Homemade LED spotlight with your own hands. Repair of LED floodlights

With the development of technology, lighting devices are advancing in leaps and bounds. The development of old technologies and the emergence of new ones force us to constantly adapt and modernize our lighting equipment. Now the time has come to put aside the outdated halogen spotlights, which have already become ineffective in comparison with newer LED devices.

Design features

Spotlights based on LEDs have much greater energy savings, can operate for more than ninety thousand hours, and require absolutely no maintenance. They are able to function in any weather conditions, and the quality of the emitted light has become much better.

LED spotlight device

The design of such devices is incredibly simple, which makes it easy to make an LED spotlight with your own hands at home.

The simplicity of the design allows you to avoid any serious damage, and those that may occur can be easily and quickly repaired.

The LED spotlight consists of a housing, a bracket for fixing, an LED matrix and a driver that regulates the operation and supply of electricity. The matrix consists of static diodes, which are fixed to the board and protected by special polymers from external influences.

Required parts for assembly

If you decide to make a spotlight with your own hands, then you probably have a question about what parts you need to prepare in order to make yourself a high-quality device for use.

We have prepared for you a small list of necessary parts that you need to collect in your garage or buy those that are missing:

• Of course, we need the LED matrix itself with installed driver. You can buy it at a specialized electronics store or take it off an old flashlight. If you use LEDs from a flashlight, then make sure that their power will be enough for you.
• You can select the required housing from any materials. You can make it from plywood or metal, or take one from an old halogen flashlight. If this is not possible, you can buy a housing for the flashlight, it is very cheap. You should select it based on your preferences and how it will be used. If for decoration, then you should make a beautiful and harmonious design of the body. For simple household use, it is enough to use any nondescript floodlight body.
• Connecting wires.
• Material for creating a reflector. Thick food foil is perfect for such purposes. It can be bought at any supermarket.
• Sealant and glue.
• If you want to make a powerful spotlight, 100 watts or more, then you also need to add a radiator with a cooler for cooling.

Assembling a homemade spotlight

To make yourself a high-quality LED spotlight, you need to approach the assembly process as seriously as possible. By collecting all the necessary parts in advance, you have only done a small part of the work.

Let's take a closer look at the steps to assemble a 220-volt LED floodlight.

1. If you are using an old case, you must remove all foreign parts from it. You should end up with a completely empty case without extra cartridges, internal fasteners, etc. If you are installing a radiator and cooler, then you need to make holes in the side walls to create ventilation.
2. The next step will be to assemble 220 volt LEDs into a single structure, and secure the entire mechanism to a single base. Connect wires of the required length to the contacts so that you can easily bring them to the outside of the case.
3. We install the resulting structure in the body and secure it with glue. Thus, you can make a high-quality fastening without damaging the case and significantly saving time.
4. We take the wires out into the corresponding hole and secure them in the hole using silicone sealant. The sealant is necessary to make a sealed structure, to prevent moisture from entering and the possibility of damaging the mechanism.

If you want to make a powerful 220-volt LED spotlight, then you also need to add a radiator. We install it together with the entire LED board. You can also secure it with glue or wrap it with wire.

Connecting the lamp to the network

To connect our spotlight to a 220 volt network, it is necessary to make preliminary preparations. Think in advance about the place where the spotlight will be installed and place the electricity transmission wires there.

Don’t skimp and make them with a reserve; perhaps you want to move or adjust the installation height of the device a little over time.

You will need a power supply that will stabilize the voltage and supply not 220 volts, but 12 or 24, depending on the LEDs you use.

When connecting the power supply wires and the contacts coming out of the device, do not reverse the polarity. LEDs will not work if connected incorrectly. In the worst case, they may fail altogether, and all the work will be done in vain. Carefully insulate the connection point and preferably cover the entire wire with a special corrugation or plastic cover. It is best when it is possible to hide the connection point in the device body.

If you are installing a spotlight on the street, take care about the quality of its fastening. It is necessary to secure the device as efficiently and firmly as possible so that the mounting location can withstand gusts of wind, changing weather conditions, accumulated snow, and others.

Until LED products fully enter our lives and production is fully on track, the price of LED lighting equipment will continue to bite. But why wait or, even worse, overpay, if you can assemble a spotlight of the required power with your own hands according to our instructions.

Electrical features of working with LEDs

If you intend to use LED technology, it would not hurt you to learn about some of the intricacies of working with it, which can partly be called disadvantages. On the one hand, LEDs are compact, economical and durable light sources, but on the other?

Solid-state semiconductor elements are critically sensitive to high temperatures in the core. A phenomenon called degradation is the loss of dopants from a semiconductor, resulting in a decrease in luminous flux or eventual failure.

a) design of a conventional LED: 1 - anode; 2 - cathode; 3 - conductor; 4 - crystal; 5 - plastic lens
b) design powerful LED: 1 - body; 2 - conductor; 3 - heat sink; 4 - crystal; 5 - lens; 6 - cathode

At temperatures above 60 °C, the LED degrades very quickly and the 50 thousand hours declared by the manufacturer ultimately turns into 3-5 thousand. And the more powerful a single LED, the higher the likelihood of it quickly aging due to overheating. Therefore, when developing lighting devices, the main focus is on a high-quality heat removal system, as well as dividing the emitter into several points and their correct arrangement.

Another feature of LEDs is that they can only pass a limited number of electrons per unit time. The network supplying the LED must be current stabilized, otherwise severe overheating and associated negative consequences will occur. The current in the power circuit is regulated by the applied voltage and is limited by a resistor on each of the LEDs. When developing a connection circuit, you need careful calculation: set the voltage too high and the LEDs will quickly fail, but set it too low and they will only light at half power.

The simplest spotlights have only one light-emitting element, but in high-power devices it is recommended to distribute the load for more efficient heat removal. In such cases, the connection can be serial, parallel or mixed. The first is not entirely safe: if one of the LEDs burns out, it can either break the circuit or bypass it. With a parallel (and especially mixed) connection, there is a high risk that after one consumer is disconnected from the circuit, the current in the supply network will increase to unacceptable values.

Point sources and matrices: selection, procurement

There are three types of LEDs that are wise to use in making floodlights. Please note that when assembling a lighting device from several LEDs, they must be identical both in type and in current-voltage characteristics. It is also recommended to purchase up to a dozen spare diodes as a repair kit and in case of damage during installation.

LEDs in the form of a plastic capsule with pin terminals are suitable for the manufacture of small spotlights and flashlights. This is the cheapest type of product, and the final product will ultimately be relatively easy to repair.

The second type is ultra-bright white LEDs on a metal substrate. They should be used in high-power lighting devices; it is quite easy to remove heat from them.

Another type of LED is high-power LED matrices. It is not recommended to independently manufacture spotlights with a matrix power of 20 W or higher: simple measures will not be able to effectively remove heat.

Housing and reflector parts

There are a number of solutions for the body of a homemade spotlight. If a high degree of dust and moisture protection is required for a street lamp, then a car headlight is suitable. The rim of the lamp base will need to be cut out and secured over the panel with the LED matrix. The disadvantage of the method is the limited power of the spotlight, given that only one matrix will fit in it.

If you place several LEDs or matrices on one printed circuit board or mounting panel, the housing can be made of tin or sheet steel. On the workpiece, mark the development of a truncated pyramid: a square in the center and identical isosceles trapezoids on the sides. Don't forget to leave a "tongue" on one of the sides of each trapezoid to join the petals together. Also, in the smaller base of the trapezoid, you should leave a rectangular strip of about 15-20 mm, and in the center of the square, cut another one with a side 20-25 mm smaller.

When the pattern is ready, sand the edges, bend the body and rivet the seams. Prime the inner surface, cover it with white non-gloss spray paint and leave to dry for 2-3 days. From the front side of the case, place a square piece of glass of suitable dimensions diagonally and lean it against the curved shelves from the inside. Apply a generous amount of white silicone along the contour of the glass and coat the seams of the case with it.

Fasten the mounting panel or board using eight 4 mm bolts, having previously drilled holes along the edges of each shelf on the narrow side of the case. To ensure the plate fits tightly, use a PVC foam door seal. Tightening the bolts won't be easy; their heads are inaccessible, so use a pair of locked nuts on the end.

Installation of radio elements

If you chose LEDs with pin terminals, you will need a PCB plate to mount them. Think over the layout and draw current-carrying paths with a permanent marker. The anodes of all LEDs (long tails) can be assembled onto one ground bus. The cathodes are also collected at one point, but a current-limiting resistor should be connected in series to the power circuit of each LED.

Its calculation is simple: subtract the LED voltage from the supply voltage and divide by the maximum permissible current. To be on the safe side in case of source voltage fluctuations, the permissible LED current can be deliberately lowered to 90-95% of the nameplate value.

An example of an LED matrix circuit of diodes with an operating voltage of 3 volts and an operating current of 20 mA

The approximate supply voltage for one LED is 4 V. If the source produces more, it is advisable to turn on the diodes in a mixed circuit, where garlands are connected in parallel, each of which has one LED for every 4-5 V of voltage. The permissible current for such a series assembly is determined as the sum of the permissible currents of each, and the forward voltage remains the same, provided that this parameter is the same for each LED.

Having placed the elements and drawn the paths, etch the PCB plate in a solution of citric acid (30-50 g), 3% hydrogen peroxide (100 ml) and table salt (2 teaspoons), periodically checking the degree of dissolution of unprotected areas. Drill holes for the pin leads with a 1.5-2 mm drill, drill eight holes to attach the board to the case, and then carefully tin the current-carrying parts with solder and rosin.

You can also use circuit board for LED matrix

If you assemble diodes or matrices on a cooling substrate, they are mounted using a hinged method. An aluminum comb-type radiator should be selected as the mounting panel. Each LED is attached using two or three holes, mark them all at once and drill from the back of the radiator with a 2.5 mm drill.

For fastening, use short 3.5x11 mm self-tapping screws for metal profiles, but without a drill at the end. Before fixing the diode, apply a small amount of KPT-8 thermal paste to the substrate.

The cathode (-) and anode (+) of LEDs with a substrate are marked, the connection diagram and calculation of protective resistors are the same for all types. The elements should be connected to each other using a segment telephone wire. To avoid unnecessary work, the anodes can be immediately soldered with short jumpers to the body of the aluminum radiator.

Power supply question

After assembling the LEDs, you will be left with two terminals, which would be nice to apply voltage to, but where will you get it from? Household power supplies are of little use here; to power the LEDs you need an LED driver that produces a pulsating D.C. stable value.

For most products, a driver for interior lighting systems or for LED strips is suitable. It is better to purchase a power source in advance in order to use it to calculate the number and connection diagram of diodes according to the output voltage and total stabilization current.

For small crafts, you can use power supplies for general household use with an output pulsating current of 0.5-1.5 A and a voltage 3-5 V higher forward voltage diodes. You can stabilize the power supply using the LM317 chip; for more powerful spotlights, use LM350 and LM338, respectively, increasing the power of the source.

The current limitation of the microcircuit can be adjusted by changing the resistance of the resistor. Its rating is defined as 1.25/I, where I is the current of the LED or assembly.

Lighting devices can be of different modifications and sizes. Creating an LED spotlight with your own hands is not as difficult as it might seem. This is a significant cost savings, the ability to design a model with the necessary technical characteristics. Such models are more productive than their halogen counterparts.

Design and features of floodlights

The LED spotlight allows for even greater energy savings. This type of lighting is durable and produces bright light. Able to function in any weather. The design is not complicated, which allows you to make a spotlight at home. The circuit consists of the following main components:

Housing and driver;

Reflector and radiator;

SMD LEDs and diffuser

With the appropriate knowledge in designing electric light sources, creating a home floodlight will not take much time. They will be relevant in private homes, offices and parking lots. One of the important components is the housing and the choice of diodes for the light source.

How to choose a case?

It is much easier to buy a cheap halogen lamp and change the bulb in it. In this case, you will not need to create the case yourself. If you are planning a heated light source, you should think about heat removal. An aluminum radiator can cope with this task like no one better.

A non-working power supply can also be used for the case. Creating such a light source would require several broken computer components. The method is considered to be as simple as possible.

Lamp selection

The lamp can be purchased separately or consist of several 10-watt LEDs. All of them are attached with glue to the radiator from the computer and secured in the power supply. Or, if a separate lamp is used, its power should be about 30 watts. Advantage this method The fact is that you can assemble a lighting device with a power of 220 Volts or 12.

Also, the future owner can purchase a ready-made LED matrix, with built-in driver. When choosing, you need to pay attention to the power and luminous flux parameters. The most relevant sources are those from daylight from 3000 to 4000K. Normal luminous flux is within 8000Lm.

Assembling the structure

After all the parts are ready, you need to start assembling them. A homemade LED lamp requires careful attention to each design element. IN otherwise, it will be impossible to put everything together. Several steps will help in creating a light source:

If an old case was used, it is necessary to remove unnecessary parts. To do this, it is completely disassembled and holes are made in the side walls to install the fan.

The LEDs are assembled and installed. It is fixed to a single base using sealant or glue. In order to be able to connect the connection to the outside, appropriate wires and contacts are used.

Without damaging the housing, you can install already assembled LED lights. They are fixed inside the case with glue.

The wires are routed into the appropriate hole and secured with sealant. Thus, the structure is not damaged, which prevents moisture from getting inside.

The radiator is installed together with the board and is relevant for 220 Volt designs. It can be wrapped with wire or installed with glue.

Network connection

The location for installation is pre-selected. This must be an area with a constant supply of electricity. The connection will require a working power supply that will stabilize the voltage. When connecting the outgoing contacts, you must not forget about the polarity. If the distribution is incorrect, the LEDs will not work, and some may even fail. Creating a spotlight at home is characterized by the use of scrap materials. Some parts can be purchased separately at low cost. Share this information on social networks.

An LED spotlight will provide a powerful light source with low power consumption. At the same time, you can take into account your own needs - make a shock-resistant case or a portable structure. You can use an old lighting fixture, an aluminum profile or a plastic frame as a basis. You can make your own LED spotlight from spare parts from old computers, and LED lamps are sold in electrical stores.

Design features of the spotlight

You can take an old halogen or LED spotlight and upgrade it with a better light source and reflector. If this is not available, you can buy a cheap street lamp; you will only need to replace some elements.

If the task is to make a lantern under own needs and preferences, you will have to think through the entire design yourself. This is an option for experienced craftsmen who have assembled more than one electrical appliance with their own hands. In this case, you need to select a light source and a current source. It is better to provide cooling so that the device does not overheat.

Spotlights that are constantly used outdoors must be protected from moisture. The glass and all joints of the case must be well sealed. It is recommended to hang a canopy over the lantern to protect from precipitation.

Required materials and parts

The necessary parts for assembling an LED spotlight can be taken from an old computer or laptop. If there is no suitable housing, you can assemble it yourself from a metal profile.

Housing material

Cheap flashlights are made with a plastic body. Their advantage is light weight and low cost. But plastic is inferior to metal in durability; it cannot be used all year round. If you plan to hang a spotlight above the entrance to a garage or house, it is better to do metal case. Depending on the operating conditions, you can provide a carrying handle and shock protection.

The main thing in the case is the openings at the top and bottom for ventilation. From long work LEDs get hot and need to be cooled effectively. Air enters through the upper holes, blows through all the parts and takes away heat from them. Fans blow out exhaust air through the lower openings. This floodlight design is not suitable for outdoor use.

Sources of light

The main advantage of LED lamps is their long service life. They last 50,000 hours, 10 times longer than halogen lamps. With proper placement of reflectors, the brightness of the LEDs in the spotlight will be much higher than that of other lamps.

If you need a bright light source, it is better to take several small LEDs of 1 or 3 W each. For a medium-sized device you will need 20 pieces. The street lamp must have a minimum power of 30 watts.

Power supply

You can make your own LED spotlight for 12 or 220 Volts. You can find a power source at a computer parts store. For example, for a spotlight with 20 1 W LEDs, a 19 V power supply from a laptop is suitable. It is better to immediately buy current sources in a moisture-resistant case, then you will not need to come up with your own protection.

Build process

To make an LED spotlight, you need to prepare:

• soldering iron;
• hot glue;
• sealant;
• power wires;
• reflector.

To enhance the light, use a ready-made reflector or mirror tape.

Assembling the spotlight

Individual LEDs need to be assembled in a circuit directly on the radiator. A cooler from a computer, laptop or server will do. The diodes are attached with hot glue and connected by tracks or wires. After this, connect the power source, check the operation of the light bulbs and fan. It is important to make sure that the radiator maintains a constant temperature; you can use an infrared gun to do this.

The spotlight body can be assembled from an old flashlight, bracket and aluminum pipe. You need to make a hole in the bottom of the lantern for fans. An aluminum pipe will work as a base, and an old bracket can be used as a carrying handle.

Connect to the network

After completing all the work, you need to connect the spotlight to the network and check it. It is better to do this outside in complete darkness in front of a wall. From a great distance, you need to evaluate the spot of light that the lamp gives. In the future, the device can be improved by adding a portable battery and a USB connector for charging. A convenient handle with a hook will allow you to take the lantern on hikes and fishing.

Today the entire range of products available on the market LED spotlights can be roughly divided into 2 groups: inexpensive low-quality and branded products good quality With high cost. It is worth noting that the second group is actively counterfeited by unscrupulous manufacturers from China, which seriously complicates the choice.

In this article we will look at how to make a 220 V LED floodlight with your own hands, the quality of which is several times higher than that of cheap Chinese-made products.

Required parts and materials

All materials used in the assembly are available in hardware stores and departments selling electronic components. As a last resort, they can be ordered through online stores. The main part is the body of the halogen spotlight.

If the floodlight is planned to be used outdoors, then the degree of protection of the housing must be at least IP67.

Next you will need double-sided rectangular fiberglass foil. Its size depends on the internal dimensions of the halogen spotlight housing. To attach the PCB, you will need an aluminum plate, which will also serve as a heat conductor between the LEDs and the spotlight body.

For more efficient heat removal from LEDs, it is recommended to use the thinnest fiberglass laminate.

We will install 100 LEDs. To power them, you will need a set of inexpensive radio elements, the selection of which will be discussed below. To install components on a printed circuit board, you will need a standard amateur radio tool. In addition, the ability to make homemade printed circuit boards, thermal paste and wires will be useful.

Circuit and printed circuit board of a simple LED spotlight

As a power source for an LED spotlight, we will use a circuit with a quenching capacitor, as the simplest and most accessible solution for everyone. Its principle of operation has been discussed many times before. Therefore, we will indicate only the main nuances that you should pay attention to. At the input of the power supply there is a non-polar capacitor with a capacity of 1 µF for 400 or 630 volts. A 1 MΩ resistor is connected in parallel with it. You can connect any other resistor with a power of 0.25 W or more with a resistance of 240–1000 kOhm. Followed by diode bridge, assembled on four inexpensive 1N4007 diodes (I arr = 1 A, U arr = 1000 V). It can be replaced with a diode assembly with the same parameters. The rectified voltage is smoothed out by a 10 µF 400 V polar capacitor.

The LEDs on the floodlight's printed circuit board are divided into two series-connected groups of 50 pcs. in each. The LED circuit does not use limiting resistors.

When connecting the power source to the LEDs, a multimeter was installed between them in current measurement mode. The result showed 38 mA in both branches or 19 mA in each, which corresponds to the previously calculated data. At a mains voltage of 220 volts, the current through each LED will not exceed the nominal value of 20 mA.

The printed circuit board is being manufactured in a standard way by using laser printer and does not require special precision. The reverse side of the board remains untinned for better heat dissipation. The mounting holes must be placed so as to ensure reliable contact with the radiator.

LED floodlight board in Sprint Layout 6.0 file:

Build process

Let's start assembling the spotlight by installing LEDs on the printed circuit board. To do this you can use like soldering station, and a simple low-power soldering iron. Upon completion, you should check the correct installation and functionality of each LED separately, using a multimeter in test mode.

The next step in assembling an LED spotlight with your own hands is soldering the power supply using a hinged method. The location of the radio components must be thought out so that they fit in the compartment where the power cable is inserted. To avoid short circuits, we insulate the exposed areas with heat shrink tubing. We check the performance of the power supply first at idle, and then with a load (LEDs).
After a successful short-term launch, we proceed to final assembly LED spotlight. First, we make a radiator in the form of a corner from an aluminum plate.
In such a way that one of its shelves is adjacent to the inner wall of the spotlight, and a board with LEDs is attached to the second.
In order to increase heat transfer at the contact points, we apply thermal paste, after which we carry out final assembly.

Pros and cons of the design

A clear advantage of the design is the ease of assembly and availability of the parts used. As a result of the operations carried out, a homemade directional LED spotlight was obtained using SMD 5050 LEDs with a luminous efficiency of 18 lm each. In total, the luminous flux of a homemade spotlight will be approximately 1600–2000 lm. The exact value of illumination must be measured with a lux meter. It depends on the load current and the color temperature of the LEDs used.

The absence of a limiting resistor is a minus of the considered electrical diagram, due to which its reliability in regions with unstable network voltage is sharply reduced. A significant voltage surge will cause the LEDs to burn out. Therefore, we recommend slightly improving your homemade spotlight by adding two 1-2 Ohm resistors to its power supply. Don't forget that LED lighting continues to progress, offering new models of solid-state light sources. In particular, a COB matrix can take the place of SMD LEDs, retail price which is already available to a wide range of consumers. The COB matrix simplifies installation, reduces the size of the board, and reduces the overall production time of the spotlight at home.

But the heat will have to be removed from the multi-chip chip using a fan, which means the power supply will have to be modified. For these purposes, a computer cooler is suitable, for which there is enough space inside the case. But in this case, the spotlight cannot be used outdoors.

Another progressive step will be the replacement of copper-plated textolite with aluminum foil. In fact, this three-layer material is made of textolite, on one side of which copper is applied for etching printed conductors, and on the other - aluminum for heat dissipation. It is ideal for building modern LED lights and high power floodlights.

Summing up, I would like to note that every person who is “friendly” with a soldering iron and electricity can construct a homemade spotlight using LEDs. And also assembling something like this homemade device will not only decorate your leisure time, but will also become an economical lighting device in the household.

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