LED enclosure mounting "alternatives"

[analog kid]

Does anyone here have any ideas or experiences with mounting an (5mm) LED into an enclosure(hammond 1590BB) withOUT using any of the standard type bezels that make it easy to hold the light in there??? I didn't buy one when I made my last two parts orders and I'm not going to have ended up paying $8 THREE TIMES just for shipping , to get the parts for this project!!! SO I have the LED wired up and working , just hanging loose in my box One side tied to a resistor and the other a lead to ground and I have the led 'threaded' through one of the cheap little plastic towers that most circuit mounted LED's in stomp pedals have in them. Just to have something to give it some stability and keep the led leads from being exposed.
I know where i want it and i'd say that the 'lip' , beveled edge at the bulb of the led itself would be enough (If I don't drill to big) to hold it from pushing OUT of the box but I have no ideas on ways to mount it and keep it in position in the interior of the box?? Please help , any ideas welcome
thanks

[Khas Evets]

You could fix it with a glue gun. I still prefer the bezels.

[Processaurus]

Hi, you're right not to let a tiny piece of plastic get in the way of finishing a project.  LEDs are tapered a little bit, so if you drill the right size hole , like .192" to.194", you can just smush the LED in real good or tap it with something blunt and the tight fit should hold it.   If you feel like it you could also use a big drill bit to bevel the top edge of the hole to give it a more finished look.

[sir_modulus]

Hi there!

I used to run into the same problem! I used to just do as you said, and use the lip of the LED to keep it from slipping through the hole. For a little bit of a shim, and a bit of focusing of the light from the LED, just put a small strip of aluminum foil around the LED before sticking it in. Caulking works wonders for sealing it in place from the backside, and it's not so rigid that just moving the leads makes them break.

In case you want some...I do have a box full of little black platic panel mounting bezels for LEDS...PM me, if you want some, and we could have something arranged.

Cheers,

Nish

[NaBo]

ahhh yes, my solution is "the poor-man's-bezel"!  i had to find a creative way of mounting stuff without being able to drill holes and such cuz im away at school and away from tools ... i had a pre-drilled junction box from home depot to work with, and lucky for me, the holes fit toggle switches just perfectly.  as for the LED, i just used a hole big enough to let the leads through without touching the enclosure, and small enough not to let the LED drop through into the enclosure (the LED used was 15mm).  then i put a bit of super glue around the hole and stuck the LED in place!  i even coloured around the base with a sharpie to make it look bezel-y!!!  here's a pic of the finished product, my diy cap meter

[R.G.]

superglue
mastic
contact cement
bubble gum
RTV
painter's caulk
hot glue
library paste
epoxy
JB Weld
Lab--metal
big piece of tape on the bottom with the leads sticking through it

[Vsat]

My current favorite LED mounting technique is to make a little square PCB "carrier" for the LED pins to be soldered into - 2 small pads for the LED pins which connect to 2 larger pads for soldering hookup wire to (this reduces temperature stress on the LED during soldering/unsoldering). A mounting clip can be used to hold the LED in place on the panel, or smear contact cement on the PCB front and fix it to the panel. Clip the LED leads fairly short. This makes soldering/unsoldering hookup wire a lot easier, and minimizes flexing of the LED pins. I make up a batch of 10-20 of these little squares at a time for future use. Can put the current-limit resistor on the carrier PCB too if you want.
Requires a bit of preparation but the ease of handling makes it worthwhile. YMMV
Regards, Mike

[puretube]

in prototypes, I love to use 11mm rubber grommets
( c-profiled, which are used normally for protecting cables that stick through a chassis),
in an 8mm hole in 1.5mm thick sheet aluminum boxes.
The 5mm LEDs fit quite tight in`em.
Shrinkhose the leads...

[rubberlips]

I reckon bezels look ugly anyway with effects pedals. A dab of super glue at the back of the LED holds it no worries. If you need to get it out for any reason later on, tap it with a hammer. If it brakes in the hole, just drill the hole again

Cheers

Pete

[Vsat]

Another variation  on my earlier post.

Cut a square of PCB about 0.5 inch on each edge. Drill a hole in the middle big enough to allow the entire LED (including the lip at the base) to fit through. With an X-acto knife, make a slit in the copper foil that  isolates the foil into two sections. Put the LED into the PCB chunk so that the lens sticks out of the bare side, and the base of the LED is nearly flush with the foil side. Bend the LED leads apart so they are flush against the foil, and solder them to the foil. The front panel has a hole already drilled of a suitable size for the LED... smear contact cement on the bare side of the PCB square (also on underside of panel, let dry a couple of minutes) - try not to get any on LED- and fit the LED into the front panel hole so the PCB square gets cemented to underside of front panel - let dry, then solder connecting flywires to the copper foil. Easy to disconnect and remove when needed, but provides firm mounting for LED. Use crazy glue instead of contact cement for a more permanent mounting.
Regards, Mike

[bwanasonic]

Depending on how you mount the pcb, you could have the LED on the main board, and lined up so it pokes thru the hole. This method is used often with commercial pedals, but can be a PITA to pull off (lining up the drilled hole with the mounted PCB).

Kerry M

[petemoore]

Bevel a hole with a near right size drill bit into substrate like countertop.
 add clear epoxy, stick LED in, hold in place with breadbag on hand, wipe off any goop from lense, let dry.
 Technique 2
 Glue some index card to the hard substrate to 'shim raise' the  substrate surface around the LED hole to almost match the LED's bottom height.
 Drill a hole in another piece of hardboard/cardboard just large enough for the LED leads to come through. Pin the LED bottom with this piece by glueing it to the substrate. Clamp "n let dry.
 Epoxy or screw the substrate/LED assembly to the mounting surface of the box.
 Clamp the countertop during fabrication tasks.

[analog kid]

Depending on how you mount the pcb, you could have the LED on the main board, and lined up so it pokes thru the hole. This method is used often with commercial pedals, but can be a PITA to pull off

This is exactly what I ended up doing , I guess I was lucky that the board had came to rest in a perfect area of the pedal as where I wanted my LED AND that there was just enough empty pads on the PCB there that weren't too crowded.  but the ideas put forth here were GREAT@!!! and I"m sure to try more than one of them coming up soon.
thanks alot

[puretube]

Depending on how you mount the pcb, you could have the LED on the main board, and lined up so it pokes thru the hole. This method is used often with commercial pedals, but can be a PITA to pull off (lining up the drilled hole with the mounted PCB).

Kerry M

with this method, it sometimes helps if you solder the leads to the pads finally, after everything sits in its place.

[Hal]

Radio Shack