I have read elsewhere on here of using LED light arrays as machine lights. I ordered 4 no. of the 48 per board variety and installed two on the underside of my WM16 milling head. Very pleased.

Coming to the lathe it was my intention of using the self adhesive pads on the last two of the four arrays to stick them on the underside of the shelf which hovers over the top of my lathe. Then I realised there would be a problem with coolant (cutting oil in my case) flicking up and maybe damaging the arrays not to mention swarf rotating at high speed.

Rummaging through my desk drawers produced the solution:

............CD case even had little slots in the side that allowed the small plugs to exit....... this was taken before the light was fitted.......... ...........then ........... let ther be light!.....................................Rik

Simple, effective, inexpensive - what more could you ask for...?

When I fitted one of these arrays just behind the quill on my mill it struck me that it would need some protection and I fitted a polycarbonate shield. It has been in use for some time and produces great illumination just where needed, but when I inspected it the other day little bits of swarf had got under the shield and it needed a good clean. Your solution of totally enclosing the arrays is a better idea and I will probably have to do something similar to keep out the swarf.

Doug

CD case is a good idea.

The LED's are the same as I used on my mill in my previous posting "LED Work lights for milling machine"

Hi Rik Where did you purchase the LED arrays Fred

Hello Fred ------ I got them here: **LINK**

I got a pack of 5 and one seemed not to work but I dicovered the wires were the wrong way round so worth checking. Also they don't work on less than about 6v ie 4 batteries are not enough for a portable version.

Rik

Would be interested in how you fixed lights to the WM 16 mill head as it has a hollow space for access to the tilting & securing bolts..poss' pic,  I'm looking at some sort of clip on  back board.

Cheers

George

Edited By mechman48 on 28/07/2013 11:29:51

ps, Have looked at your link (thanks) & I assume that you have to buy a plug in 12v DC transformer as power supply; how did you connect them together.. in series / parallel? not being aux faix with electrickery at the best of times connection info would be appreciated (diagram ?) .

TIA

George

Had a barbie the other week at home for the population of Somalia which actually isn't many as they are all in London.

Got three scaffold poles strung between various protrusions and some trees that someone 80 years ago had realised I might need just for this one occasion.

Slapped one of these LED panels on about every three feet and parallel wired then back to a 12v truck battery.

Switched on and all working but didn't look very bright but once it was dark it gave a spread out glow equal to night time around 9:00pm at the moment. Many people commented on it.

George - I didn't know there was anything up the voids. Never mind, I have no immediate need to tilt the head and maybe never will.

I used a 12v 1A mains power adaptor from an old Netgear wireless router with the jack cut off. Then its just a simple matter of connecting all the reds on the LED arrays to the + lead on the PSU and all the black leads to the negative.

Only thing to watch out for is (and Bazyle reported the same fault) - one of my arrays had been assembled with the black and red wire round the wrong way.

By the way, if you want to see some of the worse possible surface mount placing ever just buy some of these. I've got individual LED's up to 30 degrees out of position and on one board I have a dud because it was not soldered at one end. I'll not bother soldering it back on though as the other 47 still work.

Still and all, they are so cheap and the main thing is, they do the job.

Rik

PS I am going to add another two to the existing two in the CD case - it'll be a better job. Here's your pic.

I have to say how good these have proven to be! I've bought 4 and have fitted two above my lathe, and will be fixing a pair over my mill. They're not light-bulb bright, but give off a very warm, well diffused light which is very useable.

Back in teh days, those would have made brilliant (literally) stadium lights for Subbuteo!

Neil

Hi Rik,
If there is only one LED out then it must be shorted out rather than not connected. The LED's are arranged as 16 groups of three LED's and a current limiting resistor in series. If one LED was not connected a group of three would not be illuminated. As one LED is shorted it would increase the current in the two other LED's in the group of three. You will probably find that two LED's adjacent to the one that is not illuminated will be brighter than the rest. The increased current could cause these two LED's to fail.

Les.