LED Lightboard Description
The problem for experimenters using LEDs has been that it's difficult wiring all those little components together and making something that is neat, long-lasting, reliable and attractive. Various prototyping boards have been used, but they are far from ideal for permanent installations. Printed circuit boards would be the best answer, but most experimenters need only a few boards and labor and cost of making just a few boards is excessive. The LED Light board might just be the answer.
The LED Lightboard is an extremely versatile printed circuit board that enables you to connect ultra bright LEDs to make your own high tech LED lighting. Boards measure 2-7/8 inches by 2 inches. Each board can hold up to 40 5mm LEDs. In addition, there are onboard locations for ten 1/2 watt current limiting resistors, and even an optional 1.5A adjustable voltage regulator using the very cool, super efficient, low dropout MIC29152. This voltage regulator chip is has over voltage, over current and reverse polarity protection, making it virtually blowout proof. Boards can be daisy-chained together to create lights with blinding brilliancy. One board with the optional voltage regulator can power three additional boards that hold just LEDs.
The LED Lightboard lets you arrange your LEDs in a variety of configurations up to a 10 x 4 array, that is, 10 groups of four series-wired LEDs . You can power it using either a separate power supply or the onboard regulator.
The beautiful high quality printed circuit board is fully solder masked and has plated-through holes to make soldering neat and easy.
Assembly guidelines are here.
Follow this link to see what a Lightboard user has done to provide all the light in his 33 foot travel trailer using LED Lightboards.
Parts and Kits For Sale (prices include first class postage!)
Shipping in the U.S. is FREE
To order with check or money order, mail to:
Tom WoodsP.O. Box 64Jefferson, NH 03583 U.S.A.
or you can send a Paypal payment to me at (woodsnh@isp.com). If you wish, email me and I will send you a Paypal invoice. Please be assured that your name and email address will remain private and will be protected.
Maximum light output of one 40 led board compares to how many watts
incandescent? At what battery voltage? Running time vs battery size and/or
current draw?
Ray
ray [r.novotny@comcast.net]
My very unscientific comparison is that a 40 LED Lightboard running at 12
volts dc and 250 ma (3 watts) compares to a desk lamp using a (maybe) 40
watt incandescent bulb. The LED light from just one board is not blindingly
bright and it is highly focussed. It does not spread out and illuminate a
wide area unless you use something to diffuse the light. The running time,
if you use batteries for power, depends on many factors including your
total load, battery capacity, and charge capacity. It would be impossible
for me to predict this, but you can count on the Lightboard's consumption
to be close to 3 watts.
So far I am learning that individuals are using Lightboards as under-cabinet lighting in kitchens and in various RV and marine applications. I hope customers will share their applications from time to time. --Tom
wow this is a nice site. Iam a 12 volt soalr setup in west Texas near the
town of Alpine. I have 3 panel and a wind charger and getting ready to
install better lighting. I love those light boards , that will do the job
Well, thanks, Yogie. I hope you will find this site useful and thought
provoking. When you're ready for a lightboard, just holler.
im interested in the led light kit 1-----my idea is to hook this up to a AA
battery holder running rechargeable batteries.
Jeremy, You could run the lightboard directly off your battery holder. The
optional regulator chip would allow you to adjust the brightness, but it's
not necessary. A lightboard with 40 leds would make a very bright spot
suitable for reading, like a book light. --Tom
Hi Tom, can you publish the specs for your 27000mcd and 35000mcd LEDs,
including what viewing angle each is rated at? Thanks.
Hi Chris,
The LEDs are all 20ma forward current, 3.2 volt to 3.4 volt forward
voltage, 20 degree viewing angle. I included these specs with the product
pricing on this web page.
Hi Tom, I had a plan to create my own automotive LED tail lamps, but am
unsure on how to approach this. Would it be possible to use the LEDs on
the circuit board to hook up to a car battery and fit behind the tail lens
cover? Thanks
Kyle,
The lightboards would definitely run on the 12 volt automotive battery. You
would probably want to experiment with making them work as replacements in
tail light assemblies. You would need to find a way to make them fit
securely and check the brightness and visibility at different angles.
Hi Tom,
For those that are interested Seoul Semiconductor has has developed the
Acriche power LED which is driven directly from the mains (AC) and it comes
mounted on a MCPCB see
http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en/product/prd/acriche.asp for more details