Flickering LED Candle Mod

This is a quick and easy mod that converts one flickering led into a driver for multiple led's. It only requires a few basic electronic components and can turn any led flash light or work light into a flickering light. This effect is also known to look like a flickering candle.

1. Any small NPN transistor (2n2222,2n3904) (ebay has these 100 for $1.25)
2. 1 1/4 watt 10k - 13k resistor (pick up a cheap resistor kit on ebay $3.00)
3. 1 flickering led (can be bought from the dollar store in a 2 pack led flickering candle $1.00)
4. 27 led harbor freight flashlight (free with coupon and any purchase)

In our case we will be converting the common harbor freight work light, which comes apart relatively easily. Start by removing the 3 screws on the back and the back cover, then remove the 4 screws holding the battery compartment in. Now the led array PCB should be able to flip over and you should be able see the battery connections and traces.

Basically we have to put the circuit between the led's we want to flicker and the power switch. I soldered the circuit onto a tiny PCB keeping its size as small as possible, so it will fit inside the housing of the light. As you can see in the picture, 3 rows of led's follow a trace on one side of the switch while 1 row comes from the other side. So because of that you have to cut the trace on both sides of the switch. I used a precision screw driver to cut the traces and also expose the copper where it needs to be soldered. Once you have made the connections use some electrical tape to isolate and secure the custom PCB you just added to this light, then its just a matter of reassembling the light.