Halloween Yard Solar RGB LED Toppers (Ghost, Bat and Jack-O-Lantern)

These are a trio of Halloween themed “toppers” for some Solar Yard RGB LED lights I found at Harbor Freight ( https://www.harborfreight.com/solar-decorative-led-lights-3-pc-69462.html ). There are similar lights on Amazon and other sites which will very likely be compatible.

The installation is simple, just remove the original clear tops and put these in their place. Some tape or M3x8mm screws are recommended for the Jack-O-Lantern design, to hold the back cover in place. The Bat has screw holes for an M3x5 and M3x8mm screw, but they are not needed, since the clear insert is held in by friction.

I printed these with minimal supports and stepped infill, and fewer layers to speed things up, especially with the Jack-O-Lantern which took 11 hours on my Ender3. Minimal infill and a small number of wall and top/bottom layers is also helpful on the clear parts to allow them to transmit more light. Specifically, I used Gyroid infill at 24%, with three infill steps for the these parts and it worked well. I also reduced line count, as well as top/bottom layers by one. I did not us supports on any of the clear parts, though supports were used on the Bat and Jack-O-Lantern but I set the overhang angle up to around 56%.

Due to the tight fit, it would be good to check steps/mm and flow (or extrusion multiplier) so the parts will fit. If the holes need to be cleared out, a 3/8" drill should work to clean things up.

I used Black, Orange and Clear PLA to print these. Only some minor changes to increase the strength of the Jack-O-Lantern design were made since printing the models seen in the pics. I lost the back of the Jack-O-Lantern when I took the pics, but am re-printing it now, but it actaully looked OK without it too.

The STEP files are included for easy remixing.

Update 10/28/2021 - I broke one of the plastic connectors for the steel rods used in the posts for the solar lights. So I made a coupler which can be printed to hold the rods together if that happens to your lights. I printed the coupler in ABS since it will be outside, but PETG is a good alternative too. The file is just called “connector.stl” and it has a 0.25mm thick brim integrated to help with bed adhesion.

If you like the Bat, I designed a smaller “Bat Bead” version which can be found here:

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/79695-halloween-bat-bead

I posted more about the design process on my blog here:

http://www.mystoopidstuff.com/blog/halloween-led-bat-solar-powered
I hope you like this and will post your prints if you make one, or remixes too! This is entered in the Halloween 2021 contest.

Thanks for looking and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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