I made LED lights for my display cabinets :) MyFigureCollection.net
The full size Billy shelves are very large, the setup will require a lot of parts and some calculations need to be done to estimate the type of components I need to buy. I decided to use my electrical engineering background to sketch out a setup that will work for my figure display.
For light strips, one could just buy the ones from Ikea but those are small and expensive. I can get a much more powerful set of lights for a cheaper price that fits better for my display setup dimensions. I decided to build my own.
The Lights:
I decided to go for white lights and chose 4500K as a mid range whiteness level. They look quite ‘pure’ white. Any others and it gets orangish or blue.
The light strips usually come in 5 meter or 16.4 feet rolls. The LEDs are components that can either be 3528, 5050 or 5630 sizes. There are other sizes but these are the more common ones. The bigger ones are brighter, hotter, use my power, and are more expensive. I decided to choose 5050 size LEDs. 3528 Size just don't cut it in terms of brightness and I think that's what Ikea uses. The 5630 are way too hot, I did not want to install an aluminum plate under the light strip as a heatsink, and I didn't want a huge power supply either.
The setup:
The LEDs are usually grouped into sections of 3, and you can snap these sections off with your scissor to tailor the length of the reel to your needs. For the Billy I decided I needed 8 huge light strips per cabinet for optimal even coverage. Each strip will be around 26 to 28" long.
Since I have 1/4 figures, I will use 3 shelves per cabinet, any more shelves and the height is too small. The full size Billy has the center shelf made of wood. The top and bottom half sections of the Billy cabinet will have their own shelf made of glass so light can pass through, I bought these glass shelves separately. To make the glass shelves slide in, I had to cut in half the long light strips that were mounted vertically.
Wires from the strips are connected together in groups and then brought out the back. Then at the top of the cabinet I will install the AC-DC 12V power supply and the dimmer switch. Since the Billy is tall I think the power supply will be hidden from view. The power cable from the Billy's power supply to the wall outlet will be routed hidden behind the wall and cabinet. For simplicity of the post I left out my schematics and calculations, if you do this yourself please make sure the components are able to meet the power requirements of your design or things might burn out.
The items bought: This is enough to install on 4x full size Billy cabinets with more than enough LED left over
> 16.4' Light strip reel (5050 LED at 4500K white color) - 5 reels - total $90
> 4x AC to DC 12V 250Watt power supply - 4 units - total $80
> 4x Dimmers - 4 units - total $24
> Rolls of white color 22AWG copper wires, I think I use 300 feet - $16
> White electrical tape - $2
> Duck tape - $2
> 3/8” x 3/8” x 36” wooden rods – 32 pieces = total $32
> White spray paint - $10
> Power strips (already have, they're around $8)
> Power cable wires and 3 prong connector to wall outlet (already have)
> Screws/nails - $8
Tools used: (I had these so no money spent)
Soldering iron and solder
Filtration mask
Wire stripper
Drill
Screwdriver
Scissors
My total: $264
I could buy the Ikea Dioder and spend around $250 but the setup will only be I think 20% as bright as my setup. Ikea Dioder are 10 inches long, have less powerful lights, and are $7 each. $250 budget will get me around 8 strips per Billy which is not bright enough. Without enough strips I will not be able to light up all the areas evenly which will cause dark spots in the cabinet.
My design budget above will use 864 inches (out of 984 inches available) of LEDs, for the same price I can only use 320 (32x10") inches of Ikea light strips. Additionally, my strips have 15 LEDs for every 10 inches while the Ikea Dioder has 12 LEDs for every 10 inches. And my strips will use 5050 LEDs which are 16 Lumens verses the Ikea strips which I believe use 3528 at 6 Lumens. I recommend Ikea only if money is not an issue and you want convenience of installation.
LED strip mount angle:
I bought wooden rods and white spray paint to create 90 degree mounting brackets for the LED. If the LED strip is just stuck directly onto the shelf or sides, I have found that the LED is way too bright. I have found it is better on the eyes for the light to be directed inward toward the cabinet. I thought about having the strips tilted 45 degrees inward, but since the Billy is so tall, even with 45 degrees you will see the blinding bright LEDs of the highest up and very bottom located strips. Having the LED pointed 90 degree inward will help diffuse the light, and my Billy is completely white so the whole white interior will help bounce around the white inside the cabinet, making it nice and smooth. I could have bought dedicated aluminum holders and plastic diffusers that mount on top but those are expensive and I did not want to cut aluminum as I don’t have those tools.
I bought the wooden rods at Home Depot. You can ask a guy to help cut them to the dimensions you need. The 3/8” thick rods are the same width as the LED strips so they serve perfectly as a holder.
I bought white spray paint to make the wood color like the white color of my Billy. The wood will be mounted onto the cabinet using screws. I tried hot glue but the glue eventually falls apart since the wood isn’t perfectly flat and it flexes; also the heat from the LEDs may weaken glue. I used a drill bit to make a small hole first and then screwed in the screw. If you just apply the screw directly I found it cracks the wood.
LED strip assembly:
The LED strips were cut to right lengths, then wires were soldered to connect a few pieces together, and then a long wire was used to bring the endpoint connection to the top of the cabinet where the power supply is. The LED strips had sticky adhesive behind it, I took off the film and then stuck it onto the wood rods. Then I used electrical white tape to secure the ends and cover any electrical contacts to prevent shorts.
Power Supply specs:
I bought a Dimm controller to adjust the brightness. The dimmer is something you connect between the light strips and your power supply. There is a little knob that will adjust how much power is sent to the lights.
From my calculations I chose a 100Watt dimmer and 250W power supply to power each Billy cabinet, there is a lot of overhead here to keep things safe. Each cabinet will use around 18 feet of light strips (that will be real bright!). I used a 100W power supply as a test and it got way too hot.
Wiring it all together
Each Billy will have its own power supply. I will just treat each Billy as it's own electric appliance, like a television or lamp. Each of the four Billy cabinets will have a long power cable that will plug into a power strip next to a wall outlet. 400 Watts should be easy to support from a normal wall outlet and power strip.
Installation photos
Here are some pics of me gluing on the lights and assembling things together. I tested the lights and setup before installing them to make sure they work.
The final result
Here is what they look like all mounted.
The result turned out better than I had anticipated. It's sooo bright and everything is so clear now. The heat inside the cabinet is fine even with the doors closed so the light is not dangerous. Heat right at the LED strip is warm to touch. The LEDs are quite efficient in terms of power usage.
I did research and found that LED lights emit very little UV light compared to regular bulbs or CFL bulbs. That is good for figure paint as UV degrades paint. But I will keep a watch if the LEDs do anything, which I don't think they will.
Happy collecting.
For those that want to do this themselves, remember safety first when dealing with high power electronics!
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