weathertight bulkhead led

I need to make a weather tight panel mount led. preferably for a luxeon type emitter, but 5mm will work. by weather tight panel mount I mean it needs to be reasonably sealed against rain / wind / bugs and pass through a panel, approx 1/8" thick.

Radio shack sells a DC/AC powered incandescent light in red, green, yellow, blue where the bulb is sealed in a plastic lens, and it has a threaded shaft that comes down. The assembly is held on to a panel by a plastic nut. They're nearly $5 each and incandescent. I was hoping to repurpose something a bit cheaper.

Any ideas?

Use the radio Shack holder, if that is the design you're after, and replace the bulb with a LED

Why have a mount for the LED anyway? Drill a hole in the panel just a tiny bit bigger than the LED (drill undersized and then use a taper reamer until the LED fits snugly), put some clear RTV (room temperature vulcanizer aka silicone sealant) around the lower half of the LED and press into place. The LED itself is sealed and the RTV will seal the LED/hole from outside liquids and humidity. It's cheap and quick.

Dean

I once did a similar job for bus addition to a TV studio audio board. However I was able to make the panel out of 3/8" translucent white polycarbonate. I drilled blind LED mounting holes for the LEDs. ie: the holes did not go all the way through the panel, so the panel remained weather and Pepsi-proof.

the luxeons have a weird shape, which doesn't fit to a hole very well, plus the lens of a luxeon is fragile compared to a standard led.

I'm searchin surplus sites now...

**broken link removed**

You don't think you could drill a hole (blind or thru) to fit that round thingie in the center and use some silicone to hold it in place? Silicone if a thru hole, a simple clamp bar on back if blind holes since you already have the seal.

Dean