via email once about the resistors, and according to LED Calculator i purchased and installed the correct ones -- but perhaps I just need brighter LEDs. Can you help me source something to make this project work?

[armi0024]

Can you take a picture of the results.  The light will diffuse poorly if it's too high in the stick and intensity won't help that. 

The prototypes we did with the 5mm leds we have lit up well, but only the top half of the bat.

[RandyT]

I finally got my new LED's and hooked them up -- very disappointed with the brightness! I am not sure if it is due to the diffused nature of the LED lens, or my resistors are keeping the brightness too low, but either way, the joystick barely lights up at all, and even out on their own, the LED's are very weak.

Randy, I was wondering what type of LED's you use for your ICE buttons, and the resistor pellets -- i asked you via email once about the resistors, and according to LED Calculator i purchased and installed the correct ones -- but perhaps I just need brighter LEDs. Can you help me source something to make this project work?

A brighter LED may help, but when you are talking about RGB and a small footprint, the amount of light you will be able to produce will be limited.  The LED on your phone (the one you tested with earlier) is not a run-of-the-mill type, rather a high output one (like you would find in a small LED flashlight).  Getting that intensity is probably not possible from a standard, small RGB LED.

I hate to say this, but you may have to try making another knob.  Getting that ratio of white to clear "just right" is extremely tricky.  When we first developed translucent white parts, having no samples to simply send off to be used as a reference, it took many iterations to find the right density.  Then there is the issue of naturally occurring color filtering properties of both the material and the pigments used.  If it's uniformly dim, regardless of the color, then that's probably not a big issue.

I had some special high output RGB LED units produced for our RGB balltops.  They are pre-wired, already have resistors, very bright and direct the light differently than what you are probably using.  Whether they will fit, I can't say, but if they work, molding them right into the knob might be something to consider.  If you want to buy a couple to play with, drop me an email.

[armi0024]

I do agree with Randy, that mix is important.  If the mix is done correctly on the RGB tops they won't require high intensity outputs, we have not required these for ours.

As stated earlier position of the end of the metal tubing is important, but also the amount of the led protruding into the plastic is important.   If the LED is sitting in your tube shining up into the bat top, it will not be as effective as if you move the LED up into the plastic you are illuminating.

Anyhow I found our prototype bat top, here is a picture with a regular 5V Led running about 40mA

[tylerwerrin]

making another knob isn't a problem, I think it is in the LED's I'm using -- they are 20ma RGB's, and with the 1/8 watt resistors that the LED calculator instructed me to use, they are incredibly dim, barely lighting up the knob at all. Are the RGB led's that you guys use 40ma? or would that not make a difference. Perhaps the resistors are too strong?

[RandyT]

making another knob isn't a problem, I think it is in the LED's I'm using -- they are 20ma RGB's, and with the 1/8 watt resistors that the LED calculator instructed me to use, they are incredibly dim, barely lighting up the knob at all. Are the RGB led's that you guys use 40ma? or would that not make a difference. Perhaps the resistors are too strong?

The ones I mentioned above will draw about 100ma with RGB at full on.  It's almost too bright for our balltops, but they really pop.   When used with an LED-Wiz, they can be tuned lower if desired, so that's a better problem to have than what you are battling.  The wattage of the resistor is only the amount of power it can handle.  It doesn't directly affect the current.  As long as it isn't getting too hot, it's probably ok.  But higher output LEDs will likely require a higher wattage resistor.

The resistance value is what you need to check.  If you don't have the correct value, or if it was calculated based on a voltage other than the one you are currently using, it may not be letting enough current pass for the LED.  Also keep in mind that a standard LED is going to be significantly brighter when viewed from the top down, than from the side.  Diffused lenses will spread the light out more than clear ones, but there is still an optimal viewing angle, the center of which is brightest.

With something like this, getting the brightness correct, along with the proper color density, is going to be a delicate balancing act due to the geometry.  Higher output LED's with denser colorants will mean better diffusion.  Lower colorant density with lower output LED's will mean "hotspotting".  Something in the middle will be practical.

[Scorpie]

Really interested in this, armi0024 do you guys have any idea when your prototype will be production ready?

[SpatzST]

reviving this thread because I definitely want an LED Bat top =)

[Scorpie]

Another bump, really looking forward to this.

[AcidArmitage]

maybe make the battop clear and coat it with a frosted opaque layer?

[tylerwerrin]

Hi guys,

Sorry, I forgot to keep updating the thread -- i never found a bright enough RGB LED off ebay - i ordered a few different ones, but they all came back dim and terrible. The bat top that I have works great, and could easily one day be lit with a suitable RGB LED - one thing I do have to note, soldering such tiny connections is really difficult - took me several tries to get it to stick and not blob over to the other legs of the LED.

i made 8 total bat tops, and 4 shafts. I made 4 of the "ultimate" style" and 4 of the normal tear drop shape style. For the "ultimate" style I used 5/16" thinwall pipe and threaded it. For the normal "super" top I used 3/8" pipe and threaded it. It's a very cost effective method, the entire project cost about 35 dollars, including OOMOO, the resin, the LED's and the pipe.

[nitrogen_widget]

Hi guys,

Sorry, I forgot to keep updating the thread -- i never found a bright enough RGB LED off ebay - i ordered a few different ones, but they all came back dim and terrible. The bat top that I have works great, and could easily one day be lit with a suitable RGB LED - one thing I do have to note, soldering such tiny connections is really difficult - took me several tries to get it to stick and not blob over to the other legs of the LED.

i made 8 total bat tops, and 4 shafts. I made 4 of the "ultimate" style" and 4 of the normal tear drop shape style. For the "ultimate" style I used 5/16" thinwall pipe and threaded it. For the normal "super" top I used 3/8" pipe and threaded it. It's a very cost effective method, the entire project cost about 35 dollars, including OOMOO, the resin, the LED's and the pipe.

What Wattage LED's did you use?
How many rated lumens?
Did you look at dx.com?

i'm just curious.

[tylerwerrin]

these were the ones i used:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370946257632&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

i havent checked dx -- which ones on there would i have to get to make it glow real nice?

[nitrogen_widget]

these were the ones i used:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370946257632&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

i havent checked dx -- which ones on there would i have to get to make it glow real nice?

Maybe something like this?
they are 5 lumens.
your's are on average .6 lumens.
However yours are 5mm & these motorcycle ones are about 13mm or half inch diameter.

another option (and i don't know if you have tried this)
Is one of these more powerful jobs

http://www.dx.com/p/epileds-3w-20mm-rgb-led-on-star-white-229671#.U_Xyr6NJ3E0

mounted to the bottom opening of your shaft & shining into the handle.
If the inside of the shaft is polished up it might work.