(/contest/makeitglow/)

How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs... http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-c...

How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs by
tudurache (/member/tudurache/) in leds (/tag/type-id/category-technology/channel-leds/)

(/file/F3LCOSPH8CVLDIV/)

It's been almost a year since I started to "LEDify" my home, with results more or
less encouraging, but only an accident made me find the best solution so far.

Step 1: Motivation

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How often happened that you or someone in your family, by mistake, to

overthrow the desk lamp? If you are like me, this has happened many
times... For this reason, the last time my offspring slammed my desk lamp one
more time, with an innocent "UUPS!", I exclaimed Enough!

Warning! CFL bulbs contains a small quantity of mercury and this is a very
1 of 8toxic substance. Wednesday 30 November 2016 10:57 AM
 (/contest/makeitglow/)
How Iftobymake
accident or intentional,
cheap you have broken
but very powerful an CFL bulb, it is advised
LED bulbs... to
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-c...
How to make
ventilate cheap
the room but
as good as very powerful
possible, in order toLED bulbs
dissipate the toxic
by
tudurache (/member/tudurache/) in leds (/tag/type-id/category-technology/channel-leds/)
vapours.

I decided that I have to replace the CFL bulb from the desk lamp, with
something more shock resistant...

But that could withstand the treatment of a 10 years child and at the same time
to make enough light to work at desk in good condition, to be reliable in
operation and decently priced? If only a few years ago, there was no a solution
to this question, the answer is now clear: a power LED.

Step 2: Materials

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(/file/FMAV91BH8CVLDIX/) (/file/F5N0DH8H8CVLDJ3/)

As I already had some Cree MX6 Q5 LEDs with 3W power and maximum light
output of 278 lumens used in some older projects, I decided to use them for this
project too. The LED will be placed on a 5cm x 5cm heat sink recovered from
the chipset of an old computer motherboard.

For simplicity, I decided to use a switching power supply of a mobile phone,

perhaps together with an electronic adapter that would give me the necessary
voltage and current to power the LED. For this purpose I have chosen the power
supply of a defective mobile phone Siemens A52 having, according to the
manufacturer, an output voltage of 5V and a current of 420mA.

An socket from am old CFL bulb should protect all the electronics.

2 of 8 Wednesday 30 November 2016 10:57 AM

Step 3: EVRIKA moment
 (/contest/makeitglow/)
How According
to make to manufacturer
cheap but very specifications,
powerful LED Cree MX6 Q5 LED can be http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-c...
bulbs... powered at
How to make
maximum currentcheap but
of 1A at a very
voltage powerful
of 4.1V, LEDI'llbulbs
and I expected need a 1byohm
tudurache (/member/tudurache/)
resistor in ledsby
to lower the voltage (/tag/type-id/category-technology/channel-leds/)
about 1V from the 5V (given by the power
supply) to the 4.1V accepted by the LED, and that only if the power supply
would handle the maximum current of 1A.

In order to check the maximum current supported by the power supply I

connected to his terminals various resistors, measuring in each case the voltage
and then calculating the current. Here are the obtained values:

Load Voltage Current

-NA- 5.8V 0A
8.2 ohm 4.9V 0.6A
5.1 ohm 3.1V 0.6A
3.3 ohm 1.75V 0.53A

EVRIKA!

To my surprise, the power supply seemed to have by construction the current

limited to about 0.6A, value he looks like it stand without problems. Testing in
the same way other mobile phones switching power supplies, I found that
absolutely all of them are limited by construction to a current from 20% to 50%
higher than the one specified by the manufacturer, which now I find it makes
perfect sense: any manufacturer will design the power supply so that it will not
overheat even if the powered device would be damaged, even in short circuit ...
and the easiest way to do this is by... current limiting!

I had therefore, a constant current generator limited to 0.6A, very effective (a

power adapter cell phone heats up only slightly during operation), powered
directly from 230V AC, ready-made by the factory, with very small size. And this
is simply GREAT.

Step 4: Construction

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3 of 8 Wednesday 30 November 2016 10:57 AM

 (/contest/makeitglow/)
How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs... http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-c...
How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs by
tudurache (/member/tudurache/) in leds (/tag/type-id/category-technology/channel-leds/)

(/file/FSEQQ79H8CVLDJ2/) (/file/FAFIHP7H8CVLDJ4/)

For the beginning I made "the autopsy" of the power supply in order to extract
the "organs" to be inserted in the body of the new bulb. As most power supplies
are assembled by soldering, extracting consists of cutting with a saw blade... So
pay attention to bruises for those less skilful...

In order to fit inside the body of the lamp, it was necessary to make some
adjustments.

To fix the board inside the bulb, I used sanitary silicone, taking advantage of its
resistance at high temperatures. Before closing the bulb, I attached to the cover
(I used a screw) the heatsink on which is located the power LED.

Step 5: Results: Desk Lamp

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(/file/FRP7NFHH8CVLDJA/) (/file/F6QG066H8CVLDJC/)

And here's the bulb assembled. The power consumption is just under 2.5 W and
the luminous flux is about 190 lumens, perfect for a economical, durable and
4 of 8 Wednesday 30 November 2016 10:57 AM
resistant desk lamp. And all this for up to one hour of work, except of course the
 (/contest/makeitglow/)
How time for drying
to make the silicone
cheap but very andpowerful
heat-conductive adhesive used to fasten
LED bulbs... LED on
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-c...
How
the to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs
heatsink. by
tudurache (/member/tudurache/) in leds (/tag/type-id/category-technology/channel-leds/)
I was so excited about the success and ease of implementation of this project
that after a few hours I had finished another LED bulb.

Step 6: Results: Hallway

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Thrilled with the result, I continued to replace some of the CFL bulbs in my
apartment with LED bulbs constructed in the same way. I will present these in
"fast forward"...

For the entrance hall I used two Cree MX6 Q5 LEDs each having maximum
power of 3W and maximum light output of 278 lumens, each powered by a
power supply from old Samsung mobile phones. Although the current specified
by the manufacturer is 0.7A for each power supply, after measurements I found
that it is limited to the value of 0.75A.

Everything was assembled with velcro tape, adhesive and plastic spacers from
PC motherboards.

Total consumption of the assembly is this time around 6W for a luminous flux of
460 lumens.

Step 7: Results: Bathroom

5 of 8 Wednesday 30 November 2016 10:57 AM
 (/contest/makeitglow/)
How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs... http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-c...
How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs by
tudurache (/member/tudurache/) in leds (/tag/type-id/category-technology/channel-leds/)

(/file/F1NT7HZH8CVLDJH/)

(/file/F6NBGOVH8CVLDJJ/) (/file/FWIQ3DRH8CVLDJL/)

For bathroom I used an Cree XM-L T6 power LED, powered by using two
switching power supplies from LG mobile phones. Each power supply unit can
generate according to the manufacturer, a current of 0.9A, but I found the
current practically limited to the value of 1A. The two power supplies are
connected in parallel for a total current of 2A.

Under these conditions the LED will produce a luminous flux of about 700
lumens for a power consumption of 6W.

Step 8: Results: Kitchen

6 of 8 Wednesday 30 November 2016 10:57 AM

 (/contest/makeitglow/)
How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs... http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-c...
How to make cheap but very powerful LED bulbs by
tudurache (/member/tudurache/) in leds (/tag/type-id/category-technology/channel-leds/)

(/file/F2G2NL1H8CVLDJQ/)

(/file/FLEN3I0H8CVLDJT/) (/file/FGF0D2AH8CVLDJV/)

(/file/FIXIH5JH8CVLDJR/) (/file/FH7Z1D9H8CVLDJS/) (/file/FF68F0GH8CVLDJW/)

Show All Items

If for the hallway and bathroom was not essential to ensure a certain minimum
illumination, for the kitchen is a different story. I do not want that my wife or
someone else to cut a finger while preparing meal and blame me for this, or
worse, blame my precious LED bulb...

To make sure that this will not happen, I decided to use for my kitchen, not one,
but two power LED Cree XM-L T6 each having maximum power of 9W and
maximum luminous flux of 910 lumens, connected in series. For efficient cooling
I used a heatsink recovered from a Pentium 3 Slot 1 CPU, which I attached the
two LEDs using Arctic Alumina thermal adhesive.

Although Cree XM-L T6 LEDs can handle a maximum current of 3A, the
manufacturer recommends for reliability a current of 2 A, for which they produce
a luminous flux of about 700 lumens. After testing several power supplies that
proved not to be current limited or limited to a current well above the necessary
2A, I managed to find a power supply which, according to the manufacturer,
generates 12V at a current of 1.5A. After testing it using power resistors, I found
the current limited to the value of 1.8A, quite close to the planned value of 2A.
Perfect!

To secure the heat sink and the two LEDs I used two plastic spacers from a PC
motherboard and two neodymium magnets recovered from a damaged DVD
drive, all glued with superglue and also a velcro tape.
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 (/contest/makeitglow/)
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tudurache (/member/tudurache/)
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intense, all for a power consumption of about
12W, almost half compared to the old bulb.

Step 9: Conclusion

The coolest part of this project is that you can use commonly available
components, the only expense is for purchasing power LEDs.

In this way, you can get LED bulbs at a cost of half or even quarter compared to
the price of an LED bulb purchased from a store.

I hope that in this way many power supplies from mobile phones will be useful
again instead reaching the trash can.

This project is extracted from a series of articles published on a DIY web site I
own http://www.schematics.ro/ (http://www.schematics.ro/) where you are more
than welcome.

Thanks for reading :)

8 of 8 Wednesday 30 November 2016 10:57 AM