This contest is a search for the most unique 12v light

[mikeschn]

Here's are the details of Rob48's contest...

Mike...


Hi All,

Hope the Holiday season treated you all well!

Anyone up for a contest?

This one is a search for the most unique and or innovative 12 Volt lighting solutions for your tear.

Things we’ll be looking at include;

Type of fixture (homemade, or store bought)
The type of lighting (area-spot-accent, etc).
The most energy efficient.


Each contestant can enter up to three lights, BUT the lights must be in or for their tear.
Galley, cabin, and exterior lighting (running lights not included)
Please submit a photo(s) with a description of the light.
How many Watts, the purpose, design intent (if homemade) and what it cost.

The contest will run for 30 days, giving everyone plenty of time to find or design a really cool light!

There will be a first, second, and third place, with the prizes awarded as is shown in the prize photo.

Good luck!!

Photos and details must be posted in this thread to be eligible. Contest ends midnight Jan-31-2006.

I will be the final judge, but I may enlist help from the admins.

Rob48

[Leon]

Here's mine.....
I needed an exterior light that fit the woody so I made my own. I milled a peice of oak to fit the spare lense from an old porch light. I filled it with 20 high intensity LEDs wired so they pull about 80 milliamps, which works out to be about one watt of power. The LEDs are aimed in a fan pattern to give a wide area of light at the campsite. I had to buy a few resistors and the bare circuit board, the rest of the parts I had in a junk drawer, so the cost was only a couple dollars.



I used some high intensity LEDs rated at about 2 volts at 20 milliamps, and I wired 4 strings of 5 in each string. 5 leds at 2 volts each was 10 volts. I assumed a 12.5 volt supply so that left 2.5 volts divided by .020 amps gave a resistor value of 125 ohms. I found 240 ohm resistors at Radio Shack so 2 of them in parallel equals 120 ohms per string. Since I had 4 strings I needed 8 resistors. when it was done I hooked it up to a meter and found the entire light uses just over .080 amp.

[wa_flyfisher]

I might as well throw this into the mix. Found this light fixture while looking for lights for my father-in-laws 1967 Chris Craft we are restoring.\

http://www.cetsolar.com/ccf.htm

Very thin which makes it versitle.

[madjack]

Wa, really nice lights but OWWWWWWWW ................

[sHoootR]

Gonna use these for my porch light. Very bright for size. Will make oak mounting for it....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-NEW-UL ... 4602144226

[mikeschn]

Here's some food for thought... given the high prices of some light fixtures I've seen...


this one is pretty affordable...

You buy a regular closet light...


You pull out the bulbs and get some 12v bulbs...


Hardwire it into your circuit, and voila... 1 affordable light fixture...


Mike...

[48Rob]

Mike,

Good thought!

If a person is only going to run lights from the 12 Volt battery setup, it is WAY cheaper to just buy inexpensive lights that run on disposable batteries.

For the cost of deep cycle batteries, chargers, wiring, and other "must haves" a person could afford to buy disposables for a lot of years!

However, using some of the cool inventions out there, or creating your own is a lot more fun!

Rob

[Darren]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread, just thought some of you might like this idea for 12v lighting.

I made this for my Blazer and it's the cover for my amps. It's etched lexan with thin tube neons taped to the edge. The light reflects off of the etchings and IMO looks pretty cool.



Here's a closer view of the center logo for you Pink Floyd fans.


I'll have something like this in my tear, If I ever get started.

[s4son]

Victor,
Those are way cool. How did you do the etching?

Scott F.

[Darren]

Thanks Scott. I have a vinyl cutter, the kind you make decals with, that I use to make the mask. Then I stick the vinyl on the lexan and sandblast the exposed areas. The etching is on the back side of the lexan but everyone has to run their fingers over it anyway.

[doug hodder]

Victor...have you ever just used the 3M dusted crystal vinyl...perfect for that use...no need to blast...also available in what appears to be a rougher surface...but the dusted crystal has the same appearance of an acid etch...I used a lot of that on interior signs 2nd surface for interior sign packages....just a thought...just burnish it down really well....no dust can be allowed....not exactly the same thing...but close enough for most people...looks good what you have done though!!! Doug

[Chris C]

I could be wrong, Doug, but the surface of the material the light is shining up through has to be etched for it to "stop" the light rays at that point and show up as a brighter image. I don't think something applied to the surface would work at all. What do you think, Victor?

[Darren]

Doug, I use some avery etched glass vinyl on projects that have no lighting and on car windows.

Chris hit it on the head. The light travels through the edge of the lexan and when it hits the etched area it gets reflected outwards.

I've seen people do pretty much the same thing using some kind of tape for a mask and then hand sanding the exposed areas, works on plastics but not so good on glass.

[MeelisV]

maybe its not unique but im useing it

[asianflava]

My lighting is not very unique, just utilitarian. Two 8 LED light fixtures with an integrated switch. They have low current draw and I didn't have to run any extra wires for the switch. They aren't as bright as I would have liked but they are fine for general illumination. For reading, I have a gooseneck lamp that plugs into the 12V power port.

There is one near each door so you can reach in and and turn it on in the dark.