LED project - was custom mill light

I did not want to hijack the other thread, I need help and suggestions on an LED project for lights for use on industrial sewing machines. I have around 50 machines in operation and the vibration seems to shorten the life span on the incandescent bulb. I am open to taking something off the shelf and butchering it, or starting from scratch.

All of the sewing machines have either high or low voltage outlets, so I would need a source for different types of transformers.

Some attributes that would be great:

Magnetic attachments or a base that could bee screwed down to the wood table
Goose neck like here:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96766

Industrial quality, some of my guys are tough on machines

Can be made on manual machines without too much stress. I can tool up for this if needed

The tables are two feet by four feet and all of the machines are made from cast iron. I can drill and tap to mount if needed.

Thank you in advance for any help or direction to other sites with ideas or supplies.

jason

Jason,

Interesting idea. I would just get some 'grill lights' like these at Lowes and assuming they are 4.5 volt (3 X 1.5V AAA batteries in series) hen I would get get a bunch of wall-warts here at All Electronics. All Electronics is about as cheap as it gets. So each lamp will cost you around $15 plus some labor putting them together and installing them. Depending on what you are paying for bulbs and how often they need to be replaced you could break even in a year.

I would order a few different styles and install them on the machines with your roughest users. See what works best.

-DU-

A straight loop flouresent like the OTT light would be ideal, Ott lights are not cheap but I am sure there are simular bulbs and fixtures available. When I was in the sewing business we used heavy duty filiment bulbs so they held up better.On the Puritans we used 220v bulbs at 110 volts. These sewing machines were like diesels and chugged away all day long and could sew through wood, plastic and aluminum.

You may want to do som,e machining etc but maybe this Chinese supplier will have some parts you could use. (not H-F)
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.1004

Thanks guys, all good ideas. I had forgotten about all electronics, they are in my neighborhood, I will stop by there. I will come back with photos of the frankenlight.

Thanks

Jason

J Henricksen said:

You may want to do som,e machining etc but maybe this Chinese supplier will have some parts you could use. (not H-F)
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.1004

Click to expand...

At this site:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11941
40 watts white illumination with 3 watts power usage; 110VAC with conventional screw-in base.
$7.45

There's a 2 AAA(?) battery powered mag mount one on the main page.

Rockler sells this light, which can also be used as a magnifying light.. I have one and it is great.. A bit pricey though http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21263&filter=led light

These are on ebay 12 v -115 volt ......................

http://stores.ebay.com/ledwholesalers

So I went with All exlectronics and got the Cree Xlamp 7090WHT

This is my first time with LED work, I purchased a switching power supply wall wart and a 1.5 Ohm 1/2 watt resistor as indicated by an online LED calculator. I have choices of 3 volt or 4.5. Am I correct to assume that 4.5 would overdrive the led? The all elec web site indicates that the Maximum foward voltage is 4Vdc at 700mA

I did try both voltages for a quick second and they work, and both are super bright for my needs.

Thanks

jason