LED Machine Lighting

I put two 10 watt versions on the Tormach a few months back and they seemed to work OK. I ordered 2 more for the lathe and those didnt perform well, wound up ordering new drivers and chips from another source and now after being repaired seem to work OK.

I recently ordered a 50 watt version and its measured wattage was only 15 watts approximately.

I am wondering if others have had similar experiences with the Chinese LED lights, or know of a source to get whats advertised?

I did connect a driver that is known 50 watts, the heatsink on the chip got so hot one could fry eggs on it after about 15 minutes! The light output is good though, but it wont last long running that hot, I guess I could add a muffin fan.

I wonder if any of you guys have had any experiences with these lights?

thanks

Our Chinese mates, tend to use the "Wattage" as "Equivalent to"
ie, a 50 watt incandescent or halogen light, our 10w LED is equivalent to that.
But we all get excited about LEDs.
These, are the sort of lamps that I use,
AC / DC 12V~32V 10W Lamp LED Car Work Light Car Headlight Daytime Running Light for Truck / Tractor / Boat / Motorcycle-in Lights & Indicators from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
and,
18W Bright Motorcycle Practical 6 LED Driving Fog White Headlight Working Light Durable Lamp 12 80V-in Warning Lights from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
I drive them with a 12vdc, power supply, low voltage for safety. ( I use Coolants)
If you need a flexible/extended arm.
Put a piece of #8 fencing wire up a piece of 1/2" air tube. Put a loop, in the wire at each end, and use one loop to attach Lamp, and other to secure to your machine.
The wire, can be bent using both hands to shine the Lamp at the required spot.
The 2 core wire to the lamp also is fed up the airtube. The airtube Insulates the 12vdc wire and the #8 wire, plus gives the whole shebang a nice touch.
When you work out the length of #8/airtube, that you need, DO yourself a favour, and ADD another 8". I have yet to make one, too long.
Here in Australia, we could pay from A$80.00 up to A$150.00 for a half decent "machine work light".
I knock 'em up for about A$15.00, including a 12vdc power supply. ( I actually have 12vdc, wired in around my shed. A solar/battery setup.
An old car battery, about 50AH. Lathe, Miller, work vice, 2 bench grinder, Surface and cylindrical Grinder, Pedestal Drill, some machines have 2 lamps., )
Good LEDs, come from the USA, so I'd reckon, get 'em from home.
Cheers,
Mark Needham

I have several 10W waterproof LED lights on my machines, all bought on E-Bay over the years. They've all worked beautifully - not a single complaint.

Regards,
Ray L.

Dram,
Thanks for the input, I like seeing what others have done. Youre right about the love for led's, I fall into that category ha!
I think on the higher wattage units they have cut down the driver output as they were burning out after a short period of time due to not enough heat sinking etc. The 50 watt light should have been 4700 lumens and it would hustle it to be actually 800 or so!
I am going to use it on the lathe, and it is bright enough I believe for that, I wanted a light bright enough that I could mount it high and not have to fool with it.

At my age I need all the light I can get ha!
I also need something to keep me busy, thats where the led's come in...................

I think your choices are good as well, they are weather proof and low voltage and are a bit smaller in size than what I have.

I have a 9 foot ceiling in the garage so I mounted mine to the ceiling, with 1/2" pvc down to the work area, the the lights are mounted on the end of the pvc.

thanks for the input.......

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SCzEngrgGroup

I have several 10W waterproof LED lights on my machines, all bought on E-Bay over the years. They've all worked beautifully - not a single complaint.

Regards,
Ray L.

---

The first two I bought were fine, the second two were from the same seller and were about a third as bright as the first two.

My luck hasnt been as good as yours.

I bought a couple of these LED worklights from Costco. Output is as bright as the 300W halogen lights that they replaced but without the heat and only uses 24W Snap On Work Light LED - - Amazon.com

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Don Clement

I bought a couple of these LED worklights from Costco. Output is as bright as the 300W halogen lights that they replaced but without the heat and only uses 24W Snap On Work Light LED - - Amazon.com

---

I replaced the 4 foot fluorescent fixtures with LED's from Costco and it's like daylight in my garage/shop and there are no shadows. There are also 5 lights in the Tormach enclosure and I put the equivalent of 65 watt incandescent bulbs in those and THAT really lights things up.

I have always said, when working in your shop, you just can't have TOO MUCH LIGHT.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Steve Seebold

I have always said, when working in your shop, you just can't have TOO MUCH LIGHT.

---

I agree.

AHHHH> I see the light.
I am using my lights as a machine lamp, close to the bit I'm working on. Not, as general room lights.
Have twin 40watt daylight fluros for general lighting. ( I bought 2 cartons of lamps just before they stopped making them)
But you are right, some of the more powerfull LEDs could be used.
Cheers,
Mark Needham

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dram

AHHHH> I see the light.
I am using my lights as a machine lamp, close to the bit I'm working on. Not, as general room lights.
Have twin 40watt daylight fluros for general lighting. ( I bought 2 cartons of lamps just before they stopped making them)
But you are right, some of the more powerfull LEDs could be used.
Cheers,
Mark Needham

---

I have 4 - 8 foot florescent fixtures in the shop, The tubes were getting expensive so I converted them over to screw in florescent curly 60 watt bulbs, total of 16 bulbs, they work very well. I am slowly converting those to led screw in bulbs, too much free time on my hands ha!

I mounted that 50 watt led over the lathe, it seems to produce plenty of light even though the input is less than 20 watts.

Maybe next week I will get around to some meaningful work ha!

It is interesting to hear what others are doing with their lighting situations.........

edit: In the mid to late 70's I used led's for indicator lights on power supplies, I was infatuated with them then too. even though I had to light a match to see if they were lit ha!

There are several LED work lamp reviews on YouTube and from the couple I watched it appears that some suppliers scrimp on the power converter so you end up getting cheated into fewer supplied watts than what is specified.

Buying Chinese imports from no-name suppliers is probably a crap shoot but you will pay a lot more for name brand lamps.

Mike

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MichaelHenry

There are several LED work lamp reviews on YouTube and from the couple I watched it appears that some suppliers scrimp on the power converter so you end up getting cheated into fewer supplied watts than what is specified.

Buying Chinese imports from no-name suppliers is probably a crap shoot but you will pay a lot more for name brand lamps.

Mike

---

Right Mike, its a crap shoot, I liked them because they were low voltage and in a mostly waterproof case, and I liked the "look" for a machine light etc. The ones that work as advertised work well, the trick is to find a seller that sells lights that work as advertised.

The ones I bought lacked a ground wire, but that is easily added. Makes one suspect the rest of the design, though.

Mike

I recently inherited from my unclean old and shabby but very distinctive muscle car. I was just thrilled. I didn't expect him to leave it to me. When I showed it to my car mechanic friend, he told me to bring it to the garage, and we'll fix it up. So I did. After a few weeks, it was almost done. It was great, but it was missing something, and at that point, I thought about lighting it up with LED lights. I searched half of the Internet before I came across https://www.amazon.com/car-lights-ca.../dp/B09L86JRRM. Only here could I find a more or less satisfactory to me. With this little detail, the car looks amazing. I am absolutely delighted.