LED Panel Light

I built this LED panel primarily for photos of static objects, indoors, when natural outdoor light is insufficient. This allows you to photograph objects in good condition, photos that are intended for publication on the web. Properly placed, at about 1.5 m above the exposure plane, horizontally, good quality images are obtained, well lit and without shadows.

The materials used are mainly from recoveries, which are usually found in the workshop.
Exceptions are LED strips and power supply, which can be purchased for less than $ 10.

The execution is simple and you get a very useful object for those who carry out this type of activity.

Made in several examples, it can also be used for indoor lighting.

Another advantage would be the possibility of adjusting the intensity of the light (with dimmer).

Most materials can be found in your own workshop, the others can be bought from DIY stores or online.

Photo1: The sheet metal structure of the panel of an old LED TV. Dimensions: 38X30 cm

Photo2: Roll with LED string, total length 3.5 m .The LED string is at 12V, 120LEDs / m, cold white.

Photo3: Plexiglas from the same LED TV panel as the structure in photo 1, with the same dimensions, and several 3mm mounting screws.

Photo4: 3mm screws and nuts to hold the two panel support parts.

All these are indicative, everyone can adapt to what is available in their own workshop.

In addition, they are necessary:

Female plug for power supply (see photos 15, 16).

Wires for electrical connections (2 m).

12V / 2.5A power supply (see photos 13 ,16).

Also needed:

Soldering station with tin.

Cutting pliers.

Hand tools for aluminum processing:

Hammer, drill,metal saw,tracing tools.

Screwdriver.

Lust for work.

From the roll with the row of LEDs we will cut in the places specially provided for this a number of 10 rows of 35cm. every.

Each string will contain 42 LEDs that are grouped by 3 series LEDs with a limiting resistor. The LED strings will be powered at 12V, all in parallel.See photo 5.

Of these 10 strings, 9 will be mounted on the support, and one will be kept as a spare.

The sheet metal support will be well cleaned with thinner and 9 parallel lines will be drawn (distance 3 cm. between them), as in photo 6.

Peel off the protective foil from the back of the LED strings and, using their self-adhesive property, glue them over the previously drawn lines. See photo 7.

Using a 1.2 mm multi-wire cable, the wiring is done as in the photos 8, 9, 10, putting all the strings in parallel at one end and at the other.

At the end, the female power plug is tined as in photo11.

We continue the work with the assembly of the mechanical parts from photo 4 as in photos 12, 13.

Then mechanically mount the female power plug as in the photo 15.

Mount plexiglass plate ,photo 16.

A check is made of the correct lighting of the LEDs as in photo 14.

The total consumption of the LED panel is 1.7A (aprox 20W)

The LED panel is ready!

It can be mounted on a tripod or as shown below, on a fixed horizontal support.

The fixed horizontal support is shown in photo 18 (it is fixed to a wall).

It is provided with 2 mounting holes. The LED panel is attached to them with the parts in the photo 17

and the result can be seen in the photo 19.

The lit LED panel can be seen in the main photo.

And that's it.