A couple of LED questions.

[monstercometh]

Hi,
I'm a big pedal noob and I have a couple questions related to building a tubescreamer clone off of GGG, so please bear with me.

1) I've always been curious as to how one wires the indicator LED when it is not directly to the PCB. On my previous pedal build, I simply connected the legs of the LED to hookup wire using solder, followed by some electrical tape, but I have a feeling that soldering a wire to another wire isn't the way to go. Is there a specific way that one is supposed to do this procedure?
2) Maybe it's just me, but on my previous build I was puzzled by how to fit an LED into an LED bezel. Purchasing the bezel came with 2 parts: the metal bezel itself, and a plastic sleeve shaped like the bottom of an LED with holes for the legs. I assumed that the LED was supposed to fit inside the sleeve, and that entire assembly was supposed to snugly fit into the metal bezel. However, because the LED was slightly wider at the bottom, it did not perfectly fit into the sleeve, and the sleeve, in turn, stays in the bezel only by pressure; one could push the LED from the outside of the pedal and it would simply fall right in. Am I supposed to use some kind of adhesive to get this fit to work?
3) (this one is specifically about the GGG clone) On the supplied layout diagram, there is no offboard resistor connected to the LED. I haven't the slightest clue about circuits; is the resistor already on the board, or do I still have to get another 4k7 resistor?

Any replies would be appreciated.

[StereoKills]

Welcome!

Soldering wire to wire is fine, I prefer to use heat shrink to cover the exposed wire, but electrical tape does the job too.

As for the LED bezel, the pressure keeps it in, if you really want to you can use adhesive or epoxy, but that may pose a problem if you need to swap out the LED at a later time.

The resistor inline with the LED is mounted on the circuit board, designated R23 and the given value is 1k. 4k7 seems too high a value for me, I would stick with the 1k.

[davent]

As far as the resistor value goes it can be all over the map, depends entirely on the LED. I've got some super brights that i've been using 10k with then i have other LED's that need less then 1k. Because the values can vary so much i always put in a socket for the LED resistor.

Take care,
dave

[monstercometh]

Thanks so much mates, that helps me out a great deal.

Cheers!

[StereoKills]

If you know the forward voltage and current for your particular LED, this calculator may help.

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz

[monstercometh]

Hey guys,
Well I finally got around to finishing my pedal and figured I might post some pictures.



Shiny! The br00talz thing is a bit of an inside joke from UG, not sure if it transfers over to this board, haha.



Glam shot

Sounds great! I think I might have messed up on the 1n914 diode side, but I like the sound that it makes, it's unique. And the LED side gives me all the SRV goodness I was looking for, in addition to tightening up my lead channel (for teh br00talz). Overall I am very satisfied.

Once again, I really appreciate the help in building this.

Cheers!

[Ripthorn]

Looks great!  How did you do the text/graphics on your enclosure?

[monstercometh]

Thanks!

I used inkjet water decals for the text. I got a helpful tip a while back that using a decal to cover the entire face of the pedal is preferable because 1) it doesn't expose the edges of the decal and 2) it creates a shine on the entire face of the pedal.

Cheers!