After fooling with flashlights to see the tip of my router bit, I decided to install an LED ring light on the air deflector. I bought item AE80-NW48-BK, which is an 80 mm diameter bright white LED array that runs at 12 volts. They make these as “angel lights” for dressing up car headlights. It cost $11.95 plus shipping.

To power it, I set up a 12 volt DC power supply I had hanging around (the light draws 180 mA, so even a wall-wart should be fine) and ran the wires all the way to the router head. I installed a connector, so if I decide to remove the air diverter it just unclips.

In the photos, you can see an overview of the light it puts out (it is quite bright), a close-up of the light shining, and a close-up of the ring light from the side, where you can see it as a black ring. Note that you can also see the black DC connector and the beige DC plug I used ar the right rear of the defelctor– it’s what I had lying around.

This upgrade really makes it easier to see what the cutter is up to, and eases zeroing up the axes and bit changes too. Have fun!