OK, so here's a quick tutorial on glow LEDs and transformers. First, I've mentioned it in this thread before but I only buy UV LEDs from here:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... ributes/31They are not cheap, but they work really well. I've read reviews of other UV LEDs (especially on Amazon) that were really just purple LEDs and did not charge glowing stuff very well or at all. So be careful where you buy your LEDs. Note that if you buy from the above, make sure you're selecting the "UV" lights, not blue, green, etc.
You also have to select the length you want, there's a choice of 3 lengths. A baseball bat case takes about a 3' long strip. The strips can be cut with regular scissors after every 3rd LED. There's a dashed line printed on the strip showing where you can cut.
To power the LED strip you need a transformer. The transformer size is based on how many LEDs you have and how much they draw. This can get a little confusing because the draw can be different depending on the length of LED strip, but as a rule of thumb you can use 1.5 watts/foot. I use around 15' of LED strip to light a single Detolf case. So that would be:
15 x 1.5 = 22.5 watts
Doesn't sound like much, right? I mean that's about half the wattage of a typical incandescent bulb you'd screw into a lamp. That's the beauty of LEDs, you get a lot of light for a very low energy draw. Anyway, for a single Detolf case or anything smaller than that (like my UV baseball bat case) I use one of these transformers:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OW ... UTF8&psc=1
If you're trying to order everything from SuperBright they have a transformer that will work too, it just costs more:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... owersupplyIt's OK for the transformer to be bigger than needed, but you don't want it to be smaller. Why? Because if it's too small it will either not power the lights at all or will make them blink on and off. Ask how I know
So I do a lot of soldering but that's a skill that takes a long time to master and I'm sure most people don't want to risk burning their house down to wire up a case
Luckily there are some clips available for LED strips that make life easier. Please note that if you buy the strip from the above place it comes with a connector wired to each end. These are LC2 connectors and look like this:
Also note that the transformer DOES NOT come with that connector, it comes with a barrel connector (see pic above). You need this adaptor to mate the two:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... connectors
So what if you order a really long strip and want to use it to light other stuff? Once you cut it then only the end piece has the pre-wired connector, so how do you power the rest? Luckily they make a clip adaptor for that:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... connectors
That plastic clip snaps over the end of your cut LED strip and then can plug into a transformer.
If you're powering over 15' of LED strip, like say two Detolf cases, you can either run each case off of one of the above transformers, or you can get a bigger transformer. I use this one for powering two side-by-side cases:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K7 ... UTF8&psc=1
It's a 72 watt transformer so can power up to 48' of LED strip. I use a splitter to plug it into each case separately:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G6 ... UTF8&psc=1
OK, so you've got everything set up, but what a pain in the butt to have to plug/ unplug from the wall every time you want to turn your case on! Yeah, there's no on/off switch. Oh but wait! You can buy one of these and turn your lights on and off from anywhere in the room
https://www.amazon.com/Controller-Dimme ... ote+dimmer
I promise it's the best 2.59 you will ever spend
Simply plug the receiver in between the transformer and LED strip, it uses the same barrel connectors as the transformer. You can also dim the lights using that same remote, or make them do wacky flashing/ strobing if you're in the mood
In my case I have several lighted displays in my living room and bedroom so I invested in one of these sets:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQ ... UTF8&psc=1
The nice thing about that is you can plug 5 different cases in and turn them each on from a single remote. I've been using these for over a year now and they work flawlessly. In my bedroom I keep a remote next to the bed that turns on/off my glow displays and my lighted Pop Ride shelves. I have another in the living room that controls the lighting in 4 different cases.
For lighting my Detolf cases and shelves and such (all the non-glow stuff) here are links to the LED strips I use:
White
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WQ ... UTF8&psc=1Red
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HS ... UTF8&psc=1Blue
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HS ... UTF8&psc=1I hope I covered everything and did it in a way that's not too confusing, let me know if there are any questions! If you're confused about what to order then feel free to post here or shoot me a message with something like "hey Tres, I want to just light a single baseball bat case, what exactly do I need to order?" I'm happy to help
