Fixing What Once Was Broken.

LOLACRAFT: LED Basics – Learning to Fix Simple Things

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first entry from LOLACRAFT, the hands-on, crafty division of Lunacare Cymru. Born from a spirit of reimagining and repurposing, LOLACRAFT celebrates creative repair, practical electronics, and learning through doing. In this article, I revisit the humble LED the Light Emitting Diode and the unexpected journey that began with a broken toy and a spark of curiosity.

What is an LED?

Before anything could be rewired or reused, I had to understand what I was working with. An LED, or Light Emitting Diode, is a small component that emits light when a direct current flows through it. Unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs are extremely efficient, generating light without the waste heat. They’re polarised, which means they’ll only function if current flows in the correct direction positive (anode) to negative (cathode). They’ve become a core part of modern electronics, found in everything from torches and festive decorations to TV remotes and digital indicators. Understanding how and why they work offered me a gateway into the world of DC (Direct Current) electronics, where power flows in a single, uninterrupted direction unlike AC (Alternating Current), which reverses flow periodically. At the start of this journey, I didn’t own a fancy starter kit. There was no budget for components, so I turned to what I already had. That’s when I found it a neglected remote-control car buried in the toy box. The controller was gone, the toy no longer usable in its original form. Perfect. It became the foundation of my first LOLACRAFT experiment: a low-stakes object that could be opened, explored, and reimagined. That principle reclaiming forgotten tech now stands at the heart of this new department. There’s something powerful about giving new life to something discarded.

Working with Limited Tools

My setup was as minimal as they come. A small electric drill, a lap, and the corner of a desk were all I had to work with. But sometimes, constraints inspire the deepest focus. I approached the disassembly with caution, having never gone deeper into electronics than changing batteries. Every screw turned, every wire exposed, was a small lesson in patience and respect for what I didn’t yet understand. Even something as simple as AA batteries became a topic worth studying. Most AA batteries supply 1.5 volts each. Two in series will give 3 volts, and that’s a crucial number when powering an LED. Most basic LEDs run safely on 1.8 to 3.3 volts, depending on their color and design. Too much current and they burn out. That’s where a capacitor came in. Acting like a buffer, the capacitor helped regulate the flow of electricity. Without it, that first LED would have been toast. With it, I had something stable, something glowing, something working. When the circuit finally came together and the red LED flickered on I experienced a moment of true magic. Not because the light turned on, but because I understood why it turned on. I had taken salvaged wires and plastic, read from old books, watched grainy YouTube tutorials and made something real. It didn’t stop there. I rewired the old battery supply, gave the toy car a second life, and added new pathways for current. It became a symbol, not just of learning electronics, but of learning to trust the process.

Closing Reflections & Future Aspirations

LOLACRAFT is not about having the perfect workspace. It’s about adapting, reclaiming, and experimenting. Every salvaged wire, every scavenged motor or LED, becomes a chance to learn something new. There’s dignity in fixing what once was broken and joy in doing it with your own hands. This first build was simple. But it was also incredibly detailed. It required research, trial and error, and a great deal of patience. What emerged from it was not just a working circuit, but a department with purpose. As the earth begins to stir, there’s something poetic in launching this hands-on project now. Just as new life emerges in the soil, we are nurturing a new culture at Lunacare Cymru one that integrates technology into our core values of community, education, and restoration. LOLACRAFT is more than just circuits and components. It is a practice of care care for what we use, what we waste, and what we choose to rebuild. As we look toward new adventures digital mapping, woodland conservation, immersive education this small act of lighting an LED becomes part of a much bigger picture. This is just the beginning. From broken toys to sustainable tech initiatives, from the basics of current flow to the complexities of nature restoration, LOLACRAFT will walk beside every branch of Lunacare Cymru’s work.

Ladies and Gentlemen, until the next time... Take care.
Michael “Druid” Thomas
Lunacare Cymru | Media - Blog