Meta Lamp - Portrait of a Lamp Is a 2000 Lumen Led Lamp

by pobriant

3.4K83

Intro: Meta Lamp - Portrait of a Lamp Is a 2000 Lumen Led Lamp

For over a century the shape of our lighting has been defined by the shape of a glass bulb.  No more.  High power leds the size of a grain of sand are on the horizon and the only limits to lighting is our imagination.

And if it is still not quite practical to have our walls light up, at least art should light your life (literally).

Warning -  this is a very bright lamp at eye level and will not be suitable for all locations.

Materials -
LED driver - AC/DC voltage converter   Waterproof 670mA 36W Power Constant Current Source (85~265V)
USD$ 11.79 . qty 1,  source  Dealextreme

2 watt  lumen leds - (any bright white led will work).  2W 160-180LM 2850~3050K Warm White LED Light Bulbs (20-Piece Pack)
USD$ 7.67 (only used 13) source  Dealextreme

star boards - Hexangular PCB Boards for 1W/3W/5W LED Emitter (100-Piece)
USD$ 6.94 (only used 13) source  Dealextreme

Framed art $4.99  - source Goodwill

others - Solder, wire, chipquick solder paste (amazon), Gila window film (home depot), power cord with built-in switch (home depot),20" x 20" sheet aluminum (home depot)


STEP 1: Step 1 - "wave Soldering in an Electric Skillet " - Attach Leds to Star Pcb Boards

I learned this here on instructables.  All credit should go to DJJules for this. 

https://www.instructables.com/id/Build-LED-Under-Counter-Lighting-that-ROCKS/step2/Construction-Soldering-the-LEDs-to-the-Stars/

Insure a good thermal bond between the LEDs and the star pcbs.  DJJules' instructions are great. If you have never tried wave soldering in a skillet you should.   A little chipquick on each contact point and a little heat and the batch is completed.

STEP 2: Step 2 - Solder and Epoxy to Aluminum Plate (heat Sink)

Solder the leds (now mounted on the star pcbs) in series (- to +) and use a thermal epoxy to bond to a heat sink.  I like the two part arctic silver epoxy but I am sure others will work as well.

 (In a pinch I have even mixed JB weld epoxy with silver solder paste as a thermal epoxy- caveat emptor).  

STEP 3: Step 3 - Cut the Lamp Outline - Add Shade/diffuser

Cut  the lamp outline through the art.

Tape on diffuser  (4 layers of Gila window covering) over lamp outline


STEP 4: Finish

Connect the 13 leds to the DC side of led driver. (+ output of DC driver to + of LED string,  - output of DC driver to - of LED string)

Connect the AC side of led driver to power cord with built in switch. 

Screw  the aluminum plate (with LEDs) to the frame.

Hang

Plug in, switch on and enjoy.

3 Comments

pobriant 11 years ago

Thanks, that is good information. It would be very interesting to measure the temperature results using different thermal glues. My guess is that many of us are being way too conservative and using Artic Silver (silver conductivity is 4.3 W/cmK, artic silver is supposed to be 60% silver) and designed for high power CPUs when your less expensive RTV solution works great. It is likely a key is the small amount of heat produced by LEDs and already spread across a relatively wide area for the star pcb. According to Baudot, silicon RTV has a value of 0.27 W/m.K (0.0027 W/cmK) from 240 to 300 K. source -Thermal conductivity of a RTV silicone elastomer between 1.2 and 300 K. (In comparison plain JB Weld = 0.0059 W/cmK according to
http://books.google.com/books?id=itK02Ui...t=result#PPA381 ).
I have heard good things from dealextreme's inexpensive FUJIK Silicone Thermal Glue (50ml Grease-Like)
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4579
Others report great results with adding copper dust and aluminum oxide to epoxies.

audreyobscura 11 years ago

Huh. I never would of thought of using a pan for mounting. Smart!