LED Work lights for milling machine

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Bazyle,
You suggestion is a good one but I have come across a few routers that use a 12 V AC supply. John would need to check that they are the type with DC output.
One advantage with the non plug in type is that they could be mounted inside the mill control box and supplied from the mains inside the mill to make a tidy installation.

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 05/03/2013 10:22:06

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

I have used an old 12v dc plug pack to power the LED's. Also mounted a power outlet on the outside of the mill column and wired it to the main on/off switch on the mill. Added a double adaptor to supply power to the plug pack and also to the power feed. When the mill is turned on, the power feed and the LED's also come on.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Sent to China to get some low wattage lights, according to the bumf they are very economical to run.

Parcel arrived today, unpacked it and fitted them to my X3.

Not very bright at all, might be economical to run but I feel someone is taking the pìss ??

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Inspired by John's picture I just went out to take a photo of my mill lit up with a hurricane lamp, but my blooming camera's gone flat.

Neil

 

 

Edited By Stub Mandrel on 05/03/2013 20:11:04

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Hi John,

Not sure which lights you purchased but mine are definitely bright enough to iluminate the work area. In fact I have removed the globes from the existing lamps (shown it top right of photo) because it was too bright. (Photo was taken in a dark room with only the LED lights turned on)

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 05/03/2013 21:40:34

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

HI John, Had a closer look at your photo and think that I know what the problem is. You have the lights pointing up towards the ceiling and they are not shining onto your work. Gives a nice mood atmospere to the workshop though. A couple of tee light candles would probably have the same effect. Nice one !

[paul raynerParticipant @paulrayner36054]

hi john

looks to me like you bought the wrong ones they look like t-lights to me

have a look at the start of this thread sombodys put a link on

i got 6 and i have'nt wired them up yet but i have got my sunglasses out ready

[Douglas JohnstonParticipant @douglasjohnston98463]

The type to get are the ones shown in the very first post which have 48 led's surface mounted on an area of about 5 by 4 cm. With a 12V led driver they are BRIGHT, I was going to fit two on my mill but might only need one.

Doug

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Seriously, I did buy some of these panel ones from China, just not got round to looking at them until last night.

I did post earlier I had sent for some. Don't know if they are the same as every one else's, come with three adaptors to replace bulb fittings ?

First of all tried it on a wall wart at 6 volts but no light which suprised me as these things are usually voltage sensitive if they don't have an inbuilt driver. So last night stuck it on a professional power supply.

Up to 7.5 volts they don't work, after 8 v then come on but not that bright, at 12v they are quite bright and throw off a decent light, power supply was reading 0.45 amps. 15v increased the light a fair amount and flat out at 22 volts it was drawing 1 amp but very, very bright.

No idea on the life at this voltage or heat given off but today I'm going to soak one at 15 volts and se how it last up.

Very impressed on what light they do throw out.

[Mark CParticipant @markc]

Depending on the type of LED array, you might need to be carful that the supply is smoothed DC rather than half wave rectified – simple rectified supply would produce a strobe at 50 Hz I would imagine.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

John,

Please see my earlier post, in this thread, regarding PWM dimmers.

… It's the way to go !!

MichaelG.

[Douglas JohnstonParticipant @douglasjohnston98463]

What a brave chap you are John, 22V at 1A sounds a bit extreme for these panels but it does show they are very tolerant of over voltage. Can't imagine they would last long at that voltage but it will be interesting to see how you get on at 15V for soak test.

Doug

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi John,
The reason for the LEDs not comming on until the voltage exceeds about 8 volts is that LEDs behave a bit like a zenner diode. They do not start to conduct until the voltage across them exceeds a certain value. This is about 3 volts for white LEDs and about 1.8 for red LEDs As you LED arrays will have groups of 3 LEDs in series they are just starting to conduct with about 2.7 volts across each one. As Neil pointed out earlier on this thread you can consider the array as 3 LEDs in series with an 8 ohm resistor (In the type of array I bought) at 12 volts the voltage across the 3 LEDs was 9.3 volts and 2.7 across the resistor which gives acurrent of 2.7/8 = 338 mA As the voltage across the LEDs stays more or less constant with a 15 V supply there would be 5.7 volts across the resistor giving a current of 5.7/8 = 713 mA.

The arrays I bought used type 5050 LEDs which is actualy a package containing 3 individual LEDs. Looking at the data sheet on this device I could not decide if the disipation rating refered to the package or each individual LED so I do not know the maximum current it would be safe to pass through each LED.

For another project I bought some of these 12 LED arrays

Here is some information on this type.
The array consumes about 110 mA with 12 volt supply.

The 5050 LED package contains 3 LED's

The LED's are arranged as follows.

The three LED's in each package are connected in parallel.

They are arranged as 4 groups of three LED packages. The 4 groups are in parallel. There is asingle 10 ohm current limiting resistor in the negative lead. There is a bridge rectifier (4 seperate diodes) so they can run on AC or DC

110/4 = 27.5 mA So each package of three LED's passes 27.5 mA Each LED within the package passes 9.2 mA

12V – 1.2V (For drop in bridge rectifier) = 10.8 V
Drop across 10 ohm resistor = 10 * 0.11 = 1.1 V
10.8 V – 1.1 V = 9.7 V
As this is across 3 LED's in series each LED has 3.23 volts acress it.

Les.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Has anyone tried the long strips of 48 leds that also come up on ebay? I might get some next week. I'm wondering if they would wrap round the rim of a normal machine lampshade and give a more spread light than the blocks. Mounting is not quite so simple.

Reliability – although they quote very long life probably based on the best case figure given by the LED silicon mfr they are expected to be used in car interior lights which are only on for a minute at a time. Probably only do an hour a month so they might not be so good when used for a few houts at a time.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

I'm not brave, I was born with a crowbar in one hand !!

Point is somewhere down the line someone will over rate one, nice to know what they will stand.

Anyway, been running all morning at 15v sat , not glued to a piece of alloy 4" square by 1/4" thick, alloy is hardly warm.

If you rest the side of your hand on the LEDS they are warm but comfortable warm,

not "shìtthatwasf@##kinghot" [tm] warm

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Bazyle,
On some other forum I saw someone using a ring of LEDs on their mill like these.
They are sold for use on cars. they seem to be called "angel eyes" If you do a search on ebay for "led angel eyes" you will find them in different sizes.

Les.

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

Going back to the question about power supplies for LEDs, I bought this unit last year to give 20A at 12VDC as a supply for a brushless moter – I wasn't sure that it would cope but it has performed faultlessly giving a very stable 12V.

At 3.99 plus another tenner for postage (to France), I cannot complain. They also do higher voltages which I am bearing in mind when I next upgrade my CNC drivers.

eBay reference/description was (last year):

DC 12V 20A Switch Switching Power Supply Driver For LED S… (120846730910)

Simon

[Cyril BonnettParticipant @cyrilbonnett24790]

Hi

A usb 5 led strip on a flexible arm, 5v and can be powered from a iphone/blackberry/kindle charger. A extension usb cable can be used to make it quite a useful bright lamp. Branded as Signalex, £1.99 off ebay or £1.00 in poundland.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Ironically got a parcel today from ARC and it it was a LED machine light.

It's on a magnetic base, bendy spring type that stays where it's put, and a nice turned and milled alloy head that holds 3 triple A batteries.

Push on, push off switch on the end. O and I nearly forgot, the magnet has a keeper on it the exact same size as the magnet so don't try to stick it down without removing the keeper.

Not that I'd do that of course

Shot taken at night with one overhead light on.

Same shot with no lighting at all.

The head unclips and can be used as a torch. Very impressed with this as you can get the light exactly where you need it and no trailing wires. Won't suit everybody but I'm well geared up for AA and triple A's in rechargable format.

Now need to order a couple more or at least one more so I can have a light either side.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

John, the only problem with the rechargables is that with three of them you are about .9V down, although I suppose the lower internal resistance does help.

Here in NZ LED house hold lighting is getting a bit more affordable. Ian S C

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Ian,

If you are that worried about being 0.9 volts down we can always have a whip round for you. I'll throw 0.1 volts in, any other takers ?

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

UK volts might not be compatible though, owing to the exchange rate.

[Kris LehaneParticipant @krislehane86422]

Hi, All.

Indeed, lighting is the key to highly accurate work. Since stage and event lighting is what I do for a 'Real job', we have been at this One for a while.. See Ipix, or the strand archive, to see how reflectors work. Flood, spot or something in-between. It's interesting, not only to note, the colour temperature of the devices being used, against metal, but the built-in reflectors to either the SMD (EUGH!) or wired packages. Has anyone tried drilling holes in the facets of a ready built MR 16 yet? See Patt. 23 from strand lighting. Parabola, x sqared = y and all that. Has anyone considered using a micro-fresnel lens in front? See source 4 5 degree, and then use it to focus? See ETC source 4, (or source 6 as it actually is?) I'm going to run a bit of tri-lite across the roof of the workshop, and some hard power feeds… How to etch using UV LED arrays? similar kind of thing. Power problems. 100 LED's soon add up the I's!

K1.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Sorry Kris, I do not understand your comments. This posting started with th use of a $2.59 LED to light the work area on a milling machine.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I think Kris is a professional lighting engineer and aims to see what he can do at the scale of his whole workshop.

Neil

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