My new LED workbench lighting

I have been using those dual 12" white CCFL lamps (used by PC modders) as my bench lighting for a few years. I recently realized I needed more light for precision work.

I had a spare LED assembly that I made but never got around to installing in a room so I used it here instead. Attached it to a flexible arm and there you go.

LEDs came attached to an al core PCB. The total is 12x 1W LEDs in series driven at 350mA with a boost converter.

Boost converter up top:


LEDs down below:


Lighted up:


Positioned above the workbench:


With the above positioning, we get over 1500lux at the bench. I think that's bright enough


And for really up close work with the lamp 6" above the bench surface, I get almost 6500lux.


And, it's powered off of my renewable energy system. :beer:

BTW, room lighting is ON while those pics were taken (same as the first two shots). It's bright enough that it appeared the room lights were off.

Love it. +4

That work mat has seen some action

Thanks! I've been using the same mat (and workbench) for maybe over 15years It has seen countless projects throughout the years.

1. Incandescents are too inefficient (this is powered off my renewable energy off grid system so efficiency counts)
2. I don't want a hot glass globe in front of my face when I'm working on something.
3. I'm the one who is going to use this and LEDs are great for me so :na:

Edit: I think that a little bit more reach is needed. Added almost 3 inches worth of standoffs and a handle as it gets a little warm with use.


LEDs


Lighting the workspace

MagnaMagicBtu said:

Inefficient? well the whole household uses the old style Incandescent's. They don't flicker or emit heavy amounts of UV light like a CFL does. Incandescent>LED>CFL.

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So do LEDs

MagnaMagicBtu said:

These Incandescents are so easy on the eyes which is why I favor them. My eye sight is already bad enough (20/100 on right eye and 20/120 on left) I don't need anything to make it worse. Which is why I use laser goggles when using lasers.

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You like incandescents, I like LEDs. That's all.

MagnaMagicBtu said:

Oh and whoever issued the Incandescent ban is a total idiot.

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Agree, since there are places that only incandescents will work and there are no substitutes (inside refrigerators, ovens, fully sealed luminaires, etc)

Still, I prefer LEDs when given the chance.

Get QULAITY LEDs with high CRI of 80, 90, or higher. Then there is nothing to bitch about the light quality. And great efficiency.

I find incans useless for close up work personally, the yellower light makes it harder to see fine details IMO. Also living in a tropical climate, the yellow light from incans make it "feel" warmer than cool white

MagnaMagicBtu said:

Not sayin' LEDs are bad. They do emit more light per W. But the color just isn't my cup of tea, nor is wavelength range they have.

It just ticks me off that someone would actually issue a ban for a type of light. Just like how Japan banned diesel engines for no reason.

That is all.

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The reason they were banned is that only <2% of the energy put into them comes out as usable light. The rest is wasted as IR and heat. Enforcing the transition from wasteful incandescents to modern lighting greatly reduces power demand from power stations.

I totally respect your preference for lower color temperatures ("warmer" light), but do realize there are others with the opposite preference as well. In my case it is hard to find fluoros and LEDs which have a high enough color temp. I can't stand <6500K. I was running a high CRI 8000K metal halide lamp over my work station for a while but having a 300W lamp drove up my energy costs too much so I had to settle for 80W of 6700K fluoros.

I'd love to switch over to LED lighting but it is cost prohibitive for my budget, especially since it is very hard to find high CRI >6500K LEDs.

Props for using renewable energy :beer:

MagnaMagicBtu said:

Inefficient? well the whole household uses the old style Incandescent's. They don't flicker or emit heavy amounts of UV light like a CFL does. Incandescent>LED>CFL.

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It doesn't matter if all bulbs in your house are incans, they are still inefficient. "Incandescent>LED>CFL" is not true for every application.

These Incandescents are so easy on the eyes which is why I favor them. My eye sight is already bad enough (20/100 on right eye and 20/120 on left) I don't need anything to make it worse. Which is why I use laser goggles when using lasers.

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Of course you are supposed to use laser goggles when using lasers. :thinking:

MagnaMagicBtu said:

Meh I still prefer the ol' school Incandescent bulbs. Buy them wholesale since they got banned. They have the closest light to candle light and sunlight. I will always use Incandescent! simple,cheap and good for the eyes.

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There are plenty of LED bulbs around 2700k to 3000k which is what most incans are. Sunlight isn't the same k throughout the day. When you say "They have the closest light to candle light and sunlight," are you talking about the morning/evening or around noon? Actual daylight is considered ~5500k which is around noon.

To add to Dr. Evil; sunlight color temperature varies with how far you are away from the equator as well.

I like the light quality of incandescents and generally try to replicate this with most of my fluorescent bulbs using something like those kitchen and bath variants. I keep incandescents around too, especially in areas of the house where I need a light that will turn on instantly for only a short while; fluorescent and LED lighting is only worthwhile in places where you run them for a long while.

I probably won't switch to LED lighting until the prices are dramatically lower, or there are better guarantees that their longevity justify their high price. Sure they last "100,000 hours" but the phosphorescent coatings that make "white" from blue light certainly don't. It's one of the factors that hasn't really been addressed when discussing the true usable lifespan of LED-based white lighting. I also won't pay out the nose for some RGB system just to save pennies worth of energy.

Incandescents aren't banned in the US. What is in place is a push towards higher quality incandescents that are more efficient, but provide the same type of lighting. Such bans are silly, and I don't like the approach Europe has taken, much like how they moronically ban leaded solder for hobbiests. I remember reading that some people in Europe have to buy "heat lamps" in order to get around the incandescent ban. Given the high price of electricity in Europe, I don't understand why the bulb requirement was necessary in the first place. People would probably switch on their own to save money. That's how it ought to be.

Heat would be a major reason for using LEDs in a rig like diQUAN has, but for that I'd go with CFL or an 18"/24" bar fluorescent fixture because they actually run cooler, provide more uniform light, and have roughly the same efficiency for what I'd use them for. I do use an LED light for my soldering rig, but that's because it is an extremely bright directional light that fits into a small space. It's not perfect though: the white color of that LED is a bit too blue, and the lamp gives off quite a bit of heat.

Maybe LED lighting will be worth the trouble once they start employing lasers and have color produced by color mixing rather the phosphors. Right now it's too expensive compared to CFL for too few benefits.

IIRC, Australia also has the incandescent lamp ban.

The LED I used are cheapie no name ones but the light color is pretty white but for how long, that is the question Using those slimline flouro tubes are an option but they are mains powered and this one is powered off of my 12V off grid system. Plus I already had this, better put it to use than collect dust.

Which reminds me, I have to start working on that lamp I've been thinking of that will use a 445 diode and remote phosphor.

I have a bunch of clear 60w incan bulbs sitting in a box. I pulled them out of all the fixtures when I bought the house. Maybe I can sell them for $5 or more each in 5 to 10 years as the spares everybody has are being used up.

There is always a tradeoff. There are phosphor converted single LEDs that have CRI as high as 95, where your typical white LED has a CRI of around 70. They are less efficient than a plain warm whire LED, both are less efficient than a cool white LED, generally speaking.

MMB: Give LEDs a few more years for manufacturers to dip their toes in the light quality market. You'll like LED more than CFL, even if you still prefer incan to either of them.

djQUAN said:

IIRC, Australia also has the incandescent lamp ban.

The LED I used are cheapie no name ones but the light color is pretty white but for how long, that is the question Using those slimline flouro tubes are an option but they are mains powered and this one is powered off of my 12V off grid system. Plus I already had this, better put it to use than collect dust.

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That sounds like a good rig for what you got, especially with the 12V power source.