[the_constructor[_2_]]

Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.

I wish to put some lighting in, so the best thing to me would be LEDs as
this will be able to run on low power consumption from a 12V car battery.

I am wondering about light fittings and also the type of cable I should use.

I am a novice when it comes to LEDs so would like to get views from others
more well informed than me.

How many lamps should I use, lamp fittings, cable etc etc etc.

I will be using the garage to do repairs to my own vehicles and other small
repair jobs but need good light.

Jim G

[David WE Roberts[_4_]]

"the_constructor" wrote in message
...

Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.

I wish to put some lighting in, so the best thing to me would be LEDs as
this will be able to run on low power consumption from a 12V car battery.

I am wondering about light fittings and also the type of cable I should
use.

I am a novice when it comes to LEDs so would like to get views from others
more well informed than me.

How many lamps should I use, lamp fittings, cable etc etc etc.

I will be using the garage to do repairs to my own vehicles and other
small repair jobs but need good light.


Best place to look for 12V LED fittings is a camping/caravan supplier.

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

[Harry Bloomfield[_3_]]

the_constructor formulated the question :
How many lamps should I use, lamp fittings, cable etc etc etc.

I will be using the garage to do repairs to my own vehicles and other small
repair jobs but need good light.

You are not going to get good light from a 12v battery, at least not
for long. Probably best would be a few 12v florescents as used in
caravans, for general lighting, with a 12v LED light for more local use
in the area you are working on.

Best not to expect the car's own battery to supply the current - use a
leisure type battery which is designed to be regularly discharged. You
would need to take that in the house to charge it, unless you could
arrange a solar or wind charger.

In the dim and distant past and in similar circumstances, I used a
couple of paraffin pressure lamps to provide light (and some heat), but
not a good idea when messing near petrol.



--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

[Newshound]

On 26/11/2012 08:45, the_constructor wrote:
Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.

I wish to put some lighting in, so the best thing to me would be LEDs as
this will be able to run on low power consumption from a 12V car battery.

I am wondering about light fittings and also the type of cable I should use.

I am a novice when it comes to LEDs so would like to get views from others
more well informed than me.

How many lamps should I use, lamp fittings, cable etc etc etc.

I will be using the garage to do repairs to my own vehicles and other small
repair jobs but need good light.

Jim G


Following advice here, I would strongly recommend using normal mains
fittings with 12 volt CFL bulbs, also available from caravan suppliers.
I have these in a stables, run off a standard leisure battery. I use
batten fittings inside and various exterior weatherproof lights outside.
I use a normal switched spreader with a 5 amp thermal trip from CPC
between the battery and the spreader, then 13 A plugs and 0.75 mm
"lighting" flex. You might chose to rely on the plug fuses.

The 12 volt CFL gives very similar light levels to the equivalent mains one.

The other type of mobile light which I have found very effective is one
of these:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...k+light+clarke

because it provides a directional but wide, diffuse beam. It used mains
bulbs but when the inverter dies (which it will) you can wire the socket
direct to the battery and use another 12V CFL.

[Newshound]

On 26/11/2012 14:22, The Other Mike wrote:
On Mon, 26 Nov 2012 08:45:48 -0000, "the_constructor"


If you can leave the doors open, have a work area near the doors and work during
daylight then a battery powered inspection lamp might be sufficient.

But for general lighting IMHO it is a waste of time ****ing about with LED's
(Point source meaning lots of shadows, and the need to spend a fortune to get
decent light levels, plus poor colour rendition and lots of waste heat)

AGREED


A number of years ago I went through a similar exercise, not for a garage but
for offgrid lighting in a *very* remote location with near zero possibility of
natural daylight. Linear fluorescents were the right choice then and almost
certainly still are. Compact fluorescents are universally hopeless in all
circumstances so don't be tempted to use them, you'd get more light be rubbing a
couple of glowworms together.

Depends on what you need. I find a single 8w cfl is plenty for mucking
out a 12 ft x 12 ft stable, and that's under a black onduline roof with
no reflector. Not ideal for reading fine print. For close up work under
a bonnet or inside a car you will need some sort of lead light or torch.


So convert conventional fluorescent lamps (strip lights) to 12v DC operation,
run off a battery suitable for deep discharge, charge up at home or bang a solar
panel on the roof and fit a charge controller.

Don't even think about buying a caravan / boat 12v fluorescent for general
lighting because they will be overpriced flimsy Chinese ****e.

AGREED

[Bill Wright[_2_]]

wrote:
On Monday, November 26, 2012 8:44:51 AM UTC, the_constructor wrote:

Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.
I wish to put some lighting in, so the best thing to me would be LEDs as
this will be able to run on low power consumption from a 12V car battery.

What about power tools, etc?

Bill

[David WE Roberts[_4_]]

"the_constructor" wrote in message
...

Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.

I wish to put some lighting in, so the best thing to me would be LEDs as
this will be able to run on low power consumption from a 12V car battery.

I am wondering about light fittings and also the type of cable I should
use.

I am a novice when it comes to LEDs so would like to get views from others
more well informed than me.

How many lamps should I use, lamp fittings, cable etc etc etc.

I will be using the garage to do repairs to my own vehicles and other
small repair jobs but need good light.


The Lidl and Aldi LED 'wand' lights are reasonably priced, provide a good
light, and can be charged from 12V or 240V sources.
However they won't provide as much light as a couple of large mains
flourecent tubes.
See other comments on converting mains tubes to 12V operation.

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

[Adam Aglionby]

On Nov 26, 8:44*am, "the_constructor"
wrote:
Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.

I wish to put some lighting in, so the best thing to me would be LEDs as
this will be able to run on low power consumption from a 12V car battery.

I am wondering about light fittings and also the type of cable I should use.

I am a novice when it comes to LEDs so would like to get views from others
more well informed than me.

How many lamps should I use, lamp fittings, cable etc etc etc.

I will be using the garage to do repairs to my own vehicles and other small
repair jobs but need good light.

Jim G

5m roll of 5050 LED tape, resin coated for water resistance, 60 LEDs/
m, cut to lengths.

Power consumption typically 14-16W/m , leisure batteries longer lived
than car batteries.

Cheers
Adam

[[email protected]]

On Monday, November 26, 2012 6:48:11 PM UTC, David WE Roberts wrote:
"the_constructor" wrote in message
...

Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.

I am wondering about light fittings and also the type of cable I should
use.

The Lidl and Aldi LED 'wand' lights are reasonably priced, provide a good
light, and can be charged from 12V or 240V sources.
However they won't provide as much light as a couple of large mains
flourecent tubes.
See other comments on converting mains tubes to 12V operation.

A single larger fluorescent has better efficacy than 2 or more smaller ones. So perhaps a single fl light plus an LED inspection light.

The inspection light should be ok on speaker flex. Pick a medium weight one for a workable degree of robustness.

A 4' fluorescent would use around 4A, 1mm^2 T&E or 1mm^2 mains flex would give 44mV per metre voltage drop, so don't put it too far from the battery. 5m is fine, much more starts wasting battery power


NT

[Andy Dingley]

On Monday, November 26, 2012 8:44:51 AM UTC, the_constructor wrote:
Just started to rent a garage that has no services in.

eBay, chinese suppliers direct. I've recently been building market stall display lights, based on outdoor rated 5W (9 LEDs in a square array) floodlights that are a _very_ solid turned aluminium case about 2" across and run directly from 12V. Cost under a tenner each. A couple of gel lead acids (one spare) run them for a whole day.

Cabling is cheap speaker cable - 30-something strand. I'm using 2 pin DIN connectors, as I also have some Ikea desklamps wired into the same system.