Bright light soldering iron

Ever been soldering something and thought, "Hey, I can't see a thing."? Then you switch on your desk lamp, but can't quite tilt it the right way to get light where you need it. Annoying, eh?
Well, I came up with a solution.

I got 6 bright white LEDs and stuck them on my soldering iron. Now I get light wherever I want it!



Note: just in case you are interested, this project cost $26.70 - and that was the cost of the 6 LEDs.
I excluded the cost of the iron, and all the other stuff included I had lying around. If you don't want to spend $26 on white LEDs, then buy a bright LED torch for maybe $10, and get the LEDs out of that.

Step 1 Parts

Ok, so what you need:

-soldering iron (whether it is temperature-controlled or not is irrelevant. Mine is a 25W Nicholson)
-6 bright white LEDs (Mine are 8000 MCD I think, but this doesn't matter)
-some bendable yet strong utillity wire
-normal hookup wire (not single-core)
-4 AA batteries
-solder
-wire-cutters, pliers, etc.
-an apple

Comments

[rimar2000]

Good job, indeed. I am learning to weld with arc, and I have noticed that facilitates the work if done in full sun, because the mask allows you to see the electrode and the workpiece to be welded. So I thought it would be useful to have a high power lamp for use inside the workshop or even at night. Do you think it is possible to do something?

[lemonie]

It's a good idea, you could mount LEDs on the mask, and maybe include a switch that turns them off when you raise it. To take advantage of LED lighting you would want to pick a wavelength which has high transmittance, maybe red?

L

[rimar2000]

lemonie, I think the light must be very brilliant, I don't believe LED can serve. But I don't know almost nothing about them, I have burned many leds making changes to voltage or amperage. They are very very sensitive.

[microman171]

Try cyan LEDs, I know you have already built this and all... But cyan is the colour our eyes are most sensitive to. But I would personally use white, colour of what you are looking at can be important.

[rimar2000]

In my case the color isn't important, I want see only the electrode and the iron piece to weld. But the welding mask is very dark: at full sun I see almost nothing. That's why I say "I don't believe LEDs can serve."

[cyberguy91]

Sorry... your reply didn't show up till after I posted. As for the lighting, how about some CFL's? You could use several CFL's for the same amount of watts that one or two incandescent lights would take.

[cyberguy91]

(removed by author or community request)

[rimar2000]

Thanks cuberguy91. Please read my response to lemonie, Apr 22, 2009. 5:35 PM.