It was great fun tripping over the wooden base and regarding that space as wasted, but someone insisted that it deserved a tabletop. All of a sudden, I had a pretty cool table instead of a giant ugly base. Okay, it will become a neat table. Right now, it's a rough wooden chunk with an MDF top.
Applying LED strips in a neat triple helix is twice as hard as it sounds and 1/10th as much fun as it sounds. The first strip needed to be almost perfect since the subsequent ones would follow its lead and it took all my patience for a day to get it right. The other two were not fun, but I had more practice and patience when I applied them.
With all 900 LEDs attached, I naturally wanted to turn on some of them. I knew it would be a disaster, and I hypothesized that the sudden draw of all these lights would cause the system to fail and reset itself. Instead, a little battery struggled to keep every node producing a few photons. The ones at the closest end did not have an additional power drop, so they were the most starved for voltage.
I installed power drops every sixty nodes. I chose sixty because there were already solder joints at these points, but someone advised me that anything more than seventy was asking for trouble. I was using a butane soldering iron for the first time and marred the PVC a few times. I need to be mindful of the vent.
Bluetooth data was working. Power was in place. All the electrical factors were ready so I hung the tube from the ceiling, connected it to the power supply, and turned all the lights on. I was nervous about the thin wire I was using but there was no trouble as I ran function after function to turn lights on and off.
Hanging the pillar was never a long-term solution. I built a new base that was short enough that it cleared the ceiling but it did not have any motors. Someday, this will probably become a lamp base. I happen to find a PVC part that made it a simple task to mount a 4" segment to a flat surface, scrap MDF in this case.
The rest of the summary posts have been arranged by date.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information on this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property, or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
Tabletop to go with the pillar
Applying LED strips in a neat triple helix is twice as hard as it sounds and 1/10th as much fun as it sounds. The first strip needed to be almost perfect since the subsequent ones would follow its lead and it took all my patience for a day to get it right. The other two were not fun, but I had more practice and patience when I applied them.
Over four feet of LED covered PVC pipe
With all 900 LEDs attached, I naturally wanted to turn on some of them. I knew it would be a disaster, and I hypothesized that the sudden draw of all these lights would cause the system to fail and reset itself. Instead, a little battery struggled to keep every node producing a few photons. The ones at the closest end did not have an additional power drop, so they were the most starved for voltage.
LEDs lit from a little battery at one end
I installed power drops every sixty nodes. I chose sixty because there were already solder joints at these points, but someone advised me that anything more than seventy was asking for trouble. I was using a butane soldering iron for the first time and marred the PVC a few times. I need to be mindful of the vent.
Reinforced power and scars
Bluetooth data was working. Power was in place. All the electrical factors were ready so I hung the tube from the ceiling, connected it to the power supply, and turned all the lights on. I was nervous about the thin wire I was using but there was no trouble as I ran function after function to turn lights on and off.
A well-lit upright pillar
Hanging the pillar was never a long-term solution. I built a new base that was short enough that it cleared the ceiling but it did not have any motors. Someday, this will probably become a lamp base. I happen to find a PVC part that made it a simple task to mount a 4" segment to a flat surface, scrap MDF in this case.
New base displaying some numbers
The rest of the summary posts have been arranged by date.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information on this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property, or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
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