Mounting LEDs in Control Panels?

Does depend on what you are using for your panel. I use white finish hardboard and just drill 3mm holes and push the LEDs in. Haven't needed to use glue yet but a dab of UHU or similar would hold any that were a bit loose. Rather than using tube there are bezels sold for the purpose which will hold the LEDs neatly without glue. eg Rapid Electronics part 55-0160 at 5p each or 55-0270 in chrome at

Keith Make friends in the hobby. Visit Garratt photos for the big steam lovers.

Black plastic snap-in mounts from Radio Shack, or wherever you got the LEDs from - they're industry standard.

If you have the right "number" drill bit (~ #31 or #32), and depending on the control panel material, you can press them into holes that are an interference fit. It doesn't get much more effective and simple than that.

Look through the DigiKey and Newark catalogs. There's an enormous variety of inexpensive manufactured mounts (snap-in, screw) that come both with and without built-in LEDs.

There's a whole family of inexpensive little cylindrical plastic bezel-clip rings that are designed for the purpose. There are several makes and styles of these. They come in several sizes to fit the common LED's. Any decent electronics supply should either have them, or can get them. Digi-Key, for one source, has many types of these for about 20-40 cents each in small quantities.

Some of these include a color-cap for the LED (normally choose one the same color as the LED ... you can't color-filter an LED to a different color). This sometimes looks nicer in a panel.

You just insert the LED into the clip or cap until it 'snaps' in, then press the clip into an appropriate sized hole in the panel (it also 'snaps' in). The clip is removeable, and reuseable, within reason.

Dan Mitchell ==========

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