COB LED Work Light Safety Glasses

COB or circuit on board LED lights are incredibly bright.

When you need some extra light to solder small parts, work on the car, do plumbing work, needlepoint, crafting,etc., instead of donning a hands-free headlamp, put on a pair of these ultra bright worklight safety glasses.

I found a bunch of these lights which I purchased a long time ago. The COB LED tech was pretty new and now you see it used in small flashlights. They are exceptionally bright and are suited to lighting up a wider area than the typical spot of a regular LED flashlight or headlamp.

This light besides being battery powered has a dimmer function with the on/off switch.

3 AAA batteries power the lights.

I will be hacking this to attach to a pair of safety glasses(swag from one of the Maker Faires, remember them?)

The batteries are heavy and I do not want the weight to be on the glasses so the battery pack and controls will be placed elsewhere to be more comfortable.

Taking out the 4 screws on the back of the case opens up everything.

The circuitry is pretty straightforward.

I just need to extend the wires that go to the LED elements and that will free the light source to be mounted for use on the glasses. The battery pack can be put in your pocket or attached with a clip to hang off your belt or clothing.

Note that when I spliced in new wires, I did not connect to the original solder point. I tried to mate up the new wire with some of original wire that was still soldered on. I have found that trying to desolder previously soldered wires, especially on mass produced import goods, you end up with a mess, a contaminated solder pad or break something else. After soldering the new wires, test to see if it works.

I drilled a hole in the back of the case to pass the wires through. Route inside wrapped around an internal post for strain relief. I dabbed the wire pass through with some hot glue for additional hold.

Yes, I am still trying to use up that 1000 ft roll of CAT5 cable I got long ago so I am using a pair of wires from a piece of cable cut to the length needed. More bendy silicone insulated wires would be good to use to go from the battery pack to the glasses.

I glued together 2 popsicle wood craft sticks to form a "T". They were the exact length to fit the COB LED elements.

This will be used to mount the COB LED elements to form the light emitting bar.

I ran some 10 gauge copper house wire(Yep, I got a spool to do some house wiring...) through holes I drilled in the wood. It forms a bendable frame which is zip-tied to the safety glasses frame. Bend over the ends of the wire so they don't poke.

You can fine tune where the light is shining when you wear the safety glasses.

A nail clipper is great for trimming the excess tails of the plastic zip-ties.

Put the case back together.

Use double-sided tape to mount the COB LED elements to the wood T-bar.

Tidy up the loose wiring with more zip-ties and for strain relief when the glasses are pulled away from the battery pack.

And there you go.

It's lit.