8/7/2019 36 Volt 900 Lumen LED Stadium Lights

1/5

http://www.instructables.com/id/36-Volt-900-Lumen-LED-Stadium-Lights/

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36 Volt - 900 Lumen LED Stadium Lightsby pobriant on November 28, 2009

Table of Contents

License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) .............................................................................

Intro: 36 Volt - 900 Lumen LED Stadium Lights ......................................................................................

step 1: Solder Leads to the Star LEDs .............................................................................................

step 2: Continue soldering all 9 LEDs and 1 ohm resister in series ........................................................................

step 3: Epoxy the STAR LEDs to the 18 inch aluminum angle ............................................................................

step 4: Add heat sink, hose clamp and test your lights .................................................................................

step 5: Light up the night. .......................................................................................................

Related Instructables ...........................................................................................................

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8/7/2019 36 Volt 900 Lumen LED Stadium Lights

2/5

http://www.instructables.com/id/36-Volt-900-Lumen-LED-Stadium-Lights/

License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)

Intro: 36 Volt - 900 Lumen LED Stadium LightsThe end of daylight savings and no lights meant that 5:30 pm soccer practice would be totally dark. With field space severely limited this meant the end of practices.Next year we will be ready with portable battery powered field lighting, thanks to low cost, high power LEDs and lightweight long lasting lithium 36 volt battery packs frDewalt.

I built two stadium lights. Placed on opposite sides of the field they do a nice job of lighting a decent size practice area for 10-12 kids. For a larger field or different spoyou may need several more. Each light draws ~.750 Amps, the Dewalt pack is good for 2.3 Amphours or not quite 3 hours. Still more than long enough for practice.

Needed 36 Volt Dewalt Lithium battery packThese things are great, lightweight, fast charging, and very convenient after you have followed the directions to add standard power out wires. I will not detail how todisassemble the battery as this is readily available on the internet in several places.http://www.slkelectronics.com/DeWalt/packs.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQJUEeKo7KQ9 STARLEDs (3 watts ~100 lumen each now available direct from China for around $2 per LED, ebay and other sources)Most of these high power, high efficiency LEDs operate from 3.5 to 4.0 Volts. To save money we are not going to use the recommended constant current driver, butwire directly in series. (36 V / 9 LEDs) = 4.0 volts per LED.CPU style heat sink1 ohm, 10 watt resister (to add some safety margin)18 inch long piece of aluminum angle (1/16" by 1 inch)JBWeld Epoxy1 inch hose clamp10' x 1/2 pole (PVCpipe)Screws, wire, solder

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8/7/2019 36 Volt 900 Lumen LED Stadium Lights

3/5

http://www.instructables.com/id/36-Volt-900-Lumen-LED-Stadium-Lights/

step 1:Solder Leads to the Star LEDsSTAR LEDs are very nice to solder. They have wide solder pads, clearly marked + and - . Start with the plus side and solder one lead to one + pad.

step 2:Continue soldering all 9 LEDs and 1 ohm resister in seriesSolder your leds into a series circuit. The first wire goes to the + pad on the first LED. Solder the second wire to the - pad of the first LED and solder this same wire tothe + pad of the second LED. The next wire goes from the - pad to the + pad of the third LED. Continue until all 9 LEDs are soldered in the string you see below. Nexsolder one terminal of the 1 ohm resister to the last wire and solder two 10' lead (+ and -) wires to the ends.

8/7/2019 36 Volt 900 Lumen LED Stadium Lights

4/5

http://www.instructables.com/id/36-Volt-900-Lumen-LED-Stadium-Lights/

step 3:Epoxy the STAR LEDs to the 18 inch aluminum angle3 watt LEDS at full power may generate enough heat to eventually destroy themselves unless applied to a heat sink. You could buy special thermal epoxy but JBWebrand epoxy appears to have enough metal to bond the LEDs and work as transfer heat. Bond all your LEDs to the aluminum and clamp firmly in place for several ho

step 4:Add heat sink, hose clamp and test your lightsWith the LEDs on the aluminum angle will become quite warm. Adding a heat sink ( from a CPU cooler) is a good idea to maintain efficiency and LED life. Bolt on a hclamp for mounting your lights to a tall pole. Plug in and test your lights.

step 5:Light up the night.Mount the LEDto a pole. Ihave used 10 foot conduit but the LEDs are light enough that PVC pipe works well too. Light up the night and enjoy.

8/7/2019 36 Volt 900 Lumen LED Stadium Lights

5/5

http://www.instructables.com/id/36-Volt-900-Lumen-LED-Stadium-Lights/

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Comments

5 comments Add Comment

rimar2000 says: Nov 29, 2009. 6:09 AM REPInteresting.

Besides portability, does this device advantages over a low energy lamp connected to the mains?

pobriant says: Nov 29, 2009. 7:45 AM REPIf you have an electrical plug easily available, I would recommend keeping it simple and plugging in with standard lighting. The soccer f ield is 1/4 milefrom my house and my extension cords are not that long. But if you needed a combination of high efficiency and robustness (where the light was going

to be knocked around a bit) a plug in LEDsolution might be the best. High power LEDs are much more eff icient than standard incandescent or halogenbulbs. And much more robust then f lorescent bulbs.

rimar2000 says: Nov 29, 2009. 9:16 AM REPThanks for the answer.

I forgot to ask something that interests me more: are LEDs more expensive than equivalent "ordinary" lamps?

pobriant says: Nov 29, 2009. 11:04 AM REPYou just asked the multi-billion dollar question that is driving today's lighting industry. The answer may be "it depends on when you ask".

The one thing most agree on is that the standard cheap incandescents have lost. Go to Home Depot and on sale you can get a 60 wattincandescent bulb (claimed 15 lumen/watt = 900 lumens) for around $1. Plug it in for 24 hours a day and you will spend ~$52 of electricity. (60365 *24 / 1000 watts/kilowatt) * 10 cents per kilowatt hour, about USavg. ( total $53)

The el cheapo $2 LEDS I used are about twice as efficient, 33 lumens/watt. So 9*$2 = $18 but I would only use $24 of electricity per year. (tota

$42)

Gross simplification and does not include fixtures, AC/DCconverter, converter efficiency, replacement bulbs, etc. But you get the idea. Investnow, save later.

Today florescent (up to 100 lumens/watt) easily beats both for most applications but are not robust for banging around as portable lights orsmashed by an errant soccer ball. Cree/Seol/Nichia/Philips all claim to have next generation LEDS with efficiencies from 130 to 150 lumen/watAnd where LEDs may make sense today is if you are off-grid and already running DC power.

rimar2000 says: Nov 29, 2009. 1:54 PM REPThanks for that excellent summary of the situation. In my case, I will follow the mainstream, replacing filament lamps by low power as they gknocked out.

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