Status LED Colors?

[obblitt]

Would it work to paint a (5mm Clear-bright) white LED brown?  OR: is there such a thing as a clear-brown 5mm LED? 

I had this idea for an overdrive, and while I'm not saying anything yet  , it would be SUPER cool to have a brown LED.

[LEON.01]

Heard of someone doing that before! Used Nail varnish apparently! 

Go on! tell us, Why Brown??

[liddokun]

Would it work to paint a (5mm Clear-bright) white LED brown?  OR: is there such a thing as a clear-brown 5mm LED? 

I had this idea for an overdrive, and while I'm not saying anything yet  , it would be SUPER cool to have a brown LED.

Don't tell me you're building a Brown Sound in a Box 2? Haha. I guess it's not going to be that obvious, eh?

[Processaurus]

ha ha, is there such a thing as brown light? or grey light?

I searched "super-bright brown led" and it looks like they haven't hit the internet yet.

[stm]

Two ideas:

1) I suggest you try with glass paint.  It is intended to be translucent.  You'll have to find a way to apply a uniform layer so you don't see the brush strokes, though.

2) Although not brown, there are these "warm white" LEDs that are more yellowish than the typical white LEDs, which happen to be on the bluish side.  A WW LED will mimmick an incandescent lamp and could add some warmth to your pedal (pun intended).

[Boogdish]

brown sharpie?

[runmikeyrun]

brown nail polish, if it exists

or

testor's model paint, thinned a bit. 

Do one coat, then light up the LED, and do more coats if needed.

[The French connection]

It gonna comes out orange when light up...unless you put several coat, but it won't light throughout then...Maybe with glass paint as STM suggested, but it's expensive for just one led.

Good luck!

Dan

[Andi]

Brown is rather a dark colour for an LED.

[fluoreszenz]

How to make brown -->   http://fendynajoan.com/How%20to%20Mix%20Paint%20Colors%20to%20Make%20Brown.htm

if you don't want to paint your LED:

....blend different LEDs together, but i guess that would be quite hard to do... 


or use an amber LED and reduce its radiation output with a higher value series resistor

[Nordskov]

How about applying red paint to a green LED or green paint to a red LED, and maybe a little black.
The colour can't be verified before the paint is dry.

[zyxwyvu]

You could try an RGB LED, with different resistors (trimmers maybe?) for the red and green connections (you probably don't need blue). You can get the red/green ratio from here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown

[Nordskov]

+1
Good idea.

[The French connection]

You cant create color lights with colored light. visible light by definition is composed of every color of the spectrum (and some UVs) that's why it appears white. By combining red and green light you're just gonna obtain something more white...and it,s if you're able to combine the two beam correctly. It's not like pigment. You cannot create ''dark light'' with light. That's quantum mécanics. Remember the prism of Dark side of the moon...Brown appears brown because the pigment absorb several frequencies of the incident light and let pass the other wavelength...following the beer lambert laws and a bunch of optical phenomena (diffusion, diffraction...) and bla bla bla
I would explain better in french i bet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light

Dan

[zyxwyvu]

You cant create color lights with colored light. visible light by definition is composed of every color of the spectrum (and some UVs) that's why it appears white. By combining red and green light you're just gonna obtain something more white...and it,s if you're able to combine the two beam correctly. It's not like pigment. You cannot create ''dark light'' with light. That's quantum mécanics. Remember the prism of Dark side of the moon...Brown appears brown because the pigment absorb several frequencies of the incident light and let pass the other wavelength...following the beer lambert laws and a bunch of optical phenomena (diffusion, diffraction...) and bla bla bla
I would explain better in french i bet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light

Dan

Colors can be created with either additive or subtractive mixing. Pigments work through subtractive mixing, while light works through additive mixing. What's important is the wavelengths that actually get to your eye. See the Wikipedia article on color mixing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_mixing.

Practically any color can be created through either means. As a example, CRT monitors use phosphors that emit red, green or blue light. By mixing them correctly, the monitor can display arbitrary colors. CRTs certainly do not have difficulty creating brown, thus LEDs shouldn't either. Practical differences may make it more difficult, but it is basically equivalent.

And back to the thread topic... To get a brown color from an LED, you'll most likely have to run it at low current, or block a lot of the light, or it will look orange.

[The French connection]

Hi Josh! Sorry if you think i was rude and for being out topic. I was just saying that you cant make brown by mixing red and green light, you gonna have yellow by doing so, and even if you set the current low it's just gonna be yellow but less bright...and if you add any other color it's gonna become white. Watch the figure of your link. Anyway there's no point to win here. But if it's possible to have some kind of brown led it's by Absorbtion/transmittance phenomenon by applaying a filter that gonna let some orange wavelenght coming through and cut the other wavelenght...but the best you can get is orange because brown is made of orange and black and there no ''black light'' if you know what i mean. Concerning CRT, there's RED/Blue/Green...and black and white and it's another phenomenon here, it depends on dispersion and on eyes resolution.

Finally the best way is to try it. But if it was me i'll try with the Glass paint or maybe nail varnish as for Stained glass. Or simply buy an orange LED but the last one i've tried look more red than orange...

Cheers!

Dan

[zyxwyvu]

Hi Josh! Sorry if you think i was rude and for being out topic. I was just saying that you cant make brown by mixing red and green light, you gonna have yellow by doing so, and even if you set the current low it's just gonna be yellow but less bright...and if you add any other color it's gonna become white. Watch the figure of your link. Anyway there's no point to win here. But if it's possible to have some kind of brown led it's by Absorbtion/transmittance phenomenon by applaying a filter that gonna let some orange wavelenght coming through and cut the other wavelenght...but the best you can get is orange because brown is made of orange and black and there no ''black light'' if you know what i mean. Concerning CRT, there's RED/Blue/Green...and black and white and it's another phenomenon here, it depends on dispersion and on eyes resolution.

Finally the best way is to try it. But if it was me i'll try with the Glass paint or maybe nail varnish as for Stained glass. Or simply buy an orange LED but the last one i've tried look more red than orange...

Cheers!

Dan

Ah OK. I see what you mean. I do agree that it will most likely be pretty difficult to make brown, but I think it's worth a try at least. The paint idea I think is the best bet though.

[obblitt]

I'll let everyone know how it goes. I'm planning on ordering the parts for this project within the next week. If not, maybe I'll just spill the beans. I don't know what the Brown Sound in a box is, but I'm just going to assume that you're way off! 

PS - I don't know why, but I wasn't ever notified on any replies to the topic... but keep the suggestions coming!