12-Volt Amber LED Porch Light

[James Jackson]

Howdy folks. Here is my latest project that I just finished (the epoxy is barely dry).

A friend at work has a solar panel and charge controller attached to a 12 Volt battery, and uses 12 Volt bulbs for lighting his front porch at his country property. He wanted an LED 'lightbulb', and I suggested that I could do it - using some left-over 1-Watt Amber Luxeon Stars.

Here is the result...

This photo shows the Edison base that I recycled from a burnt-out CFL bulb. I have soldered my Constant-Current Driver onto the two leads. NOTE: This is meant to be used ONLY for 12 Volt systems - NOT 120VAC.

This shows the V8 juice can that I recycled - epoxying 4 1-Watt Amber LEDs on the sides. NOTE: I have punched vent holes in the top of the can for air to circulate and exit the can here.

This shows the various bits laid out on the table. You may notice that the top has a trio of LEDs mounted on it. I didn't go with this for the final 'bulb', and instead used a single LED on the top of the can.

Here is a photo of the single 1-Watt LED epoxied onth the aluminum disc. A heatsink is epoxied to the bottom of the disc.

Here is the whole 'bulb' in its' finished form.

A view of the end of the 'bulb'.

The 'bulb' ready to be lit up.

The 'bulb' lit up.

This LED lamp uses 350mA of current - plus 50mA for the fan for a total of 400-mA.

The LEDs are rated at about 25 Lumens each - for a total of 125 Lumens of Amber light.

I chose Amber - because this is an outside light - and bugs do not seem to be attracted to amber light.

The can gets a bit warm - but not too warm... I think that I measured 43-degrees C as the hottest that it gets - after about 30 minutes of operation.

Regards,

James Jackson

 

[1 what]

Hi JJ.
Great recycle operation with the can, fan, base etc and You also wind up with a decent porch light.
I'm all for posting this type of home made project (as a record of what we get up to and also to perhaps inspire others) but I've noticed that these postings often draw little in the way of response in the forum. Pity.

 

[jason 77]

good job! do you have a picture or two of it in it's final location?

 

[James Jackson]

good job! do you have a picture or two of it in it's final location?

Thanks for the positive replies and comments.

No - I do not have a photo of it in the final location - where it will be used.

According to my friend, it is on a 4x4 10-foot tall pole - using a porch light fixture - I imagine a round glass globe that attaches to the socket with three or four knurled screws to hold it in place.

So... this 'bulb' will be inside a glass enclosure. My friend also mentioned spray painting the LED housing flat black (which should help with any heat issues) - which I did not get around to doing.

I can ask my friend to take a photo or two whenever he gets it installed - but I'm not sure what the quality will be - as he will probably use the camera in his cell phone.

This posting is meant to show what I have done - and hopefully give others ideas on what can be done - using bits that we normally throw away.

I have not seen any postings on porch lights - that were amber - which does not attract bugs. (Well - other than my own postings previously documenting my 4-LED bar that I am using on my front porch.)

Regards,

James Jackson

 

[JohnR66]

Nice project. What type of epoxy do you use? I wonder if any from the local store is good. I have clear, but it is not good for outdoors as UV will break it down.

 

[James Jackson]

Nice project. What type of epoxy do you use? I wonder if any from the local store is good. I have clear, but it is not good for outdoors as UV will break it down.

Good question.

We used to have some thermal epoxy here at work, that I was hoping to use - but it 'expired' and got tossed.

So, I went to the local automotive store and got some 2-part epoxy that comes in a tube. It is kinda tricky to push the plunger and get equal amounts to dispense, but it seems to harden really well after about 24 hours. One part is a milk-white, and the other is a dark gray, in color. (I don't have the name of it with me right now...)

I have no idea how it will hold up over the years outside, though.

Regards,

James Jackson

 

[usLEDsupply]

i like the pop can idea that would have worked for the bunch of post lights i made for a customer last week by wrapping 4' or 12v RGB Flex strip around a piece of 2" conduit and connecting it to a 12v 1A power supply.
For this job they were controlled by DMX so they could chase and do all kinds of crazy stuff.
i forgot to get a picture of the light strip before i put it up but i will try to get one soon. They were brighter then the CFL lights they had in before and now they can change to any color

there are 9x on them along the drive and we put sensors in so when you come in the drive they will come on and change colors in front of you as you drive.

 

[James Jackson]

I just got the shipment of the 5 Amber LEDs that I ordered today, that I am going to use in my next Amber LED Porch Light.

They are supposedly 38 Lumens per Watt.

I powered one up using my current-limited power supply... it's bright!

Serial #002 of my Porch Light is about to happen.

Regards,

James Jackson

 

[1Hoss]

I so want to learn...this is cool and I am as green as they come...

I want leds in my RV to replace my 12v bulbs..I dont know the lingo and I am so dumb about this all. but so intrigued.

:twothumbs

Hoss

 

[hank]

So come back and tell us how the next set of amber outdoor lights is going, and where you're finding brighter amber LEDs these days.

I'm using amber both indoors and out for fixed lights and flashlights, and wondering where the new improved ones are.