LED diffuser?

Break out your bench grinder.  I trim the top lens off LED's to diffuse the light, works well for stuff like cab lights, number boards, etc.  Here's my Vision Line Backhead lighting board that I did that to the flickering firebox LED's.

Thanks, GRJ -- I'll try that!

@Steve Tyler posted:

I'm in the process of lighting a series of existing structures, and to do so, I bought a bundle of LEDs, prewired for accessory voltage. The only problem is that the light emitted from the LEDs is highly directional, emerging from the rounded dome encasing the emitter in a beam, with almost a spotlight effect.

For some purposes, that effect is ideal, but for general illumination (through translucent window or door openings, for instance), I'd much prefer a more even distribution. Whether the 'beam' is aimed up into the underside of the ceiling/roof, or aimed down from the ceiling/roof, I found most of the light is being lost inside the structure rather than backlighting the openings.

So, does anyone have any simple solution to my dilemma? I envision some sort of a transparent/translucent diffuser over the LED, and I also recall that some have ground down the dome on the LED enclosure, though I don't recall that being to defeat the "spotlight" effect. Any suggestions?

If I understood you properly, I can suggest several things.

• Look at different types of LEDs.  Evan Designs sells a number of pre-wired types, sizes, and colors.
• Put the LEDs under a diffusing surface such as JTT rough water styrene.  The effect below was created with 4 flat 3mm LEDs under a sheet of JTT rough water painted with Magmadroth Flame paint.  The pouring effect is with a 5mm LED connected to strands of fiber.

George

@G3750 posted:

If I understood you properly, I can suggest several things.

• Look at different types of LEDs.  Evan Designs sells a number of pre-wired types, sizes, and colors.
• Put the LEDs under a diffusing surface such as JTT rough water styrene.  The effect below was created with 4 flat 3mm LEDs under a sheet of JTT rough water painted with Magmadroth Flame paint.  The pouring effect is with a 5mm LED connected to strands of fiber.

Nice effect on the pour!

Yeah, I'm sure there are better suited LEDs out there, but I'm trying to use what I already bought first, if possible. In addition to GRJ's "grind town the dome" suggestion, I've had others suggest a dab of paint on the dome, and to use some sort of translucent/transparent surround as a diffuser, so I have several ideas with which to experiment! Thanks to all!

Well, here's the update:

- The best (or at least easiest!) suggestions so far have been to either grind the 'dome' off the end, or to cover the end with paint, so I did one of each (shown below with an unaltered LED on the left side, for comparison):

- When illuminated, the unaltered LED on the left shows a clear cone of directed light, while the painted LED in the middle shows little or no light from the end, with the ground-down LED on the right still putting much of its light upward, but in a less focused pattern:

So, the next step will be to try the three LEDs in an actual structure, to see how they look in action.

I use led strips for more even distribution, and singles for lights over entrances and doorways. The strips come in different K, warm to bright white. The cafe has a couple of bright groups of three. The station interior and platform are a ww strip of six, and singles over the doors. The farm is ww strips. Brewery is tinted singles and short strips inside. A little more precise soldering is required for the strips. I usually connect multiples to hidden lever lock connectors wan run one hot and common under the table. I use a computer power supply for all my accessories, so I use 12 vdc strips and resistors for the singles.