Girls And Gooses, Oh My

Skinny Girl Bottle Lamps

When we last heard from Sean he had just put together a nice collection of beer bottle lamps. What better way to up the ante then by going to an even bigger decanter?

We received this e-mail from Sean:

“A newly available power LED light has enabled yet another innovative bottle lamp. The light contains 3 power LED chips, a red, a green, and a blue. A n integrated circuit inside the light’s housing turns on combinations of the LEDs to emit a total of 16 colors. The LED comes with a credit card sized remote control that can be used to select one of the 16 colors or allow the light to automatically cycle through all the colors in flash, strobe, or fade modes.  These lights are very efficient and only consume a total power of 3watts while emitting the equivalent of a conventional 40 watt incandescent bulb.  These lights are available in the standard E27 screw base, the GU10 Twist base, and for those who prefer not to operate directly on  120 VAC power, the device is available in the MR16 2 pin base which can be connected to any 12 Volt AC or DC supply.”

Grey Goose Vodka
Grey Goose Vodka

 

Wouldn’t these look cool sitting on a bar shelf?

Skinny Girl
Skinny Girl

It’s really cool to see the whole series of bottles together with different colored lights. Of course with sixteen colors to choose from I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere. These bottles are nice to work with because they are beautifully frosted. The colorful lighting takes them to a whole new level.

We want to thank Sean for sending us his latest bottle lamp projects.

Leave a comment below to let him know what you think.


Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off?

Send an email to contact@jagerfoods.com with your picture(s), your name and a description and or any tips you would like to share with us and our readers. If you have a blog you can also include the web address and we will link back to you.

20 thoughts on “Girls And Gooses, Oh My

    1. I buy the lights from a very reliable and efficient EBAY seller in China. They cost around $5.00 each and that is complete with a Remote Control. The link to the seller is just below but if this link does not work, his EBAY seller name is led-for-you. Carefully chose your options form the pull down menus because they are available with a conventional E27 (80-240VAC) medium screw base, and a GU10 (80-240VAC) two prong twist & turn base, and finally they have a two pin MR16 base BUT the MR16 base must be supplied with a 12Volt AC or DC source. The 1st two will run off standard 120 or 240 VAC. You also select if you want the Remote Control which only costs about 50 cents. I would highly recommend the RC. If you don’t have a RC, when you turn on the light, it just cycles through all 16 colors and you lose a lot of functionality. Also there is a version of the light with a fancy smooth polished metal, I believe it’s the B version, but it costs 2 x the price and is a waste of money if you are building bottle lamps.
      EBAY Seller:
      http://www.ebay.com/itm/370956497624?var=640158537598&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

      Here is a photo of the light and remote control.

      Please let me know if you have any more questions.

      Cheers, Murray

        1. Hi Agnes, these lights are fairly new and I do not believe that the manufacturer has established a major distribution through retailers. However it is selling direct to anyone who wants to order them and they ship to anywhere in the world. I posted the link to his EBAY store above. If you do not wish to use EBAY you can email the seller and arrange to purchase outside of EBAY.
          Cheers, Murray

  1. Great project. Where do you find the LED lights used? Do they fit through a hole or how do you install them?

    Thanks, Rick

    1. Hi Rick,
      The info on the lights is above in my 1st reply.
      To install the lights into the bottle, I cut the bottle as shown in the photo I linked to below. In the bottom piece of the bottle I drill a how into which is inserted a standard rubber grommet to protect the AC line cord. The Light is glued into the bottom of the bottle and a standard lamp cord is inserted through the grommet and the wires are soldered to the light BUT you can use a standard lamp socket and screw the bulb into it. The two sections of the bottle are then glued back together using silicone which can be removed if required. However the lights are LED and are expected to last for 50,000 hours which means they should be good for about 100 years of operation.

      Cheers, Murray

        1. Hi Amber,
          A socket is the easiest way to go but I like to place the light as low in the bottle as possible in order to make more of the frosted bottle glow. This is especially important when I use the half size (375 ml) Grey Goose bottles. So I take the light housing apart and save about 1 1/2 inches.
          The light’s casing is mostly empty inside. There is a very small circuit board (its the power supply that converts 120 VAC to 10V DC) mounted on its side (standing up) inside the plastic and screw base sections. What I do is separate the top section of the light which has the LED board and heat sink and it unscrews from the bottom half of the light via 3 little screws. I remove the plastic section and metal screw base. I then take the power supply PC Board, rotate it horizontally and glue it to the top section with the LEDs. Finally I glue that entire assembly to the bottom section of bottle and solder the AC wires to the power supply board. If you do not mind the light sitting another 1 1/2 ” higher in the bottle, then the lamp socket is the way to go. If you need to go low profile and you are slightly electrically inclined and can use a soldering iron, then the extra effort is worth it. Please let me knowif you need any additional info.
          Cheers, Murray

    1. Nick, Thanks. The Grey Goose bottles are of excellent quality glass but they are the thickest liquor bottles I have come across. So far I have had 100% yield when cutting them.
      Cheers, Murray

    1. Carol,
      For illustration purposes I have provided below a link to another lamp which uses a Compact Florescent Light Bulb but the adhesive and process is the same for the LED lights.
      The short answer to your question is that I use clear GE-II 100% Silicone Sealant. It’s the kind you buy at Home Depot or just about any hardware store and its kept with all the caulking compounds. You can use the version that is designated for Bath/Kitchen/Shower OR the version that is designated for Windows/Doors, etc. A secret is that 100% pure silicone is one of the best adhesives around. It is not super strong like epoxy but you don’t need a lot of strength for a bottle lamp.
      Silicone sticks very well to the glass and the socket. It acts to encapsulate the electrical connections thereby providing insulation and shock protection in case someone smashes your bottle. It dries somewhat flexible and provides graet shock absorption which is not necessary for the LED lights but if you use CFLs or other delicate glass light bulbs, the shock absorption really helps. The silicone has an operating temperature of -60F to +400F so it can withstand extreme cold and heat. A single caulking tube of silicone can be used for a large quantity of lamps.
      So if it’s so fantastic, is there any downside? Yes, it is a bit trickier to use. It doesn’t dry in 5 mins like epoxy. So here are a couple of tips. After you apply the silicone to the glass or bottom of the socket, center the socket in the center of the bottom of the bottle. The socket will now tend to slip-slide around a bit. I have 2 ways to keep it in place.
      1. Use two strips of masking tape at 90 degrees to each other across the top of the socket and the bottom section of the bottle. or
      2. Use one of the plastic clamps with rubber jaws that you get at a hardware store. Just apply the clamp across the top of the socket and the bottom of the bottle lower section.

      You only need to keep the tape or clamp in place for 30 mins to an hour to allow the silicone to gel enough so that the socket does not slide away to the side.

      Here is one last tip for you. The silicone is also an excellent adhesive to use to glue the 2 sections of the bottle back together. You need to have a lint free cloth handy to wipe any excess of the outside of the bottle. If you make a mess on the outside, it cleans up easily with rubbing alcohol / isopropanol 90% or higher. If you ever need to open the bottle in the future, you can dissolve the silicone with Acetone or special chemicals that soften silicone sealant. You can also slice through it easily with a utility knife.
      Here are a few low quality photos from my phone,

      Cheers, Murray

  2. Do you have a tutorial on this? I purchased a few of the lights a couple years ago and have been trying to figure exactly what you’ve done. I’m a hands on learner though. Thanks

    1. Hi Shauna, I don’t have a tutorial at the moment. I may add it to my list of Youtube to-do videos but it is not on the immediate horizon. Is there a specific step you are stuck on?
      Cheers, Murray

  3. Which wire do you attach to the positive end of the power source? The wire attached to the bottom or the wire attached to the screw base?

    1. Hi Keel,

      1. If you are using the MR16 LED which is fed by a 12 Volt supply, then it doesn’t matter which wire goes where. That’s because the 12 Volt LED has a built-in rectifier bridge designed to work off 12 Volts AC or DC and it will handle either polarity.

      2. If you are using the versions of the LED designed to be used on standard 115 Volt AC power line, then it also doesn’t matter how you connect the wires because the light is insulated inside a non conductive glass bottle. However, I always recommend when using the AC LEDs that the 120V AC wires coming into the bottle be embedded in silicone or some other potting compound at the point where they connect to the base of a socket or the LED. This provides additional isolation so that if some person drops and shatters the bottle, there will be less likelihood that they will grab the AC live wires. However, as with any lamp or electrical appliance, some people always need to be reminded and cautioned that exposed AC wiring should never be touched or stuck in their mouths etc, etc.

      Cheers, Murray

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