LED Lighting projects

[amberwolf]

One of the pages for these particular COBs had a diagram pointing to different components of the driving electronics, notating thermal sensor(s) that would either limit or shutdown on overheating (it didn't give the limit it would start at, however).

But I can't find that particular one ATM.

I don't see that these are dimming based on temperature, even a little bit, based on initial testing above, so either these are different (though they look identical, even to placement of all the components under the sealant), or the diagram was ficticiously labelled.

 

[DrkAngel]

COB LED teardown:

[youtube]KKd2L9Exw0M[/youtube]

Save you from tearing yours apart?
.

 

[DrkAngel]

Just curious on how LED projects are going?

I am revisiting my 12V COB LED projects.
50w 12V LEDs only draw 18w @ a precise 12V.
Assumably, these LED modules attain their rated 50w near the typical vehicle and SLA battery charge voltages, 13.5-14V?
Have a couple dozen P3 fan-heatsinks left.
12V modules are now available as full spectrum (plant growth-flower) , 3200K (warm), 4000K (natural), 6500K cool white, 30,000K (ultra cool white) etc.

Also ordered up some 60mm and 80mm 110VAC fans for cooling of 50-100w COB 110VAC LED modules in large lighting conversions.

 

[amberwolf]

Just curious on how LED projects are going?

stuff keeps happening in job and life and dogs that has kept me from getting back to them.

had planned to do it this week on my time off but i found peanutbutter, one of the dogs, suddenly dead a couple days ago at the start of the time off so i'm having troulbe getting myself to care about doing much of anything besides laying here messing with the computer, and interacting with the three remaining dogs yogi kirin and jelly. i get up and sort of feel motivated then something reminds me what happened and i just get hit with it again and retreat.

i'll get past it eventually like ihave the many other times i've lost dogs, just dunno when.

50w 12V LEDs only draw 18w @ a precise 12V.
Assumably, these LED modules attain their rated 50w near the typical vehicle and SLA battery charge voltages, 13.5-14V?

probably. i think that s kinda what i found with that big module up above in the thread. don't remmeber for sure.

 

[DrkAngel]

i get up and sort of feel motivated then something reminds me what happened and i just get hit with it again and retreat.

Might prescribe an LED project as treatment?
LEDs were 6000K-6500K and ideal for SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) treatment. 20-30 minutes per day of intense diffused light recommended for infusing your body with endorphins. And remember, days are getting longer and the rebirth of a new year is beginning!

 

[amberwolf]

Well, I eventually got around to making several LED fixtures, including putting that big 12v panel up on the pole. It actually lights the yard quite a bit better than the other light, for the area it covers, since it's light is all downward and not to the sides, and is white not green. ATM it's running on a 12v meanwell HLG I got off amazon's "scratch and dent" type deals for a steal, but I have another use for that PSU so eventually I'll change it out for one of the xbox PSUs I have instead (which will probably require a modification to make it come on automatically with the dusk-to-dawn control of the light fixture).


I also used four of the 50W 110VAC units on a similar heatsink to the one used on the 12v picture (it will have six units later, wanted to be sure four with a fan on the back would work without overheating (it does need the fan, unfortunately, thankfully I have a number of 110VAC "muffin fans" from old server rack type equipment and the like). this unit is temporarily mounted on the edge of the back porch awning, and provides about as much light as the big 12v panel. It will be mounted on that shorter pole I mentioned previously, and placed about at the awning's edge, angled out slightly to put it's light on the yard not the awning.

I converted a cheap "portable" halogen floodlight that was missing it's bulb holders, cutting the non-flat cast back off (no heatsink fins anyway, so not worth ) and riveted and siliconed in two big heatsinks with a 110v 50w COB LED on each into the hole. Had to put a fan on those, too. This one makes enough light to clearly see what I'm doing with the (non-auto, fixed-glass) welding helmet down, not as good as direct sunlight but enough if it's a couple feet from the work, and it doesn't burn me like the 1000w halogen floodlamp I also have that doesn't put out much, if any, more light (but puts out as much *heat* as the welding does!).

I took pics while making the LED units over the last few weeks to post up but can't seem to find them ATM. Will probably have to go take more.

These pics of the trike with solar panels sitting on top of it were taken with a celphone camera (no flash) directly under the big 12v panel up on the pole. I think the pole is about 20 feet high, can't remember for sure.

 

[amberwolf]

For in the house, I ended up with 2-bulb shop lights because the little COB LED units are too noisy with the fans, and overheat without them, and the COBs are basically spotlights rather than area lights--to get enough light in the right places to work with I would need 8 or 10 of them, and the cost with all the parts, plus making mountings, etc., would end up being similar to the shoplights & bulbs, but a lot more work.

Two sets in the kitchen (cuz there's already 5 in-cieling lights around the room) with T8 6500k LEDs, I forget but I think they're GE?, and three in the back room over the work areas (cuz there's no significant lights built in, just some ineffective tiny "60w" (like maybe 10w really, if that) bulbs in the two ceiling fans) using "ecolux" series (sylvania?) 6500k 32w T8 bulbs, and they give about enough ligth to work on most stuff. Some things I still have to use the desk-halogen lights right up close to the work.

In one shed I have an ancient four-bulb T8 fixture using four of those ecolux bulbs. I'd like to change out the ballasts but it's cheaper to buy a couple new shoplights.

I discovered just last week that there are non-ballast (ballast-bypass) LED T8 / etc bulbs, where you cut the ballast out and directly wire Line and Neutral to the bulb (sometimes on the same end, opposite pins, sometimes opposite ends doesnt matter which pin). This means I don't actually need any fixtures for them at all, and could just mount them wherever needed with just the clips intended to support the really long 8-foot /etc bulbs, saving some money. The cost on these bulbs is generally comparable with regular ballast-type LED bulbs.


But they aren't available locally at places like Lowes/etc., so I've been poking around as I have time for ebay, amazon, and other sites to see where the best deal for good-feedback versions might be. The best deals are in boxes of 12 to 20+. A lot of them have serious problems with RF generation, scrambling radio and wifi, etc. for quite a distance away from them. Quite a few others have problems with LEDs fading out or dying, or the entire bulb just poofing. And of course, a number of sellers I run across claim absurd lumen / etc ratings.... And some are really cheap for the bulbs, then you go to check out and find the shipping is several times the cost of the bulbs.

So this is going to take a while, and it may turn out that without a local source for them, it's cheaper to stick with ballasted shoplights and regular fluorescent bulbs, or where possible their LED equivalents.

 

[amberwolf]

Been sick a while, so not much new with the lighting stuff yet. I still haven't even gotten pics of the other stuff already working.

Even though I've been stuck home much of the last few weeks, I've been too worn out to even sit at the worktable and wire things. For the last week, too tired to even post on ES, mostly dozing/waking and sometimes letting youtube science videos play when I could concentrate. Sometimes poking around on Amazon and Ebay for wierd things I might be able to use. (didn't find much). The days I have made it to work I coudln't do much, and went home early a fair bit.

I'm still very tired, and fairly weak--just hobbling around the yard with the dogs for a few minutes can put me back in bed for hours. But I am having longer periods of activity-capable time, more often, so I might accomplish something "soon" (next week or two). Just not completely sure of myself in delicate work like the wiring and such still to be done. (I find myself dozing off randomly sometimes, too, which is a problem when soldering and the like).

As there are other assorted things I may accomplish (or start) with the trike and some other household projects, I'll post a version of this in those threads too.


I have some more of the small 110v 50w COB LEDs on the way, due anytime between now and "august", including a couple long-shaped ones meant to replace floodlight bulbs, so I can get the power-wasting 1000w halogen floodlight converted to something a little less of a powerhog and fire-hazard, with a 150w "15000 lumen" 110v COB LED bar.

I haven't opened that unit up yet to see if the back panel behind the bulb is flat enough to just bolt that to it. Probably not--the other one wasn't, but this one is better-made and much more substantial, so it *could* be. If it isn't, I'll have to do the same thing I did with the other one, cutting out the back and installing heatsinks in place of the existing finned back (which would be a shame to ahve to do).


The big 12v panel has been working fine as the overhead center-of-yard light. The heatsink has room for a second one, and the PSU running it could handle two, so I have been considering doubling the light from it. Not sure if I will end up having to add high-power diodes or something between the two panels and the PSU, as it only has one output, IIRC. Since that's up on the pole, there's about no chance of me doing that anytime soon.

I also want to put a big heatsink-full of the 110v 50w COB LEDs (six or eight should fit on one heatsink) on another pole closer to the sheds/house...but again, that won't happen till I'm much better and stronger than I am now.


For the moment, I have a set of ten 4-foot self-enclosed LED "bars" that will be here in a few days, and I may be able to put some of them up--they're supposed to be 2200 lumen each, at 6500K white, so they should add light in a number of places I don't want to use the DIY stuff. (I had wanted to use the DIY stuff under the awnings and the tops of the kitchen cabinets for reflected ligthing and the like, but they're just too hot and require fans, etc., for the small heatsinks I coudl use for them scattered around like that. So I'd rather use completed enclosed "plug in" solutions for those).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XJXPWFL
They are "linkable", so I only need one plugin cord for one end of a string of up to 15 of them at a time. If they work out, I'll get more, because they come out to about $6 each, which is cheaper than the "per lumen" cost for reasonably-reliable-types of T8 style fixtures like the 4foot shoplights I've already got, and should end up the same brightness with less installation work, and look better.

I have found a few LED T8s that don't require ballasts, and so could be wired in directly, like these
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GNSHDJV
but would still have to come up with a "fixture" of some kind, or at least mounting brackets, and then run wiring between them, etc. So still very DIY, and more work than I really can handle right now.


There are also some recessed "halo" lights I've been looking at, ultra thin with junction boxes to house their inverters, that would be reasonably easy to install in the kitchen where it's already got the oldstyle screw-in halo lights, which are using screw-in LED bulbs for half, and CFLs for the other half, but none of which are as bright or as white as these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VYTCZ6P
I could move the ugly pair of hanging shoplights out of the kitchen to the sheds if I replace them with these, and still be able to see about as well. There's cheaper ones, but most of them don't seem as well-made as the Sunco ones. I'd like to also put them in the back room, because it only has a few inches between the cieling itself and the roof, all filled with insulation, and there's no other recessed lighting that will fit there. But I would have some trouble installing the wiring itself without removing the cieling panels, and there's no way I can do that. If I did go this route for the lights back there, I'd need at least a 24-pack of them to get the kind of light i need, as the room is something like 10x15 feet or more. Would like to do it to the livingroom too; can at least do the wiring there reasonably easily in the attic. But it's a lot of money, and even though I have more available nowadays than before, it's still not all that much, so I have to pick and choose which projects to spend a little on, and save the rest for future emergencies and the like. And I don't have the energy to do it anyway.



I also found a really good "amazon warehouse" deal for a pair of "corn" LED bulbs (a few bucks each bulb), which are basically rows of LEDs on boards slid into an aluminum cylindrical frame, with a round cap on one end with mroe LEDs, and a regular screw in E37 bulb base on the other.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SH76VCZ
They arrived today, and I swapped out the gigantic CFL spiral bulb I've been using in my bedroom for one, and the LED is actually a little brighter, and some 30 degrees cooler (only around 100F max with the IR thermometer, and mostly only around 90F, where the CFL is 130F+ dependign on exactly where I point the IRT). IIRC these corn bulbs are 6500k and 5500 lumen, 60W actual (500w equivalent). They both work, though only run for an hour or so so far on the one, and just tested a few minutes for the other. They're very light, a bit less than the CFL, and maybe only 3/4 the size (so I won't bump it with my head anymore under the cieling fan).

 

[amberwolf]

I have some more of the small 110v 50w COB LEDs on the way, due anytime between now and "august", including a couple long-shaped ones meant to replace floodlight bulbs, so I can get the power-wasting 1000w halogen floodlight converted to something a little less of a powerhog and fire-hazard, with a 150w "15000 lumen" 110v COB LED bar.

These arrived, though I have yet to actually install them in anything. I did a test fit of them in the 1000w halogen floodlight, but not moutned or wired.

For the moment, I have a set of ten 4-foot self-enclosed LED "bars" that will be here in a few days, and I may be able to put some of them up--they're supposed to be 2200 lumen each, at 6500K white, so they should add light in a number of places I don't want to use the DIY stuff.

These also arrived, and appear to meet their specs, though I can't know for sure about the lumens, as I have no idea where my lightmeter is, and none of my android devices work with any lightmter apps (they all report the devices don't have one, and they wont' use any of the onboard cameras for the purpose).

But they all work (with some caveats), and they came with both butt-connectors to make single long strips out of them, and short interconnect cords to make long strips that aren't butted directly up to each other. They also have regular power cords to plug into outlets, and pigail cords to directly wire into junction boxes. Mounting hardware, because they are very lightweight, is just a couple of thin metal clips for each one, and a screw and expanding drywall anchor (plastic) for each of those.

The caveats are that there are some LEDs that don't light in a couple of the bars, which I didn't notice until mounting five of them in the kitchen on the ceiling, in place of the hanging shop lights. They make about as much light as the four LED T8 tubes in those shop lights given that they're a foot higher up. I left feedback to the seller about the LEDs that went out, since they have a 5-year warranty, so we'll see what they do.

 

[amberwolf]

Hmm...forgot to update this.

I did get that floodlight above working; it's damned bright (don't look at it without welding glasses :lol: ), and gets damned hot--but not as hot as with the 1000w halogen tube in it--with that in there, if it were shaped right you could fry steaks on it. With the LEDs in there it needs a fan. Have so far only used it in cold windy weather, for short periods--would require the fan for more than a few minutes operation or for anything other than that weather.


I also put a couple of the "oval" COBs into another smaller halogen floodlight that has it's own stand and handle, etc, but its' case is much smaller and has no fins, so I cut the back of it off and mounted each COB onto it's own old CPU heatsink that has closely spaced thin fins, and screwed one smaller quieter computer case fan to that, with an old 12v "brick" wallwart to run the fan wired to the same AC cord the light runs from so they both come on at the same time. This one I've used for many hours for various projects; it's much brighter and much cooler than the 500w halogen the LEDs replaced.


Some of the COBs I got didn't work right, or failed during powerup after a few cycles, so I don't have any of them in any regularly-used lighting, just special-use projects like the floodlights, now.


Prebuilt lighting has gotten very cheap and pretty good, and COBs are getting more efficient (so more light for less heat), so I have bought a few of those, and so far they work pretty well. A couple of the most recent (last few days) are an LED headband light and a motion-activated solar-charged yard/patio light; each of these comes as sets of 2 in a box, at the following links:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJVHBYGR
Bright Motion Sensor Solar Outdoor Lights, 2 Pack Waterproof 117COB LED Security Wall Lights Street Lamps with 3 Mode Outdoor Solar Powered Lights for Garden Patio Garage Front Door Yard $24.29

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1DHPNNQ
COSOOS 2 Rechargeable Headlamp Flashlight w/ Red Light &Carry Case,1000Lumen Bright LED Head Lamp Wide Beam& Spotlight,Motion Sensor,2.4oz Lightweight Headlight for Hiking & Camping Accessories $35.99

Pics from the amazon listings are at the end of the post, along with my own pics of the actual items (including the internals of the solar lights)

You can get them cheaper by a bit on aliexpress and the like, but those two actually are what they say they are, so far. (need some time for really testing them out). There's basically a bajillion clones of each, with variations in function and design and cost.

They are both bright enough to be usable for a relatively large area, assuming there's no other useful light source around. Don't know if their claimed lumens are accurate, dunno where my photometer is, but it's good enough.

The headband light is a lot better than any other such light I've used, because it is not a spot, it is a forehead-wide band of LEDs that provide a wide shadowless (from the eyes' perspective) light, for closeup work, making it almost like you are in natural ambient daylight (except not nearly that bright, though still bright enough to be more than usable). It's not like the typical flashlight-on-your-head lights, which don't make an even "coating of light" on the entire area you are working on plus it's surrounds.

It has five modes (it says six, but one of those is "off" so it doesn't really count :lol: ). Fullbright white light, halfbright white, fullbright red (good for not blowing out your nightvision as badly as the white does, like if walking around hte yard at night with the dog and avoiding their brand-new landmine, but still wanting to look up and see the stars and such), a side spotlight that is just like a flashlight strapped to the side of your head (probalby useful for something but so far I prefer the band-lights), and flashing red (which I suppose might be good for a hazard light of some kind if out on the roadside fixing something, but not useful for seeing with...and since you can't use that at the same time as the steady lights, you'd need two headbands to make that useful anywhere I can think of.

Charges via USBC, comes with a USBA to C cable about 6" long, has a small LiIon pouch cell inside the "brick" over the right ear (which also holds the rest of the electronics and the "flashlight" part).

Is very flexible, can be held folded up to use as a light, kept in a pocket, etc., and comes with a case it fits in with the charge cable and some "helmet clips" (would have to be a very thin-edged helmet to use them on though). There's two in the pack, so I put one in the trike toolkit, and the other to keep near the door to use when I go outside in the dark and dont' want to run the main yard lighting.



The yard lights use an 18650 (generic) charged from the solar panel (no other charge input) via electronics on a tiny PCB with the buttons and motion sensor and remote IR receiver. THe panel is glued/sealed into the top of the main housing, but everything else snaps in or is screwed down inside the housing...so you could take everything out and leave the casing and panel on the "waterproof" (says IP65, but there's no seals, so I highly doubt that), to mount outside say, a shed, then run your own wires from the panel to the PCB and mount all that stuff wherever light is needed and wherever the motion sensor would best function. (I am probably going to do this with one of the lights, for the shed I most frequently just have to go in and out of at night).

There's three modes, of full on when motion is detected, shuts off after some seconds of no motion, then the same except dims instead of shutoff, then always on dim. Dim is probably about 10-20% brightness. Supposedly can last all night; will have to test that after they've had a full day's charge.

If I do take one apart to put on/in a shed, I'll also investigate the charging circuit to see if it has the ability to take a 5v charging port input as well as or instead of the solar, and then I can add a USB charging port for the rare times it may not get enough charge to operate long enough for whatever use I have at that time.


I'm sure I could buy all the parts to build these separately for much cheaper than the whole thing, but then I'd have to build it and make it work...I'm at (past, really) that point at which buying working whole things is preferable to DIY in most cases, unfortunately, whenever I have the money to do that. :/


I also found a hot-air "rework" tool I can use to fix some SMD stuff I can't do with an iron, including some old LED strips that have had solder joints break on the chips to the traces, and can also be used to "weld" plastics together. I looked at quite a few of these before finding one with good enough reviews to feel safe ordering; many are fires waiting to happen. This one functions, but I haven't yet tested it in the intended use, just powered it on and verified it does adjust airflow and temperature.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VZ9HB37
LRT 8858 Micro Hot Air Rework Station SMD Desoldering Station Digital 100-500℃(212-932℉)

It did, however, come with a crappy IEC AC power cord that does not correctly mate with the control module's socket, so the connection is unreliable. A randomly selected cord out of my box of spares works perfectly, so no big deal but I'll still make a note in my review on the site.

The actual handheld part of the tool containing the blower and heater is the same on most of these units regardless of model, so fans and elements and even spare whole units are available. There are also a bunch of nozzle shapes and sizes available for them, if the six that come with it aren't what's needed for some specific project.



Now for the pics:

 

[Matt Gruber]

Made a 9 LED 3w lamp above my car. spaced about 10" apart, on an 8' baseboard some neighbor trashed.
the LED's were like 1.39 for 10. In series hooked to my old red scooter charger 28.8v.. for heat sinks i used screws i had laying around, w/jb weld epoxy.
i like the dazzling light, unlike any of my other boring lights
true you don't want to look directly at the LED's
best 1.39 i ever spent

 

[marty]

Hmm...forgot to update this.

I did get that floodlight above working; it's damned bright (don't look at it without welding glasses :lol: ), and gets damned hot--but not as hot as with the 1000w halogen tube in it--with that in there, if it were shaped right you could fry steaks on it. With the LEDs in there it needs a fan. Have so far only used it in cold windy weather, for short periods--would require the fan for more than a few minutes operation or for anything other than that weather.


I also put a couple of the "oval" COBs into another smaller halogen floodlight that has it's own stand and handle, etc, but its' case is much smaller and has no fins, so I cut the back of it off and mounted each COB onto it's own old CPU heatsink that has closely spaced thin fins, and screwed one smaller quieter computer case fan to that, with an old 12v "brick" wallwart to run the fan wired to the same AC cord the light runs from so they both come on at the same time. This one I've used for many hours for various projects; it's much brighter and much cooler than the 500w halogen the LEDs replaced.


Some of the COBs I got didn't work right, or failed during powerup after a few cycles, so I don't have any of them in any regularly-used lighting, just special-use projects like the floodlights, now.


Prebuilt lighting has gotten very cheap and pretty good, and COBs are getting more efficient (so more light for less heat), so I have bought a few of those, and so far they work pretty well. A couple of the most recent (last few days) are an LED headband light and a motion-activated solar-charged yard/patio light; each of these comes as sets of 2 in a box, at the following links:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJVHBYGR
Bright Motion Sensor Solar Outdoor Lights, 2 Pack Waterproof 117COB LED Security Wall Lights Street Lamps with 3 Mode Outdoor Solar Powered Lights for Garden Patio Garage Front Door Yard $24.29

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1DHPNNQ
COSOOS 2 Rechargeable Headlamp Flashlight w/ Red Light &Carry Case,1000Lumen Bright LED Head Lamp Wide Beam& Spotlight,Motion Sensor,2.4oz Lightweight Headlight for Hiking & Camping Accessories $35.99

Pics from the amazon listings are at the end of the post, along with my own pics of the actual items (including the internals of the solar lights)

You can get them cheaper by a bit on aliexpress and the like, but those two actually are what they say they are, so far. (need some time for really testing them out). There's basically a bajillion clones of each, with variations in function and design and cost.

They are both bright enough to be usable for a relatively large area, assuming there's no other useful light source around. Don't know if their claimed lumens are accurate, dunno where my photometer is, but it's good enough.

The headband light is a lot better than any other such light I've used, because it is not a spot, it is a forehead-wide band of LEDs that provide a wide shadowless (from the eyes' perspective) light, for closeup work, making it almost like you are in natural ambient daylight (except not nearly that bright, though still bright enough to be more than usable). It's not like the typical flashlight-on-your-head lights, which don't make an even "coating of light" on the entire area you are working on plus it's surrounds.

It has five modes (it says six, but one of those is "off" so it doesn't really count :lol: ). Fullbright white light, halfbright white, fullbright red (good for not blowing out your nightvision as badly as the white does, like if walking around hte yard at night with the dog and avoiding their brand-new landmine, but still wanting to look up and see the stars and such), a side spotlight that is just like a flashlight strapped to the side of your head (probalby useful for something but so far I prefer the band-lights), and flashing red (which I suppose might be good for a hazard light of some kind if out on the roadside fixing something, but not useful for seeing with...and since you can't use that at the same time as the steady lights, you'd need two headbands to make that useful anywhere I can think of.

Charges via USBC, comes with a USBA to C cable about 6" long, has a small LiIon pouch cell inside the "brick" over the right ear (which also holds the rest of the electronics and the "flashlight" part).

Is very flexible, can be held folded up to use as a light, kept in a pocket, etc., and comes with a case it fits in with the charge cable and some "helmet clips" (would have to be a very thin-edged helmet to use them on though). There's two in the pack, so I put one in the trike toolkit, and the other to keep near the door to use when I go outside in the dark and dont' want to run the main yard lighting.



The yard lights use an 18650 (generic) charged from the solar panel (no other charge input) via electronics on a tiny PCB with the buttons and motion sensor and remote IR receiver. THe panel is glued/sealed into the top of the main housing, but everything else snaps in or is screwed down inside the housing...so you could take everything out and leave the casing and panel on the "waterproof" (says IP65, but there's no seals, so I highly doubt that), to mount outside say, a shed, then run your own wires from the panel to the PCB and mount all that stuff wherever light is needed and wherever the motion sensor would best function. (I am probably going to do this with one of the lights, for the shed I most frequently just have to go in and out of at night).

There's three modes, of full on when motion is detected, shuts off after some seconds of no motion, then the same except dims instead of shutoff, then always on dim. Dim is probably about 10-20% brightness. Supposedly can last all night; will have to test that after they've had a full day's charge.

If I do take one apart to put on/in a shed, I'll also investigate the charging circuit to see if it has the ability to take a 5v charging port input as well as or instead of the solar, and then I can add a USB charging port for the rare times it may not get enough charge to operate long enough for whatever use I have at that time.


I'm sure I could buy all the parts to build these separately for much cheaper than the whole thing, but then I'd have to build it and make it work...I'm at (past, really) that point at which buying working whole things is preferable to DIY in most cases, unfortunately, whenever I have the money to do that. :/


I also found a hot-air "rework" tool I can use to fix some SMD stuff I can't do with an iron, including some old LED strips that have had solder joints break on the chips to the traces, and can also be used to "weld" plastics together. I looked at quite a few of these before finding one with good enough reviews to feel safe ordering; many are fires waiting to happen. This one functions, but I haven't yet tested it in the intended use, just powered it on and verified it does adjust airflow and temperature.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VZ9HB37
LRT 8858 Micro Hot Air Rework Station SMD Desoldering Station Digital 100-500℃(212-932℉)

It did, however, come with a crappy IEC AC power cord that does not correctly mate with the control module's socket, so the connection is unreliable. A randomly selected cord out of my box of spares works perfectly, so no big deal but I'll still make a note in my review on the site.

The actual handheld part of the tool containing the blower and heater is the same on most of these units regardless of model, so fans and elements and even spare whole units are available. There are also a bunch of nozzle shapes and sizes available for them, if the six that come with it aren't what's needed for some specific project.



Now for the pics:

I Have Seen The Light

 

[amberwolf]

I got up on the ladder and unmounted the DIY LED panel/heatsink, and the 12V Meanwell running it,

off the old light fixture, then reinstalled the socket (without the unneeded ballast transformer) and plate and plastic diffuser "cone", then screwed the bulb in. It goes in at an angle because of the orignal design of the fixture, which used an angled socket / bulb to leave a space for the big transformer.

Turns out this bulb is several inches longer (and about twice as fat) as the original vapor bulb, so it sticks way out of the diffuser.... :/


Since the transformer isn't there anymore, there's plenty of space to put the light socket at the top of the fixture instead, with the bulb hanging vertically, and that would put the bulb almost entirely within the diffuser, especially if I use a regular E26 socket instead of the original E39 socket with the E26 adapter that comes with the new Cree LED bulb. I am pretty sure I have one of those ceramic screw-down bases for an E26 bulb somewhere, that I can put in the fixture if it's necessary.

I dind't do it today because to do this work I'll have to drill some holes for the socket up at the top of the fixture, and I can't hold the drill up over my head like that and still put enough pressure or hold it straight, while standing on the ladder...so I will have to take the fixture off the pole to do it, and that's more than I could manage right now.


I dind't get a pic of the fixture lit up yet, as it was still too light outside for it to come on when I came in for dinner and resting, so I'll post pics of that once I do get some.

 

[ZeroEm]

What watt bulb did you put in. Have an old yard light in the back (had not worked in years), looks like that one. Need to go gut it and up grade to led.

 

[amberwolf]

"200w equivalent", 75w actual.

It's this one, because it is on clearance (mine was a few dollars cheaper than even the online price, so I bought both of the ones they have, since I can make a fixture for the second one for another area of the yard...not soon, but eventually. I think originally they were about $50 or more, about the same as a replacement original metal halide bulb that requires the ballast):
Cree Lighting 200-Watt EQ ED37 Daylight Medium Base (e-26) LED Light Bulb
Item #2569486
Model #ED37-75L-UNV-MOGE26
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Cree-Lighting-Cree-Hid-LED-Daylight-Bulb-175W/5001596293
https://pdf.lowes.com/productdocuments/a8ae4824-2155-48b5-9297-a058d966dca0/48021803.pdf
View attachment 48021803[1].pdf
https://mobileimages.lowes.com/productimages/415ed11a-d52c-43ce-94f0-1c2230ed939d/42155947.jpg?size=mpdhi

Flexible installation - attached E26 medium-base socket or E39 mogul base adapter (ballast bypass required to convert mogul base hid fixtures to LED)

All-around light Cree Lighting high brightness hid LED bulbs produce true omni directional light above, below and all around the bulb just like a traditional metal halide or high pressure sodium hid bulb

Cree Lighting hid replacement LED bulbs provide high brightness for large rooms, garages, or anywhere you want the most amount of light. Use with the attached E26 standard medium base adapter in the most common sockets in your home or convert a non-ballast hid fixtures to LED with the mogul base adapter. Energy-efficient LED technology puts out a bright 5,000 lumens using just 28.5 watts.

Vivid, cool 5000K daylight color light
Long life – 15,000 hour rated lifetime
Instant on to full brightness
Mercury-free
Glass filament bulb - looks just like a traditional hid bulb

They have other sizes, including the 150w equivalent model that's on clearance for even less.

Some time back I also got these cheap ones (but cheaper, though the Cree was even cheaper than that because of clearance):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SH76VCZ
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71GQBK8N7ZL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

but they are not nearly as good a lighting as the Cree above is for a light mounted up high like the yard light. They do work nicely as a very bright central room light, so I have one in the utility room with the washing machine/etc., and one in the cieling fan light socket (with an adapter) in my bedroom, so I can see very clearly in those rooms as if it were daylight in there, when it is needed.

 

[ZeroEm]

Yes the second one should light up the back of the yard. Don't turn on yard lights often. Was going to take down that old thing but best to upgrade it. Thx!

 

[amberwolf]

Not sure which one you mean by "second one" but I recommend the Cree over the amazon corn-cob style; the Cree is waterproof and the corncobs are not, just as a starting point. And the Cree actually costs less (even the 200W is cheaper on clearance at Lowes than I've found singles of the corncobs that are *actually* equivalent to them).

Yeah, I don't use the lights much except when working on stuff after dark (trike, other bike projects or other build-outside-only stuff, yard work, etc). But when I need light, I need a lot of it...so I have that yard light on the pole near the middle of the yard, and some other DIY lights around the yard and on / in the sheds, and some converted-to-LED shoplights along the awnings and in sheds, etc. There had been pics of some of that in previous posts, but they seem to mostly have vanished.

So here's a photodump of stuff, at some point maybe I will go edit these into the posts that have lost them, but at least they're here in the thread again. BTW, the first two pics are of the trike under the DIY meanwell/cob-plate LED light mounted to the halide fixture, to show how much light that gave. The Cree light isn't quite as bright right under the light as it doesn't only point straight down, but it lights the rest of the yard more evenly and better.