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Old Pages/Old Wiki/Basement_Shelves_Upgrades.md

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+![Before and after, same
+exposure](Shelf_lights_v0.9.gif "Before and after, same exposure")
+
+## LED Lighting
+
+Feb 2014: LED strips have been added to the underside of each shelf by
+[Gatohaus](User:Gatohaus "wikilink")
+([talk](User_talk:Gatohaus "wikilink")). These are SMD 5050 strips, 5m
+long, 300 LEDs each that draw 1.2A per meter at 12v. Note they have been
+trimmed nearly a foot each to fit. Total maximum wattage for the 10
+strips currently in place is 10 x 72w = 720w. Output is around 800-900
+lumens per meter. (~40k lumens) A good balance between light and heat
+(longevity) seems to be in the 3 to 4A per strip range.
+
+The location of the strips was chosen: to be somewhat protected, to
+light the shelf adequately, to avoid as much glare as possible, and to
+provide significant spillage into the surrounding area.
+
+Feb 2014: **Expect a few of the strips to fall down.** Some are still
+partially attached by their adhesive tape which won't really fail until
+they're warm for a while. When they do fail, reattach them with a hot
+glue gun. That seems (fingers crossed) to be permanent.
+
+### <u>Lessons Learned</u>
+
+#### Strip Choice
+
+SMD 3528's were also tested (the strip remains in use on the shelves).
+The 5050's were the same price (~\$12) at about the same efficiency but
+allow for a higher maximum brightness (and greater power draw of
+course).
+
+#### Adhering the strips
+
+The tape adhesive that comes on the strips works very poorly on OSB
+(shelving material used). They'll hold while the lights are off, but
+once they warm up the adhesive begins to fail. I tried 3M's "77" spray..
+an embarrassing failure. It too loses adhesion when warmed.
+
+Trying mechanical attachments, typically a nail or staple with a plastic
+brace, the type used to hold cables in place, proved troublesome. The
+OSB is hard enough that significant force is required with a hammer to
+drive the nails in. Over a span of 50m of LEDs it seems likely that
+misses would occur probably smashing some of the LED components.
+
+In the end a simple hot glue gun seems to have worked.
+
+#### Wiring & Power
+
+In hindsight it would have been better to mount the strips with more of
+the connecting leads sticking out at the end. The leads can easily be
+replaced if needed, they're just surface mounted.
+
+<s>I used a PC's ATX power supply which has 2 x 12v at 15A.</s> (I
+managed to damage this ps somehow.) I don't know how efficient it is but
+after spending several hours hunting for options in our collection of
+stuff, this seemed the best choice. Perhaps it can be replaced at some
+point. I'm giving one of the 15A sources to the lower 3 shelves, and the
+other to the top two shelves. This means the upper ones will be
+brighter, but the spill over will help illuminate the surrounding area.
+
+Temporarily (which tends to become permanent) there is another ATX ps
+plus a couple of in-line wall warts in place of the ATX mentioned above.
+This ATX has 12v at 21A and the two wall warts have 5A and 2.5A at 12v.
+Not quite the distribution I'd like, but it works.
+
+**Well... almost works...** After being on for half an hour or so the
+21A ATX takes a nap. Exhaust air feels cool, but it's probably too much
+of a load. So I added *another* computer power supply (~5A) to help out.
+Seems to be stable. Need help either repairing the original ATX supply
+or finding something else.
+
+### <u>Things to Improve</u>
+
+In general I'm not exactly proud of the wiring. It's solid and safe, but
+not quite pretty. If someone wishes to redo this work, please do!
+
+[Category:BasementShelves](Category:BasementShelves "wikilink")