LED mounting

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Everyone likes nice shiny LEDs on their gear! What are the different ways you guys have used to mount the LEDs on the chassis?

I made and LM3887 dual mono amp. I have been trying to find a good way to mount the LEDs, one for each power supplies, to the chassis. I have a bare face, just two 1/64" holes evenly spaced for each supply. The goal is to have the LED behind the hole but not right on top of it.

Any suggestions?

What other methods do you use for other types of lighting?

Mods, if there is a similar thread please merge.

Sent from my DROID RAZR
 
I usually try to get the so called "cylindrical Leds" as in the picture:
5mm-Cylindrical-led.jpg

I you get those leds, mounting them is dead simple: just a hole with the righ diameter and a couple of drops of glue to fix them at the same level as the surface of your box.
 
For one of my recent projects, I seriously considered making a small hole in the front panel and attaching a clear plastic "window" on the rear side. The LED was then to be PCB-mounted with the rest of the circuitry, creating just a glow in the window. Seems like a workable idea. I ended up, though, just using a LED mounting bezel. About 2mA was enough illumination so it is easily seen under-lights/in-daytime, although it is just a grab bag standard 5mm green LED.
 
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t4ckleb0x:

On several projects that involved HiFi2000 enclosures with 10mm front panels, I have drilled (or had Front Panel Express drill) a 3mm hole most, but not all, of the way through the panel from the rear face. On the front side, I have drilled a 1mm hole. Gluing a 3mm LED into the rear of the front panel is easy, and the small hole on the front is just large enough to be noticeable.

The photos show my daughter's LM3886 amp. There are LEDs mounted behind the knobs for backlighting and another above the switch.

Regards,
Scott
 

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I have used a two diameter hole in the thickish faceplate to mount ordinary 5mm LEDs.
The "front" bole is 3.5mm or 4mm diameter (this diameter can be a lot smaller if it suits your chassis. This is bored right through the panel.

The back hole is 5mm diameter. Check that your LED will actually fit into a 5mm drilled hole.
I drill the back hole down through the panel until the hole reaches to within about 2mm of the front face.
I then "glue" the LED in place with a little smear of silicon glazing compound (the clear stuff that I also use for building automobile and motorcycle engines and gearboxes)

The wider flange on the 5mm LED will stop the LED reaching all the way to the pilot hole if the panel is very thick.
This could be solved by drilling a third diameter hole of about 6.5mm, just deep enough to allow the LED to reach as far as you need.
 
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