LED Meteor Shower Pyramid

This should be considered a simpler version of this awesome LED pyramid Instructable by Honghong Lu. If you are comfortable with more advanced soldering and 3D printing, definitely check that out.

Soldering is optional!

If you want to keep the build time super short and don't mind a slightly messier result, you only need to glue the tubes into a pyramid, and then you're done! If you want a neater, tidier pyramid, or more control over the distance between pyramids, you will be cutting wires and reconnecting them.

Estimated time: 30 minutes for glue only; 2 hours for soldering.

Required:

• 1–3 sets of LED Meteor Shower Lights with at least 6 tubes.
  • If you are gluing only, make sure the distance between tubes is slightly longer than the height of the tube, or else you will not have enough slack to arrange them in a pyramid.
  • For multiple pyramids connected to one plug, check how many sets can be put together. One pyramid needs 6 sides, and they commonly come in sets of 8, so three sets of 8 will be divisible by 6 if you are interested in having a four-pyramid cluster.
  • The set I bought was wired such that you could cut the last two off and all six remaining tubes still worked. Please be prepared for that to not always be the case depending on what you buy!
  • hot glue gun (low temp is easier)
  Recommended:
  

  • jig materials — I used scrap wood and nails
  • ruler & protractor

  Optional (soldering method):

  • soldering iron & solder
  • scissors
  • heat shrink
  • heat gun
  • 2 differently coloured markers or other way of marking wires

Do not cut any wires if you are not planning on soldering.

If you are comfortable with super basic soldering, go ahead and decide that now. It will mean more time to build but a slicker appearance of the final product!

For the soldering approach, we'll be cutting the lights apart now. For each pyramid, you will have four vertices. One will have no wires at all, but the other three will. As such, you will need to run wires the entire length of a tube twice. To prepare for this, we'll want the sending and receiving tubes to have as much lead as possible. All other tube connections will be within the same vertex, so they will be super short runs. When you cut the wires, make four cuts about an inch from the next tube. The rest should be made halfway between tubes for maximum flexibility. Please plan accordingly if you are making multiple pyramids out of connected sets. This will give us four tubes that have ample wire between them to make two long connections.

Plug in the light that has the power input attached to it and make sure it still works. If not, consider getting a new set or otherwise troubleshoot until it powers up.

Do not cut any wires if you are not planning on soldering.

I used a sheet of scrap wood, drew an equilateral pyramid on it, placed tubes down to confirm, and then put small nails in (two on the inside of each tube and one on the outside of each) to hold them in place while still allowing me to easily remove everything. This makes gluing a lot easier as I don't have to worry about anything slipping, and I know the angle is good thanks to the protractor!

Please share any other ideas for easy jigs in the comments!

Glue a set of three tubes into a triangle! The ends of each tube should be touching the other tubes, so you shouldn't need to build glue bridges or anything like that.

Start with the tube with the power input.

If you are using a jig, you can tilt up the base triangle once the glue has dried. Build out the rest of the pyramid shape and glue into place. You can always use a friend or blue tape as a helping hand, but I found that it was easy enough to do.

I recommend having one tip of the triangle be all tube ends so that there are no wires coming out of it, so plan accordingly when you glue up.

If you are only gluing it together, you should be done now! You are welcome to coil up the wires and try to glue them down to keep everything looking neater. If you decide you want to solder them together, you can still do it! Plan your short and long runs before cutting.

With the structure together, it's time to trim and connect the wires.

The basic process involves testing frequently and doing one connection at a time, with short runs done before long runs.

Start with the tube that has the power attachment. You should be able to plug it in and have this first tube light up.

We are going to connect all the wires at the same vertex together before making the run to the next vertex.

Find the other set of wires coming out of the first tube, separate them, and strip a bit off the ends. Pick an adjacent tube, and do the same with one set of the wires attached to it. Connect the wires from tube 1 to tube 2 and note which connection causes tube 2 to light up — I marked wire pairs with coloured markers. I was using lights that ran off 5V, so I could do this by hand, but check what you are using and be careful!

One you know which wires go together and have marked them, trim them down to about 3/4 inches. From there, strip a bit off the ends, twist them together, [test the connection again if needed,] and solder the connection. [Test again.] You should now have a neat, short run between adjacent tubes!

I used hot glue to insulate (as it was already part of the project), but you can use heat shrink if you feel you have the ability. If you're like me and using hot glue, put some down near your wire, then push the connection into it (I used the blade of the scissors), let that cool a bit, and then cap it with another layer of hot glue to make sure all the exposed wire is now insulated.