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Thread ID: 93249 2008-09-09 06:53:00 Remote display lighting, ideas welcome please John W (523) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
703832 2008-09-09 06:53:00 Hi there

I'll give you a little background on what ive been asked to arrange .

The homeowners want their house name (an engraved timber sign (2M wide 400mm high) lit at night so it can easily be identified from the roadway, but they dont want/have 230V AC closeby .

The lighting should come on at dusk and switch off at say midnight .

Ive an idea about using say a Remote electric fence with solar charger, or say a 12V car battery as an energy source . Then use those thin pencil light tubes Boy racers light their car interior/dash with, and if its flexible enough to inlay it on the engraved text on the sign . Another option could be to use those strips of clear hose with coloured LEDS flashing or steady light, to surround the sign .

So, if you have had experience with timers, daylight sensors and the light forms above, please tell me what might be possible .

Thanks

John in Mosgiel .



Problem is I dont know what options there are 		John W (523)
703833 2008-09-09 09:10:00 Hi John

Have you thought about hacking a el-cheapo garden lights from The Warehouse . :confused:

Off the top of my head, I think you might be able to put two or three super bright Leds in series for each one . :banana

If this worked then the dusk/dawn switches, solar panels, battery chargers, electronics and batteries would already be there . Cheap as chips!! :punk

Only trouble is the Leds would not switch off till dawn . Hope this gets yah thinking anyway . :eek:

BURNZEE 		Burnzee (6950)
703834 2008-09-09 10:17:00 One thing they said was NO cheapo, nil effect, elcheapo Garden Light type fittings, but something above that without going to the expense of mains wiring. John W (523)
703835 2008-09-09 10:29:00 Well, get a moderate length of fibre optic cable, place all the tendrils artistically in the lettering and stick the other end on Ayers Rock.Timing and power all taken care of, and quiet running too. "No cheapo" is covered quite well too. R2x1 (4628)
703836 2008-09-09 10:30:00 Would a few 'modified' sets of low-voltage Christmas lights work??

Or how about a few LEDs and a bit of solder? 		jwil1 (65)
703837 2008-09-09 10:40:00 how bright do they want it? with wooden sign its going to have to be well lit to read it unless the writing is reflective.

have a chat to these guys. http://www.nightlightning.co.nz/ they make very good led lights. to power it a solar panel, regulator and small sla battery. how big will depend on how many lights etc.

a 10w DSE solar panel $90, small PWM controller $50-60 (get about 30% gain over non-pwm and it stops battery from being overcharged in summer) and 7.2amp SLA battery ~$20, would power a fair few high powered leds.
just have to add a timer. also i would recommend a low voltage disconnect otherwise you will drain the battery completly and kill it quite quickly. 		tweak'e (69)
703838 2008-09-09 22:48:00 Wrap the letters in EL Wire? And what's so hard about running a long cord from the house to the sign? Is it 200 metres or something? ubergeek85 (131)
703839 2008-09-10 00:19:00 Hi John


One thing they said was NO cheapo, nil effect, elcheapo Garden Light type fittings, but something above that without going to the expense of mains wiring.

Think you might be misunderstanding what I meant. When I said hacked, I meant you should pull all the useful bits out of the el-cheapo fittings. This will give you the basics of what you need.

Now simply insert the Leds though a clear plastic tube or use some optic fibre cable between the Leds.

BURNZEE 		Burnzee (6950)
703840 2008-09-10 01:42:00 I may have missed something... If they don't want mains wiring, why not just run 12volt from a transformer, and a whole pile of LEDs at the sign? Is it too far away?

A 12volt line doesn't have to be well insulated cable buried 500mm deep like a 230volt line, and a 50watt transformer, like one used with the wee halegen lights would be ample.

Either way, i'd can the idea of "those thin pencil light tubes Boy racers light their car interior/dash with", as they use far too much power for something running of a very limited supply

Super bright LEDs are the greatest thing ever. I have a housetruck wired out with them, and i can only just see the spark if i drag the main lighting feed passed the battery termanals. 		personthingy (1670)
703841 2008-09-10 02:00:00 I did the sums on a solar panel unit. IIRC 2 units from tricky dicky produced ample power to run my housetrucks LED lights for 8 hours. I'm sure you could get a better deal than tricky dicky too :)

The only problem is if this is truly remote and visable from the road, someone is sure to steal the panels like they do with remote telecom instalations and the such like. 		personthingy (1670)
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