portable LED worklight

[markct]

i have found so often this time of year when its dark practicly by the time i get outa work that i end up working on stuff outside in the dark, since most of our equipment doesnt fit in our garage. lighting is always an issue, the makita flashlight works ok but isnt real bright and most of all its hard to aim where ya want it, and the coleman lantern is a bit better but not real good either especialy when working down inside something, they are realy made for playing cards around in a tent i suppose! i wanted a light i could leave on for hours and not take alot of power from a vehicle battery, i usualy have my kawasaki mule or my truck there, or simply power it off the vehicle im workin ons battery. so finaly i decided that one of the led reverse lights that are made to mount in a hole in a truck body would be the perfect light source, bright and only draws a bit more than half an amp, and they can be dropped and hit and wont break. downside is there around 75 bucks, and i needed a way to mount it, well i found that the housing from a rubber tractor utility light would hold the led light perfectly, then i attached a cord with a cigarette lighter plug, and put a magnet from and old speaker on the mounting bracket so you can stick it to anything metal, or its heavy enough to stand on its own. i attached the pic, it works great

 

[DannyD]

Great looking light. Wonder what one of the lights from a junk yard would be, or if they are on Ebay even. Your mounting would work great on a ROPS

 

[markct]

i checked ebay first and found they wernt any cheaper there, the led clear lights for backup lights are not as common since there generaly alot more money, suposedly theres only a few things they can make clear leds outa and there pretty expensive, whereas red are easy and can be made outa alot of differnet type things. this light was a maxxima brand, kinda an off brand of led lights, a grote or trucklite clear reverse light in led is almost 200 bucks, we were gona get some at work but went with regular incadecesnt lights for backups on the truck instead. led ones are pretty new so i doubt ya will have much luck finding them at a junkyard, and alot of trucks dont use them cause of the high cost, most go with led for tail and other lights but not for reverse lights cause there so high priced, a regular red one is only around 40 or 50 bucks, a clear is alot more! i know that the led lights are usualy the first item stripped off a junk truck cause they last almost forever and they are still pretty expensive. one thing about the led lights is they seem to not be as focussed of a light as the regular lights, but they kinda spread the light and the light seems to carry further. great for a worklight since they draw so little power, but probably not realy worthwhile as a tractor light since ya have it running so battery drain isnt a concern

 

[PineRidge]

Light emitting diodes have always fascinated me. We have several LED flashlights but have never used LEDs for any other lighting source. Would think that you have a perfect application since they are not affected by moisture, vibration, they draw low current, and seem to last forever.

 

[markct]

yea leds have always kinda facinated me! my last boss always gave me a hard time when we would be buying lights for a truck and i would be like "your gona get leds right" /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
like ya said for this application they seemed perfect, compact, durable, draw hardly any power,dont get hot so ya wont burn yourself, altho in this weather a little warmth would be nice from the light! flourecents are just not durable or compact enough, even tho they are a little more economical to purchase. my eyes realy lit up when i was in the store the other day and saw led xmas lights!

 

[PineRidge]

<font color="blue"> my eyes really lit up when i was in the store the other day and saw led xmas lights!
</font>

I picked up 4 strings of the LED Christmas lights about 3 seasons ago. They are practically indestructible compared to conventional lights. I was told that they should last years, that is if I don't tangle them up in a unusable mess before that. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif