Electrical plans

[twyg]

Ok, I have a whole bunch of bad electronics laying around. I've also got a solder gun and solder. (Beware!)

So, I like LED's... They come in handy. They're bright, cheap and very energy efficient. I've seen lamps made out of LED's, but they go for $250. That's no good. I'm figuring the price is in the cost of manufacturing, and if I did it myself I could do it for much cheaper.

Does anyone know where to go to get electrical plans of this sort? I found a page in the UK, but I'd rather find another place. (They don't have what I want.)

So all you electronic buffs, where should I go?

Also, I have an old USB cable, and a few LED's. How could I hook them up so I don't either a) blow myself up or b) blow my USB port out.

I don't think that the "kensington fly light" has a converter, but it might... *sigh*

[ladavacm]

Get Horowitz and Hill "The Art of Electronics". It will help you devise the plans (and probably save your life, too).

BTW, soldering gun is a dangerous weapon, intended for mass destruction of semiconductive parts. If you want to do anything other than solder resistors to each other in the air, get a temperature controlled soldering iron, even as crude as Weller magnastat; savings in the (surviving) parts will quickly offset the initial investment

[twyg]

Thank you!

That's what I was lookin' for...

[JohnnyV]

Are there any sites with lots of cool, but somewhat easy to make schematics?

[dricci]

I hooked some battery powered christmas lights up to a usb port with an old usb plug.

I think the USB port was a little too powerful, though. most of the lights died after a few days

[twyg]

See, that's what I want to avoid!

If I'm not mistaken, a resistor or two would have curtailed that "blinking out" problem... *yuk yuk*