[honeybee]

Yesterday I was checking out some LED lights at an accessories shop. They have strips of LEDs selling at around Rs. 250/- a metre or so, and small boards with either 9 or 12 LEDs fit together (for use as cabin lights etc) selling at a similar price. On connecting the lights to the electrical power source, the output was quite bright.

I have two applications in mind for these lights:

1. Automotive: I would like to fit a strip of LEDs in the boot of my car and also somewhere over the rear passengers' head, to provide illumination within the respective areas. I don't want it for fancy lighting, but to be functional.

2. Household: I could take a couple of strips and stick it to the top of my toilet. Since it's completely tiled, it will provide a very good reflective surface. The LEDs should illuminate it very nicely.

The problem with the LED application is that the light is very bright AND it is very directional/focussed. I need to use some kind of a diffuser to ensure the light is spread in an even pattern across a broader area. Does anyone know of any good diffusers I can use, or maybe some DIY diffusers?

Also what's with the heat sink? Do the LEDs produce so much heat that you need to provide for a separate heat sink for them?

[iamback]

White colored glass will be a good diffuser of light. If the Led's on the strip are more than of 1 W each then they may require heatsinks. If they are not then you don't need them. Remember I am talking about 1W for each LED not for the whole strip.

[honeybee]

Thanks.

The strips or the clusters don't have any info on the wattage of the individual LEDs.

Also if I want to install the strip in my car or in a room, how do I get it fitted with the glass? Any plastic strips can be used in stead of glass?

[Chipz]

All your queries are explained in details here.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ting-cars.html

you can put the LEDs in different angles to increase the projected area.

the heat sink is provided because of the small size of the LED.

[iamback]

If you are going to use LED strips then they doesn't need any heat sink. Do show us the pic of the led strip which you are talking about because currently there are many led strips made by different types of LEDs.

[anku94]

Anybody tried lenses ? A concave lens should do the job of diffusing the light...

[Punzabi]

Also if you saw-off the top bit of an LED and then bit of filing will give you non focused/scattered light. Make sure you don't saw too long from the top like only about 1 mm or so.

[Rocky_Balboa]

One simple solution would be to apply a coat of clear-glue, over the entire strip.
If You want to diffuse individual LEDs, try using clear straws or sanding the LED.

[s3va]

you may want to check out the following

led torch lens optical lenses,spectacle lens,plastic lens

[Desmosedici]

Can someone explain what a heat sink is and how it looks like, sorry for the noobissh question.

[ghpk]

Looks Depends on the component you wish to cool, have more details at
Heat sink

[iamback]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

Can someone explain what a heat sink is and how it looks like, sorry for the noobissh question.

Heat Sink is mainly used to dissipate the heat from the components or you can say heat sink absorbs heat in a simple way. And remember that heat sink only dissipates the heat but does not cool the components.

[Chipz]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

Can someone explain what a heat sink is and how it looks like, sorry for the noobissh question.

I think you will get an idea by looking at these

small heat sink - Google Search=

heat sink is used on small components mainly to increase the surface area, so that it comes more in contact with air. this way it cools the component.