LEDs in water? Do you have any suggestions?

[Jack.Straw]

LEDs in water?

Hello. I'm in the design faze of a steampunk guitar project where i would like to have 4 LEDs suspended in a small glass tube (empty T10 bulb) full of liquid. The LEDs are powered by a 9v color wheel circuit, reacting to the sounds of the guitar. Would encasing the leads and wires in a fish tank sealant be adequate protection? The liquid will probably be a mix of water and highlighter juice. The LEDs are purple UV-ish and i need to do some testing in UV reactive liquids. Safety first though... what's a good way of waterproofing a series of LEDs?

Thanks for your time,
-Scott

 

[barrybear]

Re: LEDs in water?

Silicon sealant should do the job.

 

[betwixt]

Re: LEDs in water?

I've have 38 LEDs running under water for three years now. The trick I used is to encase them in clear resin, available from model shops. It is water and chemical resistant and when submersed is completely invisible. The only thing that looks odd is the clear plastic LED body seems to disappear! It's only an optical illusion, the resin is so similar to the stuff LEDs are made of that when bonded together the boundary between them becomes invisible. The light still comes out as normal.

I encase the series resistors and connections in the resin, just leaving flexible wires coming out of it. They are a mix of white, blue and 'color changing' LEDs submersed about 1 metre below the surface of a swimming pool. Looks great at night!

Brian.

 

[Jack.Straw]

Re: LEDs in water?

Sounds perfect, thanks guys!

 

[pranam77]

LEDs in water?

You get water proof LED strips in reel's of 5 meters each. Have a look at any component vendors...Cheers