Holiday Project: LED Flip Light

The original idea for this project came from David Bakker at draailampje.nl ("draailampje" means "flip light" in Dutch) via Make: - I've modified it slightly.  My kids both like to solder, so I wanted a project which my youngest could do mostly by herself.



Parts:

• Batteries: http://amzn.to/2gQYk9P
• Battery holders: http://amzn.to/2enJDbT
• Switches: http://amzn.to/2gWmzpN
• 10mm LEDs: http://amzn.to/2g0AOoY
• 1.5 oz jars: http://amzn.to/2gDZjME

The idea of the flip light is very simple: parts needed are a CR2032 battery, a coin battery holder, a tilt switch, and a 10mm diffused LED.












This assembly is mounted into the lid of a small hexagonal glass jar with hot glue.  We built 20 of them in assembly-line fashion, with me acting as safety observer and occasionally suggesting that she re-solder some joints.

Operation is dumb simple; flip the light over to turn it on, back again to turn it off.

The CR2032 battery drives the LED directly - no current-limiting resistor is needed.  You have to make a choice about orientation - David Bakker's original design is to have the light on when the lid is up.

My daughter decided to have it on when the lid is down, with the LED pointing up when on, so that the light comes out the bottom of the jar.  She felt this was more "pretty".

The end result was really nice - she tossed a few on the mantle, put some on the dining room table, and gave a few away as gifts.

The most expensive parts of the project were the glass jars.  You can get them for about $1 each if you buy a box of 24.  Parts list above.