Popeye77 Posted February 5 Hi, new to the forum and to Lego, i am currently making the Bonsai tree kit and was thinking about adding LED lighting as this kit has a base, i was going to fit 2 or 4 color changing LEDs to the base shining up into the tree, i did some googling and found the Lego lighting kits and thought these would be great, however further searching brought me to this forum and to a post asking about the same thing, the guy asked if it was possible to fit a system that didn't req relying on a battery (as i believe is what is in the Lego kits), so my question is can these lighting kits be run on a LED driver (like Christmas tree light, or a USB charger,) i'm by no means any sort of electronic genius, please bear that in mind in any answers i have had some experience of wiring up LED previously, i used to make model car and truck kits and always added lighting to them, they were always on a 12V system using 480 OHM resisters, so i know nothing about lower or higher voltage sources, i would like to be able to switch them on in the evening etc and there is a 240 outlet pretty near the display, thanks for any advice you can give, best regards Ian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JesseNight Posted February 6 I can't speak for all brands of kits made for Lego, but many (like Light My Bricks) come with a USB plug which you can choose whether you plug it into a battery pack or a power plug for the wall. Just make sure to check how much your LED kit uses so the power brick you buy (they're often not included) is heavy enough for the task. For kits with a lot of LEDs or extra electronics, this can add up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Popeye77 Posted February 6 Hi Thank you for your reply, i'll go with a "light my bricks " set and see how i get on, i'll post a pic as soon as it's done and i figure how to add a pic, i did try to add a pic of one of the truck kits i added LEDS to bit the file was too big, regards Ian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoggington Posted February 7 On 2/6/2024 at 2:34 PM, Popeye77 said: Hi Thank you for your reply, i'll go with a "light my bricks " set and see how i get on, i'll post a pic as soon as it's done and i figure how to add a pic, i did try to add a pic of one of the truck kits i added LEDS to bit the file was too big, regards Ian Can vouch for LightMyBricks as something I've used before with no issues. My only qualm would be the price. Once you get the hang of how it works when professionally sold, it's not a huge leap to achieve the same goals using a variety of cheap-as-chips electronics you can get from a local store or an amazon. Bevin's Bricks on YouTube covers the basics (although he's leaning more towards selling his own sets now I fear). Also for adding pics, your best bet is to upload them to a image host such as imgur.com or flickr, and then just link them across as direct links or displayed images. What limited storage you have here is really just for small 'avatar' pics and the like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Popeye77 Posted February 7 Thanks Yoggington, yes light my bricks are a bit on the expensive side (around £25 for the Bonsai kit) but they do look good, only just got into these kits, they come a long way from the little kits i used to but for my kids, like i said i used to make all the led lighting for my car/truck kits just basic stuff, usually 3 mm LED's or SMD's cut off a strip, resistors and wire from PC hook-up cables, it's what i first thought of doing to these kits until i saw the proper light setsCheers mate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JesseNight Posted February 7 They are indeed pricy. To me it was worth it. Used it on my ECTO-1, where they really made the roof lights look like old fashioned rotating lights by use of 4 LEDs. I have yet to see any other kit take it to this level. Of course it's personal and might differ per kit whether you benefit from it or not. There are certainly more good quality brands out there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lego Tom Posted February 8 Besides the price, there a few negatives for LMB. The adhesive pads sometimes do not hold well. Clean the part you going to place one on with alcohol before sticking it on and use multiple pads for any larger part (such as multi-port connectors) if they are mounted upside down. Also, their extension wires have male connectors on both ends meaning you have to use a connector piece to connect them with either another extension or light. Last, the connectors are very small and will only fit into multi port connector boards one way. A headband type magnifier will help a lot. Otherwise, LMB does have sales occasionally and the product is well made and works as advertised. I have done several sets with their products. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Popeye77 Posted February 8 Hi Jesse and Tom, yes "light my brick" set are certainly impressive and i would expect good quality for the price, and as Yoggington mentioned once you see how the professional set are made up you can make your own, i did have experience with rigging my cars/trucks with lights some years back, mostly i got component's from Maplin's or internet, and as he says the basic stuff is pretty cheap, i also used the SMD's you get on those "mood lighting strips", cut em out de-solder and re-fit into headlight's etc. a bit fiddley but not as bad as some 1mm SMDS i used once, you quite a few failures if you linger a bit too long when soldering, the heat destroys them if your not quick enough i used those Strips for lighting a display cabinet and as you say Tom both ends of the driver and strip have male pins so you needed to get female joiners, also yes those sticky pads, i'm assuming they aint great quality like say 3M, One thing i would like to ask is has anyone used superglue or anything to make a good fix in any of your builds?, i ask as this Bonsai tree is taxing me a bit, the first attempt after the main trunk came apart several time i found i'd done it wrong, i have re-built it twice and sure all parts are in the right place and it still come apart in the weakest part (mid trunk and comes off the round base quite easily, and as i do not intend to pull it apart again (ever) i thought of small dabs of cyno to make it "her -indoors", dusting it proof BTW Tom those plant models are really impressive, i made the Matchbox 1/25th kit of a Cat DH8 dozer many years ago (that was before LED's though, thanks again for your reply's, all the best, Ian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lego Tom Posted February 15 I have casually given thought to 'helping' a bond with some glue but never actually done it. I would probably try something less permanent like wood glue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Popeye77 Posted February 16 Well Tom i went ahead and glued it, turned out fine, the trunk and some of the foliage is now permanent which will stop it all coming off when my wife knocks' it over every time she runs a duster round it soon as i work out how to get a photo host (been a long time since i did that, had to use one on the old Hilux Surf forum till they up dated it)i'll post a pic of it, thanks mate, regard's Ian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JesseNight Posted February 16 It's as simple as making an account on a website like Flickr for example. Or if you do not wish to make an account and manage your albums, Imgur works great for a quick upload without looking back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Popeye77 Posted February 16 Thank you Jesse, i'll go for "imgur Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
