DIY Plug-In LED Jack-O'-Lanterns
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2023
- Forgetting to turn off your battery-powered tea lights can be a huge pain and costly, so in this video, I'll show you how I converted our jack-o'-lanterns to run off our 12-volt RCA jack system.
12v RCA Jack System - • BEHIND THE SCREAMS: DI...
How we make our lights flicker - • Improving LED Candle H...
How we wire our haunt: • How We Wire Our Haunt
The Ultimate PVC Halloween Candles - • The ULTIMATE Halloween...
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Eagle Eye LED bulbs (amber/yellow) - amzn.to/493dhzp
Cantex 1/2" Box Adapter ($0.90 at Home Depot) - amzn.to/3s3jQBB
4" Round Blank Cover Plate - amzn.to/3FqJ2oF
3/4" Washer (with 1/2" opening) -
Male RCA Connector - amzn.to/3bXAUwz
LED Flicker Module - amzn.to/3kENdSL
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I think you're inspiring our 5 year old. He loves watching your videos and always wants to "go make something." He tells me all the time, "Go make something, Ma!" Thank you for sparking his imagination. ❤
That is awesome!
Your videos are so well done. Your voice is so smooth and articulated so its easy to understand. Thanks for all these tutorials.
You're very welcome!
Your builds are always great, I myself don't have a 3D printer so it's nice when you make things from items from the store.
I feel the same way! 3D printers are great unless you don't have one, so builds using standard store-bought parts are very helpful. :)
This will certainly solve the problem with the batteries running out on you... and long ago I used RCA plugs, and they're a fine choice over other audio connectors, but at some point I realized that it wasn't going to cut it anymore. The RCA is for audio circuits and most of their wiring is very thin and can't handle a prop, or lighting, that needs more current.
What I use these days are the 5.5mm x 2.1mm barrel connectors (not the 5.5mm x 2.5mm those are annoying and harder to find). What I like about them is that they are standard connection that you can find on power supplies, and if you look on Amazon, they make heavy duty extensions so you can run higher current.
The LED's that flicker like a candle are a better option, and you can get them in different colors such as Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, etc... The only downside with these LEDs is that you need to also put a series resistor, and some kits include the resistor, but this also allows for customizing, here's a cute hack: if you put non-flickering UV LEDS ( like 2 or 3) in series with the flicker LED and you get flickering UV effect that can be used with UV reactive paints! You need to calculate the voltage drop and do an easy calculation for the current. And these LEDs are easily waterproofed with heat shrink tubing and hot glue... in fact, drizzle some hot glue over the lens of the LED to give it some diffusion and warped light looking effects. The Hot glue can be removed easily if you don't like the effect and want to try something different.
As for my attendance... or lack thereof... I didn't get the usual premiere notification 'DING' and missed the whole Saturday morning chat session. What I attribute this to is that recently RUclips cracked down on their ad blockers and there's been a lot of changes to both the Chrome browser and then RUclips service began throwing messages at me to turn off an ad blocker (that I didn't even realize I had installed)... When I followed their instructions to switch off the ad blocker, that's when things dramatically changed, the ads are invasive, the notifications sometimes don't work. In the past, I didn't mind the occasional ad but now they do 5+ ads per video... Jeez! They ads aren't effective, all the years on RUclips and I couldn't tell you a single product those ads were about. Anyway, I think that there are other platforms to consider...
How has your experience been? I can't be the only one that this affected.
I’ve never used blockers so it’s been no different for me. You were definitely missed today!
HI@@VanOaksProps, and I really missed you guys too... I felt terrible that I didn't check the time, but usually I get the notification at 8:30. And the crazy thing is that I didn't even realize that I had an ad blocker... we have so many things in our browsers that I even told YT that I didn't have one... to then have egg on my face a minute later.
looks great!!! years ago I made a discovery that putting some yellow vellum just behind the carved face disperses the light nicely and nobody realizes they aren't fake pumpkins (because you can't see the inside). I have about 30 of them with little battery powered flickering lights- it looks so real.
Ty for that, Ill have to go back thru your vids and see if you have a guide on the whole power grid system. Been wanting to do this for a while too
Same, lol. I have 62 pumpkins. And I add a couple more every year. Lol.
There’s a link in the video description for all the videos related to it.
@@VanOaksProps is it all powered by one wall socket?
Yep
This video reminded me of better times. Thank you.
Hey Derek, a couple tips… I always put a piece of shrink tubing on the positive wire inside the connector to prevent shorting. Also take a look. For a G4 base LED flame bulb and G4 socket. I use them in my lanterns and hope to upgrade my Jack o lanterns with those as well… super good look, they are more costly than an eagle but no flicker circuit required…
Thanks for the tips, Greg! I bought some of those g4 flame bulbs and found that their pattern was really noticeable, especially when you had multiple props using them, so I returned them. I may have just gotten a bad batch. I'll have to give them another try some day.
It's ironic that I saw this video this morning. I was just talking about wiring my freshly carved funkin last night. The only difference is I want to use a plug in for mine. Still, very helpful video. You found your calling. Your instructions are always the best. Thank you and happy Halloween.
BTW, Is there a way to plug in battery powered lights, skeleton eyes and other props? Seems like a lot of manufacturers are using batteries these days. I love the red eyes on my skeletons, but the batteries run out. So frustrating. Thanks.
I appreciate your hard work and efforts for entertaining the best day of the year...my birthday!!
Excellent DIY solution to automatically lighting your pumpkin.
Thank you very much
Great spooky project Derek 🎃 I waste so much money on batteries for led pumpkin lights each year. This would be a great upgrade for my patch as well .
Nice upgrade. If I'm not mistaken, around timecode 5:09, the end of the the connector should be crimped around the wires for a meager amount of extra durability. Certainly much less necessary due to the solder and low amount of times you'll plug and unplug it. Caution has to be exercised not to short the wires by crimping through the wire jackets too.
Absolutely correct.
Love the candle detail! 👍
I like this. I went a different route with specialized LED drivers and smaller bulbs. This setup is worth adding to my array technique for lighting (anything). Thanks!
In response to your t-shirt, “Saw dust is man glitter “. Is the classic saying
Thanks for the tutorial Derek! It will come in handy!
Really nice solution! The candle plusses it up well.
Awesome spooky jack-o-lanterns.
Another great vid...
But I missed the bloopers 😢🤣😂🤣😂
Next time!
That's a beuatiful pumpkin! Looks really similar to the ones used in Haunted Mansion Holiday. Did you make it?
It is and I did!
Fantastic idea for lighting up your Pumpkins 🎃🎃 Thank you so much for sharing 🎃💀🦇🪦⚰️🎈
Excellent video!! Thanks for the great tutorial!
You're very welcome!
Would love to see the entire group of jack-o-lanterns wired up (step by step). I have this same issue and need to just commit to converting over to a wired system. Thanks for sharing. 🤘💀
There’s a link in the video description to a video that shows how it’s all wired. It’s from a few years back, so no pumpkins, but it’ll give you a better idea.
Great stuff man!!
Appreciate it!
KLeva...LOVED IT...🎉😅❤
That's Cool!!! Thank You!!!!!!!!🎃🔥👍
You bet
I light up pumpkins with replacement corded candelabra sockets for like a Himalayan salt lamp & LED flame bulbs. To keep from seeing the bulb I hot glue a piece of parchment paper to the inside. It diffuses the light and keeps you from seeing the bulb. Not super waterproof though I only am putting out my pumpkins on halloween.
I bet you can do a great Casey Kasem!
Interested how your flicker circuit works. Have you covered this in a video?
There’s a link in the video description to the video that shows it.
I was just considering doing this for my parents display using some prewired flickering LEDs, but the upgrade just isn’t in the budget rn.
Very cool effect! Just FYI though the light link on Amazon leads to a "this product is unavailable" page.
Thanks for letting me know. It should be working now.
If you want to have a lot of pumpkins, would the flicker circuit be random for all of the pumpkin lights or would they flicker at the same time?
I went with 3 Lighthouse 5mm flicker bulbs this year and they are not bright enough
They’d all be the same. You could use multiple flicker units or just space them out so that you don’t notice they’re flickering the same way.
Can you do a video on your central 12-volt system itself? I'd really like to know how to wire a bunch of props to a control system in my living room, rather than going out and turning every individual thing on and off manually every night.
There's a link to some of the videos where I discuss it in the video description if you want to check those out.
Would this be possible to do with USB connectors or is that not a good idea? I already have some pumpkins that I use a multiport USB charger to power. Would love to just add some more USB powered and get rid of the batteries
USB has really thin wires and would probably be more difficult to solder.
Hi Derek Love your videos. Got a question, what made you choose an RCA Jack?
It was one of those weird ideas that I wondered if it would work or not and once I saw that it would, I just kept using the same pieces. If I had to do it over again, I would choose weatherproof connectors.
@@VanOaksProps oh I’m not making fun it’s a great idea, an electrical connection is an electrical connection. Whatever works and is readily available is my motto! Cya bud
I'm converting my 30 or so pumpkins using your method but also incorporating your latest haunt wiring system with 2 pin connectors. Would each pumpkin need its own flicker circuit? Seems like adding it between the power supply and the pin connectors would have them all flicker in unison. If they each need their own circuit ahead of the eagle eyes, where would you tuck the device? Thanks for your great channel
Your assumption is correct. They'll all flicker from that one circuit. That's how we run ours.
@@VanOaksPropsThanks Derek. I'm guessing it isn't super obvious? Or the further apart the less noticeable?
@@darenlong7835 exactly.
Can you put the link to the 12v RCA power system? I can’t find it. I’d love to know more.
It’s in the video description 👍🏻
I'm personally not a big fan of using RCA connectors for 12V power. Especially if you're also audio equipment in your haunt, there is a chance that you might hit an audio line with 12v when you mix up some plugs. Why not just use DC barrel jacks that are made to handle power, rather than using a plug that is "dedicated" to audio? (An RCA jack will probably handle the power just fine, but I don't like using plugs that are normally designated to signaling for power uses.)
The female RCA jacks he uses are on the back of custom power distribution boxes. Don’t see how you would mix that up with audio equipment.
You absolutely could use barrel connectors or even dedicated waterproof two prong connectors. I went with rca because it was my first idea and the parts and build were straightforward. An added bonus was the amount of rca cables I had laying around from my time as an audio engineer.
I’ve never had to worry about mixing up my cords since none of my speakers have rca connections. They also originate from different places in our haunt.
How could you string a whole bunch of these together to reduce cords?
Use splitters to connect from one cord to the next. If you check out the videos linked in the description you can see how I do it.
Gasp!!! I just realized that I can only like this comment once!!! 😅
What flicker circuit? Do you have a video?
There’s a link in the video description.
@@VanOaksPropsthanks!
I put timed led candles into my lanterns, so they turn off after 6 hours.