USB flashing Iceberg Night light

thingiverse

This was a straightforward project to swap the battery-powered RGB LED candle in a night light I built for my son. I originally designed the nightlight to work with an RGB LED candle from eBay, but decided on a USB plug-in variant instead. I used a flashing RGB LED for this project, however you can use any 5mm LED you choose. You can have it as a solid color, slow changing or even a flickering candle LED. If it's a 5mm LED, it will fit just fine. Just keep in mind that this setup will allow 27mA of current through the LED series. This is the high end to ensure maximum brightness, so please make sure your LED can comfortably handle this current. If not, you can put a larger resistor - a 200 ohm one will produce 25mA, a 250 ohm one 20mA and a 300 ohm one 16mA. To make this project, you'll need a few things. I used 1-3 5mm RGB fast flashing LEDs (you can find them on eBay), an 180 ohm resistor (also available on eBay) and just an old USB cable. To assemble it, simply cut off the unused end of the USB cable. Then strip back the insulating and shielding to expose the following wires: Red = 5V+, Black = 0v or GND, White = Data + and Green = Data -. You don't need the white or green for this, so cut them back and insulate them with tape. Next, connect the red 5v+ wire to the anode of the LED (longer lead), solder the 180 ohm resistor to the cathode of the LED and the black wire from the USB to the other end of the resistor. Finally, insulate all connections with tape, hot glue or heatshrink. Remember to check it's operation in an old phone charger or a battery bank before plugging it into your expensive laptop or PC!!!!!