Somehow, before the New Year, I was left without a Christmas tree and without Christmas decorations (since it was in the middle of the ocean). And the soul demanded a holiday ... I still somehow imitated the Christmas tree, but I had to think about the toys. It was then that the remnants of multi-colored LED strips came to hand.
Next, I’ll chew it out first, and then I’ll briefly describe how to make original LED Christmas tree decorations. And at the same time we will consider connection options.
For this we take led strip different colors, not in silicone.
The first one will be round, we will chew it
| White ribbons look festive, in the sense of being painted white. | |
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Cut the tape with scissors right places into correct segments of three LEDs |
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For this decoration, we need three segments |
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Glue them together with a sticky base |
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We fasten the first two segments in the form of the letter "L". Please note that you need to observe the polarity and place the tape segments with poles to each other, i.e. so that the plus of one tape is directed to the plus of the other. |
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We glue the third across, getting something like the letter "A" |
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We tin the sites at the ends of the tapes, so that later it would be easier to solder |
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And we connect them in pairs with each other with wires, here I connected two "pluses" |
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After soldering all the wires, we get such a Christmas tree toy. Here I have short wiring without insulation - this is wrong, everything must be isolated. By the way, short ones are a plus, and long ones are a minus. |
Further, it would be correct to describe how and to what this joy is connected, but this will be later, but now I want to consider what other options there are.
Other variants with a large number of segments
Square
Further along the increasing number of segments is a square of four segments. I won’t chew it anymore, I think from the photo you can understand the principle. I just wanted to pay attention to the top two wires, they are both needed for a complete circuit. It is not visible in the photo, but I made the upper wire in the form of a loop.
Star
The star, of course, already consists of five segments. Here, the peculiarity is that there are practically no wires, and the tape segments are attached to each other by soldering two contact pads to each other (do not forget to observe the polarity!).
six pointed star
Consists of six sections. Rather, these are two intertwined triangles, and I made them from different ribbons (different colors).
Ball
I also tried to make something in volume and got such a ball. But I didn't really like it and I stopped there.
More cuts
You can go further by building up sections of tape, but, IMHO, this is already too much, then just glue on some kind of base and make applications of snowflakes.In work
This is what it looks like when lit:
Connection
Option 1: simple in 12v
The easiest way is to stupidly turn everything into 12 volts and there will be multi-colored toys shining steadily. We just solder the connector that hangs on each spool with 5 meter tapes and stick a regular 12 volt power supply there, which is sold in the same place as the tapes.
The toys are soldered one after the other. 
Option 2: RGB controller
More interesting option, is to connect to the RGB controller, which are on this moment more than affordable, with a large selection of both functions and capacities.If you connect the toys of the same color in rows to the corresponding controller output (a row of red ones to the R pin, green to G, blue to B), we get a Christmas tree in the MoodLamp style - with a customizable color as desired.
Please note that on such controllers, control is carried out on the "ground" (as a rule), i.e. common to all channels is the "plus" wire.
Option 3: Microcontroller
This is the most fun option, although the most difficult and time-consuming. Those. it is optimal to take some Arduino and a shield with a TLC5940, connect LED toys to 16 channels, connect a sound sensor and get a disco tree.This is what I did last year:
Here is a small past-New Year's video report:
Threat. Who needs a sketch from this video
Thank you
I hope my small idea will come in handy and someone with its help will be able to make the New Year even more fun and colorful. Thanks to everyone who took the time to review my article. I look forward to your feedback and comments.On the eve of the New Year holidays, the soul demands that everything around be beautiful, magical and remind of the upcoming celebration. People actively decorate not only the premises, but also the street space. In this article, we'll show you how with my own hands make a bright glowing Christmas tree. It will well complement the area near the house or a small store.
You will need:
- plastic hooks;
- the LED garland itself (for a 2.5 meter Christmas tree, approximately 30-50 meters of garland is required);
- pegs;
- vertical support ( metal pipe, wooden block etc.).
A little secret: a garland with closely spaced bulbs will help create a brighter and “fluffier” Christmas tree. It is also important that the threads are as close as possible to each other. Standard length garlands do not exceed 10-20 meters. To lengthen it, you can choose models with a special connector at the end or fasten products with improvised means (for example, tie with threads). Once the garland is ready, start creating decorations. What need to do:
- prepare a free space on the site (for safety reasons, it is better to choose an area away from buildings and trees);
- install and secure vertical support, you can dig it into the ground;
- place pegs around the rack at the same distance;
- take a garland and arrange it in this way: starting from the first peg, raise it to the top, fix it on a plastic hook, lower it down to the second peg, wrap it around, bring it along the ground to the third, raise it again to the top, etc.
As you can see, making an LED Christmas tree is very simple. It will take a minimum of time and will not require special preparation. The above recommendations can be used to create decorations not only on the street, but also for the home. The principle is the same, you just need to adjust the height and cut out a round base with symmetrically located attachment points. Don't forget to disguise vertical stand and bottom: you can close them with green wrapping paper or wrap them with threads, ribbons, tinsel.
Borisova Tatiana
I am an ardent fan of everything natural and eco-friendly, so the question of which Christmas tree to buy on new year holidays- live or artificial - not even worth it. I bought Danish spruce 200/225 cm. The smell in the house is simply divine - fresh coniferous, and the atmosphere of the holiday and the corresponding mood appeared on their own. I am very satisfied with the purchase.
Krasko Svetlana
I work as a private secretary children's center development. Acquired live spruce 300/350 for installation in the lobby. The Christmas tree is simply gorgeous - fluffy and thick, besides, it has a very beautiful and rich emerald hue. And after decorating with toys and garlands, it looks like in the best traditions of American cinema. Both children and parents are delighted.
Zhukova Larisa
Every year I promise that this year we will not put up a Christmas tree and will limit ourselves to a small artificial one, but I understand from the eyes of my husband and children that I will not go anywhere. I have been ordering green beauties from Denmark for several years in this store. Although their price is slightly higher than domestic ones, they also look more presentable and last much longer. Last year, our Christmas tree stood before Epiphany and looked the same as on the day of purchase.
Under New Year I want to decorate my house in an original way: not like the neighbors, and of course, not like “like last time”. With the help of the LED garlands offered for sale, you can create interesting compositions, but the price of the issue crosses out the bold design solutions. Yes, and typical Chinese LED decorations look the same, and as a rule - faceless.
A smart solution is to create a garland with your own hands
- Firstly, it will be a 100% original product.
- Secondly, the decoration configuration will be exactly what you need.
- Third, it's a real money saver.
- And finally, you can safely say to family members, and especially children: “Daddy can!”
The concept is as follows: wires are stretched from the top to the lower branches, LEDs are arranged at the same interval, as if creating tiers.
The light must be dynamic: a control controller is required. Simple LEDs shine beautifully, but spot lights do not create volume. So you need shades for each LED element.
The calculation of the garland starts from the power supply. The option is purely individual: I used an unnecessary PSU from a laptop. The expected number of LEDs is no more than 100 pieces, when using standard 5 mm LEDs, the total current consumption (20 mA * 100) is 2 A at maximum brightness. For serial connection of 6 diodes (voltage drop on each of the order of 3 volts), the voltage of the power supply is 18-20 volts.
General calculation of the power of the garland:
We collect 5 lines. Each "thread" consists of 18 LEDs, 6 pcs. per channel (RGB option). 18 * 5 \u003d 90 pieces, total current 1.8 A. Thus, a power supply for a laptop with parameters: 19 volts, 4 amperes, is suitable. This provides a double power reserve.
Selection of necessary materials:
1. LEDs. I ordered for red, green and blue LED straw hat elements, the dispersion angle is 120 degrees.2. . Let's take a closer look at this element. If you don't want to spend time making own scheme(there are many options, the cheapest one is on Arduino), you can take a ready-made controller for an RGB tape. All circuits work on the same principle: 3 controlled channels, the switching sequence is set, and the brightness of the light. Actually, the three colors here are conditional, you can connect 3 channels of the same LEDs and enjoy the lighting effects.
To power the 19-volt channels, I chose a controller with a universal voltage of 12-24 volts. The control circuit is powered by any voltage in this range, at the output we get voltage.
A prerequisite (for my scheme) is the presence of a remote control for controlling modes.
3. Instead of a wiring harness, I chose (3 channels + 1 common).
4. different colors.
For ease of installation, I used 4 pin dupon connectors (2.54 mm pitch). The corresponding set has long been purchased from the same Chinese, an excellent help for various electronic crafts.
Since I planned to hide the LEDs in the shades, I bought it on Aliexpress. Landing diameter is 5 mm.
Calculation of the connection diagram
LEDs, even serial connection(in my case 6 diodes) are connected through a current-quenching resistor. Parameters of LED elements on the package:
The calculation of the resistor is carried out according to the formula, or on the LED calculator. I used the online service:
- For the RED channel (voltage drop 1.8-2.0 V), the resistance is 420 ohms.
- For the GREEN and BLUE channels (voltage drop 3.0-3.2 V), the resistance is 82 ohms (green) and 75 ohms (blue). The green LED element shines brighter, so a higher value resistor to equalize the overall picture.
I bought a controller for RGB LEDs with a common anode. That is, a minus is applied to each channel, and a plus to the common wire.
We collect a garland
You can use twisted wires, as on factory garlands. I liked the design on the train more.
We make a reinforced leg for each LED element. To do this, you need toothpicks and heat shrink.
We collect, we heat with a hairdryer.
It turns out this construction:
It makes sense to immediately prepare and test all 90 LEDs.
Then we mark the loop, determining the installation locations of the diodes through equal distance. I made neat cuts along the cable on the wires of the desired color, cut and tinned the mounting points.
After assembly, each LED looks like this:
It turned out neat and reliable.
It is convenient to solder on a device with a magnifying glass, which is called the "third hand".
Next, we connect the supply wire (common "+") to the channels, through resistors.
We isolate the parts with heat shrink.
And connect with the "plus".
We cover this loop with a large diameter heat shrink.
We mount connectors on the opposite end.
Then we put snowflake shades on the LEDs.
The lesson is not easy (after all, 90 pieces!), But fascinating.
We check again. The effect is amazing.
Note: Working LEDs do not work well in photographs, so the image is significantly worse than the original.
It remains to mount the garland on the Christmas tree - and call the kids: admire dad's work.
Outcome:
Total financial expenses for a garland - no more than 1000 rubles. The main consumable part is a ready-made controller. The power supply is conditionally free. Diodes and wires - mere pennies. Additional costs: 300 rubles for snowflake shades. The option is not mandatory, but significantly increases the attractiveness of the garland.
The time spent (4 full days off) is absolutely not a pity: it was interesting to work, and the result is worth it.
This instructable shows how to handle LEDs in order to make some kind of luminous circuit out of them, talks about general rules the use of LEDs on the example of the manufacture of a luminous Christmas LED tree. Knowing and using the principles outlined here, you can easily replicate other designs using LEDs, such as
, a section of the site where ALL homemade Christmas trees and ALL options for making a Christmas tree are presented.
Step 1 Details
This LED tree is made from 17 red, green and yellow LEDs - the cheapest available in an electronics store (I don't know who the manufacturer is).
Their specification: (same for all colors)
forward voltage drop = 2.0 V
Max continuous current = 15mA
If you can, try to match LEDs that have the same characteristics - this will make it easier to create the tree.
The power supply from the old printer was found on the street - no power source direct current no more. In this case, I have a voltage of 30 V, with a current of up to 400 mA. Enough power for 300 LEDs, but overkill.
Step 2: Electrical Circuit Design
There are three possibilities when designing an LED tree circuit, depending on the number of LEDs, their forward voltage drop, and the supply voltage.
1. The LEDs will drop less voltage than the power supply supplies.
(That is, for example, if you have a 12V supply and you have 5 LEDs - each with a forward voltage of 1.8V - then the drop across the LEDs will only be 9V)
Connecting LEDs in series directly to the power supply will draw too much current and at least one of the LEDs will burn out (hopefully break the circuit and protect the others).
In this case, you must include a resistor to limit the amount of current to a safe level. To calculate the total resistance, you need:
R = (Vs - Vf * N) / Is
Vs: - Supply voltage
Vf: - Voltage drop per LED.
N: - Number of LEDs
Is: - Safe current for LEDs.
My original design was similar to circuit A: R1 and R2 are each half R_total (for symmetry), resistors are added to give the total resistance.
2. The LEDs drop exactly the same voltage that the power supply produces. Fine! Resistors are not needed, just connect all indicators in series to the wires of the power terminals.
Be careful, if you miscalculate, the LEDs will burn out.
3. LEDs drop more than the supply voltage. Bad news - you can't wire LEDs in series. However, you can split the LEDs into parallel strings. If you look at circuit B, you can see that there are two paths for current to flow from Vcc (+) to GND (-). The path on the left circuit only has 2 LEDs, so it needs a current limiting resistor to keep current flowing at a safe level (Scenario 1). The path on the right circuit has 15 LEDs, each LED has a 2.0V voltage drop, and a 30V power supply, this gives me just the right voltage drop when a resistor can be dispensed with (Scenario 2).
If you have a known supply voltage and required amount LEDs with a known voltage drop on each, you can figure out what scenarios are possible for you and develop your own LED tree!
Step 3. Design aesthetic
It's time for artistic skills!
When designing a tree, remember:
1. Must be defined electrical circuit(see previous step), which will determine your next steps.
2. Try not to make the distance between adjacent LEDs more than twice the length of the LED leads, or you will need to use extra wire.
If you look at design B, you can see that there are two paths for current to flow: the pins on the bottom green LEDs are connected to a power source, and the current flows around them around the entire outline of the tree. Another way is to connect the bottom two green LEDs through a resistor and create a second parallel circuit.
Step 4. Use a jig!
This project does not use printed circuit board, and anyone who has tried soldering components together knows how difficult it is! The tree represents even more difficult option, as the wires and components should be placed aesthetically - you want the wires to be straight and the wood to be symmetrical.
To overcome this, I used a jig - print out your layout plan or freehand draw it, and glue it onto a piece of wood at least 5mm (1/4 inch) thick. If you have a smooth wood like plywood or MDF, you can just paint directly onto it.
Find a drill bit the same size as your LED (3mm or 5mm usually) and drill small holes for each LED. Ideally, each LED should fit snugly into the hole, without wiggling.
Step 5: Soldering the LEDs
At this stage, you need to figure out in which direction the current flows through your tree (clockwise or counterclockwise). This will determine the location of the power contacts, and how you want the tree to be oriented (forward facing).
Deal with this - otherwise, either the Christmas tree will not burn, or it will be turned back to front.
Place each LED in the hole of the conductor, making sure they are oriented so that the positive lead of the first LED goes to the power supply (perhaps through the first resistor), and the negative lead of each LED is connected to the positive lead of the next LED.
Carefully bend the leads of the LEDs towards the adjacent LEDs, and trim off the excess so that only ~1cm of overlap is left. Align them carefully, and solder together.
WARNING:
LEDs are temperature sensitive - if you overheat the leads, they will burn out.
Solder as far away from the LEDs as you can.
Try to melt the solder and put it on the connection rather than heat the wires while the solder melts on them.
If you are unable to solder in the first ~10 seconds, wait for the LEDs to cool down and try again. If you are soldering two long wires together there is little risk, but if the LEDs are very close together (like the yellow LEDs in my design) then you have to be a lot more careful.
Step 6 Almost done...
(If you rush to take out the LEDs, you will deform your tree)
Using pliers, go around the jig and carefully pull each of the LEDs and then move on to the next one, then go back and pull each one a little further until the tree is free.
After removing the tree from the conductor, it must be connected to a power source. If you have a good compact power supply like I do, then you can use it as a solid base...otherwise you might need a small block of wood.
Insert wood with your feet into the holes, or bend your feet at a 90 degree angle, and solder to the PSU terminals.
Now that the tree is firmly in place, you can correct any deformations that have occurred by carefully bending the structure. Make sure the wires don't touch each other before you connect the power.
This instructable does not show the checks at each stage of construction, how to do it to ensure that each LED is connected correctly, which circuit diagram It will work that the supply voltage is of sufficient magnitude, that the forward voltage drop of the LEDs is within specification, and that the LEDs have not overheated during soldering.
Pay due attention (measure seven times, cut once) and you won't have a problem that something went wrong.
Step 7. With led tree g otova!
Hooray! New Year's LED tree, which does not take up a lot of space when not in use, is ready!
Perhaps one of the few DIY kits for soldering, and as a result of which a useful product is obtained (we do not take into account kits for assembling full-fledged devices), which after assembly will not go to lie in a dark corner, but will be used for its intended purpose, especially if you connect to the assembly child.
The review contains a description of DIY 3D Christmas trees and assembly instructions.
After assembling the constructor, you should get a 3D tree flashing with 3 colors of LEDs, which can run on 3 AA batteries or be powered by USB.
The set is packed in a bag with a bubble wrap, additionally wrapped in foam. I ordered from this seller () several times, everything arrived without damage in the same package, the equipment was in order. At the time of ordering, he had best price on AliExpress for this Christmas tree, and there were about 200 sales, now there are more than 1700.
As part of the 3D Christmas tree soldering kit:
3 boards (CTR-30C base and 2 tree trunk parts CTR-30A and CTR-30B)
LEDs (12 green, 12 yellow, 13 red)
6 capacitors at 47uF 16V
6 transistors S9014
7 resistors 10KΩ
2 resistors 330 ohm
2 resistors 1KΩ
2 resistors 2KΩ
1 button
1 power connector (length 1 m)
1 USB power cord
2 bolts and 2 nuts
Box for 3*AA batteries
Here's what was included.
Main details close-up. The boards have the EQKIT logo. 
Back side boards: 
Bigger: 
All components were in stock, even an extra LED remained. Before soldering, I checked all the elements with a transistor tester, everything turned out to be in good order. Unfortunately, there are no assembly instructions included.
The seller attached assembly instructions in the form of photographs, but did not sign the resistor values, and the resistor values \u200b\u200bare very hard to see on the attached photos. But the seller is responsive, quickly sent a diagram, though in Chinese, but most importantly from a completely different Christmas tree. After pointing out this fact, he said that he only had such a scheme, but still promised to answer any questions if something could not be assembled. On this, it was decided to finish torturing the seller and try to collect the pictures he has with the assumption that they are still from this set. In the end, everything worked out, below will be indicated all the resistor values and other information on the assembly.
The contact pads on the boards are perfectly tinned. When soldering, I didn’t even have to use flux, what was contained in the solder was enough. He soldered half of the Christmas tree with primitive Chinese, though with separately purchased ones for him. Actually, for the test of new stings, this was started, it turned out that the “unusable” Chinese soldering iron is quite suitable for such simple work, because. native stings did not even want to take solder. I already soldered the other half with a soldering iron at the station with T12 tips. Now I could not determine where and what was soldered, i.e. You can assemble this constructor using any tool, as long as your hands are in the right place :)
I checked the resistors with a multimeter for compliance with the marking and signed for convenience. Perhaps someone will come in handy. 
First, I soldered all the resistors to boards A and B. Everything is clear with 10K resistors, they are signed on the board. The remaining denominations must be placed in the following places:
CTR-30A board
R1, R3, R5, R7 - 10K
R2-2K
R4-1K
R6-330
CTR-30B board
R1, R3, R5 - 10K
R2 - pictured - 330
R4 - pictured - 2K
R6 - pictured - 1K
It turned out the following. You can see where the resistors should be. 
Next, you need to solder the transistors and capacitors. On the board, the capacitors are signed as 22uF, in the kit they go to 47uF, for some reason the Chinese did not save here. We bend the legs of the capacitors and resistors by 90 degrees so that after soldering they lie horizontally on the board, and do not stick out in different directions on finished product. The negative contact of electrolytic capacitors (C1, C2, C3) is indicated on the board by a shaded area, and on the capacitor itself by a light stripe. The orientation of the transistors (Q1, Q2, Q3) is also indicated on the board in a semicircle, respectively, the contour of the transistor case must match when installed (before bending the legs) with the pattern on the board. In this case, it turned out that all transistors lie “face down”, and are oriented in the opposite direction from the semicircle on the board.
All resistors, transistors and capacitors are soldered. 
Next, solder the LEDs. The LEDs have polarity, everything is marked on the board. All LEDs are oriented in the same way, so it is enough to remember how to solder one, the rest are similar. For those who are not in the know, in this case, the LED is soldered with a short lead (cathode, “-”) closer to the top, respectively, with a long lead (anode, “+”) to the bottom of the tree. During the final assembly of the tree, you will need to solder the last red LED at the top, the polarity is already indicated there, solder the LED to “+” with a long lead.
Before soldering, we bend the legs of the LEDs at a right angle so that the body of the LED extends beyond the Christmas tree. 
The distribution of LEDs by color is as follows:
Fee A:
D1-D6 - red,
D7-D12 - yellow,
D13-D18 - green.
Board B:
D1-D6 - green,
D7-D12 - red,
D13-D18 - yellow,
All parts on the main boards are soldered. 
Another photo from a different angle. 
I recommend testing the boards before assembly by applying a voltage of 4.5-5V to them. Each board can work independently, i.e., in principle, you can get two 2D Christmas trees. If the Christmas trees work separately, you can proceed to further assembly.
I think it makes no sense to describe the assembly process further, because. everything is obvious. Boards A and B are fixed together with solder. The main thing is not to confuse the polarity when installing the Christmas tree on board C (the polarity is signed everywhere, you need to try to mix it up).
The battery holder has a rather long wire, which is not needed here, it is better to cut it to the desired length. Just in case, let me remind you that the red wire must be soldered to the “+” terminal, the black one to the “-” (signed BAT 4.5V).
We solder the power button, the USB power connector, fasten the battery holder - the designer is ready. 
For a more secure fastening of the DC 5V power connector, there is no metal staple although holes are provided for it. Instead, you can use the rest of the legs from the resistor or capacitor, which I did.
Here you can see how the boards are soldered together. Everything is held very confidently, it will fall apart only if you specifically set yourself this goal. 
The Christmas tree works quite well on Ni-MH 1.2V batteries, I tested it on. But when working from USB (5V), the light is still brighter. I tried to measure the power consumption when connected via USB, it shows 0.00A, while the tree blinks with might and main and works as it should, therefore the current consumption is very small, below the minimum threshold of the tester, so the batteries should last for a very long time.
3D tree assembly: 
We turn on the power - the LEDs glow and wink smoothly, pleasing to the eye. 
I liked the toy, it is interesting to collect, and the children too. This is one of those soldering kits that, after assembly, are not thrown into a distant box, but can be used, for example, as a night light for children.
Those who saw this Christmas tree and know what a soldering iron is also wanted to assemble it. Apparently there is something in it ... I bought it in the summer, so I managed to assemble it for the New Year. But now the prices for such sets have decreased.