Lighting a Lab - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Sal Ammoniac
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 12:20:18 am
content: I've just got my lab back together again and it's dark and dingy at night (when I spend most of my time there) and not much better during the day. My lab is about 22' x 15' and has a dark wooden floor, which contributes to the feeling of lack of light.What do you all use to light your lab? Ceiling fixtures that light the whole room, or directed light right at the bench?

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 12:41:34 am
content: i have a center room light and a movable magnifying desk lamp.

author: harnon
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 12:47:48 am
content: Quote from: Psi on February 22, 2012, 12:41:34 am+1 for magnifying desk lamp. Got one for Christmas and I love it.

author: sacherjj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 12:52:41 am
content: My lab will be a 8' x 8' area and I will be using a two tube T8 florescent fixture, supplemented with task lighting if needed.

author: slateraptor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 05:08:07 am
content: Quote from: Sal Ammoniac on February 22, 2012, 12:20:18 amDamn, that's a huge lab...about twice bigger than my bedroom lol. Must be nice.A standing lamp that floods the ceiling directly above me...my eyes aren't a big fan of direct lighting.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 05:40:02 am
content: Make your own lighting with one of thesehttp://www.dealextreme.com/p/30w-1500-lumen-rgb-led-emitter-metal-plate-39960orhttp://www.dealextreme.com/p/prime-100w-8000lm-led-emitter-metal-plate-pure-white-42806Note, that second one is 8000 lumens, so it's like a 500W lamp. Maybe reduce the power a little, hehe

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 05:48:59 am
content: i like ottlight bulbs. a bit more expensive, but easily worth the difference imo.-sj

author: Jimmy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 05:55:32 am
content: I have got led light strips above bench and a movable led magnifyer lamp that works wellhttp://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QM3544&keywords=magnify+led&form=KEYWORDI like the even light in the middle of the bench so when I lean over there isn't much of a shadow.

author: bfritz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2012, 07:39:28 am
content: I put in some track lighting, designed for two seperate circuits. Each circuit is 15A, so plenty of light is possible. Just add as many fixtures as needed, and move them on the track until the lighting is where you need it.I also bought a couple inexpensive LED fixtures meant for surface mounting under kitchen cabinets. Be careful with these. The switching supply in these is really noisy, and they give off tons of RF. I was trying to determine the noise on the output of a switching supply, and seeing lots of really high frequency noise. Thought I had a grounding problem... as I was shutting things down, turned off the light before shutting down the scope and supply, and the noise disappeared! It was one of those moments where you realize the last couple hours were wasted by you chasing your tail, but happy that you now know the cause. So, be careful with those newfangled LED fixtures. Oh, in my case they were under a shelf that was less than 8" from the supply in question... so coupling was probably good, as I wasn't using shielded leads either.

author: Kibi
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 23, 2012, 12:01:40 am
content: My bench is lit thus:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects-designs-and-technical-stuff/project-cree-the-led-bench-lighting-project/

author: kaz911
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2012, 05:46:50 am
content: I am just about finished setting my lab up. I went part "The Dave Way" and got some Ikea racks- and just put a cheap ikea table in front of 1 set of "Dave Shelves"But Ikea have some OK halogen lights and LED lights you can connect in series. So I have 6 halogen under small shelf close to table. Then another 6 halogen on a 60cm deep shelf (higher shelf) - and Ikea LED strips to light op the instrument buttons on 2nd self. - All runs on one power cable and fits perfectly and does not take to much space.And only ONE power button to switch all on / off - and not too much of a cable mess. Only problem is the that I get a bit of glare on the lower instruments - but that will change once I have instruments everywhere.. :-)picture to come...