Full LED toy home

[Maineah]

Well your results may vary I would never go back to a NiCad battery for either my power tools or my ham radios you got to stay away from those $12 batteries. One of the beauties of the Lion they can be recharged daily with no ill effects. You ever think about a gasoline or propane lantern doesn't use a lick of battery power and makes lots of light.

[Derek up North]

And some heat!

[stamar]

youre right a propane light would be perfect.

Oh ya well I use a driver and drill every day at this point.

For a impact driver the technology has gone through the roof and for that tool Id never use the old ones again. my impact driver weighs under 3 pounds.

and even more than that it goes all day on one battery. the tool itself met the lithium battery halfway and uses power more effeciently too.

Id review several power tools for you but it doesnt matter. Ill just say in terms of power usage makita is great. the other ones seem slighltly more powerful though like a ridgid or even a cheapie ryobi now is pretty powerful.

also in any lineup of impact drivers makita is always the lightest, maybe just barely but it always is.

now on the other hand I still have a dewalt xrp hammer drill for drilling through walls. It uses nimh and it sucks through a battery in maybe minutes its hilarious really. it probably weighs over 10 pounds. But for the purpose it has, were not looking for effecient we want brute so it greatly outperforms the makita drill part of the set in brute.

I dont personally use a drill for hours on anything its kind of just drill and its done, so its energy effeciency doesnt matter and I prefer my old school dewalt drill.

So anyhow I love power tools thanks for discussing them because I just made it into the modern tool world. My review is this though, impact drivers are light years ahead but if anything modern drills are crap. They need a lot of work to catch up.

[stamar]

i didnt say though that i like nicd power tools.

just nicd flashlightlights lol. I think nicd or nimh is best for a light because who cares if the battery dies?

Why use your 50$ drill batteries for an inside light is all im saying. the idea works but it needs some tuning.

btw just so my review is clear

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LCT200W-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless/dp/B000V2DSE2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1362046666&sr=8-3&keywords=makita+compact+driver+kit

very common set, the impact driver is awesome the drill is quite underwhelming. its kind of a throw in for 30$ sort of drill.

believe it or not I think all competitors to makita include a better drill. ridgid and hitachi at least.

I ended up ordering this

http://www.amazon.com/Keyless-Conversion-Adapter-Impact-Driver/dp/B0036RB9B8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1362046817&sr=8-7&keywords=chuck+adapter

to use the impact driver for a drill.

[snail powered]

i didnt say though that i like nicd power tools.

just nicd flashlightlights lol. I think nicd or nimh is best for a light because who cares if the battery dies?

Why use your 50$ drill batteries for an inside light is all im saying. the idea works but it needs some tuning.

btw just so my review is clear

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LCT200W-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless/dp/B000V2DSE2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1362046666&sr=8-3&keywords=makita+compact+driver+kit

very common set, the impact driver is awesome the drill is quite underwhelming. its kind of a throw in for 30$ sort of drill.

believe it or not I think all competitors to makita include a better drill. ridgid and hitachi at least.

I ended up ordering this

http://www.amazon.com/Keyless-Conversion-Adapter-Impact-Driver/dp/B0036RB9B8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1362046817&sr=8-7&keywords=chuck+adapter

to use the impact driver for a drill.

I bought that set for myself as a Christmas present the year they first came out. Still going strong and I use them frequently. No loss of charge capacity on the batteries so far.

[stamar]

well the lxt4 is a one generation revision of this one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Makita-Power-Tools-2-Piece-18-Volt-Cordless-Compact-Driver-Drill-LCT200W-/350730213681?pt=Drills&hash=item51a9265931

which is odds are what you got, with the silver nose. my coworkers have the old ones.

the lxt is a small improvement its slightly smaller lighter and more powerful. 1420 in lbs vs 1280 or something

I do remember when the makita lithium first came out it was so much better than anything out there about 3-4 years ago. dewalt and milwaukee were years behind... but at this point they are pretty close to caught up

And back then I was doing the same job I am now, only I was doing it with old school heavy nimh dewalt tools and I wanted these makita drills that were brand new.

so forward 3 years for some reason Im doing that job again but this time Ive got the right tools for it, Ive still got my old dewalt drill lol and I look at it and laugh and think i used to carry it up 20 foot ladders with me somehow. I honestly forget how.

I just ordered this one,

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058Q1YCO/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

its also lxt but its the brushless motor and it has a 3 speed transmission.

now the reason i went with this one is Im using it with the driverdrill chuck adapter on a driver instead of the drill, while the standard lxt 4 that came with the set is essentially the same power it only has one speed, the low speed. while a drill bit wants a higher gear.

So ive created the perfect tool for my job which uses a driver mostly and then only drills through a wall once in a great while so im drilling, with impact which gets it started. whereas someone who drills holes in stuff all day long....... none of my tools are good for that. even the makita drill cant do it.

For a real carpenter set Id also need one of these

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BHP454-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless/dp/B001EYUQM8/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1362731244&sr=1-5&keywords=makita+hammer+drill

edit heres a clearer pic of the old one and the lxt

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BTD142HW-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless/dp/B000P9CZJK/ref=sr_1_14?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1362731779&sr=1-14&keywords=makita+lxt+compact+driver+kit

Ive held them both the lxt 4 is definitely the smallest and lightest ever and its a little more powerful.

even the newer drivers makita has made, they are called the lxt 1( this one i just ordered) lxt 8 and lxt 6 in this run all weigh more

[Maineah]

Makita makes very nice drills/drivers bit pricey but good stuff. Their drill seems to win all of the tests as far as power and battery life. Ridgid is another option if you fill in the blanks when you buy it they have a life time warranty that includes the Lion batteries!

[Derek up North]

... they have a life time warranty that includes the Lion batteries!

Sounds like Costco!

[Maineah]

Sounds like Costco!

LOL I would have never known if the guys at Home Depot had not said some thing.

[stamar]

Before i got my new makita set i used a ridgid driver and drill set as a loaner.

It is decent. Its heavier than a makita and the battery life is not as good but more importantly the charger takes twice as long.

However the driver itself is good and the drill is good.

Makita has a one year warranty on the battery and ridgid has a lifetime warranty. In fact its the only power tool that does have a lifetime battery warranty. Hitachi has a lifetime tool warranty.... so does craftsman actually and ridgid is made by the same conglomerate that makes crafstman.

but only if you buy it at home depot mind you, not online.

A lifetime tool warranty is not super impressive it takes daily use to wear these things out in 5 years but the batteries often die.

A brand that is often ahead of makita and is more expensive and less discounted in the us is hylti from europe. It has a much smaller lineup of tools but its big in europe.

[stamar]

Costco carries makita and hitachi power tools. Mostly just drills last i looked.

Normally good prices and a good place to try out something.

usually a selection of just one kind.

Still not a lifetime battery warranty unless you actually return it once a year. Thats ridgids selling point.

I could have got a ridgid set i got this set at home depot. The makita is better and its only 30if bucks more.

Also i didnt buy it my boss did so the warranty isnt really going to apply. I got this as the best thing for sale retail among the brands home depot carries.

[stamar]

I ended up getting another driver liked the makita lxdt04 that comes with the set in whiite ( most makita tools are dark aqua but the into set comes in white) not really because i needed it as my other one is a few weeks old....

But because its the most useful tool ive ever had. I cant imagine working on a car or on almost any project with screws or bolts without one now.

I got the lxdt01 whiich is the same tool only it has three speeds and a brushless motor. Weighs a couple ounces more. Barely a little more powerful with a better impact hammer.

I install direct tv and verizon home fusion so i work with it all day but even excluding that its the best tool ever. I have nightmares of trying to do my job without one so i got another one.

competing brands are also amazing they are just a little bulkier and less effecient. I would be happpy with a milwaukee or ridgid or dewalt. I dont think ridgid comes witha brushless imppact driver yet but the other brands do.

any of these modern lithiumm impact drivers are amazing i dont know how i lived wiithout one.

[snail powered]

This topic has turned into a review of cordless drill motors and drivers

instead of being about LED lights? Not to say that they aren't very useful for installing new LED lighting

[JR67]

Just want to add: you wouldn't be happy with Milwaukee if you had one like mine: batteries die very quickly when not in constant use, trigger failed @ $56 before tax and it took 3 weeks to appear, so I ended up buying another drill to cover that period of time. Also the brushes wear out quickly and are not in stock, plus the chuck is on it's way out(the price of a new drill)...... So it's going straight in the scrap bin when my last battery fails or when the chuck goes. Mind you this is in Canada, the parts supply in the US and prices might be different. I would go with either high end Makita's like all carpenters have that I know or with any brand that is cheaper but has parts immediately available. Cheers!

[JR67]

The Makita's have an LED in it

[stamar]

My drills and drivers from makita all have led lights built into them. I mentioned them because I actually am going to switch from using the deep cycle for lighting completely. That's after actually replacing six interior lights to leds..

I use my drills to light my motorhome. Deep cycle ppower is really expensive even for led lights.

[stamar]

I do use my driver and drill professionally.

If I used a ridgid drill the guys I work with would make fun of me. The shop has two ridgid sets for training and a old ddwalt for something maybe an emergency.

That means it does work but its not ready for the pro tour. I personally think a liifetime warranty is for the home user, in the field if your drill broke you'd throw it away as useless weight and never get that one again.

Milwaekee is made by the same company as ridgid and craftsman its just their top brand. Its functionally as good but I don't see a lot of professionals using them so maybe I could say don't get them. No persoanl experience

[stamar]

Dewalt is also the top brand of stanley black and decker.......

I've never heard of one breaking and I have seen construction professionals use them.

Id say dewalt is very reliable but they are usually a little behind and expensive.

So big conglomerates that also make cheap stuff.

Believe it or not hitachi is the lower grade of panasonic power tools which are rare in the us but exist. They have the best battery life. Hitachi is a goood choice if you know where to shop online because they are cheap. Again heavier longer charge time than a makita

[stamar]

Dewalt btw invented the circular saw. Power tools are more than just the driver or drill. My old dewalt xrp hammer drill has been left outside in the mud for an entire year and stored outside for years and its going, its made of some tough steel. The batteries died long ago though. I have just one compact battery for it.

It will last forever its just unfortunate that the work it does is done by something that's half its weight now. So what happens first the tool breaks or it becomes obsolete?

[snail powered]

My drills and drivers from makita all have led lights built into them. I mentioned them because I actually am going to switch from using the deep cycle for lighting completely. That's after actually replacing six interior lights to leds..

I use my drills to light my motorhome. Deep cycle ppower is really expensive even for led lights.

I can see using the portable drills batteries to light the motorhome if you charge them at work on the AC power as you must be doing. But what if you are not at work? How would you be charging the batteries in the drill motors if you are not hooked to an external AC power source but are boon docking? Are you going to do it by plugging the battery chargers into your deep cycle batteries?

Just asking because I am a bit confused as earlier in this topic you posted this sentence on Feb 23

"So right now my rv doesnt really drive too much and the single solar panel isnt actually good for recharging my drill everyday and leaving the lights on."

and you posted this on Feb 27

"a drill battery apart from being very expensive is also very unreliable as one cell dies its garbage time where as nicd batteries dies slow and are replaceable seperaely for cheap.

A drill battery is designed for low weight, and normally its also designed to die fast like a peice of crap neither of whhich makes a good flashlight"

and on the same day:

Posted 27 February 2013 - 02:15 PM

oh ya for me in particular im using drill li ion batteries. I have a tablet and a cell phone too.

Ive had quite a few li ion batteries die this year I think of them as extremely expensive semi disposible things.

and you posted this on Feb 28th

"Why use your 50$ drill batteries for an inside light is all im saying."

.

Does this mean you have now changed your mind about what you previously posted less than 20 days ago? Not that you can't change your mind. But be careful about that as next thing you know you will be a politician!

[stamar]

no

my solar set up is not even fully connected yet its half unconnected, but i do not believe my solar panels can keep up with recharging two drill batteries once a day.

and the makita battery charger is pretty widely advertised as being the most energy effecient on the market. gold energy star or whatever.

I think I killed my deep cycle battery a third time trying. about to turn it in again after payday

So I will never be doing it. In fact in the field most of the guys have inverters attached to their truck batteries for charging various li ion batteries, and it consistantly leaves them stranded and needing a jump.

we have 4 or 5 l ion devices from satellite meters, gps, cell phone, etc and drills all of which need charging. but we also drive a lot.

It is a energy consuming device not rv friendly at all. only for charging while driving, if you drive your rv, or a car daily.

if you dont the amount of your solar power this task would take in a day is ridiculous. a drill battery charger is something made with a land line in mind.

in that situation my rvs own led lights are a lot smarter. I can run my engine for an hour... and probably use the lights for a week or so. still considering thats a gallon or so of gas free sounds better. My whole purpose to rving is to try to reach a bill free state.

running the engine 15-30 minutes per battery for the makita drill batteries is definitely reasonable, but if you had to do it every day.... thats a hundred bucks or more a month at least.

powering anything from your rv is extremely expensive. Rv electricity projects are 10% putting in solar, and 90% learning to power everything somewhere else.

this state of boondocking includes using candles and propane stoves ( and not using the electric/propane heater)

once you stop driving the rv stop using electricity if you dont have a generator. solar panels and some deep cycles might get you a dvd to watch every few days if you dont use the lights.

but at this point with the rv not moving too much its being lit by whatever is free.

[stamar]

btw as far as a full led motorhome im pretty much done. I dont think theres anything I didnt cover.

Im just here for helping people. boot this thread up because it will be a constant questioin new people will have.

I tried to link most of the bulbs to my signature. change all your bulbs to led for 40$ in 15 minutes. no soldering or powertools required

Im sure people will constantly want led lights for their toyhome. It doesnt have a generator and it comes with lights that use tons of power. nine interior lights i believe.

The first time they fall asleep with the lights on and their batteries are dead in the morning. Just like me there will always be new people new to a motorhome without a generator.

its a never ending fight though even after replacing all the bulbs I want to put a switch in my marker lights to turn them off for around town driving and just use externally powered battery lights indoors.

Somehow trying to live EXPENSIVE electricity free. meaning if you have solar panels and deep cycle and its sunny use some power. If you dont use none.

and nevermind all that, the worst light is the headlights anyway and they havent even invented a cost effective solution yet.

So Im not actually done until they have cheap led headlights in china somewhere.

[stamar]

lxdto4

lxdt01

essentially the same thing but better, got it for 84$ as a bare tool from amazon.

combine it with this

http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-4-Inch-Keyless-Chuck-Conversion/dp/B007TCHKXW/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1363263003&sr=1-7&keywords=chuck+adapter

and you have what I feel is a better drill than the drill that comes with the set.

lets be real what is different in a driver from a drill? well its a bit chuck to adjust to bits. a good one can be expensive as its a machined peice., and then you have a transmission of gears so you can spin at a high speed.

so the drill in the makita set it removes the impact hammer that starts a drill big off or gets the hole started like in a hard peice of wood or brick or whatever..... because youre using its specific impact driver for it.

and it has 2 speeds ( most have 3 but whatever) and then an adjustable 15 worthless speeds in between or just put it to drill and it goes as fast as it can.

but its geared to spin high for a hole thats already made yet too high to start the hole. So overall its kind of just the other tool but geared for a very rare situation as most things you dril you get through fast. and anything that holds it up needs the driver to start it up anyway with a starter bit.

well I have news for you anything that the 3 speed driver cant make it through with its hammer impact and low end grunt.... like im not sure mostly metal where youre actually heating the metal up to 400 degrees and scraping off a little at a time......

the makita drill that comes with the set isnt going to drill through it either and its not going to live through drilling something for 15 minutes its going to melt in your hand.

you are not going to drill through a concrete sidewalk with a 18 volt drill like this.... anything it doesnt make it through fast it cant handle.

for something like that you need a plug in drill or you need a real cordless hammer drill.

so if it were my dollars to spend i would buy just the driver and a chuck adapter. then find a battery and a charger on ebay or some side market.

also jr described the chuck wearing out in his drill anyway, with some custom milwaukee connection making a 10$ part cost 50 or whatever. well make the chuck a removable part it will always be 10$

makita just did it to themselves they have kind of made the newer drivers so awesome that they eliminated the need for a low end drill ever.

youve got a little hamster electric motor in these things. its amazing its so powerful its made to give it all it can and then stop and recover for a while.

[snail powered]

Now that you have completed your full LED project you might want to start a battery operated drill motor topic to make it easier for people who come to this section wanting to read info on LEDs, Just saying that it makes it easier on people when you don't hijack a topic even if you are the one who started it.

[Derek up North]

I'm way more game to intellectualize than most people but the only thing I'm looking for is direct links to bulbs to buy.

Anything else needs its own thread. This is the led toyhome thread.

LOL

[snail powered]

You missed the best bits of it Derek, loved your response when you called yourself a moderhater.

But what I don't get is if you create a topic and you are the only person who is supposed to contribute to it why not just bookmark the links in the links archive instead? That way it would be a whole lot easier on the other members of the forum not to have to put up with the griping about it when they try to contribute in the way forums topics are designed for.

Reminds me of someone who asks for your opinion and then gets mad and tells you to mind your own business if they don't like your opinion when you give it.

I feel sorry for him Derek. I think he has been having a whole lot of "senior moments" this last few months flip flopping back and forth from what he said just days previously in a number of topics in the forums. Maybe he just needs more Vitamin B12 as a shortage can cause memory loss. I don't imagine he is eating too healthy. You could tell that just by looking at those photos we saw of him.

'Stamar', on 13 Nov 2012 - 17:43, said:

Who on earth asked you your opinion ? Who asked you to moderate. I didn't


I'm working on something more direct, all the bulbs to buy for a toyhome. I created the thread for what I discovered.

I ask politely not to include your opinions and theories on electrical stuff to everyone its

counter productive,

So make another thread for whatever else, I'm very narrow and focused exclusively on bulbs for sale for the toyhome.

[stamar]

I'm pretty sure other people contributed led lights rvers might want.

I think some people got some other ones than i did but overall not that much contributed.

I actually have a makita drill battery lighting system at the moment so I direct linked it. I'm sure I stayed on topic lol. I direct linked it but I don't recoment just buying what I have for a light.

There's two major reasons the main one is the a li ion battery is actually really deep cycle and letting it discharge doesn't damage it in fact using it is good for it.

But being in the habit of using the lights everyday powered by lead acid batteries is probably going to contribute to them being below a healthy charge level. Sooner or later.

A non deep cycle light is pretty smart too. Not necessarily the ones I'm using though those are just what I have.

Your mileage may vary though.

Ive definitely struggled with just keeping my rv lit cheaply in the last six months. I don't think I'm over estimating it when I say I have an extremely energy effecient rv lighting set up at this point with 2 solar panels 2 deep cycles, six led interior lights and most exterior lights.....

I've got a whole roadmap of things to improve one at time but the led toyhome part is long since done.

Probably make a few more threads sometime in may. Both of you are invited to read and neither of you are invited to post unless you actually do something to your rv and can take a picture to prove it.

A non deep cycle powered led light like I have is nice though. I think there are so many sources of them they don't need to be listed.

Light is definitely getting cheap.

[stamar]

I will be the first to tell you that the weakest link in my set up is the battery. I've killed so many now that I think I'm going to change to golf cart batteries.

If someone has a more robust deep cycle either more batteries to absorb more abuse evenly, or just a more 'patient' battery that can live through waiting a few days to recharge... they might feel more like burning some electricity.

My set up discharging down to 50 will shorten the batteries life because it will sulfate waiting for solar panels to recharge it.

Not that any rvers is any different we are using kind of low grade fragile batteries that need to be recharged that day

But even though its all related that should be in another battery thread.

So you see the effeciency in a makita led light isn't the light. The lights in my rv are way cooler they're in different colors even. But the li ion battery

[Maineah]

stamar what are you running that takes so much power? You really need to find out why you are discharging your batteries. I takes power to make power drill batteries will light your lights but you need to charge them what happens if you quit your job or they lay you off how are you going to charge them? Take them to the neighbors house so you don't have to use your own power? Going camping on a long weekend are you going to run back home and recharge the drill batteries? Relaying on another source to charge batteries is kind of defeating the whole purpose is't it? I think it is safe to say just about every RV'er knows about LED lighting some have no use for them because they only camp at camp grounds others my self included don't often do camp grounds I have never discharged a battery to the point of killing it.I don't have a big screen in my camper that runs 15 hours a day or a 1500 watt inverter to run a microwave it is a camper not a house if you want to live in one as you would your home get a 35' class A. A little tip batteries as they discharge become resistive the bigger the battery the greater the resistance adding golf cart batteries will make them even harder to recharge charge with an under powered solar system.

[snail powered]

First thing I did when I got my Sunrader was put in half a dozen battery operated LED tap lights. I already had a big set of Nimh AA and AAA batteries and a 110 rapid, one hour charger for them. I can put half a dozen AA batteries into it. I can purchase a small solar charger to keep those batteries charged as needed.

Maineah, he is doing a lot of web surfing and you can't do that kind of surfing while sitting in a coffee shop with someone else able to glance over and see it.

[Stevo]

To avoid the complications of running wires and potential shorts later, I'm probably going to install tap to turn on and off battery powered lights too. Any downside to them over hard wired lights?

[snail powered]

To avoid the complications of running wires and potential shorts later, I'm probably going to install tap to turn on and off battery powered lights too. Any downside to them over hard wired lights?

The LED tap lights are not all that great for lighting up a large area. They are pretty much task lighting aimed in only one direction rather than a light that spreads sideways across the ceiling and room. But you might find some brands that have a wider spread reflector surrounding the bulbs. If you need a wider spread room light an LED table lantern would be a better choice for that situation. You can purchase those with battery and solar power options in the same unit. Just flip the switch to activate the solar battery or the other type of battery.

There is a wide choice in battery operated LED light units and they are easy to find in lots of stores, hardware, home center, drug stores, etc.

[Totem]

i just bought 5 of the SMD sticky panels off of Stamars signature to try out in my dodge Ram project . (1998 12 valve cummins 2500 holy grail). the trucks interior and dome lights were fried. the LEDS from this thread i had delivered very fast VERY cheap and they are VERY bright. I stuck one in the engine bay light and also in the bed topper too. great lights.

[Stevo]

Has anyone found some battery operated LEDs that put out a nice warm light?

[Nam]

The 3-AA battery operated lights with motion sensor (2 for $19) from Costco are very bright and warm. Motion activated sensors are very nice also. Battery seems to last. I got four of them (2 for my closets) and two for my Itasca.

I'll see if I can get the brand but they are abundace at Costco