#4909547
So you ask in the title if LED strips would work in the trap, but then you ask if you can swap out the green LEDs with white ones.

So, first off, I have no idea on LED strips.

As for white LEDs, it depends on the specs of the LED. MOST LEDs around 5 mm take upwards of 20 mA of current, as far as I can tell.

There are a couple of very important details with the SH Trap, though! First and foremost, the two green LEDs run in parallel. That means both get the same voltage, but split the current. In the SH Trap, we have about 3.0 v (2x 1.5 v AA batteries), and the two green LEDs run in series with a single 6.8 ohm resistor.

As far as I can tell doing multimeter testing and crunching some numbers, the forward voltage on the green LEDs is around 2.8 v, which is pretty standard for an LED, and just so happens to be around the correct forward voltage to, with a 6.8 ohm resistor on the line, drop the current down to 30 mA.

So, since we split the current between the two LEDs, they both get about 15 mA. Which is less than 20 mA and acceptable for running an LED (though not the brightest).

So, if you get a new LED to replace the green LEDs, it needs to be:

5 mm in size
Have a forward voltage of around 2.8 v (usually forward voltage is a range)
Be capable of running @ 20 mA

I could be wrong, I'm still really new with fiddling with electronics, but it's about in the ballpark.

EDIT: I went back and checked what the forward voltage is on the green LEDs, and the reading I got on forward voltage when pushing the standard 3v to them was about 2.6v.
Last edited by TragicManner on October 2nd, 2018, 12:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
#4909551
TragicManner wrote:So you ask in the title if LED strips would work in the trap, but then you ask if you can swap out the green LEDs with white ones.

So, first off, I have no idea on LED strips.

As for white LEDs, it depends on the specs of the LED. MOST LEDs around 5 mm take upwards of 20 mA of current, as far as I can tell.

There are a couple of very important details with the SH Trap, though! First and foremost, the two green LEDs run in parallel. That means both get the same voltage, but split the current. In the SH Trap, we have about 3.0 v (2x 1.5 v AA batteries), and the two green LEDs run in series with a single 6.8 ohm resistor.

As far as I can tell doing multimeter testing and crunching some numbers, the forward voltage on the green LEDs is around 2.8 v, which is pretty standard for an LED, and just so happens to be around the correct forward voltage to, with a 6.8 ohm resistor on the line, drop the current down to 30 mA.

So, since we split the current between the two LEDs, they both get about 15 mA. Which is less than 20 mA and acceptable for running an LED (though not the brightest).

So, if you get a new LED to replace the green LEDs, it needs to be:

5 mm in size
Have a forward voltage of around 2.8 v (usually forward voltage is a range)
Be capable of running @ 20 mA

I could be wrong, I'm still really new with fiddling with electronics, but it's about in the ballpark.
Sorry I re-read it. It is a little confusing. I want to replace the two green LED's with brighter white ones. (Preferably LED's strips)
#4909552
I'm not entirely sure about LED strips. I guess it depends on what their data sheets say about them, but I would guess that most of them are run in series, which, to put it simply, means that your 2 AA batteries just aren't going to cut it. I did a quick search for LED strips that run on AA batteries, but I didn't find anything that ran with fewer than 3 AA batteries.

Even if you were able to find a LED strip that runs on 2 AA batteries, though, the circuit going to the green LEDs has a 6.8 ohm resistor on it, as I mentioned. What this means is that the resistor is using up some of the power to avoid burning out the 2 LEDs that are currently on the line, which means that the LED power strip probably wouldn't get enough power unless you want to remove the small SMD resistor on the circuit board and short the connection it used to bridge.

I suppose, though, if you manage to find a 2 AA powered LED strip and wire it in where one of the green LEDs is currently (I would remove the other green LED), you could see if it lights up, even with the resistor there, especially since it's a pretty wimpy resistor at only 6.8 ohms.
#4909572
I did this, I bought a cheap LED lantern at Walmart and took it apart and spliced the wires from the LEDs in the lantern and secured them to the inside of the trap., seems to be working, it at least hasn't caught on fire yet lol but I figured since it takes the same batteries it should be fine..

Just be careful as the Spirit traps are pretty cheaply built. and the wires are suspect, I plan on rewiring it at some point.
#4909585
jreverhart wrote: October 2nd, 2018, 11:36 am I did this, I bought a cheap LED lantern at Walmart and took it apart and spliced the wires from the LEDs in the lantern and secured them to the inside of the trap., seems to be working, it at least hasn't caught on fire yet lol but I figured since it takes the same batteries it should be fine..

Just be careful as the Spirit traps are pretty cheaply built. and the wires are suspect, I plan on rewiring it at some point.
Do you mind showing what you did??
#4909588
jreverhart wrote:Just be careful as the Spirit traps are pretty cheaply built. and the wires are suspect, I plan on rewiring it at some point.
This is very, very true. And the more I work with the trap, the more I'm realizing it's the case.

In looking how the LEDs were set up, it seems pretty evident that, even with the two AAs, at least the green LEDs are getting way too much current.

And the number of wires that I've been able to brush up against and have them come unsoldered is criminal, haha. A long-term functional SH Trap will require rewiring, for sure.
#4909620
tb-1599 wrote: October 2nd, 2018, 7:42 pm
jreverhart wrote: October 2nd, 2018, 11:36 am I did this, I bought a cheap LED lantern at Walmart and took it apart and spliced the wires from the LEDs in the lantern and secured them to the inside of the trap., seems to be working, it at least hasn't caught on fire yet lol but I figured since it takes the same batteries it should be fine..

Just be careful as the Spirit traps are pretty cheaply built. and the wires are suspect, I plan on rewiring it at some point.
Do you mind showing what you did??
I didn't take photos of the process, basically all I did was hot glue the LEDs from the lantern to the bottom floor of the trap, cut the LEDs that came with it out, and twisted the wires heat shrinked them, and taped them down with electrical tape nothing really fancy and if you look in the trap without power it looks pretty shotty lol

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