LED light on pick

[valeguy]

I want to make an LED bulb which plugs into mains supply. I use a diode which clips off one half of power supply and delivers the positive half to the array of bulb connected in series. Since the mains at my house is 220 volts the voltage delivered would be 220/2=110 volts of pulsed DC supply. Hence I can connect about 36 white LEDs in series. Can this work or not?

I'd recommend using an online LED calculator(http://ledcalculator.net/) to work out what resistors you'll need to keep the current down to within what an LED can operate on. I'd also recommend not having every LED in series as if one burns out the entire circuit will fail.

[MacGyver101]

As valeguy notes, you need to worry about current, not just voltage... you will definitely need some resistors: you can't just plug LEDs into your mains, or they will blow out. You shouldn't, however, need a separate diode as a rectifier: you're already going to be inserting a bunch of them in the circuit (that's the "D" in LED).

[MacGyver101]

most of the time i'll try a rake first, which you don't really need a light for, and would probably wind up looking like a light show with the led bouncing around with the light going everywhere but the key hole.

[globallockytoo]

I let the customer hold my flashlight and they get to keep it afterwards

[valeguy]

Theoretically speaking, you could put a LED on the stem of a lockpick, near the hook/half-diamond/etc, which might give some useful illumination inside the keyway but it would be a real mission to build. You'd have to either make the body of the lockpick out of circuit-board or coat the pick in something non conductive and then make a circuit using conductive silver paint, and the only way you'd get a small enough LED would be to cut the actual LED out of a SMD LED body and solder it to the pick. Actually I think I should try this out