So for my new case, I was thinking of ditching the cold cathode idea. They're big, clunky, and burn down your box (on rare occasions). My main argument is that they're just inconvenient for a space saving box. I'd like to light up my entire box with UV Leds. I've seen a couple LED lit cases, but they're generally spot LEDs in clear plexi. I was wondering if anyone could give some suggestions as to how to go about lighting the interior up with them bright enough to make it show and not have 15 million of them attached all over my case. Also, if I use green LEDs near the window, will it destroy the UV effect?
How effective they are depends on a lot.... I had a madlights kit which is simply four blocks of three (red/bloo/green) LEDs that you can mount in a case anywhere and have them flash based on the controller and whatnot. But those were bright enough to light up a small room (yes I tested that)... even when only one color, a total of four LEDs, were on. LSdiodes.com has some great ultrabright LEDs, and they have UV ones. I'd look to them for some nice bright diodes, they're cheap too. A couple in each corner kinda pointing at the mobo or something reflective would be best really. You could also try using some high-grit sandpaper to sand the LED and diffuse the light a bit, kinda how G-gnome did it for most LEDs in Orac3. As for green and UV... it really depends on a lot. If you have a ton of UV lights and only a couple green ones then the effect probably won't be destroyed. The beauty of UV LEDs is that you can point them right at the stuff to be lit up in UV so they're more effective than cold cathodes in that respect.
One thing to watch out for when shopping "superbright" LEDs from anyone. Check the veiwing angle, and if the MCD rating is based on max voltage. For example. I picked up some 5500MCD Blue LEDs from superbrightleds.com. Mind, the 5500MCD is at *normal* operating voltage, not max voltage. However, the viewing angle is only 15' Which means from just about anywhere except straight-on, you barely notice these LEDs. From straight-on, you're seeing spots for a good 5 minutes after. The widest viewing angle they have, is 45', which would probably be good for lighting up the guts of a case, although those are only available in white, green, yellow, and red. 30' viewing angle is available in most colors. As far as any UV LEDs, they've got one in 5mm, 30' viewing angle, 2000MCD, $1.95/ea. I would think you could use 4-8, one in each corner of the case, and probably light it up. Good luck.
$1.95 each? Go to eBay and buy them straight from the manufacturers. I got 50 UV LEDs for £5 with free postage. That's 10 english pennies each... not bad eh?
Quite good, actually. Of course, I haven't actually used any UV LEDs, but that will certainly help the fellow who started the thread. Out of curiosity, what are the ratings of those LEDs? Jason A.
Chi Wing has the cheapest LEDs I've ever seen. Their standard package is $3 for 10 LEDs, 3mm or 5mm, and 10 resistors to run them off 12 volts. You just can't beat that level of Chinese bargain. If it wasn't for the fact that I already bought sunbeam UV cold cathodes for $6 on SVC, I'd make strip lights out of LEDs. Just take a strip of plexiglass (or wood or metal or whatever, but plexi looks nice). Drill a bunch of holes in a row, a few mm apart (vary the density for richer/dimmer light), and mount the LEDs in the holes. Sand the LEDs with some 400 or 600 grit sandpaper to make sure they have a smooth, diffuse glow. You can clip them right into the holes with mounting hardware, although the plexiglass may be thick for something like that, in which case some thin sheet aluminum would come in real handy. Run them in parallel with a high wattage resistor (which you should be able to find at All Electronics), do your ohms law and whatnot or use the LED calculator at Metku.net to figure everything out for large amounts of parallel LEDs. The end result should be something that gives off good, even light like a CCFL (although more focused, this may or may not be an issue), and won't die or catch on fire. And if an LED does happen to die (relatively rare) your hole string won't go out, so you don't even have to bother replacing it.
forget leds use luxeon stars, have you ever senn these lit THE ENTIRE ROOM. o and lsdiodes for all your led needs $2.00 shipping and freebies edit: READ THIS, its a well know fact that you can increase the viewing angle of an led by sanding off the "dome" just make sure you dont hit the anode or cathode (the little metal things) edit 2: to put it simpley, NO the uv effect is chemical so unless you use 100 green leds to drown out the uv it will be fine, plus as stated above they are very directional (unless modded) so you can place them so that the dont interfer with the window.
Quoting from the eBay description, they aren't the best LEDs in the world, but they aren't bad and they cost buggerall Product Description * Emitted Colour : ULTRA VIOLET * Size (mm) : 5mm T1 3/4 * Lens Colour : Water Clear * Peak Wave Length (nm) : 385 - 395 * Forward Voltage (V) : 3.2 ~ 3.8 * Reverse Current (uA) : <=30 * Luminous Intensity Typ Iv (mcd) : Average in 2000 * Life Rating : 100,000 Hours * Viewing Angle : 25 Degree
