so my house came with deck that’s fully pre-wired for 12v lighting but has no lights. I want to load it up with LEDs but just about everything intended for home decks/gardens costs an absolute fortune (probably because they need to be certified all weather etc)…
so help me find some lights! they can be automotive / boat / etc… as long as they can work outside.
Just wire up any of the 12V LEDs for cars; or any 2V LED (most generic 5mm) in series with a 470ohm resistor (or parallel strings, etc; there are plenty of DIYs online), and just RTV all the connections; that should weatherproof most everything.
Hell if RTV can survive and seal up electronics for the DO-160 Salt-fog test, it’ll survive anything you can throw at it. (Test for any aircraft or ship-board electronics for corrosion due to water, salt, and sulfer; one of the toughest tests for electronics to pass)
yup, now help me find some nice 12v ones that don’t break the bank. I’ll probably need 20 or so (2-5 leds per one) I’m thinking I’ll downlight under the rail in a nice warm white.
I want something in a simple housing, not just a raw LED
this is the best I’ve found so far…
http://www.theledlight.com/MicroStar.html
http://www.theledlight.com/LEDTriCluster.html
maybe something from:
Who mods their house? hehehe
Very cool…
I have a LED invention I’d like to see put into production some day.
I just figure if I’m going to have deck / landscaping lights on a timer I might as well do something cool and energy efficient.
LED’s are VERY spotty in their lighting… so they wont light up a whole yard or anything, jus tiny spots
the microstars put a 23 inch circle at 3 feet which is plenty for how far apart I’m putting them… (hung under the top rail gives me 4 feet down or so) as long as you understand the nature of using LEDs then you can avoid the focused spotty lighting.
http://www.autolumination.com/
Have fun. I have dropped a couple hundred on my car within the last month or two.
I’ve looked at them, nothing special and their prices are high.