LED Shop Lamp using the Nichia 219 ...

Several years ago I modded this WoodRiver LED Dual Power Shop Light (Item #149727, available from Woodcraft for $33) by using a severely under-driven P7 LED (200mA). But that light has not been "enough", and I knew that with a plastic head I was limited to how much current I could feed the LED.

So I decided to make my own metal head for these lamps so that I can get more use of them. I started from a solid piece of Al:







I added some cooling grooves:



And using the Nichia 219's I made two prototypes:





I am using a frosted narrow and a frosted wide 20mm lens - how do they work?









With their flexible neck I can get the light where I need it, but this time I get plenty, beautiful, 4500K 92CRI light:



Here I am using one of them to cut more of the heads:







Since these work so well, I made some more for me, and a few more just in case:



I took 4x of them, sand blasted them, and then coated them with Moly Resin semi-gloss back:







Drill holes for LED wires:



And they are all done, ready for assembly:



I have been using these for the last two days, and they are working great. The surface temp (via IR temp measurement) hovers between 100-110F, with an ambient temp of about 80F. So they are definitely warm to the touch, but not hot enough to burn you when re-adjusting their aim. As a point of comparison, my Electrix 50 watt incandescent gets to about 135F with the same ambient temp - you can't keep your hand on that one for long!


By the way, although I used the Nichia 219's here, I did build one LED Shop Lamp using the Cree XP-G Warm White (the Cree has a more throwy beam although both have the same narrow frosted optics). The exposure is stepped down (these are fairly bright!). Here you can see them side-by-side: the one that looks "white" is the Nichia:



If there is enough interest I can start a sales thread for the extra pieces I made, which would make this into a neat and useful DIY project (steps in post #2), no lathe/mill required

Will

To put these together, you cut-off the head:





You need to cut the stub on the 20mm lens:





Buy the LED's on 10mm boards if possible. If you have bare LED's, reflow the LED's (it would help if I had reflowed them with the proper/correct polarity!) and solder wires to each end (the wire colors are correct in this picture):



Clean the surfaces, and apply thermal epoxy to the back of the LED:





Then use the 20mm optic to center the LED as best as possible (not possible to do a 100% perfect alignment since the dome of the Nichia/XP-G is not a 100% match to the hole in the TIR optic, but it is still really good):



Then put some weight to ensure a very thin layer of thermal epoxy:



The "electronics" are very easy. Basically remove the wires for the battery (not used) and short either one of the two resistors, so that the DC voltage is fed directly to the LED. Since it is voltage/current limited, you get about 800-820mA to the LED, which is about perfect for an LED that will be ON for hours at a time:





Then cut the wires on the flexible neck, solder and tape:





Then you epoxy the head to the lamp's flexible arm. The groove that I cut on the back provides mechanical strength to the bond:





Then put the base on a metal base (like a vise), aim the arm and head completely vertical, and apply 4 small drops of glue to keep the lens in place:



Finished:







Will

Fantastic project Will.

Norm

very nice machine lights!

Beautiful. The main problem in this country is getting the "host" lights, as decent goosenecks are hard to find cheaply.
Thanks for posting
Edit: The other thing about shop lights is that I can't see so clearly when the light acts as a point source- I've found a bunch of six (last-year's BEST bins ie now old and cheap!) LEDs stuck on a salvaged heatsink spaced about 3 cms apart in a 3*2 array makes for softer shadows and better seeing. Your two sources are better than one, of course.

Thank you guys

ICUDoc said:

Beautiful. The main problem in this country is getting the "host" lights, as decent goosenecks are hard to find cheaply.

Click to expand...

Even here in the USA it is hard to find a good/decent gooseneck. To pay nearly $40 (including shipping) for the donor lamp for this project is hard to swallow - it makes the whole project a little bit on the expensive side. I would love to find the basic lamp/goose neck for $15-20

ICUDoc said:

Edit: The other thing about shop lights is that I can't see so clearly when the light acts as a point source- I've found a bunch of six (last-year's BEST bins ie now old and cheap!) LEDs stuck on a salvaged heatsink spaced about 3 cms apart in a 3*2 array makes for softer shadows and better seeing

Click to expand...

I agree, and that is why I selected the frosted 20mm optics for this application (both the narrow and wide). Anything more "focused" would have been a detriment in use since the light would not be even enough on the target - you basically do not want too much throw here, but a total "mule" with no optics would have spread the light too much to be useful and it would need to be positioned too close to the work to be safe (plus I already have a 4x LED flood light in the lathe so I don't need more flood).

In fact I like these Nichia 219's so much that I am very likely to upgrade my 4x LED flood light (post #505 and #515) with 4x Nichia 219's as well

Will

I like that.

Have you considered using a USB powered gooseneck light such Dealextreme SKU 120895 or 125622? It's cheaper and more readily available. Plus anyone around the world can plug it into a computer or USB charger (for mobile phones etc). I don't know about the quality of those goosenecks though.

In fact you've inspired me to purchase a 120895 to see if it can be disassembled for an emitter swap.

Awesome build!

badtziscool said:

Awesome build!

Click to expand...

Thanks

bobjane said:

Have you considered using a USB powered gooseneck light such Dealextreme SKU 120895 or 125622? It's cheaper and more readily available. Plus anyone around the world can plug it into a computer or USB charger (for mobile phones etc). I don't know about the quality of those goosenecks though.

Click to expand...

I have not looked into those yet. Besides the price, the Woodriver is a terrific lamp donor:
- strong magnetic base: can keep the lamp sideways, upright, upside-down, etc.. The magnetic base is awesome, and a great match (I would say a "must have") for a machining shop since you can attach it to most/all metal surfaces.
- the AC-DC charger is absolutely perfect for a direct drive of a single 3watt LED like the XP-G, Nichia 219, etc., or an under-driven MC-E
- the gooseneck is extremely durable. My old P7-based versions (my original upgrade) have been in use for almost two years, and they are "still" strong, and still stay where you put/aim them. I don't know if you can say the same about the cheaper/simple USB-based lights, as this one was in fact designed as a shop light.

Will

One thing I neglected to do was to post "before and after" pictures so that folks can see the dramatic improvements.

Stock light on the left, upgraded light on the right - stepped down exposure so that you can see the beam, but camera on manual exposure so that you can compare the relative brightness. First the stock lamp - the beam is horrible and uneven:



Then the upgraded lamp - much, much better beam profile, plus much brighter as well:




Now the lights are aimed at the chuck on my lathe. Again, camera on manual exposure. First the stock lamp:



Then the upgraded lamp - again, much better coverage and much brighter:




Will

From many many years ago:





Locline is a relatively cheap way to get gooseneck type material and you can customise the length a link at at time...

cheers,
george.

Excellent point George - definitely a good alternative. And for the magnetic base, ENCO (and several other vendors) have the magnets for the base:
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INLMKD&PMPXNO=942497&PMAKA=505-4682


Will

http://www.modularhose.com/Loc-Line-12-System/12-miscellaneous/Loc-Line-51846

Now to find a vendor that will ship some Loc Line to Australia for less than $70. :sick2:

bobjane said:

Loc Line has their own magnetic bases:​

http://www.modularhose.com/Loc-Line-12-System/12-miscellaneous/Loc-Line-51846

Now to find a vendor that will ship some Loc Line to Australia for less than $70. :sick2:

Click to expand...

yup, that's the hard part, bobjane.
Edit: https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/H164 nearly what we need. Is 1/4 inch the right size??

I would live to get a nichia 219 desk lamp and nichia 219 led household bulbs, any suggestions? Great work withe the optic as well. Barry is like the Yoda of machining,... He has taught you well. Where are you located? Thanks
Dan

Thank you

And yes, Barry is the man!

I am located in the Dallas, TX area.

As to a desk/house lamp with the 219, it would have to be custom made, like these shop lamps.

Will

I have now been using these lights for almost two months, and I have found that in a few cases the 700-800mA of direct drive is a tad too bright. To give me more versatility, I decided to use my just-finished LED drivers:



Since the voltage from the wall-wart sags quite a bit and I don't need anything fancy, I am using the board with 2x 7135 chips on it, and using a dip switch for selecting the output level (via PWM at about 1000Hz):



Initial testing was excellent:



Since the power on the DC side of the wall-wart is rather noisy with AC, I used a zener diode and a rather large cap to clean it up so that the tiny85 would have decent, clean power:



I was able to fit everything inside of the factory battery compartment, giving me 8-levels



When the lamps are in use, the cover protects the electronics:



After playing with various levels, I found that about 500mA was enough, instead of the max/hi of about 700mA. Here is the photo with no light (reference point) - camera on manual exposure):



Here at about 700mA



Here at about 500mA:



Now I can fine-tune each of my 4x shop lights (2x in the lathe and 2x in the milling machine) to the job

Will