Swapping LEDs and PCB in a Dimmable Nightlight
Topics: Circuits, DIY, LED/Lighting, tech

I’ve looked and been unsuccessful in finding household nightlights that meet my criteria:

  • auto on/off
  • dimmable
  • 1800K CCT
  • decent CRI
  • uniform illumination
  • no flickering
  • power efficient

The closest I found was this nightlight.  I like everything about it except the 3000K CCT.  I believe it’s a bit too cool for a nightlight.

I ended up swapping the 3000K LEDs for 2200K LEDs. I would have preferred 1800K, but was unable to source them on Digikey.

On the left is the original nightlight.  It has 4x 3V 3000K LEDs.  They are connected in series to a 12VDC power supply.

Overall, the nightlight and power supply are good quality.

However, the original LED PCB is very cheap.  It was easier to build a new PCB that to desolder and resolder on the existing board.  Anyways, I had to break the original PCB to remove it.

You can find my new PCB here on OSHPark.  I bought these LEDs from Digikey and reflowed with hot air.

The original nightlight is shown on the left and the new nightlight on the right.

I’m quite happy with the results, especially with the minimal time required.

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