FIELD TESTwith phones, computers, and your Raspberry Pi. We
have the buck voltage converter that we can safely
remove and use in another project. Oh, and if we take
the bulb apart carefully, we can reuse that in a low-
power project.
So, we can desolder the light ring from the
Bluetooth / control board and embed the speaker and
board inside our own homemade speaker case. The
solder on the pins is rather crusty, so use some fresh
solder to refresh the old. Using a LiPo charger and
battery, we can enable the speaker to be portable.
You could repurpose a Poundland £1 USB battery for
this task, but be aware that it has a max output of 1 A,
so using the LEDs along with Bluetooth is a big no!
Adafruit also has its PowerBoost 1000 charger which
can charge a LiPo battery and provide power to the
device, but again this has a 1 A max output.
The light ring operates at 5 V and we have two rings
to control. The first is a simple ring of white LEDs
that have direct connections to the pins that connect
the Bluetooth control board to the ring. The second
is an RGB ring which we can easily control once we
work out the pins, nothing a little multimeter work
won’t solve! The LEDs also get warm, and use the
aluminium sheet they are attached to as a heatsink.
So be careful holding the light, or integrating into any
projects, as it will get scorching hot when the white
LEDs are used for a long period.
The 4 Ω 3 W speaker is easily replaced and comes
with a two-pin JST connector, so we can swap
without soldering. The supplied speaker is decent,
but it didn’t cope very well with our 1990s dance
playlist. Spoken word is clear and we can really up
the volume. Oh, and volume control is via the device
playing the audio – there is no audio control on
the board.
You get a lot of tech for your money. Something to
convert power, two LED light rings, infrared control,
and Bluetooth audio. The preconfigured Bluetooth
audio is exceptionally handy for makers who want
to drop that feature into their projects. The LED light
rings are not WS2812 NeoPixels, but they are bright
and easy to use, thanks to the infrared controls, so
this can be easily used in your projects.
We love this little bulb – a really nice surprise that
we can power it from a safe 5 V supply and it gives us
so much potential for projects, for so little money.HOLDING CHARGE
The bulb in this teardown was designed for use with the
UK mains supply, 240 V, and this voltage is dangerous if
not handled correctly. If the bulb were to be plugged in
before our teardown, then the capacitors on the buck
converter may still hold a charge that could cause you
harm. To mitigate this risk, we advise that you do not
connect the bulb to the mains, and that the teardown is
the first thing to be done! We can’t stress enough that
you should treat the capacitors as holding a charge and
take care when removing and discharging them. If you
have never worked with high voltage components, then
perform this teardown with someone who is suitably
experienced. Mains voltage is not to be played with,
and capacitors can store a charge over time and even if
they have a resistor connected to the AC input voltage.
Here at HackSpace magazine, we want you to
hack safely!Above
The outer white
LEDs and the inner
RGB LEDs are both
powered from a
5 V supply. But,
they cannot be
used together
Below
This simple-looking
board converts 240 V
AC to 5 V DC, and it
can be used to power
your next project