led in a light bulb case

[pokermachine]

Hey All,
Bought some of homepins homebrew led kits and they look great then i had a total brain wave to smash the glass of a bulb and put the led inside!!!!

after all soldered...... nothing took led and resistor out and tested it on the socket and it worked!

soldered the led back in globe case in reverse order i had it previously and nothing again!!

Any ideas what i may be doing wrong or has anyone made these things and succeeded  

[Retropin]

Obvious fault would be a soldering one.... possible short or open.

If it happens again... put meter across it and it should read low resistance one way only... this would eliminate the short at least

[robm]

I'm asumming you are talking about a  44 or 47 bulb - if so, i've done it with plenty of Homepin's kits - just need to make sure the resistor is on the right leg of the LED. then i find putting hte leg with the LED inside the bulb casing hides most of it - just be careful not to short it out against the side - you can put heat shrink on it if you are worried - i normally test them with a 4 pack of aa batteries before i install them

[pokermachine]

Hmmm, ok will try.
I put the resistor on the positive side of the led.... the small internal part of the led... is this correct?

Weird thing was without the bayonet casing or what ever the metal casing is called when i touched the led legs on the socket it worked both ways... just wouldn't power up when in the holder... even when i de soldered it and soldered it in the opposite position still nothing.

If others have succeeded in busting up #44 globes and making these thing it must be something im soldering up wrong like you said retropin.

Know i know it has been done will give it another shot 

I did try squash everything in the case, from your post robm it sounds like you only solder one leg on the inside of the holder then the negative on the outside or something.... this correct?

[Retropin]

It sounds like the actual bulb holder is not making a connection. The "nipple" on the bottom of the bulbs gets flattened and worn.. can also be quite dirty. A sand back or a blob of solder will fix either problem.
Also make sure outside casing of the #44 is touching the bulb holder... sometimes a light sand of the bulb and also a litle squeeze with pointy pliers to the holder ensures connection.

[pokermachine]

Ah, will do!

With the blob of solder.. i removed that and soldered the positive leg there and used new solder, then soldered the negative to the metal case... sound right to everyone reading??