Want to light up the inside of an icefishing hut

[z_Iowabucks]

Hey everyone, my name is Jerry and i'm new to the site. Hope i'm posting in the right place.



Winter is coming on and i would like to build some sort of cheap 12v lighting for the inside of a portable icehut. I would be using a smaller 12v 8 MAh battery. This is just a fabric tent with a metal pole frame just big enough for two people. The hut has a couple small plastic windows so it lets in a little light but the fabric itself is black, so it can get real dark early morning or late evening.



I have tried a small battery powered lantern but that didn't project any light straight down, which is where i need it. Headlamps work but are too dim and not the way i want to add light. I even bought a cheap string of 12v rope lights but they were nowhere near bright enough.



I only have a basic knowledge of wiring but could do any soldering or putting together components to build one. I am a DIY kinda guy so i was looking for suggestions on different types of LED's or just different ways of doing this. I thought about putting together some kind of light strip in a piece of aluminum channel, pointing down, that i could attach to one of the roof poles.



I realize i know next to nothing about LED'S or the building of them. I see some lights need a controller or some other sort of assesories to work. I would rather keep it simple, the less stuff to carry with me, the better. I was just wanting to research the project and see if i would be better off building or buying one. I would prefer to build so i can taylor it to the specific use. I'm not even sure how many lumens i need, but definately more than what a cheap string of LED tube lights can put out.



Can anybody point me in the right direction? Thanks, Jerry.

 

[LEDninja]

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12-07-2010 01:17 PM #2 spencer

I'll give it a go.

For LED's I would recommend 2 or 3 Cree XP-G LEDs in a neutral white tint. I say neutral white as oppose to the typical cool white because although you take a hit on the output, the light is much more usable. They can be found at cutter.com.au. I would buy them on stars and they need to be attached to the aluminum channel with some thermal epoxy or thermal grease. Running from a 12v battery this driver would be ideal.

And thats all you really need.

Battery connected to driver, driver connected to LEDs, and LEDs connected to a heatsink (not electrically).

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12-07-2010 01:56 PM #3 mds82

For a driver, you can pick up a must less expensive driver such as a BuckPuck 3023-d-n- 1000 from LEDSupply.com and it comes potted and wired already, its much easier. You can even get an adjustable driver with a Pot and it will be less.

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12-07-2010 08:07 PM #4 Iowabucks

For LED's I would recommend 2 or 3 Cree XP-G LEDs in a neutral white tint.

Something like these?

http://www.ledsupply.com/creexpg-w139.php
Last edited by Iowabucks; 12-08-2010 at 06:10 AM.

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12-08-2010 04:41 AM #5 LEDninja

The recommendation is for neutral white 4000° to 4500° colour temperature.
The ones at LEDsupply is cool white 6500° colour temperature.
You have to decide which tint is acceptable to you.
Colour reference:

www.cutter.com.au carries neutral and warm but they are in Australia.

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12-08-2010 06:16 AM #6 Iowabucks
Unenlightened
Join Date
Nov 2010
Posts
3
Re: Want to light up the inside of an icefishing hut
Does Cutter have the XP-G on a star board? All i see are these.
http://www.cutter.com.au/products.php?cat=Cree+XPG

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12-08-2010 06:56 AM #7 mds82

for a couple $ more you can get this one which is a 3x rebel rated at 4000k http://ledsupply.com/07007-pw740-n.php . Driven at 700ma it is just a bit dimmer then a 60watt bulb, which should be pretty much all you need for that area. for a driver, as long as you have 12v as a power source this driver will work nicely, and it does have a dimmer as well so you can adjust how bright it is: http://ledsupply.com/03023-d-e-1000p.php

Now the light will be very piercing, so you can mount the LED's to a heatsink, and then get a frosted dome to help diffuse the light and what will also help disperse the light more evenly and help reduce the shadows