This project has been your Stalingrad. Also, sort of like The Running Man - where you suffer and fight for our amusement. Seriously though, I've been following this for the last couple of days and it's been something of an epic. It's hugely appreciated though. I'm moving soon and am bricking it about having to set up new, illuminated displays, but this has been reassuring and informative.

Lixx suffered so that we don't have to. All hail.

Thank you Lixx for all the documentation of your trials and tribulations. Your detailed posts/pics will be extremely helpful to anyone going the puck light route for their Detolf. Comparing the 2 in-store it seemed the led color strips kicked out a lot more light in the white setting, so I opted for them instead... although it's pretty absurd that 2 sets of the color strips cost more than the Detolf itself

That setup was a different can of worms, but similar in some regards. Biggest gripe with the led strips is that they don't come with nearly enough extension. They also "time-out" (shut off/turn on cycle) after being left on after 5 mins or so, which is pretty annoying... I suppose this is to keep from overheating(?) I only have the top and middle sections of the cabinets lit (strips stuck to the ceilings above them), and there's no way in hell I can replicate the same on the bottom shelf (I barely was able to reach the middle). So its either buy more led strips (just for the damned cables) or try and hack off the connector housing on the cables not used and try to solder together my own extension cables to the power supply.

Probably just going to change up to hanging the strips vertically... looks like that at least reaches the bottom shelf. Basically like hrafnatas setup but with the strips along the front for better illumination.

Word to the wise: if your going to use cable ties (for any project), a good pair of diagonal cutters (or "dikes" in shop lingo) is your best friend. Scissors just dont cut it

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-Mosaic-Flexible-LED-Light/dp/B00AAVLDOQ/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1405187185&sr=8-12&keywords=led+light+strips+sylvania

I dont use this kit for lighting my toys but I have it and its pretty awesome. I like that it has a remote.
LED lighting has gotten pretty cheap if you look around.

As promised no more photos till I was finished, well this afternoon I wired the last detolf:




I would have went insane if I did them all at once, so one a week really helped. On the plus side I cleaned all the dust built up over the years in them as I went along. Also strangely the toys fit back in easier then before taking them out. For some reason I had more room and things weren't as crammed, if that is possible?! Now someday I'll get more shelving for all the toys on top of the detolfs (only after I move out of here!)

Love the soft glow it gives my room

Oh man that looks amazing lixx!! Like really fuckin amazing!!

Wow Lixx, that is quite the collection and the setup.

That is beautiful!

looks so good
well done!

Oooooooooooooooo
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Now that's what I call a night light! You are sure to have sweet toy dreams now! It's beautiful Chris!

So nice to see it all finished. Congratulations are due - it looks fantastic!

Thanks everyone. Considering I had been sitting on two of the sets of dioder lights for almost 4 years it feels good to finish. If the nearest Ikea wasn't in another country I might have finished earlier.

@Grace from Flickr - yes I did cuss quite a bit. I banged my head once and stubbed my toe twice, not to mention nailing my shin when I raced into the next room after hearing a loud bang of a plant that suddenly fell. Yeah I'm clutzy!

Looks fantastic Chris!!

You should get something like this to make it super easy to turn everything on and off. Just get one of these and a power strip, plug all of the power cables into the strip and turn them on, and plug the strip into this outlet. Then you use the single remote to turn the whole setup on and off. I use something like this in my setup at my office, and it's WAY better than having to hit all of the switches one by one.

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Heath-Zenith-I ... 100654961/

James I have all the dioder switches permanently turned on and plugged into a power strip already. No way I'm reaching behind the shelves to do that lol! For now I just hit the on and off switch on the power strip (it's right next to my bed).

Impressive work on the lighting. It really adds that extra level of polish to the display. I imagine it must charge the GID toys up a bit as well.

Daniel yeah I was so impressed I finished something for once that I kept those lights on from 5 till bed. So the GID toys were glowing like crazy. Actually kept me up for a bit! I agree with the 'extra level' sentiment - I'm appreciating toys that were long lost in the back of a shelf in the dark and rarely seen.

The whole trick with installing these lights is hiding the wires. I have to thank meczilla for starting this thread or I would have been clueless as to how to do it. Definitely need the tape worm wire wranglers when they come out the top or you'll see tons of white wires in the back.

Having lurked this thread for a while and now having my own detolf issues to deal with, I can only say Thank You, Lixx. Especially for having documented it so well, I am going to set up a weekend aside just to try my hand at this following your lead as close as I can.


Your shelves look amazing!

Hopefully this is the right place to post this - I have some concerns about the lighting in the cabinets at the shop we are exhibiting at in a couple of weeks. We are thinking of putting a little preview display up in one of the cabinets maybe a week or two before the event to get people interested in the toys and turn up on the night.

Would two weeks under these LEDs (i'm assuming that's what these lights are) cause damage to the toys?? I don't want to take any risks, especially because these aren't my own toys.

LED's emission of UV is very low, much less than fluorecent, so I think you are fine.

I've had LEDs on mine for well over 2 years and I've not noticed any damage. I think you'll be good.

Thanks guys - I might drop by the store tomorrow and set up a little display. Maybe I'll put some cheap B-Clubs from my collection closer to the lights.. just in case!

i know they make screw in led bulbs but you might want to check that whats in there isnt halogen bulbs
halogens generate a lot of heat, leds very little
and of course sunlight would be the biggest enemy

that case looks very slick btw

Has anyone found a comparable replacement for the now extinct bright white ikea dioder puck/disc lights? I've tried the multicolor and the new white and they both suck, especially for glow I would be willing to switch to the strips too but I don't want to settle for anything less than the old white glow. Any leads would be greatly appreciated!

They discontinued the pucks? I have those. I hope not in case any of mine go belly up. Wait no here they are:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00119424/

I haven't turned on the lights in my cases in months- time to flick the switch!