LED Fixed Lighting

[AndyTiedye]

I started a new thread to reply to this, rather than continue to hijack
the XR19C sales thread.

Could you tells us more about your LED house lighting?
I want to do that.

Andy,
I am trying to at least keep a photo log of the progress HERE, on my new home. I have been wholesaleing some Nichia 3 mm based LED lights for a number of years now and Wayne and I are currently working on some new fixtures using the high power LED's. At some point we both will probably bring some of this information to CPF in some form for the few who seem interested in LED's beyond flashlights. People can actually pay for some of this lighting with energy savings while doing themselves and the planet a favor. Unlike incandescent, when you dim a LED light, you get better efficiency and remarkable efficiency at that! The LED's like to be underfed and it's a win win across the board. Wayne has designed a really cool dimmer for the 12V lights running driven by an on board constant current driver (essentially the down boy) The dimmer will send a signal to any of the lights you are running if you connect them to its single signal wire. The dimmer instructs the lights it is connect to as to what current level they should drive the LED. Your home can be friendly to the night, your eyes, your neighbors and your utility bill.

As time and inspiration permit, I plan to go through my home and replace all of the incandescent lights with LED's. (I got plenty LED's!! ) There is some cool stuff coming on the market but of course a lot of it is low end gimmick that will harm the introduction of LED lighting as much as aid it. There are numerous areas around the planet that are in the dark right now because they don't have the power capacity they need. They could be with light.

I got suckered into CPF a few years back and sidetracked by the revolution and how it effects flashlights. I have let my interest and desire to work with fixed lighting take the back seat but for numerous reasons I want to refocus my energy and get back to it. I am typing this response under a string of Nichia Jupiters which are providing all the light I need to see the keyboard and table and my cup of coffee. If the power were to go out, I would know it as the laptop would switch to battery power. I could still see the table and my coffee cup and go through the house to the restroom without pulling out my flashlight. With viable and accessible RGB LED's around the corner, the LED revolution will come home!

I can't wait. Did I mention that compact fluorescent's suck?

The fact that the lighting fixtures are marine-grade is particularly interesting.
We have some beachfront property. Corrosion is a big problem with
all things electrical in that environment. There is quite a bit of exterior
lighting, both for decorative and security purposes. The fixtures on your
site look way better than what we've got, and they're proably a lot more
impervious to salt.

 

[AndyTiedye]

Added to the fixed lighting index

 

[McGizmo]

Hi guys,

In addition to the flashlights, I have continued with getting settled in to the new home and in conversion from incandescent to LED of existing fixtures in the house as well as adding more low power, battery backed up LED night lights about. I have added info on my Maui Home web page. I designed a small rear deck or lanai that replaced the existing landing at the back door and it has been enhanced for night time use with additional Tri Clusters mounted under the eves, under the top rail at the end of the deck and some behind 3 squares of onyx tile:

I find I am using the Xitanium Drivers more and more in replacement and/or modification of existing 110V fixtures. Below is a 110V fixture that was on the wall just outside the back door.

There is a Xitanium driver mounted behind this cast Al fixture and in addition to driving the Cree LED fixtures mounted directly to it, there is a pair of Cree's in a fixture remotely located over the BBQ which are also in the series string.

Combined, these lights add ample illumination to the rear deck and back yard for activities which require significantly more light:

Back inside, I have now modified one of two overhead fixtures in the kitchen and the second will follow this weekend hopefully. Again, a Xitanium driver is coupled with some Cree XR-E LED's used with no secondary optics:

 

[reptiles]

Wow, these look much nicer than commercial LED replacement bulbs.

Regards,

Mark

 

[bombelman]

Nice, very nice !!!

 

[McGizmo]

My first experience with an extrusion part, the "CreeBar" is now close to going into a first run of extrusions. I made some mistakes and learned a few of the "rules". After finally getting to build a proto up from first article samples, just some minor tweaking to the die and away we go.

The extrusion is basically a heat sink designed for a string of LED's and with a cavity for a driver. The default is a string of 6 Cree XR-E LED's in series and with a Xitanium driver. The proto is 6" long with the LED's mounted on .750 mcpcb's and .750 center to center. For the kits and semi production builds, there is a CreeBar X6 MCPCB in the works that will be a strip, .750" wide X 6" long with LED's on 1" centers.

This proto is not anodized and it is 1" shorter than the production pieces will be. It is host to a Xitanium 700 mA driver and the part gets warm but not to hot to hold. The CreeBar by itself weighs about 3 pounds and has significant surface area.

The part has numerous ways of being mounted and I believe a great number of potential applications in both fixed and portable lighting. The McR-17XR reflectors give it a good spot to work with and the frosted acrylic window I used on this proto gives a good fanning and blending of the beam for more of a flood type distribution.

There are some "T" slots integrated inwith the coolng fins which can lend themselves to t-bolt or bent brackets for mounting and handles. A single 1/4x20 tapped hole allows for tri-pod mount as above and single point attachment in other situations like the work light below:

I plan to use some of the beefy 1/2" LocLine as another means of mouting with articulation capabilities:

I am looking forward to getting the production pieces in hand so I can continue in converting over to LED lighting in my house as well as adding some much needed work lights above my soldering stations and test bench. I have some plans for table and floor standing reading lights that will use the CreeBar as the core.

This proto is crude to be sure but I am real excited about the potential.

Beyond my personal play and needs, I plan to wholesale completed light fixtures based on the CreeBar and Wayne will be handling the various components in the shoppe for the DIYers as well as likely completed lights. His Shark Driver should provide a good variable output low voltage DC driver for portable as well as off grid and 12V systems. Different designs in end caps for mounting as well as switching will be easy to fabricate and possibilities are numerous!

 

[Darell]

Sign me up! :thumbsup:

That's what I'm talkin' about! You guys keep your flashlights. I need some REAL light.

 

[JollyRoger]

I could use 50 or so of these right away...
Awesome work, Don!

 

[LED Zeppelin]

Awesome stuff Don!

I can see your fixed lighting is built to the same standards as your flashlights.

I have a couple questions:

- Are there any drivers that allow dimming via the standard household incan dimmers?

- Is there any high frequency effect of the light due to the AC source?

 

[Kiessling]

What's the bin of those?
And can I have it in HA-Red, please? :nana:

 

[McGizmo]

LED,
There are a couple Xitanium drivers that can be regulated by appropriate electronic dimmer switches but this is an area I have not delved into yet. The drivers are large and designed to go into a 4S box as I recall. They also have the power to drive a good number of LED's. I leave it to the electronics experts to evaluate and comment on the Xitanium drivers. Small size, 80% effeciency as I recall and UL approval makes these an easy selection for me to get from 110VAC to the LED string; especially in retro fitting and replacement of existing 110VAC incan lights.

The next proto I build will be with one of Wayne's Sharks for 12VDC input and I am anxious to try his new three level UI. It may be something I can handle.

 

[Stillphoto]

Now if it could run on its own 12v battery and also have the option to plug it into 120, a dimmer, and put it out for under a grand.

 

[McGizmo]

stillphoto,
With a driver like the Shark, you could have an input jack on the side and power the CreeBar with any battery pack you came up with and/ or a 12VDC wall wart.

 

[chellyc]

Just getting started on driveway lights replacement with fixtures et al from BP. I'll try to post pics when done. Maybe this new one would be a good substitute for over-garage spotters?

Chelly

 

[AndyTiedye]

I could certainly use some of these!

 

[orionlion82]

The one with the tripod stand in the backyard tells me news organizations and mobile photographers might sure want some for the mobile/live broadcasts. i encourage you to explore that angle.

 

[McGizmo]

Hi guys,

I wanted a more portable CreeBar and I also wanted to test out a set with RGB as well as white LED's. I plan to change out the incans in the master bath with LED's andI wanted to get a sense of what adding some RGB to the group would do to color rendition.

I amputated the bottom section from one of the Makita flashlights and mechanically fastened it as well as potted and bonded it to a CreeBar end plate using some epoxy reinforced with milled glass fiber and a highdensity adhesive filler. The light stands well on the batery or with aid of the tri-pod.

The light is essentially white on a target but with direct illumination, you get a rainbow at shadow edge. If the light is used indirectly by bouncing off a wall or ceiling, the color and individual white light sources are blended to a point that you don't the multi edged and colored shadows. From a couple feet away, you can see the multi shadow cast by a white bar that is in front of a white surface:

With some crude sampling with my Integrating Sphere, it seems that the blue and green don't add a noticible spike to the spectral output but the red is clearly evident. In some preliminary testing around the house, this light does seem to give more vibrant color rendition compared to the all white Makita 7UP but I still don't have a good feel for the relative significance or lack of significance. Since it's portable and has three output levels, I can do more testing as time and curiousity dictate. Shadows aside, it does provide good illumination.

I am real happy with how the mod itself turned out. There is a PCB in the handle of the Makita Flashlight that I kept and installed in the CreeBar as I suspect it is a protection circuit for the LiIon Battery. I think I will add a handle to the light at some point.I would alsolike to design an end cap for the CreeBar specific for the Makita 18V LiIon battery because I think it is a great battery source!

This thread is about fixed lighting but Ihave found that portable units are a great tool for evaluating fixed applications prior to "fixing" them. :nana:

 

[Edwood]

I would really like a cree array that fits inside the size of a normal lightbulb space with a standard edison type screw in base.

-Ed

 

[orionlion82]

deleted.

 

[McGizmo]

Ed,

I understand such an animal is out there and Orb has an interest thread on these some where. I want to get some myself. I wonder about some of these screw in replacements though in regards to power. The Cree Bar is likely overkill but it does get warm; especially the unit with 6 Cree's being driven at 700 mA each.