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Shop Task Lighting: Comparing LED vs CFL vs Incandescent
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December 30, 2011
3:07 AM
Soundreflections
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@Tyler, I think a shop electronics section could be handy, as lighting, CNC conversions, etc. can follow there.  I should soon start on the hardware for a electronic carriage stop, that will then reverse the main motor (I cannot reverse my leadscrew – yet), so thread cutting for instance one can then just worry about the depth of cut and the system will stop – reverse – forward for you.

The problem with a replacement flourescent tupe will be powering through the ballast, etc.  I don't think one should modify the fitting, as you then cannot drive a normal lamp.  How about a strip that attaches to the fitting, yet not powered through the fitting?

My local electronic supplier has some 10mm LED's that can give 90K milli candela on normal power!  Will see what we can do for a DIY project!

Regards

Peet

December 30, 2011
2:42 PM
Jerry
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It took me a lot longer to tidy up for this shot that it did to take it! Wink

 

Here's the Rolson LED lamp I use, this one uses AA's, but they last for ages:

 

December 30, 2011
11:12 PM
Alexander m
Montreal
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If you want them to last forever, it may be worth the effort to rig up an old cellphone charger to replace the battery. I have dozen of them all over the place with no use for them and I'm sure that one will have the right voltage or at least I can add a resister.

The best laid schemes on mill and lathe, Go often askew, -Bobby Burns, If he was a machinist.  
December 30, 2011
11:36 PM
Soundreflections
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Again this is more technical, but a small circuit, using a variable regulator would be best.  about 4 components, and you can match several battery combinations, depending on the supply.  If you drop the current with a resistor, quite a number of active circuits will struggle.

Regards

Peet

December 31, 2011
12:17 AM
Tyler
Seattle, WA
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How about a strip that attaches to the fitting, yet not powered through the fitting?

Sure. That would work just fine. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with! I agree tho, it would be best not to modify the lamp. I would still want to have the ability to revert back to a regular bulb. 

Hmm. Is there no way to design the circuit so that it uses the power directly from the lamp? The only reason that would be handy is because then you could make replacement bulbs for any fluorescent lamp. And there might be a market for that!

@Jerry, I wasn't able to find a similar lamp on Amazon, but is this about what you have? 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/mini-c…..C=101255 

@Soundreflections, I agree. When I get a chance I'll add a Workshop Electronics section to the forum. 

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December 31, 2011
3:41 AM
Jerry
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Yeah that's pretty much the same thing Tyler. Tbh I'm tempted to see if a couple of Cree 3's can be hacked in there, as the one thing about this particular goose neck is that it's firm, unlike many many others I've come across that are just too feeble to support the light in any position. 

 

I'm keeping this one on batteries for maximum portability, I only have to change them a couple of times a year. It's an eternal pity that rechargeable batteries are not sufficient voltage for max performance, but they do occasionally if needed.

 

As a side issue I seem to have accumulated a lot of Cree 3 torches for various reasons, for a bit of fun I mounted this lot up for a photo:

 

 

I may well knock up an adjustable mount for a couple of these. You get about 6 hours from them, but they are CR123A rechargeable 3 and 3.6V cells. In reality I'm pretty good at turning the battery lights I use for machining off and on as required, so they will probably perform better than the regular high brightness LED's my existing lights have in duration, but certainly in illumination.

 

Until you've witnessed the power of Cree's it's not easy to grasp just how good they are, add the optional lenses one can get to them and the beam strength can actually become a minor hazard, inadvertently look straight at one and your vision is lost for some minutes through the latent image. I have one torch with a lens that turns the beam into a true projection of the led surfaces (one up from bottom on the left side of the group on the gun), that group of four squares in Tylers image is projected with a focal distance of around 100m, at that distance the illuminated area is around two metres square, and is enough light to be able to sight a target through a scope one hundred metres away. Amazing things.

January 10, 2012
8:05 AM
jamaicabraden
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i started switching off from incandescent bulbs to led lighting. they are energy efficient and more practical to use. maxim lighting is an example of led products.

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