LED Mounting?

[Snare227]

I've been mounting my LEDs with a 5mm metal bezel right above the stomp because I like that clean look.  Lately I've been thinking that this is taking up a lot of real estate on the face of the pedal I could use for graphics.  I'm just wondering what everyone's preference is for their LEDs, mounting style and location. I've got some plastic pop in bezels I'm going to try, but I've also seen people have a hole in their box just big enough for the LED to pop through.  How do they make them stable without popping back through?  Hot glue?  Thanks guys!

[GoranP]

Same thing here. Chrome bezel 5mm every single time and now I'm considering switching to 3mm without a holder, straight in the hole.

I tried hot glue and that didn't seem to work. Medium pressure push promptly dislodged the led every single time and right now I'm looking for advice. Epoxy? CA glue?

I realize that leds aren't that exposed but crap happens and I'd hate to have to open my rats nests just to fix leds...

I'm also looking at fresnel lens for the coolness factor but I'd like to get to the bottom of the problem at hand, fixing leds to enclosures directly.

[Silver Blues]

I use the black 5mm holders with 5mm LEDS, but generally I put them directly to the left of the switch. I don't put graphics on my builds, but I think if one were to that would be a good solution space-wise.

--Silvie

[Geiri]

I use 3mm LEDs and I drill 3mm (exactly) holes where I just press them in and they stay put. Simple, quick and fairly clean to be honest.

However, having said that, I'm about to experiment with a different look as I've ordered lots of these: Link and these: Link

So I've got two styles to choose from, depending on the looks of the enclosure. I prefer 3mm since they're smaller and just as bright.

[GoranP]

Geiri, when you do get around experimenting with fresnels, please drop us a line how it goes... they seem pretty cool but I tend to avoid Banzai due to high(ish) shipping costs...

I'd also be very interested in pictures showing a difference between diffused and clear superbrights being used in fresnels.

[Geiri]

Will do! Should receive them in a few days. I'm gonna be ordering a lot from Banzai because Iceland is in Europe but not a part of the EU so I get pretty much 19% discont on everything because I don't have to pay VAT!

[Surgeon]

I also use chrome bezels but I have some black plastic ones to try also. As for location: depends on the build.

For two-knob builds, I usually put it right below the pots to get kind of a triangular look.

With 3 pots I put it next to the footswitch (usually to the left).
4 pots varies: sometimes next to the switch, sometimes right between all the pots.
With 1590BB used horizontally I usually put the swith at the lower right corner and the LED lower-left.

Still, it all depends on the inspiration of the moment really.

[Vince]

I remember someone suggesting silicon sealant to hold LED's in place without a bezel. I like the chrome ones but I only use them on hammerite pedals as they seem to scratch up my sprayed ones, which is bloody annoying.

[GoranP]

Silicone... Sounds interesting and cheap but I'm not sure it'd hold the led any more secure than the hotglue...

Worth a try, though...

[Geiri]

I just received the package from Banzai. It arrived to the country FOUR days ago. Stupid customs take forever to do things here..

Anyways, I like both a lot! What's more to say? I'll post some pictures tomorrow once I've got finished pedals.

[alltrax74]

I use 3mm leds with metal bezel & plastic holder.
I wire it just above the 3pdt so that the cathode is directly soldered, it gives a good stability and doesn't take room, as I usually put both jacks on each side of it

[GoranP]

Alltrax, I keep forgetting to ask you... when/how do you cut holes in your laminate? Before gluing? After gluing? Before lamination?

Since the laminate is not see-through, how do you align the holes when gluing?

[alltrax74]

I always print a template (basically the sam stuff with only crosses for the holes) at the same time on the same sheet.
I laminate both
I tape the template on the enclosure and drill
I then glue the pattern (don't put it upside down, i've been there...) and use a scalpel to cut the holes

[GoranP]

OK, I'm missing something here :)
If I'm reading this correctly, you make two pieces of laminate, one a drill template and the other a pattern. Then you drill through the laminated template? What happens to the other one, how do you align the holes? I must be misunderstanding.

I'm having problems because I'm trying to retrofit a pattern onto an already-drilled enclosure. Unless I cut out the holes prior to gluing, there's no way to line them up correctly (I'll probably line them up relative to box edges and let the washers cover up the misalignment).

Obviously, practice is needed.

[alltrax74]

The cutout of both the template and the pattern are of course the same, but most important they fit perfectly the enclosure, so you only have one way to position them.
So after drilling with the template, you will glue the pattern in the exact same position, and thus get the holes aligned
Here is an exemple of the pattern and its template (both are printed on the same sheet then cut individually after being laminated)

[GoranP]

OK, I just tried gluing a laminated paper using regular uhu glue. While I cannot comment on the plastic-metal bond because the glue is still wet, I can comment on the squuezeout.

How the heck do you control it?  If I overdo the glue, there's a whole lot of it and I get it all over my fingers while trying to position the laminate.

If I use "just enough" and get barely any squeezeout (you mentioned lutherie, about as much as you should get when gluing the binding), all wiping attempts have made it even worse because the glue gets on the top side and hardens almost immediately, leaving a film that looks rather crappy compared to the rest of the laminate. The difference in "shininess" is very apparent yet I don't see any of it on your pictures?

What am I doing wrong? I suppose I should only wipe radially from the inside out but my test pieces are too small for that and I don't want to attempt it on the real thing until I'm fairly certain I know what I'm doing.

[alltrax74]

GoranP wrote

I suppose I should only wipe radially from the inside out but my test pieces are too small for that and I don't want to attempt it on the real thing until I'm fairly certain I know what I'm doing.

That's exactly what I do, from the inside to the outside.
I'll take a few pics on my next one

[GoranP]

Thanks man!

I'll probably risk this one tomorrow if this glue holds, but I'd really appreciate a pictorial of your drilling/gluing process.

[alltrax74]

Here are pictures I took this morning for a new enclosure
Hope this will help (start with picture 12 to 1)
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/nsy22mfphtsbwmn/erCPYcPGX_

[GoranP]

Excellent, Alltrax!

Have you ever tried just making one laminate, glueing it to the enclosure and drilling it after it's dried? It doesn't seem to need much work, the picture right after you've drilled it?

Also, I have to confess that it took me good 10 seconds to figure out the picture with the vice. I was like "cool, I need to get me one of these vices to apply even pressure" and 5 seconds later I was like  "it's just a weight, dude..."

Attack of the stupid....