I upgraded the long thin wires that came with the stock MCE to 20 gauge and the wattage measurement jumped from 3.7 to 7.6. Its a nice improvement in output. I can now keep the lamp much higher above my projects to illuminate a larger area while maintaining the same level of brightness on the subject. :bigsmile:
Im considering a warm white XML, but the white tint of the MCE gives great contrast so Im undecided.
Sorry I missed your post, but I’ll try to answer some of your questions. I somehow become unsubscribed to this thread. Just understand that I am not responsible from any injuries or deaths resulting from the modification of electrical lighting or appliances.
The reflector is stock. I drilled a hole through it for the emitter to protrude. Since the lens is probably polarized to filter harmful UV from the halogen bulb, it was removed from the project since it will trap heat and take away a few lumens from the LED. The stock switch allows for only on and off positions. I originally had a rheostat placed inline to the LED but found that I didn’t use the variable brightness feature, so it was replaced with the factory switch.
Part list:
Your “edit” is mostly correct. The switch only activates when in the left position. The center and right positions are off. I cant attest to the wiring colors since they may have changed. I removed the stock transformer and all the associated components, leaving only the wires intact. From the lamp power cord, one AC power wire was attached directly to a lug on the wall wart. The other was wired to the stock switch. It is imperative that you properly isolate your AC power connections to assure that a ground path can not occur under any circumstances, even if the lamp is dropped to the floor and severely damaged. Failure to do so can easily result in electrocution, death or severe injuries! Also assure that the AC power transformer will not overheat if you conceal it within the lamp base. The DC output wire from the wall wart was connected to the wires going to the light bulb. The wires in the light head were soldered to 20 gauge wires which were then soldered to the emitter star. To electrically isolate the emitter, I put a thin layer of fujic over the solder points on the emitter star and allowed them to thoroughly dry. After drying, I put a thin layer of fujic around the entire star then placed the emitter through the hole I drilled through the reflector. A clamp was placed overnight to press the star to the reflector and create a thermal path to the reflector. After drying, I cut and bent the copper strips to conduct heat the the roof of the housing. Several trial assemblies and adjustments were conducted to assure proper fitment. When all was correct, the copper strips were given a small dab of fujic and clamped to the emitter then allowed to dry. After testing but before final assembly, all connections were double checked and a thin layer of fujic was applied to the ends of the copper strips to help conduct heat from the strips to the lamp head housing roof. The entire head of the lamp (top and bottom) should get hot if your thermal path was implemented correctly. Use as minimal amount of heat sink paste as possible or it becomes an insulator and will not conduct heat.
Oh absolutely. I’ve done some household electrician work but never really tinkered with electronics.
Thanks so much. Did you remove the wall wart housing before placing it in the lamp base? And by looking at your pictures, it looked like you removed the stock fuse which was between the stock transformer and the stock bulb. Wanted to confirm there are no fuses used.
Thanks again. I may luck out. Someone’s having their roof done up the road.
I have a 100watt desk lamp beside the bed that will produce quite a bit of light if the on/off knob is twisted fully on, but I ususally use it barely on (low enough that when the house AC unit comes on you can see a dimming in the bedside lamp). When on high it makes loads of heat!
This light is of similar build to the one you have here. A round base with dual upright arms, then a single arm to the conical shaped round head. Vertically adjustable and the head will twist for aiming. Would love to put a good LED in this one but am afraid I don’t have the knowledge required to do so. The power savings alone are incredible, but with brighter whiter light it’s a very desireable mod!
Good work!
Sorry but I dont recall if I removed the fuse or not. The wall wart is in its stock housing but only gets mildly warm to the touch while powered under load. It lives in the sealed environment of the lamp base and remains fairly cool. Most wall warts put out a descent amount of heat and would certainly overheat if enclosed. Since the switch kills power to the wall wart, its probably perfectly safe to leave unattended when turned off.
I suspect an XML swap will draw more current because of its much lower resistance. If I go that route, I’ll need to crack the base open again to make sure the wall wart doesn’t overheat.
I wouldnt do an LED conversion for the power savings alone. You’d probably be hard pressed to save $1 per month in energy costs with the average use of a 100W bulb. I threw mine together with spare parts that I already had and just for the fun of it. If you attempt a conversion, please make sure you know what you are doing rather than risk injury.
I won’t try doing it myself, don’t worry….I know all too well that me and electronics are not the best of friends. The only thing I dislike more than being stuck by needles is being bit by electricity! Ok, in all honesty needles are worse for me, but still……
wow,I admire your good minds and good hands! Good job！
Thanks. But the stock fuse shouldn’t be necessary, correct? In the first photo on the top of this thread, is there anything important I should know of that’s being hidden by that grey duct/electrician’s tape on the lamp base’s bottom? Do you have the fuse under there?
Last question for now. Why does your Fujik paste look black in the second picture? I thought that stuff was white. Thanks a mil.
It’s the emitter or a plastic centering ring.
1 mil is a very thin thank you! 
I see it now!! The shadows where playing tricks with me. To me at first, it looked like shinny black stuff protruding out of the stock reflector hole. On closer inspection zoomed in, it’s white paste. I’m gonna order the Warm White MCE star and Fujic paste, and see if I can find a applicable wall wart. I checked around the house. Maybe radio shack will have one. Thanks so much for all of your help. I’ll be back with more questions, I’m sure.
-Graz
EDIT: I think I’m gonna use a socket to connect to the wall warts’ prongs. Is the neutral white MCE like a fluorescent light color? I’m having a tough time deciding between the warm white MCE and the neutral white MCE. What do you think?
I’m having a difficult time finding a 3V @4A wall wart or power supply or anything close to that. I’ve searched online for a few hours. At 3 Volts, 1 Amp is the highest I can find. There’re not many electronics stores in my area except for RadioShack and places like BestBuy and I highly doubt they’ll have anything if I can’t find it online. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I mean, is there a range of volts to amps in a transformer I can use for the MCE emitter without going overboard?
Still searching
-Graz
A 14:1 ratio? Almost certainly you’re getting less lux onto your work surface.
At >12w for a wall adaptor you’d probably need to find a switch mode supply. A linear supply would be pretty bulky. If you look in catalogs for supply volume vs. power output you should see a big drop off in volume for the same output power for switchers. On another thread the OP had a 60w supply and the transformer on the PC board was maybe one cubic inch. From the hifi sets I’ve taken apart, 60w in a linear supply needs maybe 8 cu. in. for the transformer.
You could use a spreadsheet to plot volume vs. power for these linears (I think they are linears) and see what to expect.
I just picked up a 3.3v 4amp wall wart the other day. Going to use it for a sst-50 lamp
It was not too expensive either $7.95 local at surplus store.
Look on ebay - maybe one of these will work
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?\_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&\_nkw=341-0008-01 &\_sacat=0&\_from=R40
Please post dims. 1.7 w/$ may be a good price, I’d have to do some comparisons.
Thanks, Gentlemen. Thanks for the info millerman. I’ll look around. What does the label on your wall wart say? Maybe it will offer a hint where to find it.
it’s a switcher, but the efficiency [100 x (3.3v x 4.6A)/(100v x 1A) = 15%] is terrible. Maybe the stated 1A input current is not 1A RMS.
The 1A input number is not a true number. It is the peak inrush startup current it can draw right after it is plugged in. If it was 15% efficient and drawing 100 watts, it would be a puddle of molten slag within minutes.
I have to agree.
I can’t tell the dims from the pic but if this supply has the same surface area as a 100w bulb then the surface would be as hot as that of the bulb. This would pose a personnel and possibly a fire hazard.
The FTC probably doesn’t mind some creative number games but it does not want a public uproar. Second degree burns makes for bad press.
I have a scope so sometime I’ll have to hook it up to a cell phone charger or my printer PS (both switchers) and a current sensing resistor and see what is really happening. The problem with trying to measure this type current with a true-RMS meter is that meters have a Crest Factor and so may understate the RMS value. 