MAKE | HOW TO – Make LED Throwies

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By Phillip Torrone
Posted 2006/02/14 @ 7:14 pm
Category Art & Design, Craft, Electronics

Resistor writes – “Developed by the Graffiti Research Lab, LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood. A Throwie consists of a lithium battery, a 10mm diffused LED and a rare-earth magnet taped together. Throw it up high and in quantity to impress your friends and city officials.” Link.

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Calculator Kit from Spikenzie Labs

Tux Case for Raspberry Pi

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20 Responses to HOW TO – Make LED Throwies

bg99 on February 14th, 2006 at 1:39 pm said:

Have you tried multiple LEDs on a single throwie? Electronics is not my specialty, would 2 LEDs = half the battery life? Looks like a very cool thing to do!

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DGary on February 14th, 2006 at 4:29 pm said:

yes it would half the battery life, but when a single led draws a motherboard cmos battery dry in just about a year, 6 months is still pretty damned good for multicolor

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DGary on February 14th, 2006 at 4:46 pm said:

then again, my statement was on the LED I’ve had stuck on the side of my case for about as long as I can remember, don’t know the draw it has, it’s not very bright.
just to get ahead of anyone who wants to tell be to RTFA again on the battery life

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KKadow on February 14th, 2006 at 6:25 pm said:

I would think a blinking LED would not only have much longer battery life (about double) but would also be more noticeable, especially as the brightness fades.

Also, if you use conductive epoxy to make the connections and attach the magnet, the circuit will be more sure and the magnet will have a better chance of sticking — wrapping tape over the magnet greatly dimishes it’s attraction to metallic surfaces.

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curious.jp on February 14th, 2006 at 9:38 pm said:

It seems a shame to have the still good magnet and still good LED slaved to a dead battery halfway up a wall. I wonder if there’s a way to add battery clips without grossly increasing the build time. That said, I love them, and if I can find a good supplier for flashing LED’s, will build a handful.

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abbtech on February 14th, 2006 at 9:45 pm said:

What a great idea, I could see these things catching on! I can imagine seeing these things stuck on bridges, side of buildings, backs of cars… If you make a bunch in one go they would be very inexpensive!

http://alan-parekh.vstore.ca/index.php/cPath/4_6

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steveluscher on February 14th, 2006 at 11:08 pm said:

OH! This is AWESOME!

I’m torn though… what do you think the ecological impact of peppering the landscape with a handful of lithium batteries is? Can someone conduct a quick analysis of / speculate on how harmful this could be?

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steveluscher on February 14th, 2006 at 11:10 pm said:

OH! This is AWESOME!

I’m torn though… what do you think the ecological impact of peppering the landscape with a handful of lithium batteries is? Can someone conduct a quick analysis of / speculate on how harmful this could be?

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steveluscher on February 14th, 2006 at 11:11 pm said:

OH! This is AWESOME!

I’m torn though… what do you think the ecological impact of peppering the landscape with a handful of lithium batteries is? Can someone conduct a quick analysis of / speculate on how harmful this could be?

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steveluscher on February 14th, 2006 at 11:15 pm said:

Wow… sorry for being such an idiot and posting that entry three times. I wish there was a delete option.

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doctabu@wi.rr.com on February 15th, 2006 at 1:49 am said:

bg99- depends on how you wire them.

They’ll either be half the brightness for the same amount of time, or same brightness (as the one, but both) for half the battery life.

(Or so)

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fontgoddess on February 15th, 2006 at 8:04 am said:

You could paint a wall in your house with magnetic paint and arrange and re-arrange these for your personal enjoyment. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about dead batteries in the environment.

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dixongoogle on April 26th, 2006 at 7:40 am said:

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dixongoogle on April 26th, 2006 at 7:43 am said:

Ningbo Yunhuan Electronics Group Corp. Produceing in power cord plug inserts plug inserts american power cords european power cords australia power cords uk power cords italy power cords swiss power cords argentina power cords japan power cords korean power cords Israel power cords china power cords power cords ningbo yunhuan ningbo aurich .

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japandcaffben on July 20th, 2006 at 8:58 pm said:

this doesn’t actually tell you how to make it. this site is stupid.

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japandcaffben on July 20th, 2006 at 9:04 pm said:

nevermind. don’t start flamming plz.

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BosMaker on January 31st, 2007 at 1:22 pm said:

Well, it looks like a Make project just made CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/suspicious.packages.ap/index.html

They’re Throwies!

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BosMaker on January 31st, 2007 at 1:36 pm said:

And here:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/01/suspicious_obje.html

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13erri_fu5i0n on February 12th, 2007 at 3:06 pm said:

those are not throwies!!! pay attention!!! sit up straight!!! is that gum!?!? lol.

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GraFFer on March 29th, 2007 at 3:06 pm said:

“this doesn’t actually tell you how to make it. this site is stupid.

Posted by: japandcaffben on July 20, 2006 at 8:58 PM”

I can tell you how to make em. Its simple. im about to make 100 or so. You need 10mm LEDs, CR2032 batteries and (I think theyre Nymium, sommin like that)N84 1/4″x1/16″ disc magnets.

The LEDs should have a short and a long metal connector thing. The longer metal wire should be connected to the POSITIVE side of the battery. the battery should slide right between the two connectors. take a strip of tape long enough to cover both sides and meet. then place the magnet on the POSITIVE side of the battery. then use a little longer peice of tape than the last and tape the magnet on. You should only need to wrap it once if its like a duct tape. If you wrap it more than once the magnet will be weaker.

and thats it. it should only take like 30 seconds to make one. batteries, LEDs and magnets can be bought in bulk on ebay for really cheap.

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