RGB LED Strip Disco Ball

Hi, this is Brandon Neustadter one of Elemental LED’s Commercial Account Managers. I wanted to create a LED Light show that would sync to my music. Generally this takes hours if not days or weeks, but with the Apollo Jammer it takes a matter of minutes. I didn't want just a light show though, I wanted to create some unique patterns on the wall and make it spin like a disco ball. The hemp string ball makes beautiful patterns with the lights, but the spinning still needs some work. Although I got the ball to spin the battery trains really quickly and you can't hang it from the ceiling because the wires get tangled. I am working on version 2 any suggestions would be appreciated.

Materials

5 feet of High Density RGB LED Strip
1 Apollo Jammer
10 feet of RGB Wire
9 volt motor
Heat Lamp Casing
Alligator Clip
Old headphone jack adapter
Duct Tape
Super Glue
Clear Drying Tacky Glue
300 Yards of 20lb Hemp String
Giant Bouncy Ball

Step 1

The first step is to make the ball. I pretty much followed another instructable posted here: http://www.craftynest.com/2009/03/hemp-pendant-lamps/ I tried using reflective synthetic string but it didn’t keep it’s shape. Applying the glue through your fingers is the best option. When you deflate the ball the string sticks to it. If you peel slowly and push the “nest” back out as you go it will keep it’s form once you completely deflate the ball.

Step 2

I wrapped the motor shaft with duct tape so it would fit into the old headphones adapter I had. I then super glued it to the motor/duct tape. After that I super glued the aligator clip to the headphones adapter.

Step 3

Take apart the heat lamp and cut off the power adapter.

Step 4

Super glue the motor inside the heat lamp and pull the 9 volt cord through the part that would normally house the bulb and out where the power cord was coming before.

Step 5

Take an empty water bottle and wrap the 5 feet of RGB Strip around it and connect the strip to the Apollo Jammer. Plug the power adapter and your music into the Apollo Jammer.

Step 6 and Problems

The final step is to mount the heat lamp fixture and attach the alligator clip to the hemp ball. Attach the battery to the motor and it will start spinning around the LED’s. A 9 volt battery spinning the ball lasts 30 minutes to an hour, so I would advise finding a different power source or getting a 12 volt motor that can be plugged in. Since the RGB wire has to come out of the bottom or it gets tangled when spinning you can’t hang it like a normal disco ball. Version 2 hopes to solve this problem , stay tuned!