I have completed my LED installation above the build plate. You can find the images below. I must credit @Alex9779 for his help on this subject. The LED strip was sourced from here: https://www.wholesaleledlights.co.uk/1m-24v-single-colour-led-strip-lights-60-x-5050smd-14-4w.html The aluminium corner profiles from here: https://www.wholesaleledlights.co.uk/corner-45-led-profile-extrusion.html My patience can not be found anywhere!! It was tested and eventually lost. I struggled with a bit of the soldering but eventually just moved to the other end of the tape (I had destroyed the copper contact on the first end). The lights are wired directly into the HE2 points on the RUMBA (24v) although from what I understand there is a jumper to set it to 12v). Then in OctoPrint I have a slider and a button to set the brightness using a GCODE command. M42 P6 S%(Brightness)s Brightness being the variable - 0-255 You can of course type this straight into the terminal with M42 P6 S255 for top brightness! P6 is the point number for HE2 if you were wondering. I simply soldered the wires to the ends of the LED tape (tape was cut to 400mm) and stuck them in the profiles (cut to around 410mm) fed the cables through the nut trap cut outs, and fitted some connectors to make them detachable if needs be. Now I need to upgrade the settings in my config file for OctoPrint to get some nice 720p videos. Questions welcome. Edit: Forgot to mention that the lights are fixed in place with 3M poster tabs. They are easily removed and leave no residue. I did not fancy drilling into the acrylic. So here is an extra pic of my messy wiring. I have a nice salvaged connector that allows me to disconnect the LEDs from the main wire. The rest is just some spade connectors (that need cleaning up). I know it's not that clear but I was trying to solve an issue at the time!
I ordered the pluggable connectors that grip those tapes (look sort of like the connector that the PiCam plugs into). soooooo much easier...
I only ordered them because of a prior art project with my daughter, which involved soldering onto the strips. I suspect my daughter learned some new words that day (even as a university student...)
All seems good, but you might need to check that the connectors are not just ones that connect the strips only. They do have ones with wires attached which you can cut one end off. I have attached the image.
So finished the LED strips, 4 strips (above and below the upper brace) and all 4 in the 45 degree angle diffusers from my local electronics store here in Needham (for folks in the Boston area You-Do-It has many of the aluminum angle strip holders, but not 24v LEDs). I got a bag of the connectors for the strips (they suck as connectors, but better than soldering on the miniature strips). I haven't connected to the RUMBA yet, like @Alex9779 but am using my Lab bench supply for now (which shows I am pulling 0.47A). Anyway here it is:
@Henry feldman you seem to have some adhesion issues with the model. The arms seem to have snapped off !
Joking aside, that looks like a really good print. I presume you already pulled away the support and put it back, but even so ..
One support for the arm only, and I put it back. Printed in the Hemp Entwined 0.15@200C/45C. Love this stuff. Can't figure out how to make it not look gold in photos (in real life it is a rich speckled brown)
I am thinking to get all from aliexpress (profile, led strip and connectors with cables) but I wonder what is the best profile length.
@Henry feldman : Looks good. I'm still thinking about an extra layer of leds in my BigBox, but with the days getting longer I guess that will have to wait for half a year
The profiles are super easy to cut with a hacksaw. The whole project took under an hour. I used the 3M VHB to stick on the profiles. Super Important: When placing the left top profile, there is a screw head sticking up from the X-carriage. Make sure it has sufficient clearance. On the right my profile is flush with the edge of the frame, but on the left sticks out 2-3mm...
Oh, other point, on the lower banks of LEDs, I set the left side as far back as possible so it's not in the picture, while the right side is as far forward as possible behind the bars, since that is behind the camera...
Saws can also be purchased. It's not a controlled item. It will cost significantly less than the LED lighting.
