How to make a light bulb from LEDs by hand. Ways to make your own LED lamp

A year ago I ordered one-watt LEDs for creativity. So I decided to make a LED light bulb into a table lamp. Who cares, let's go.
LEDs at that time cost a little more. Today I saw the price of 7.67 per hundred.
The LEDs came in a standard package with a bubble wrap inside. Everything was packaged top notch. I don't see the point in showing the unboxing.
All specifications are written on the package. How I missed these toys when I was a kid!


Exactly 100pcs.
And now to business. I decided to experiment (to implement, so to speak).
I took a faulty energy saver. He carefully took out all the giblets from her.


We have special containers for the collection and disposal of energy-saving lamps in our city. It's a good thing, because they (light bulbs) contain mercury salts. Be careful when disassembling.
I sawed out a circle with a diameter of about 10 cm from an aluminum (painted white) blank. It will be a kind of radiator. I sawed out the same circle from foil getinaks. I used to have a lot of this stuff.


I drilled twelve holes in the textolite for LED eyes. I will solder to the board a little inside out, as if inside out. So it will be more convenient to press them to the radiator.


I did not bother with etching the board. I just made cuts in the foil where needed. It didn't turn out very nice. But the beauty will not be visible. The main thing is to be reliable.
In this arrangement, all LEDs are connected in series. If anyone needs a different connection scheme, you will have to make one cut more and put a jumper in another place.
For better heat dissipation, each LED was smeared with KPT-8 paste.


Now I press this whole structure against an aluminum disk.


Before all these operations, I painted the PCB on the visible side with nickel.


There are just two holes left for attaching to the energy saver.


Here's what happened.

That's just to make it light up, you need a driver.
The easiest way is to buy.
The driver can be applied from this review. And the driver is good and the review too.

Since the driver is designed for voltage up to 18V and current 300mA, the LEDs will have to be connected in two parallels with 6 LEDs in each. The LEDs will operate at 50% of nominal (current 150mA in each parallel). But at the same time, their efficiency will increase by 1.5 times. As a result, we will have a light bulb of about 6W of pure LED power. It will shine brighter than a 60W incandescent bulb.
For those who do not want to wait or buy a driver for any reason, you can make it yourself. But it will be a driver with a capacitor as a ballast. About all the pros and cons of such schemes, I have already written repeatedly. I see no reason to make an electronic driver on my own at home. Cheaper to buy ready-made.
The standard scheme of the Chinese driver with minor changes.


In order to calculate the power of a light bulb, you need to know the current through the LEDs and the voltage drop across them. The voltage drop across 12 LEDs connected in series is about 36V.
The current can be calculated from formula (2):

With a capacitance C1 \u003d 2.2 microfarads, the power of the light bulb will be about 4.6W
For those who do not want to solder the driver themselves, you can take it from a faulty Chinese one. C1 will have to solder a new one, based on the calculated power.


The luminaire is made in such a way that even with the use of a ballast driver it is by no means possible to fall under the damaging effect of an electric current. All live parts are inaccessible.

Everything is working.
How to properly dispose of the information from my review, everyone decides for himself. I hope that at least someone helped. To whom something is not clear about this lamp, ask questions. With the rest - throw in a personal, I will definitely answer.
That's all!
Good luck!

I plan to buy +54 Add to favorites Liked the review +100 +190

LED lamps are increasingly and stubbornly replacing incandescent lamps and CFLs or simply "housekeepers". You can buy them, but it's great to make your own.

For the design we need:
- part of a lamp of the “housekeeper” type, the one with a base;
- LEDs 5630;
- 4 diodes 1n4007;
- electrolytic capacitor from 3.3 uF;
- resistor R1 - 470k, 0.25 watt
- resistor R2 - 150 ohm, 0.25 watt
- resistor R3 - about it later.
- capacitor type K73-17 with a capacity of 0.22 μF and an operating voltage of 340 V;

The circuit is simple with a quenching capacitor.
LEDs in the amount of 8 pieces.


Scheme for selecting the capacitance of the capacitor.

Adjustable resistor R3. It was set to maximum resistance before turning on, so that the arrow of the device did not go off scale. Then I minimized it. Capacitor C2 with a voltage of 340V. During the tests, I set 10 microfarads, but because of the size it did not fit into the case, I set it with a nominal value less. Why so much stress? This is in case of an open circuit with LEDs. Since the voltage will jump to a voltage higher than the AC mains voltage by 1.41 times (230 * 1.41 \u003d 324.3V).


Trying capacitors with different capacities, I got approximate results.

The current can be calculated using the formula:
Where "I" is the LED current in amps.


Or with a simplified formula:


I was guided by the measurements taken on the test circuit with a milliammeter.
I made the payment using LUT technology. smd LEDs.
Board in lay format 6 version is attached

We poison the board, drill holes and tinker.


We solder diodes, LEDs, resistor R1, capacitor C2.


The board is mounted in the base part of the case.
The diameter of the case of the housekeeper is 38 mm, the board is 36 mm.

Capacitor C1 is soldered by a canopy to resistor R1. Again, due to the limitation of the case. Resistor R2 is placed outside the board and acts as a "pull-up". Due to its board tightly pressed against the case.


Solder the resistor and wire to the base.

The first inclusion was made through a light bulb. The lamp consumption was 7.45 watts. It is not possible to measure the luminous flux, but more than 3 watts by eye (when compared with a nearby purchase).

The circuit has no galvanic isolation from the network. Be careful when experimenting and operating. Also, be careful when installing the lamp. Installation should be carried out with the switch off.

The lamp has been working for about a year and a half with constant on / off.

On the video you can see everything in detail:

Making a 220 V LED lamp with your own hands is an interesting activity that requires patience. Additionally, you need a little knowledge of physics, and the ability to solder. The main task is to create a circuit for an AC-to-DC 12 V converter that powers an LED lamp.

LED lamp

Represents a small luminous diode element, powered by direct current, mainly 12V. To create lamps, they are collected several times, depending on the required light intensity.. The advantages of such lighting:

  • meager electricity consumption;
  • service life from 100,000 hours;
  • can work for days without shutting down;
  • There is a wide range of different models available for sale.

The main disadvantage is the high cost of finished LED lamps. Sellers are not well versed in the issue and can not competently answer your questions. In the very characteristics of the lamp losses due to the passage of light through the scatterer are not taken into account, frosted glass and reflector properties.

The packaging of the luminaire contains calculated data based on the characteristics and number of LED elements. Therefore, in fact the luminous flux of the purchased lamp is significantly lower than required and the lighting is poor. The lamps themselves and the parts for creating circuits cost a penny. Therefore, it is easiest for craftsmen to do everything with their own hands.

Use of LED lights

In houses and apartments, constant lighting of a place is often necessary. It can be stairs and children's rooms, toilets where there are no windows, and a child lives in the house who cannot reach the switch.

Dim light and low energy consumption make it possible to install lighting in entrances and on the porch, in front of the gate and garage doors. Luminaires with a soft glow due to glare damping, used to illuminate desktops in offices and kitchens.

Making an LED lamp with your own hands

Many are tormented by the question of how to make an LED lamp with your own hands and is it possible. There are many schemes for creating LED lighting powered by 220 V AC, they all solve a number of common tasks:

When creating LED lighting with your own hands, you also have to solve problems:

  • where to put circuits and LEDs;
  • how to isolate the lighting structure;
  • correct heat transfer.

Schemes of LED lamps

Aligning variable sweat and creating the necessary power and resistance for LED fixtures is solved in two ways. Schemes can be conditionally divided into:

  • with diode bridge;
  • resistor, with an even number of LED elements.

Each option has simple schemes and its own advantages.

Scheme of a converter with a diode bridge

The diode bridge consists of 4 diodes directed in different directions. Its task is to turn a sinusoidal alternating current into a pulsating one. Each half wave passes through two elements, and the minus changes its polarity.

In the circuit, for an LED lamp, a capacitor C10.47x250 v is connected to the positive side of the bridge from the AC source. A resistance of 100 ohms is placed in front of the negative terminal. Behind the bridge, parallel to it, another capacitor is installed - C25x400 v, which smooths out the voltage drop. It is easy to make such a scheme with your own hands, it is enough to have the skills to work with a soldering iron.

LED element

The board with LED elements is used standard, from a failed lamp. It is necessary to check before assembly that all parts are working. For this, a 12 V battery is used, it can be from a car. Non-working elements can be replaced by carefully unsoldering the contacts and putting in new ones. Pay close attention to the location of the anode and cathode legs. They are connected in series.

When replacing 2 - 3 parts, you simply solder them in accordance with the position that the failed elements occupied.

When assembling a new LED lamp with your own hands, you need to remember a simple rule. Lamps are connected 10 in series, then these circuits are connected in parallel. In practice, it looks like this:

  1. Put 10 LEDs in a row and solder the legs of the anode of one with the cathode of the second. It turns out 9 connections and one free tail at the edges.
  2. Solder all chains to the wires. To one cathode ends, to the other anode.

In texts, verbal designation of contacts is often used, icons on diagrams. Reminder for novice electricians:

  • cathode, positive - "+", joins the minus;
  • The anode is negative - "-", joins the plus.

When assembling circuits with your own hands, make sure that the soldered ends do not touch others. This will lead to a short circuit and burn out the entire circuit that you managed to make.

Schemes for a softer glow

In order for the LED lamp not to irritate the eyes by blinking, several details must be added to the assembly diagram. In general, the current converter consists of:

  • diode bridge;
  • 400 nF and 10 uF capacitors;
  • 100 and 230 ohm resistors.

To protect against power surges, a 100 ohm resistor is placed first, and then a 400 nF capacitor is soldered. In the previous version, they are installed at different ends of the entrance. Behind the capacitor after the diode bridge, another 230 ohm resistor is installed. It is followed by a series of LEDs (+).

Resistor circuits

The most simple circuit for those who want to do everything with their own hands, it consists of two 12 k resistors and two chains with the same number of LED elements, lamps connected in series with different directions are soldered. From the R 1 side, one strip is soldered by the cathode, the second - by the anode. Another layer to R 2 is the other way around.

This creates a softer glow of the lamps, since the LED elements are lit alternately and the pulsation of the flashes is almost imperceptible to the eyes. Such lamps can even be used as local lighting when working at a table, thus replacing an ordinary table lamp.

Experts who have made more than one lamp with their own hands recommend collecting at least 20 LEDs for this circuit. 40 is more commonly used. This provides good lighting and the circuit is easy to assemble. For a larger number, it is difficult to produce high-quality soldering of the circuit without hitting adjacent contacts. Yes, and it is difficult to collect it in the case.

You can make a lamp out of 4 or 6 more powerful LEDs. To calculate the schemes, use a special calculator that can be found on the Internet.

When creating various circuits with your own hands from LED devices and others, you can use an online calculator for the correct calculation. It is easy to find on sites that are dedicated to electrical appliances and descriptions of how to make them. Its use will greatly simplify the process of calculating the current strength, resistance and will allow you to check the correct selection of parts.

Housings for LED lamps

For convenient inclusion of a do-it-yourself LED lamp in ordinary lighting devices, use:

  • socles of conventional incandescent lamps;
  • housings from energy-saving lamps;
  • halogen lamps;
  • homemade fixtures.

Each specialist, making an LED lamp with his own hands, chooses the most suitable option. The base makes it possible to screw the lamp into a conventional cartridge and at the same time provides heat transfer. Overheating, the LED lamp fails faster.

Base with incandescent lamps

Carefully separate the glass flask and remove the spiral. Then a circuit is placed inside the base and lamps are attached to the top of the board. The disadvantage of such a base is in an unsightly appearance and poor insulation.

Energy saving lamp housing

The most convenient and practical option for creating an LED lamp with your own hands. Methods for mounting diodes can be different. First, the burned-out lamp is carefully disassembled. Then the converter board is removed from it. Next, there are options.

It can be placed in the holes of the lid, which are made for glass flasks. This is in the version of the lamp with three arc-shaped light elements. The circuit is located inside the base providing heat transfer. LEDs are inserted into ready-made holes and mounted in them.

The finished board with LEDs can be placed in the base using a simple plastic water bottle cap. You can use a self-made circle and drill holes for the diodes in it. As a result, it is convenient to use and aesthetically pleasing.

Some craftsmen, making their own hands, use the body of a halogen lamp. The inconvenience of this option is the absence of the usual opportunity for a base to screw the lamp into a cartridge. This option is more suitable for creating do-it-yourself indicators and DC lamps.

The LED lamp is quite expensive, and in some cases it is the most appropriate use due to its reliability, long service life and high light intensity. For example, near a house or apartment, in the entrance, where the incandescent light bulb constantly burns out.

The device and circuit of the light bulb

The design of LED lamps includes a base, a radiator, emitters, a driver that allows you to connect the lighting element to a dedicated 220 volt power source. In the purchased version, a flask with a diffuser is also provided, inside which diodes are located. But a hand-made light bulb has more similarities with the "corn" model, which involves the location of the emitters on a cylindrical body.

Scheme of operation of a diode light source for 220 volts

The supply voltage passes through a current-limiting capacitor to the rectifier bridge. Passing through an electrolytic capacitor that smooths out ripples, the rectified voltage is applied to the diodes.

What materials will be required?

The base (base, radiator and driver board) of a 220 volt energy-saving lamp will serve as the basis. A non-functioning flask must be removed. Parts for the driver can be partially taken from the fluorescent light source board. If there is a non-working LED lamp at hand, the finished one is taken from its design.

In this case, you will have to solder non-working elements with your own hands and install new ones - with the necessary parameters.

Necessary materials

You can also use the fuse that was part of the . The parameters of the elements are indicated on the diagram. As for the emitters, there can be several options: LED Strip Light, point diodes. In many ways, it is easier to implement the first option, since for this you can use any material that is easily processed, for example, foam board.

If nothing came up from improvised materials or it is not possible to solder the elements from the board, you can purchase the necessary parts at the radio market or in electronics stores.

Manufacturing steps

In accordance with the scheme, all the elements are soldered with their own hands. Using the simplest version of LED lamps - using tape, you need to cut them correctly. In this case, the notches are the guideline.

Power supply circuit for a homemade LED lamp

For a light source with a voltage of 220 volts and with sufficient lighting efficiency, it is enough to use four pieces of tape, each of which contains 3 diodes.

Finished light bulb

Workpieces must be connected in series by soldering. Given the width of the LED strips, the body of the future 220 volt lamp is cut out of suitable sizes from foam board with your own hands.

The external characteristics of the resulting product in this form are not the best. It is quite possible to correct the situation using liquid nails. With their help, you can cover the surface of such homemade lamps, excluding diodes. As a result, outwardly the product will become similar to purchased light sources.

A feature of such hand-made 220-volt lamps is the ability to withstand even significant voltage drops, since the emitters begin to shine already at 40 volts. The intensity of illumination can be different, it all depends on the type of diodes on the tape. The luminous flux of homemade lamps for 220 volts reaches 180 lm.

Projected product life

In practice, do-it-yourself LED light sources according to these instructions work properly for a long period. It has been experimentally proven that the lamp will last at least a year. Further forecasts are not yet possible due to the short period of operation. But everything shows that the light source in this design can function for a long time.

The cost of the product is small. When determining the final price of such lamps, the cost of components must be taken into account. It is taken into account what was taken from our own stocks, what was purchased, how many diodes were used. On average, the price of a homemade light bulb is about 1-2 dollars.

In addition to household lighting elements, it is possible to make automotive lamps based on diodes. At the same time, one should not forget about such an element as snag. This is a load resistor. With its help, an additional load is created, since the diodes consume a minimum of energy. To prevent the on-board computer from displaying errors about the state of the lighting element, a snag is used.

There is one more nuance: when installing the ballast of LED lamps, it is recommended to use soldering. If you attach the elements to the adhesive, the quality of the product will be low and it will not last long. If it becomes necessary to make a brighter lamp, larger capacitors are used.

You should also be careful when using a homemade light source, because when turned on, there is a galvanic connection with the network.

Thus, in the manufacture of a lighting element based on diodes, you can use your imagination and knowledge. The simplest option is a home-made design based on an energy-saving lamp. An important step is the selection of elements for ballast. This is done in accordance with the scheme. If there are old LED lamps at home, you can look at the necessary elements in their design.

The best way to attach components is soldering. Point diodes or LED strip can act as emitters. Their number is calculated based on what level of illumination you want to get. The cost of the finished lamp will be much lower than in the case of a purchased finished product.

If you are interested in how to make an LED lamp with your own hands at home, then we will provide several step-by-step instructions with photo and video examples that will allow you to assemble an LED lamp in no more than an hour. All the ideas provided below will be listed from easiest to most difficult, allowing you to choose the one that suits you best based on your soldering iron skills and electrical schematics.

Idea number 1 - Upgrading the halogen light bulb

The easiest way is to make an LED lamp yourself from a burned-out halogen bulb with - GU4. In this case, you will need the following materials and tools:

  • LEDs. Choose the number of them yourself, depending on how bright the LED lighting should be. We immediately draw your attention to the fact that you should not choose more than 22 diodes (this will complicate the assembly process and also make the light bulb too bright).
  • Super glue (ordinary glue is also suitable, but it will harden longer, which will not allow you to make an LED lamp quickly).
  • A small piece of copper wire.
  • Resistors. Their number and power will be calculated by an online calculator.
  • A small piece of sheet aluminum ( Alternative option- an ordinary can of beer or carbonated drink).
  • Internet access. You will need to open a special online calculator to calculate the LED lamp circuit.
  • Hammer, soldering iron and hole punch.

Having prepared all the materials, you can proceed directly to the assembly of the diode light bulb. We will provide instructions for creating a home-made one step by step, with photo examples of each stage, so that you can clearly see the installation process.

So, to make a 12 volt LED lamp, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Remove the top glass from the old halogen bulb, as well as the white putty near the pin base (as shown in the photo below). For this, it is best to use a screwdriver.
  2. Turn the lamp socle upside down and carefully use a hammer to knock out the pins from the seat. The old halogen bulb should fall out.
  3. According to the number of LEDs you have chosen, come up with a diagram of their location, on the basis of which make a paper stencil. You can use an existing blank and print one of the ready-made diagrams that are provided in the picture:
  4. Glue the stencil to the aluminum sheet with super glue, cut the sheet to the shape of the stencil, and then make the seats for the LEDs with a hole punch.
  5. Generate an assembly drawing of an LED lamp on the Internet for your conditions. In our case, to create an LED light bulb at home from 22 diodes, you need to assemble the following circuit:
  6. Put the aluminum disk on a convenient stand and insert the LEDs into the seats, as shown in the photo. To simplify the soldering process, bend the cathode leg of one diode to the anode leg of the other.
  7. Carefully glue all the LEDs, making them a single design. An important point - the glue should not get on the legs of the diodes, because. when soldering, extremely unpleasant smoke will be emitted.
  8. When the glue hardens, start soldering the legs. By the way, we recommend that you do this, which also does not take much time. According to the diagram, solder the diodes of the LED lamp, leaving only one plus leg and one minus leg for power connection. It is recommended to cut the "-" leg in half, so as not to confuse the polarity of the contacts of a home-made LED light bulb in the future.

  9. Solder the resistors to the negative terminals according to the diagram. As a result, according to our example, you should get 6 positive terminals and 6 negative ones (with resistors).
  10. Solder the resistors according to the generated schematic.
  11. Solder the same piece of copper wire to the two contacts formed, which will make it possible to make the pin base of the LED lamp at home. By analogy with the previous advice, make one leg shorter (minus) for a while, so that later you don’t confuse anything and make the connection correctly.

  12. To prevent this from happening in the future, carefully glue the space between the legs that are brought out.
  13. Perform the final assembly of the LED light bulb: place the disk on the reflector and carefully glue it.
  14. With a marker, sign on the body of the assembled LED lamp where “+” and where “-”, also indicate that the home-made light source is designed to be connected to a 12 volt power supply, not 220.

  15. Check the assembled homemade product. To do this, connect the LED bulb to car battery or a 220/12 Volt power supply.

Like this in a simple way you can make an LED lamp with your own hands from improvised means. As you can see, there is nothing difficult and it will not take much time to assemble! Be sure to check out some of the best ideas for making a light bulb at home, which we have provided in the video gallery:

Idea number 2 - "Housekeeper" in progress!

The second, no less interesting idea is to assemble a light bulb from an energy-saving lamp. There are also no particularly serious works and even a not very experienced electrician can handle the assembly.
To begin with, you must prepare the following materials and tools for assembling an LED lamp with your own hands:


Having prepared all the materials, you can proceed to the assembly. This instruction is more creative, so if you decide to make a diode light bulb from a burnt housekeeper, carefully look at the photo examples.

Stages of work:


According to this instruction, you can easily make an LED lamp from a fluorescent or halogen light bulb!

Idea number 3 - LED strip for the base

If you are not so good with a soldering iron and at the same time have no idea how to assemble a circuit on fiberglass, it is better to make an LED lamp with your own hands from LED tape. In this case, instead of a driver, you can use a power supply that converts 220 Volts in the network to 12. The only significant drawback of this method is the large dimensions of the power supply, so this option is recommended if you decide to make LED lighting in the room with spotlights. You can try to collect all the bulbs for them with your own hands and connect them to a single power supply, which will hide without problems in the ceiling.

So, all you have to do is:


That's the whole instruction for assembling an LED lamp from a tape. As you can see, everything is much easier than even making a light bulb according to the generated scheme. This concludes our simple instructions, and now you know how to make a DIY LED lamp from an energy-saving light bulb, diode tape and a halogen light source! We hope that the ideas provided were useful and understandable for you!

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