Super easy - Super cheap structure lighting

[bparrish]

I'm on another building gig.

My wife is all over me, and has been for years to get lights into structures. I have street lights, and many structures are already lighted.

But I found a really easy way to light structures and keep the costs down.  For the quantity I need incandescent bulbs start to add up.  It's really not about the cost because I am not going to the poor house any time soon.

I talked to the lighting guru at the Columbia Gorge Railroad last June at the Northwest regional meet.  He put me on to mini LED strings that are readily available and super cheap.

So I will first identify the products used.

The light strings are available in the garden section of many large chain stores.  In the north west we have a place called Fred Meyer........ It is owned by Kroger for you boys in the east.   There are 60 soft white LEDs on each string for about 9 bux a string.   They run on a little battery pack provided but I wasted no time to snip that thing off.

They operate on 3 volts so I had an idea for such a voltage source.  I purchased a batch of voltage regulators from All Electronics long ago that have been sitting on the shelf for just this occasion.  Although the ones I am using and shown here are not on the page............  Here is a link for a suitable replacement. 

https://www.allelectronics.com/item/dcc-3/special-purchase-price-reduced-step-down-regulator/1.html


It takes 4 -40 volts input and the output is 1.21 - 37 volts at 1.2 amps continuous. Price 7.50.

https://www.allelectronics.com/item/dcc-3/special-purchase-price-reduced-step-down-regulator/1.html


Next is the data on the light strings.   They are strings of 60 LEDs that can be cut down to one or a few more depending on how many lights you want in a given structure.  It comes with a battery pack that I will not use for this discussion.  They come either with green lacquer insulation or a semi clear.  I chose the green as I can see where I have been and what has been cleared off for soldering.

Here is all of the labeling.
https://www.fredmeyer.com/p/hd-designs-outdoors-20-foot-led-light-string-with-timer/0004122691183




More in a while

[bparrish]

Next is the wire for this project.
I have researched 28 ga. wire and found only one inexpensive source.   Again ..... drum roll please....

All electronics.

They offer a ten conductor wide ribbon cable at 28ga. for  $.25 cents a foot.  That equates to 100 feet.  Ten feet of the ribbon will last a long time.  They have reduced prices for longer length choices.  I simple split out the wire pairs I want and color code them with felt markers.  It is WAY too easy.

Shown below has already had some conductors pulled out.

https://www.allelectronics.com/item/rcbl-10/10-conductor-flat-ribbon-cable/1.html



More tomorrow.

see ya
Bob

[vinceg]

Thanks, Bob. I second the idea of using ribbon cable for low-current wiring. I use it a lot for control panel LEDs and other similar needs. As you said, you can peel it apart in groups that match the application. Very handy. I also find All Electronics to be a good source for things from time to time.

What are you using to feed the regulator inputs?

[bparrish]

Vince....

Ya beat me to it..

I use power supply wall warts.  Wall wart is a name given by a friend who observed that they make the wall outlets around your house look like they have warts.

The one I am using is a fair size block that runs at 12 volts and cranks out 4.5 amps.  It also has a green LED pilot light that indicates a short by flashing.  I tied it to a separate bus pair that is made from inexpensive monster cord from a big box.  Monster cord was a name given some years ago in the sound world for powering your boomer speakers in your home and car.

That bus runs all the way around my room so I can tap into it most anywhere.

In downtown Idaho we have a electronic reclamation place called the " re-use-eum".  I would suppose that most areas have something of the like.   I get stuff from there at very reasonable prices.  I cut off what ever trick plug in end for a computer or whatever it was in its original life time. 



I map the wires with a digital volt - ohm meter for + and -- .


Then it goes to the bus.  I have a multi plug power strip that all of the railroad is plugged into so that one switch turns on everything.

Next is how to lash up the light wires.

Thanx for looking in.

see ya
Bpb

[bparrish]

OK....

Now some about assembling the lines.

I leave the ribbon wire pairs in the long line and feet them through the bench work and cut to fit underneath at the voltage regulator.

Shown below are two regulators that are only hanging for now for easy access.  When I have all of the feeds to them, I will mount them to the under side of the bench work.   No one is allow to look at any other wires showing in the photos.   I use the spider web method of wiring as needed.  Stuff works and I am not going back and organizing.  I resist fixing stuff that isn't broke ! ! !




Here is a photo of the LED assembly on the bench.  I use an X-acto blade to clean off the lacquer insulation.




Then I solder the LED wires to the ribbon cable.   The junctions are covered with shrink tube.



Then finally the wire is pushed through the bench and pulled down to the junctions.



This photo shows the routing of the LED wire so as to put a light in each of two rooms.

I will put up next some ways of fixing the wire to the structure to get indirect opportunities.
More in a short while.

see ya
Bob

[bparrish]

What I forgot to say previously is that these regulators have a variable resistor that allows the out put voltage to be set for the desired brilliance.

The adjuster can be seen as a small brass screw on the blue resistor.



I set the output voltage at 2.6 volts.  These light strings start to forward bias and come on at about 2.4 volts.   The resistor can be adjusted while things are running to get what you like.

Unlike only using a fixed resistor in series with the LEDs, these regulators can be tested for output without having a load on the output side.    This is a tough concept to teach when I was teaching basic electronics.  If you put a resistor in a circuit and have no load (a bulb or the like), a volt meter will show you source voltage.   A resistor only resists when electrons are moving through it.  A volt meter is not a load.

So again, the voltage can be adjusted to the 2.6 before anything is hooked to the regulator.   


I have observed that as I add more LED segments, the lights dim a bit with the increased load on the regulator.  As you go the variable resistor can be adjusted for what looks best.

More later
see ya
Bob

[GPdemayo]

Very interesting Bob.....thanks. 

[bparrish]

Getting down to it now............

So here are two photos of lights in a building.
And one last thing.   After handling these light strings, the lacquer seems to be a bit fragile.  Be sure when mounting them on the ceiling of a building that you can see the wires in parallel and not touching or crossing each other.




That's it boys........ Let me know how you come out.

see ya
Bob