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Thread: rotating lights

  1. #1
    Fresh Paint
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    Default rotating lights

    hey guys, me again :p

    i'm looking to setup a rotating light inside my case. it'll have 3-4 different color led's on it and should rotate slowly while the computer is powered on. my problem is this. how do i keep the wires from twisting up? i've thought on this for the past 4 hours here at work (not much else to do but think of modding ) and have come with three options:
    1) make a 360* connection for power and ground that the lights can be in constant contact with.
    2) mod an existing rotating light for my led's.
    3) scrap the idea entirely.

    i don't care for number 3 and frankly am against it. as for 2, i've search The Wired for such rotating lights and most are exactly the opposite of what i'm after (they have a stationary bulb with colored disks or globes that do the rotating). so i'm stuck mainly with 1 using a brush contact setup for the led's.

    any suggestions on a different approach or perhaps something to mod that would work would be great. thanks a mil

  2. #2
    Anodized
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    Well, if you are good at electronics. which i am not, lol. You could try setting the number of times the cogs will turn, then once that rotation has been complete it will simply go back the other way until that number is once achieved. (a wild idea, hehe duno if it will actually work.)

    Other than that, all i can say is i am going to have to think about it, lol. As i am wanting to also rotate some laser lights to act as spotlights shining out the roof of the case.

  3. #3
    Fresh Paint
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    ya that could be done, but i was hoping for a continual rotation. as for your spotlight idea, guessing you're going for a back-forth motion? you could try setting them up on a toothed rail so only one motor for the front and one for the back is needed (if 1 spotlight per corner). just a thought for you, now for me...i need one :p



  4. #4
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    i would say that you are stuck with number one on your list there. however, you may not have to make it. see if you can find a wire setup out there that would work, or even better get an electric motor with the wires/360 connection already built into the shaft (i think i remember seeing something like this at the hobby shop ). if you can't find anything out there and you can build it then go for it! just make sure to take and post pictures to show us all how you did it

    EDIT: just thought of something lol...you could mount the LEDs in rotation shafts as well so that as the disc turned the LEDs would rotate the opposite direction preventing the wires from twisting. hope this helps!

    EDIT2: in thinking about that again there is a side note it would only work with one set of wires or one LED. so it wouldn't work with 3-4 different LEDs... you'd be best off going with what you had originally planned :p
    where are you?

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  5. #5
    ATX Mental Case
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    Ok create two discs, on the first disk put a positive an negative conact ring ocmpletely around. One set for each LED makes sure none are touching. Then make a set of +/- brush contacts to rub along the 360 degree contacts. connect all of those rings to your circuit and connet each LED to a set of +/- contacts.I gotta go now but if you don't get it I will be back on around 1 and I will make a diagram.

  6. #6
    Administrator OvRiDe's Avatar
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    Wow, this is the exact idea that I have been milling over as well.. I have pretty much figured out on how to do the contacts and brushes for the LEDs, the problem I have is finding a motor that will run at low RPM that is tiny. In some cases, if you lower the voltage you can lower the speed, but that only works down to a certain point, because you need to have enough voltage to get the motor spinning first (Kind of like a the starter cap on table saw). What I am wondering if you could use PWM to regulate the speed without destroying the motor or making the rotation look all jerky instead of nice and smooth.

    The only other idea I have been able to come up with is... if you are looking more for the effect then actual look of the hardware.. Point an led straight up into a mirror that is spinning at a 45 degree angle. Unfortunately it doesn't get me around the motor issue.

  7. #7
    Case Modding MoFo Crimson Sky's Avatar
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    Here's a couple idears:

    Here is a rotating device thats cheap and already has the wires for connecting--a telephone cord anti-twist coupling--Just use telephone cord and RJ45 connectors to hook up LEDs and power

    To make it spin, use a DC motor and gearbox like this one to control the speed. There are also plenty of easy to get DC hobby motor speed controllers out there if you dont want the gearbox--they are like $10-$20 and have a potentiometer knob for controlling rotation speed.

    To spin the top of the coupling where thge LEDs are located, just mount a rubber drum from a small Dremel sanding bit onto the motor shaft and voila--you have a friction roller. Think MacGyver when ya do this stuff
    Last edited by Crimson Sky; 12-11-2005 at 03:09 PM.
    In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.

  8. #8
    Administrator OvRiDe's Avatar
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    Quote Originally Posted by Crimson Sky
    To spin the top of the coupling where thge LEDs are located, just mount a rubber drum from a small Dremel sanding bit onto the motor shaft and voila--you have a friction roller. Think MacGyver when ya do this stuff

    SlapsForhead
    I never thought of THAT.. perfect solution. Thanks Crimson!

  9. #9
    Case Modding MoFo Crimson Sky's Avatar
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    Default Re: rotating lights

    Quote Originally Posted by OvRiDe

    SlapsForhead
    I never thought of THAT.. perfect solution. Thanks Crimson!

    yeah ya would have--I'm just a little quicker to a solution--not all of them work tho--lol its all trial and error
    In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.

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