The Dragon Lantern

I'm sorry i was really lazy the last time but i promise i will add some new pages or Project/Logs soon. I had to do a little project on the behalf of my comrades. It is a Lantern which resembles the coat of arms of the town where i live. I got the Lantern and had to "hack" it.

By itself it already looks pretty cool - but what is a lantern without light?

A Candle or some Candles are to dark and also a bit more dangerous. A Heatball is a bit brighter but also rather dangerous. So some comrades came up and told me, that we need more light - Just get it bright. The obvious choice: LED. I also asked if its enough if the LEDs are glowing - they said yes as long as they don't burn ;-)

(In germany many folks mix glowing (leuchten) and burning (brennen) ... ;-) )

I thought about a Flicker-Circuit but i dumped that plan because of deadline and budget issues :-/

So I got a nice, old, scrap, Aluminium plate with some gaps. I mounted 2 x 3W COB LEDs (9.6V@300mA) https://www.pollin.de/shop/downloads/D120786D.PDF)(with heatsinks http://www.pollin.de/shop/dt/ODU4OTY1OTk-/Bauelemente_Bauteile/Mechanische_Bauelemente/Kuehlkoerper/Kuehlkoerper_fuer_COB_LED_FISCHER_SK60210SA.html) , a small PCB with Resistors (8R/1W) and a Diode (Rated at 1A, the Voltagedrop (0.7V) is just enough to meet the current rating), a Marquardt Switch and a Hollow Jacket (?). If time and money would not be an Issue, i would probably have used some bigger resistors (f.ex. http://de.farnell.com/welwyn/wh50-10rji/widerstand-drahtgewickelt-10r/dp/9508082) for panel mounting.

I also added some Steel scrap to prevent sliding off of the top of the lantern.

Then just supply the simple circuit with 12V and at least 300mA (I have found a Goobay 12V / 2250mA wall wart) and have a go.

Okay I also did some Testing beforehand with my bench supply. I really like the outcome therefore that i mostly used parts from my drawers.

I added a layer of aluminium foil to the sides of the lantern to improve the lightning - absolutely worth it - the difference from dark wood to sparkling aluminium foil is remarkable.