LED Desk Lamps

What to do with discarded LED PCBs? Use them as desk lamps! Duh! A while ago I recieved these 12" strip PCBs with 30 high intensity LEDs on each. I took 4 and attached them to a board to see how much light they would emit together. Turns out that they put off what appears to be about the same as a typical 18 inch flourescent undercabinet fixture. I now have two that illuminate my computer desk.

Step 1 Fabricate mounting board

Because these strips do not weigh much and also do not creat much heat at all I chose to secure them with cable ties. Also, I had these laying arround, so why not? I then took the scrap 3/4" thick board and measured to length and width and cut with a handsaw. I think the dimensions ended up being about 12" long by 6" wide. Lastly the mount holes for the cable ties had to be drilled. I drilled these a little narrower than the strips. One pair at each end.

Comments

[fuzhouled]

I have a better solution for the application.http://www.fuzhouled.com

[BogiDewd]

I've been searching for a good solution to the flourescent bulbs I currently have, and this looks like a great solution.

Do you have any idea on the brand name the strips are (the part number appears readily available in your photos)

What about the part number on the power supply?

[Eeeeeeeeeekz]

wow very cool, thanks

[i make shooting things]

these would never burn out right? how much dose it cost to make these? cool idea im always looking for a way to use reduce, reuse, and recycle.

[sdallesasse]

They will eventually "burn" out, but the lifetime of them is superior to that of incandescent and flourescent. I paid nothing for these, the cable or the small transformer. They all were being discarded.

[LasVegas]

Oh... I didn't mention it before, but I think this is a pretty good Instructable. I'd appreciate if you could add a wiring diagram for the setup.

[theRIAA]

Im not one to cry code, but that pic in step 4 is pretty bad

[sdallesasse]

Other than the missing coverplate for the 110V receptical, what is out of code?

[LasVegas]

I'd cover the 20v bus bar as well. Just for safety's sake.

[LasVegas]

You're calculations have a bit of a problem. You see, this is not entirely a resistive circuit since each 4 LED module has it's own regulator. I suggest that instead of calculating based on the total resistance, that you measure the total current while the unit is connected. Disconnect one leg of the secondary and connect that to the Multimeter's Amps connector. Then connect the common to the point the secondary wire was connected. IOW; The amp-meter is connected in series with the device. From this you can determine the Wattage. I expect it will still be very low, but not in the microamps range.

[sdallesasse]

So, would you say that Chavez is correct with his estimate? My DMM is a cheap crappy one and does not measure AC amps. However I will be getting a loaned one in a few days to measure the AC amps.

[LasVegas]

I expect with 120 LEDs, you're probably pulling 4 to 6 amps @ 120V. Still significantly less than incandecent or even florecient. Note that your Lumins are probably rather low, but LEDs supply directional light so none is wasted directed the wrong way.

To get an idea about LED lighting and the currents used, check out C Cranes LED Light Bulbs.

[Chavez]

120 high intensity leds, a transformer, and four full bridge rectifers and resistors and you calculate 1 milliwatt!!!, without a schematic, I can not give you a good estimate but roughly you have 30 Watts or 30000 mW so you don't think it's a typo. would you agree with me LasVegas!! . clamp an AC current meter on one of the wires from the AC wall outlet and find out the rms voltage and let us know what you get.

[lawdog]

Great idea. Where would one go about finding LED PCBs if they don't have them to begin with? I was thinking about mounting one behind/below my LCD monitor to create a desk light right onto the keyboard/desk.

[sdallesasse]

These particular ones came from a signage manufacturer, but I've been to this site looking for an option for another application. http://www.theledlight.com/index.html