DIY LED Downlight: Schematics, Photos, Video - Asutpp

Economical lighting lamps are already in almost every home. We offer you to consider how to make a LED lamp yourself, what materials will be required for this, as well as tips on what criteria they should be selected.

Step-by-step development of a LED lamp

Initially, we are faced with the task of checking the performance of the LEDs and measuring the supply voltage of the network. When setting up this device to prevent electric shock, we suggest using a 220/220 V isolation transformer. It will also provide safer measurements when setting up our future LED luminaire.

Please note that if any elements of the circuit are connected incorrectly, an explosion is possible, so strictly follow the instructions below.

Most often, the problem of improper assembly is precisely in poor-quality component soldering.

When calculating to measure the voltage drop of the LED consumption, you need to use a universal measuring multimeter. Mostly such home-made LED lights are used at a voltage of 12 V, but our design will be designed for a mains voltage of 220 V AC.

Video: LED lamp at home

High light output is achieved on diodes at a current of 20-25 mA. But cheap LEDs can give an unpleasant bluish glow, which is also very harmful to the eyes, therefore, we recommend diluting home-made LED light with a small amount of red LEDs. For 10 cheap whites, 4 red LEDs will be enough.

The circuit is quite simple and designed to power the LEDs directly from the network, without an additional power supply. The only drawback of such a circuit is that all its components are not isolated from the mains supply and the LED lamp will not provide protection against possible electric shock. So be careful when assembling and installing this lamp. Although in the future the circuit can be upgraded and isolated from the network.

1. A 100 Ohm resistor, when turned on, protects the circuit from voltage surges, if it is not there, you need to use a rectifier diode bridge of higher power.
2. A 400 nF capacitor limits the amperage that is needed for the LEDs to glow normally. If necessary, you can add more LEDs if their total current consumption does not exceed the limit set by the capacitor.
3. Make sure that the capacitor used is designed for an operating voltage of at least 350 V, it should be one and a half times higher than the mains voltage.
4. A 10 uF capacitor is needed to provide a stable light source, without flicker. Its rated voltage should be two times greater than what is measured on all series-connected LEDs during operation.

In the photo you see a burned out lamp, which will soon be disassembled for the LED lamp with your own hands.

We disassemble the lamp, but very carefully so as not to damage the base, after that we clean it and degrease it with alcohol or acetone. We pay special attention to the hole. We clear it of excess solder and process it again. This is necessary for high-quality soldering of components in the base.

We insert a 100 Ohm resistor and two 220 nF capacitors of 400 V.

Now you need to solder a tiny straightener, we use a regular soldering iron for these purposes and already in advance the diode bridge is prepared and we process the surface, we work very carefully so as not to damage earlier installed parts.

As an insulating layer, it is fashionable to use glue of a simple mounting heat gun. A PVC tube is also suitable, but it is advisable to use a material specially designed for this, filling all the space between the parts and simultaneously fixing them. We have a ready-made basis for the future lamp.

After these manipulations, we proceed to the most interesting: the installation of LEDs. We use a special circuit board as a basis, it can be bought at any electronic components store or even extract from some old and unnecessary equipment, having previously cleaned the board from unnecessary details.

It is very important to check each of our boards for performance, because otherwise all the work is in vain. We pay special attention to the contacts of the LEDs, if necessary, we additionally clean and narrow them.

Now we assemble the designer, we need to solder all the boards, we have four of them, to the capacitor. After this operation, we isolate everything again with glue, we check the connection of the diodes to each other. We place the boards at the same distance from each other so that the light spreads evenly.

Also, without additional wires, solder a 10 uF capacitor, this is a good soldering experience for future electricians.

Then it’s small: solder a 100 Ohm resistor, it can be connected to any of the boards, and isolate the contacts with glue.

All is ready. We recommend that you cover our lamp with a lampshade, as LEDs emit extremely bright light that hits the eyes very much. If we put our homemade lamp in the “cut” of paper, for example, or fabric, you get a very soft light, a romantic night light or sconce in the nursery. Changing the soft lampshade to a standard glass shade, we get a fairly bright glow that does not irritate the eye. This is a good and very beautiful option for home or garden.

If you want to power the lamp on batteries or from USB, you need to exclude the capacitor from the circuit at 400 nF and a rectifier by connecting the circuit directly to a 5-12 DC voltage source AT.

This is a good device for illuminating the aquarium, but you need to choose a special waterproof lamp, you can find it Having visited any store of electromechanical devices, such exist in any city, be it Chelyabinsk or Moscow.

Lamp in the office

You can make a creative wall, table lamp or floor lamp into a study of several dozen LEDs. But for this there will be a stream of light that will be insufficient for reading, an adequate level of illumination of the workplace is needed here.

First you need to determine the number of LEDs and rated power.

After finding out the load capacity of the rectifier diode bridge and capacitor. We connect a group of LEDs to the negative contact of the diode bridge. We connect all the LEDs as shown in the figure.

We solder all 60 LEDs together. If you need to connect additional LEDs, just continue their sequential soldering of plus to minus. Use wires to connect the minus of one group of LEDs to the next one until the entire assembly process is complete. Now add a diode bridge. Connect it as shown in the figure below. The positive lead to the positive wire is the first group of LEDs, connect the negative lead to the common wire of the last LED in the group.

Next, you need to prepare the base of the old bulb, cutting off the wires from the board and soldering them to the AC inputs on the diode bridge, marked with the ~ sign. You can use plastic mounts, screws and nuts to connect the two boards together if all the diodes are placed on separate boards. Do not forget to fill the boards with glue, isolating them from a short circuit. This is a fairly powerful network LED lamp that will last up to 100,000 hours of continuous operation.

Add capacitor

If you increase the supply voltage on the LEDs, so that the light is brighter, then the LEDs will start to heat up, which greatly reduces their durability. In order to avoid this, you need to connect a recessed or table lamp of 10 W with an additional capacitor. Just connect one side of the base to the negative output of the bridge rectifier and the positive, through an additional capacitor, to the positive output of the rectifier. You can use 40 LEDs instead of the suggested 60, thereby increasing the overall brightness of the lamp.

Video: how to make a DIY lamp yourself

If desired, a similar lamp can be made on a powerful LED, just then you will need capacitors of a different rating.

As you can see, assembling or repairing an ordinary DIY-made LED lamp is not particularly difficult. And it does not take much time and effort. Such a lamp is also suitable as a summer residence option, for example, for a greenhouse, its light is absolutely harmless to plants.