Thread: led lighting

as some of you know i make a few knives.i try to sell them at the queenstown handmade markets on Saturdays all year .in the winter it can be a bit grey and overcast so im wanting to add some led spotlights to my table to add light and pick up the highlights on the blades and handles.the problem is i dont know shit about this i had thought about getting some torches cutting them up and wiring them to a bike battery ,but i dont know about the load on the lights ,run time and heat etc . it needs to run for about 6 hours 1 day a week . moving a large battery is not a problem i had thought to mount them under my market umbrella shining directly down on the table.i am willing to trade a knife for help with or to some one who can build me a lighting system.it needs to cover a 800 by 2400 mm area.
cheers john

@gadgetman

I'd be tempted to grab a multi-coloured strip light and controller and run it off a 12V car battery. You can basically dial up the colour and light intensity you want on the controller.

yep that means nothing to me i have piss all knowledge about this . i want nice clean white light shining on the knives. i dont know what a light strip is and what a controller looks like the car battery im good . the umbrella is about 4.5 feet above the table

dont forget im out side in daylight i have held my torch above the table and 4 of them would make a difference its a lenser p7 you can just see it shining on the blades

I'll hunt some stuff out for you.

oh god iv been poking around in the torch forum its a strange language some people speak

If you want run it off one of them car jump packs. Easy to charge and easier to join wires to the alligator clamps than a battery terminal. And handy as in general.

You could go for strip light like this. About half way down there is a video.

72W Waterproof LED Strip Light RGB 4500lm SMD 5050 - EU Plug/AC 100~240V (5m) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAJOTzSoa3U

Another option would to use MR16 bulbs (like household halogen downlights) that run at 12V

MR16 - DX

What is the display set up like? What do you have to attach the lights to?

Our Artists this is me in the middle the table is 2400 by 800 i want to hang the lights under the umbrella the umbrella is 3mtrs by 1mtr the sun comes in at a low angle from my left and half the day we are in the shade from the hill
cheers john

Hmmm. I'd either suspend a couple of lengths of aluminium channel with LED strip like above over the table or some MR16 spotlights. The advantage of the strip is you can control the colour and light output (power drain) to your needs and the light is more evenly spread too.

John I feel like going over there for a look.
But it seems silly when you are only half the distance away.
gadget man knows his lights!

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

thank god some one does. is the strip going to provide general overall light. does any one have some to hold over a knife during the day and see if it makes a difference. i can see my torch when its focused as a spot picking up the highlights but not as a flood or as a spot when on half power.how powerful is it on full.do the strips get hot are they going to put my brolly on fire .
the mr16 how big a unit goes on the back of them or is that somewhere else .how much power do they use need 6 hours at least.all shit i dont know. are there any web pages i can look at to get my head around this
cheers john

The MR16's are quite small and have a similar output to your torch. You can get all sorts of colour tints and beam angles. Basically 4x 3W will draw 1A form your 12V battery, so your battery will last a very long time. Here is a photo of some I bought to put in the garage as emergency lighting (can and ruler give you an idea of size).



The strip lights can get warm but only about body temperature normally. I would mount the strip on a length of aluminium so that they can be adjusted and give you a surface to mount on, it would also act as a heat sink to be sure to be sure. Your brolly will be safe.

If you do a search in trademe for halogen under the building & renovation\electrical & lighting the fittings that come up will take the MR16 LED's.

eg Display lighting fixture | Trade Me