Daughter wants me to make one of these for my Grandsons bedroom. The ceiling already has the light fittings that I need, (MR16) also the 12v transformer (Which is in the loft) I will only be using two of the existing fittings, which both come off the same transformer. This is it But I want to use LED bulbs instead of halogen. I understand I can swap for LED as long as the combined equivalent power doesn’t exceed the output of the transformer, which is 65va. Am I correct? Also, I would like to hide the fittings that are usually pushed up into the ceiling, by enclosing them in a box, fitted above the skateboard, and flush with the ceiling. Do I need vents, or is there no heat from LED’s? Cheers Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
LEDs are very low power and give off almost no heat. They are available as replacements for many spot bulb types & voltages. If you want to make it even cooler than a skateboard light already is, you can get multicolour LEDs that come with a remote control Something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HF91KNQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jX59Eb1T28B5T
You might have the opposite problem - the transformer might not like the low power of the LED's and start flickering. I made one of those skateboard lights a few years ago and used a 230v fitting then swapped the 4 x GU10 50w bulbs for LED's, with no transformer/driver needed.
I also swapped out all my 12V lights for 240V ones. The transformers are inevitably cheap cr*p and don't last 2 minutes. You are better off buying a couple of GU10 fittings tbh. You can get remote controlled GU10 bulbs as well
Just get 12volt AC compatible LED fittings. Then you dont have the safety issues of fitting 240 volt lights. But some CHEAPER LEDs just have resistors and diodes. Which if they are really DC lamps will flicker like crazy. Better, more expensive lamps have buit in rectifer bridges, capacitors and regulators. These dont flicker. They will also have voltage ratings like 9 to 24 volts instead of 12 volts. And they dont get as hot because they arent full of resistors. Just like with buses and spares. Cheap out and get Chinese Junk. But sadly on eBay its full of chancers selling the same junk at twice the price. I have recently bought some components off eBay. First I bought the cheapest. They were 35p each and junk. So I bought some for 75p each.. they were the same. Went to Farnell and bought the genuine item for 200p each.. Which in the total cost of my bus project is less than 0.01% of what it has cost me. As an idea..there are some light fittings like those I fitted in my bus that are 11mm thick. You could glue them to a skateboard without making holes in it... mine were obviously 12 volt DC , full of resistors, get warm but were cheap.
Before you start, make sure you're not drilling holes in a vintage deck. Could be worth decent money. Get a No Fear one for a quid instead.
I've just seen where you are based - if you come across an original Alan Williams Longboard I'll give a fiver for it.........cash............
