Quick/easy noob question re: wiring for costume lighting

Thread Starter

UtiniJawa

Joined Oct 27, 2021
3
Hi there - I know basically nothing about this and just hoping someone can quickly take a look at something and help out. I ordered a Halloween costume for my son that has light-up eyeball things that go under a mask (he is going to be a Jawa from Star Wars) and I'm hoping to re-wire the set-up. Here is the costume that I ordered from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Fun-World-Dw...ocphy=9028896&hvtargid=pla-568108278451&psc=1

There is a switch that turns the lights on but currently with the way it's set up, the lights fade on and off like they're on a timer but we prefer to have them lit-up the entire time with no fade in/out.

If I remove the circuit board(s) here and just solder the red wires to each other / black wires to each other, would it remove the fade on/off feature and just provide continuous power to the lights when switched on? I assume so but don't want to break it. There are two little circuit boards and I'm thinking I'd just remove both and solder the corresponding wires together. I also assume I have all this completely wrong since I know basically nothing about any of this.

Pictures below (can provide more photos / specifics if needed):


Thank you in advance for any advice!
 

MrSalts

Joined Apr 2, 2020
2,767
If the picture below is the LED on the EYE, it does contain a resistor to limit current. You should be ok bypassing the circuit board and just letting it run. I am assuming the eye LEDs are blue or white.

If the eyes are red, the 10-ohm resistor may be too small and allow too much current (100mA).

 

Thread Starter

UtiniJawa

Joined Oct 27, 2021
3
Thank you, MrSalts! Yes - this is a photo of one of the eyes (same thing on the other eye). The color is is kind of dark yellow / gold / orange-ish. The LED is the little rectangular part over to the left of the wires in that photo.

I'm seeing that maybe this won't be quite as easy as I anticipated now that you've answered but perhaps there's a way I can do it.

Any thoughts on what I could/should do? Or if someone with no experience might just kind of mess this up?

I had kind of been thinking I'd be able to just bypass the larger circuit board but maybe not.
 

sghioto

Joined Dec 31, 2017
5,370
It's possible. The LED boards do appear to have 10 ohm series resistors which seems about right with a 3 volt supply assuming they are soft white colored LEDs. Best just to try and see if there is any difference in brightness.
 

Thread Starter

UtiniJawa

Joined Oct 27, 2021
3
Well they could be white LEDs with an orange filter, but more likely they are orange LEDs.
Thanks so much, everyone. They do appear to be orange LEDs rather than white with a filter.

So to be safe, should I pick up one 50 ohm resister and place it in either the black or red connection? Does it matter which one? Do I just solder it between the wires and then solder the other wires together?

Really appreciate the help - this isn't a huge deal, but if I can do this it will make a 5 year old boy very happy!
 

ElectricSpidey

Joined Dec 2, 2017
2,754
It doesn't matter which wire you place the resistor in.

You can always remove or reduce the resistance if they are not bright enough, but it's better to be safe than sorry and start with the resistor.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,061
You could wire it direct and use some weak batteries and not have any problems. or just use one new battery and see how bright the light will be.
 
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