DIY: LED Arch - Page 7

**John Bowden** · #61 09-24-2016, 08:52 PM

OK......... the other slow boat from China made it in and I made up another arch with the more powerful 5630 LED without weatherproofing.............

I only have one thing to say....... DO NOT look directly at the light!!!

There is a VERY noticeable difference and I DO NOT have to use any other illumination for my work desk!!!

These 5M strip of 5630 LED cost me $6.36 usd including shipping and I made an arch with 2 rows with less than 12" not used.

I'll probably put the first arch over my wife's sewing machine because she is always complaining she can not get enough light........the first LED strip will be perfect for her!

**Wad Cutter** · #62 11-04-2016, 10:10 AM

I was wondering of anyone has made a step by step tutorial of the construction of the Arch Light? I have waiting to pose this question as to give those people or person time to create this tutorial. I'm going to need all the help on this project I can get. I thought I read once someone was going to do this for noobs kile myself. Thank you very much guys. wc

**John Bowden** · #63 11-20-2016, 09:41 AM

someone has done an Instructable on this.........

DIY: LED Workbench Light From LED Strips - All

I also attached the PDF of it..........

**SCEtoAUX** · #64 11-20-2016, 11:01 AM

If you do not want to try to bend the LED strip to make the turns or you do not want to try to cut then solder them to make the bends you can use this type of connectors found on Amazon or other places:

Flexible Strip to Strip Connector

I have used them and they work. You need to make sure you match the + and - on the LED strips and on the connectors. The + and - is easy to see on the LED strips; on the connector they are raised and the same color as the plastic housing so you need to check close to keep the symbols in the correct orientation between the connectors and the LED strips.

**missileer** · #65 11-20-2016, 02:34 PM

John,

I was looking at your set up again, and I noticed in Pic 03 a shadow box of fishing lures on the wall. It looked like there might be a Nip-a-Didi and a Bass-o-reno in the bunch. Caught a lot of fish on those two lures.

John

**Wad Cutter** · #66 11-20-2016, 04:07 PM

Thank you very much on the lights. I was just thinking about this just the other day. That was sweet. I'll let you know when it's done. Thanks. wc

**John Bowden** · #67 11-20-2016, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by missileer

John,

I was looking at your set up again, and I noticed in Pic 03 a shadow box of fishing lures on the wall. It looked like there might be a Nip-a-Didi and a Bass-o-reno in the bunch. Caught a lot of fish on those two lures.

John

Yeah me too........ those are permanently retired. I actually like a Spin-a-Didi better because it was smaller. The other were Bombers Lures, Mudbugs, Spooks , Lucky 13s and a couple of Waterdogs

**John Bowden** · #68 11-20-2016, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wad Cutter

Thank you very much on the lights. I was just thinking about this just the other day. That was sweet. I'll let you know when it's done. Thanks. wc

You are welcome............ this guy beat me to it. I was starting to write down the instructions when this popped up on Instructables and was so much better.

It really is pretty easy to build.

**Jim Nunn** · #69 11-22-2016, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wad Cutter

John, was it your advice to go over to 24v or stay with 12v? What I can use is max bright and adjustable with a dimmer. Sorry about that. Honest, I don't drink. wc

LEDs are current driven they operate within a few milliamps too low and they don't light up too high and they operate as a fuse. On higher voltages you will have to put resisters in series with the LED's to limit the current. The short answer is don't you dare use 24 VDC on 12 VDC LED's. the unasked question is how do the dimmers work they use Pulse width modulation (PWM) to control how long the LED's are lighting up.

Jim Nunn

**jleslie48** · #70 12-03-2016, 04:55 PM

Here's my version of this great project. I used a left over 12v power supply from some old laptop, some pipe insulation styrofoam tube I had left over in the garage, a piece of dowel, a paintstick, and about 6ft of the 5050 warm white led strip. Oh, I put a click on/click off button on the black wire of the 12v power supply to turn it on and off. the whole thing cost me about $2 (1/3 of the $7 16ft led strip) and took about 20 minutes to solder, screw, and tape.