@TBoneZeOriginal Bought them last time and it is now time for more in my choice of color or lack thereof Great work lamps and now I can put them in the other places they belong so I don’t have to carry mine around all the time.
@TBoneZeOriginal I bought them last time, and love the intense [but adjustable] bright pure WHITE light they emit, and the extra USB charging port was a welcome +1. So I got more this time to put into our newly renovated nursing station.
I gots ta take of my nurses- or my SWMBO [also an RN] will kick my tail, [plus they’re my buds and we work so well together].
Do NOT hesitate- they be great!
PA
@kadagan A note about the quality of the output of that 1 Amp USB port from my testing last time:
The USB port is nothing pretty, electronic-wise. With zero load it is over-outage, about 5.25 volts. Put a 1 amp draw on it and it goes under-voltage, about 4.9 volts. (Edit: Sample size: 2 lamps)
@narfcake oops on the first part of that two AM daze comment. Shouldn’t be posting at that time. Our middle school science teacher imprinted P=IV in our minds of mush. And took points off for skipping or using the incorrect units.
I got these in May. Friday was the first time I used one. I needed a nice bright light while replacing a cracked tablet screen. This worked well. I will take one of these to work for use in close-up jobs on my bench.
Got these last time for the wife to use on her bedside table to read. They are VERY bright even on the lowest setting, it was like a supernova in there
Here a picture of the bottom, which solves many of life’s mysteries:
Gaze upon it, and see a vast field of opportunities open before you, unlocked by the information contained therein.
For example, the USB output is 1A. The “WT” in the model number refers to the color, not watts (seriously though, you thought this thing ate 40 watts?).
And we find evidence of other colors… vivid orange, bright yellow, and dainty pink. Will Meh ever let us have those? Probably not.
@gustador Cool thought about not needing the wall wort adapters since we wire directly to the 12 volt DC fuse panel in the battery box (via a connector)…
We live near lots of automotive R&D stuff. That means we know engineers who throw out various interesting assemblies after testing.
Our son recently asked me, “do we have any 12 volt power adapters so I can mount my tail light on the wall and light it up?”
Hmmm, I just might have one or two in the surplus adapter box…
@kadagan I’ll admit, while the name sounded familiar, I had no clue who Alton Brown was until I Googled him. Cut the cord over 20 years ago. He sounds like a character.
Bought these last time and they are decent lamps. Consider the low power USB port a bonus. I did have a packaging issue though. They are packaged with nothing separating the lampshade from the base, so all mine arrived with scratches on the base. I was not happy but mom and sis did not care and love the lamps.
Got them last time at the Mehrathon, love them. Settings are bright, really bright and wtf. USB charger is handy for most non-demanding charging. Clicked the meh button anyway.
These are great lamps, I wouldn’t care if they had no USB port but it works for a slow charge as another player said. They have a very small footprint and give out a nice bright light without glare, since the flexible neck can be adjusted however you need it. I have one on my desk at home, and took the other one to work. Not exactly sure what I’ll do with these, but I think one will go to my husband’s work bench.
Put me down as another satisfied user. I bought a pair before, put one into immediate use as a very satisfactory bedside lamp. Just opened the other one last week when I had to repair a laptop, excellent work light.
I bought these the last time to use as lights on the bedside tables and love them. In for another 2. Light is great and the usb charger works fine for what I need.
Like most others I picked up a set in May as well, they seem to have worked out really well on both my nightstand in the bedroom so I’m in for a set of white and blue ones to go along with my black set, yeh I’ve got a trifecta going on now…
Has anyone used these in an art installation? I’m thinking about it but my brain isn’t working with me today to come up with a plan. It would likely go in my living room.
@RedOak How do you have them wired up? Right now, just to check it out, I’ve got it hooked up to my inverter in the truck, but is yours wired right up inside the base to 12v? I took it apart, and I’m thinking if I can run 12v right to the lighthead I’ll just plop it on a toggle switch, put the lighthead and arm into a trim panel, and I’ll be happy as pie!
@fuzzmanmatt our future use case might include mounting the base to the wall of the small off-grid (solar) cabin we are designing. That might very well include opening up the base to hard wire them into the solar setup.
In the meantime we use them with our solar battery box setup (Deep cycle RV battery, solar charge controller, 120 VAC smart battery charger for pre-camping trips, and of course solar panels) when camping at our rural property. In the current setup we simply cut the provided wall wart power cord, tested polarity with a DVOM to assure we had the polarity of the wires correctly identified, and hooked the lamp side half of the cable to a standard 12 VDC cigarette plug. We threw the wall wart side of the cut into our misc wall wart parts box (actually, we plan to use one of the warts to power a free-standing vehicle tail light assembly my son is playing around with). Our battery box has cigarette plug ports on it.
@RedOak hrmm… Well, I have a long weekend ahead of me, with no plans tomorrow, so I just might try and burn myself!
My first thought was the same, to cut the cord, but add some Anderson power pole connectors, then I could run it off anything, but once I actually got my hands on it and realized how large the base is, it’s going to be hard to plop the lamp onto something with 3M tape, or screw it down into a panel. I’ll have to play around with it. I wonder where my multimeter is…
Those are interesting but two separate and loose connectors is not really a convenient substitute for a single cigarette plug. I don’t like cigarette plugs (they can be loose and wobbly) but until I find a similarly convenient single plug alternative, we’re sticking with it, even in our cabin power receptacle plans.
I am tempted by the connectors used by NOCO (our excellent smart battery charger), but they’re a bit stiff for quick use.
@RedOak So, I ripped into it today, and sure as heck it’ll run off 12v direct. It’s bright! It wouldn’t be hard at all to just add a cigarette connector and run with it with the base, but for what I want, bright is fine, and having a direct wire switch works way better. I’m stoked, regular 12v work lights cost a lot more for anything near as bright as this.
@RedOak These look slick: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:695374
Xt60 connectors are a standard in RC gear and rated for 60 amps. This panel mount and plug gripper set would make them quicker and slick on a built in setup. And you could always make a cigarette lighter male to xt60 female pigtail for interoperability/portability.
Hit the contacts with some graphite and they are usually pretty easy (This may help your noco connector as well).
@djslack How would I wire three of the light parts up under my kitchen cabinets? Perhaps two in a series on one side and one all by itself on the other side of the range? I’m envisioning the light part affixed up underneath with the power wall wart back behind something and the base switch perhaps up under the cabinet as well where it would be out of sight but still could be tapped?
@therealjrn With DC wiring and the connectors i mentioned, or just in general?
I mentioned the connectors as a way to replicate the wall outlet experience in a 12V DC system like a camper or off grid cabin, where various accessories could be plugged in wherever an outlet is present. Since you mention wall warts and kitchen cabinets, I’m going to assume you mean in general.
Note: I’m not addressing code here; that compliance is left up to you. All wiring past the transformer is low voltage wiring and while that’s not usually dangerous, it’s still worth planning for safety.
You’ll not want to wire anything in series, or you won’t get expected voltage. Power is always supplied on a parallel circuit.
I assume you want to use one 12V transformer/power supply to power all three lamps. Make sure you use one that is rated to supply enough power for all three. (If you’re eliminating the usb power outlets you can subtract their needs, roughly 420mA each at 12V not accounting for inefficiencies in the voltage converters. A 12V 2A supply should be sufficient for three lamps with no usb). Wire to your lamps and tie all the positives together and all the negatives together. This can be done with solder and heatshrink or with terminal strips and appropriate connectors.
Your switch would go in the positive line between the transformer and the junction with all the lamps. You would wire to the 12V power input on the lamp circuit board. I don’t have these to know what can be eliminated from the lamp itself. If 12V is fed into the lamp head you can wire straight to them. (The puck lights Meh has sold before would be easier to use for this type of setup).
To protect against short circuits you should install fuses in the positive leg of the wiring. Safest would be a fuse in the run to each lamp, as close to the source of power as possible. You could probably use just one in the positive run from the transformer feeding all three lamps and be okay. Or you could rely on the transformer to fail (or blow an internal fuse if it exists) if there’s a short - it’s unlikely to be able to supply enough current to ignite the wiring (unlike a system powered by large batteries where this could easily happen).
I haven’t tested the failure modes of wall warts to see how they handle a short, but I’d err on the side of caution with an installation on flammable wood structures in my home. The maximum amperage of the fuse is dictated by the amount of current the wire can handle safely. This can be googled for the wire gauge and run length you’re using.
There aren’t normally fuses between the transformer and the DC plug but you also don’t normally hack up the wiring; it’s one manufactured unit from end to end.
I’m reaching back in my memory to Jr.High science club to remember the proper terms.
From your advice, what I kind of have in mind then, would be to dismantle each lamp, each plugged into their respective wall warts on a fused power strip behind the refrigerator. Maybe mount the nastily-stained switches somewhere unobtrusively (up under the cabinets next to each light too?) and extend the wiring for the light part as needed. Or, if the switch is going up under the cabinet next to each light, then extend the power supply wiring?
I think that would stay true to the design and mitigate the need for inline fuses?
@therealjrn Depends what you’re going for and what’s inside the lamp.
If i wanted one switch to control all three at once, and the lamp feeds unadulterated 12v to the head, then the head is all I’d use. Maybe the gooseneck if you wanted positionable lights and could mount them.
Wire + back to a central switch and - to a junction next to that switch from each, and feed that with a wall wart. I’d prefer to fuse the dc side, as a short circuited 12v line may not draw enough power to trip your fused power strip but draw enough to heat up a thin wire to the point of ignition. A 2 amp fuse on a 12V 2a power supply should be sufficient to protect 22 gauge or better stranded wire and power three lamp heads and is cheap insurance in a setup like this.
You could use the switch from one of the lamps or get one from an automotive store. A prefab inline fuse holder and 2A fuse would also be available in the same place.
It might be far easier to paint these ugly lamps and get some dc puck lights, but if you’re determined to repurpose these it can be done and could be a fun project.
@fuzzmanmatt Thanks for the innards photos - very helpful. Did you find that you had to destroy the soft bottom foam to gain access?
We intend to leave the base as unmolested as possible. The idea is to either use the lamp on a small shelf over our bunks or perhaps capture the base in a vertically mounted custom set of slides, leaving the touch function accessible.
We don’t want to permanently mount (or hard wire) them since we have no idea how durable they are. But now we have backups!
@djslack Those XT60 connectors look interesting, more compact, and more reliable than cigarette lighter plugs (can you believe in this day of shrinking smoker population, a suitable replacement has not been implemented???).
However, they seem to be implemented for cord to cord or cord to PC board connections.
We need to have suitable wall mounted receptacles, similar to the NOCO connectors shown above, but without built in battery gauges.
@therealjrn While the desire to hack these desk lamps into under cabinet lights is admirable, under cabinet lights designed for that purpose are myriad and inexpensive.
And there is the problem of assuring you have a wall wart of suitable capacity to run several of these desk lamps as @djslack mentions. And, if you are not fully comfortable with hacking electrical components, the risk of a fire hazard.
@djslack 'Not a fan of cobbled solutions for a durable, repeated use situation. A holder for a connector designed for cable to cable is a cobble.
Cigarette lighter plugs and receptacles, while inefficiently large, are at least pretty durable and easy to engage single-handedly with minimal fear of pulling the wires out of the connector.
@RedOak I missed quite the conversation today! Yeah, the foam was easy to get off, one piece, just some basic adhesive, and four screws holding the metal base on. I’ve got my switch all wired up, but i messed up and should have mounted the lamp before finishing the wiring, now it’s too big to fit through the hole I drilled.
I just received a pair of black ones (8/28/17) and very disappointed in the condition they arrived in. The top of both bases are scratched and have stains. Kind of look like cum stains to me. Poor packaging that allows the light at the top of the neck to touch the base while Fed-X treats the package like it was eggs…right. I tried and the scratches and stains are not going away. I don’t even know if the damn things work.
@therealjrn@Spyder63 I bought a pair of black ones. The first one I opened was almost perfect; just a minor scuff where the head rubbed on the base. The other is still in the box at work, but I’m hopeful.
@ConAndLibrarian I just received an email from Meh CS - Jaclyn replied:
"Thanks for the photos J.
We can offer you a 10% refund for the cosmetic damage to these lamps."
I told her to keep the $1.50 and donate it to the people in Houston and Beumont, TX. I am done buying from Meh. This is the 2nd time they screwed me over.
@Spyder63 So you’re mad they offered a partial refund that was only $1.50? Seems to me the problem was the lamp wasn’t more expensive in the first place. That way, a 10% refund would have been larger!
Amazon is lots better about returns/refunds. I highly recommend shopping there.
/image later skater animated gif
@therealjrn I’ll bet the stains are there but he/she just can’t see them as easily. I received a reply from Meh CS, but no solution yet. I sent pictures.
@Spyder63 Looked it over closely and I don’t see anything nasty. Checked the other one as well and nothing. I ordered another white set via Morningsave so we shall see if they are clean too.
Sorry for the people who got lights that were stained because these are nice lights.l
I got the black ones, what I think others are calling ‘stains’ are really air bubbles or scratches.
I thought there was a scratch guard, but it appears that it’s the actual top surface, a thin plastic layer, I have no idea if it’s part of the ‘touch’ sensor mechanism.
The 2nd one only has impact hits, no air bubbles.
I hope they have invested in 1 extra piece of cardboard to keep this from happening again… but I did notice one review at amazon that had the same damage so maybe not.
The light is bright and highly aimable with no bleed-through from behind, great for project lighting.
It would appear the amateur packaging designer (the very common scratches on the top front of the base due to the front edge of the lamp head rubbing on it during shipping) at IVY might be one of the reasons Meh ended up with a truck load of these lamps.
I ordered a second set this round, fully realizing their bases might also have scratches (they do). I don’t like the scratches, but two of ours will put to a less visually critical use (camping).
Given the problem the first time these were sold, it might have been a good idea if Meh had done some good 'ol poking at itself for the second round by acknowledging the base scratches are common, but “you’re getting them cheap, so shut up”.
@RedOak Um…there are scratches, and then there are “blobs” or “bubbles” of some sort. It looks to me to be some sort of manufacturing error, perhaps when the on/off symbol was added…
It looks pretty gross…I wouldn’t want to put these in the guest room. I had plans to use them there, but they simply are not presentable.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don’t consider $15 (+$5 shipping $10 each!) to be all that cheap. Oh well. I’m going to try some bar-keeper’s friend or bon-ami on them…mehbe paint?
with the flaw and the shipping they should price them at $10 for 2 to be honest… but they perform pretty well (light output) for $7.50 compared to most of the $9.99 ones at target and wally world.
@therealjrn I thought I had some luck moving the bubbles with a big microfiber cloth, I have been aiming them at the power symbol on the touch area, but I just went back and looked and they are back. I think the air bubbles are also part of the light hitting the the base in shipping… but it could be a mfg defect.
None of our 4 have bubbles. They all do have varying degrees of scratches where the front edge of the head rubbed them during shipping, handling.
Either a piece of cardboard - or a wider slot in the cardboard insert so the goose neck radius could be increased, thus pulling the head away from the base.
Specs
What’s in the Box?
2x Lamps
Pictures
Options
Black
White
Blue
Folded
Charging
LEDs
Base
Price Comparison
$25.94 (for 2) at Amazon
Warranty
90 Day Manufacturer
Estimated Delivery
Monday, July 13th - Thursday, July 16th
Twofer Sunday? No purple?
Meh’s way of saying, “lighten up.”
@heartbleed You misspelled that. Should be lughten up
@squishybrain Aw dang
@squishybrain Gah! You corrected your original typo. Question is, should I delete my post or leave as is, a symbol of a joke-gone-wrong?
@squishybrain Leave it, as a reminder to myself that “even if you fix your mistakes on the internet, it’ll still be forever.”
I bought these past time and absolutely love them! Tempted to buy more, but I don’t have four desks.
@TBoneZeOriginal I bought these for my boys and they like them for desk work.
If you are thinking of buying don’t hesitate, illuminate!
@TBoneZeOriginal Bought them last time and it is now time for more in my choice of color or lack thereof
Great work lamps and now I can put them in the other places they belong so I don’t have to carry mine around all the time.
@gustador
ILLUMINATE!
@TBoneZeOriginal I bought them last time, and love the intense [but adjustable] bright pure WHITE light they emit, and the extra USB charging port was a welcome +1. So I got more this time to put into our newly renovated nursing station.
I gots ta take of my nurses- or my SWMBO [also an RN] will kick my tail, [plus they’re my buds and we work so well together].
Do NOT hesitate- they be great!
PA
Still no toner?
/giphy stop
The most important spec is missing. How many Amps can those output ports put out? 1A, 2A, 2.1A, 2.4A?
@cengland0 I’m not positive but assume 1 amp
@cengland0 From an amazon Q&A:
“It says DC5V. 1000mA”
Meh to that output.
@cengland0
http://www.twlighting.com/pdf/IVY-LED.pdf
says maximum 5W even thought it also says USB-3
@duodec 5W at 5V would mean 1A
@cengland0 On the Amazon page for the lamp:
Question:
How many amps is the USB charging port?
Answer:
It has a USB 3.0 port, which can support up to 5A. Depending on what you are charging.
By amalgamated industries SELLER on May 9, 2017
ANSWER:
It says DC5V. 1000mA
By Elaine Heiser on May 10, 2017
MY COMMENT: ONE amp at 5v is somewhat inadequate to power and charge newer smart phones and tablets.
May be a deal breaker for me.
@iwilsker It’s really just intended for recharging all the Bluetooth speakers you buy at meh.
What is the output amperage of the USB port? If it’s 1.5 amp or more I’m interested… less and I don’t care for it so much…
@kadagan The Amazon link says up to 5 amps USB 3.0
@sammydog01 awesome, thanks!!
I hope you’re doing well
@kadagan Lat time we sold this people who researched it said 1A / 5V
@sammydog01 Not sure how much faith I would put into that when it was a reply to a question and not listed in the spec area.
@sammydog01 That has to be wrong. Read the other answer included with that question.
@4771cu5 That was the answer from the seller, but they might have been lying. Or they don’t know their amps from their volts.
@sammydog01 They meant wattage. 5W at 5V = 1A.
Hi @kadagan! People are giving me a ton of shit for reporting stuff in an Amazon post but other than that I’m pretty good!
@sammydog01 The power supply (looking at it right now) is 12W max, so it can’t possibly be more than 2.4A.
EDIT: the bottom of the lamp says 1A @ 5V.
@awk Agreed and confirmed:
@kadagan A note about the quality of the output of that 1 Amp USB port from my testing last time:
Still, these are pretty handy lamps.
@RedOak That’s totally fine, USB spec allows 4.4V to 5.25V. High quality regulation not necessary.
@awk I’d be happier with tighter performance since all of our USB chargers except one have tighter performance.
CCT: 4000K ? No thanks. Everything I have is 2700K so anything but that stands out as wrong.
Any info on the USB charger port?
@Malus answered on the comments above
@Malus @iwilsker
http://www.twlighting.com/pdf/IVY-LED.pdf
@duodec Unless Meh is selling a different version from last time, this does not have a 5 watt port.
See the USB 1 amp photo from the bottom of the lamp.
@RedOak
Watts = volts x amps.
Watts = 5V x 1A.
Watts = 5.
@narfcake oops on the first part of that two AM daze comment. Shouldn’t be posting at that time.
Our middle school science teacher imprinted P=IV in our minds of mush. And took points off for skipping or using the incorrect units.
Agree with others that the charger output is of extreme importance.
So what is the charger output?
@iwilsker assume 1A
@iwilsker answered above
I got these in May. Friday was the first time I used one. I needed a nice bright light while replacing a cracked tablet screen. This worked well. I will take one of these to work for use in close-up jobs on my bench.
Bought these last time. They are good. The touch sensitive controls are quite sensitive, responding to even a cat’s paw. Believe me.
I don’t know the USB charge output, sorry, but one of them happily charges my phone to 100% while I sleep.
Charging current is a mystery. I went to product page, but the manual PDF is unavailable. The amazon page says USB is for accessories like …lap-tops
I still have mine in the box from last time, I should open those…
Oh, I really like these! Picked up a pair during the Meh-rathon, they are really convenient bedside lamps. I might need two more…
Got these last time for the wife to use on her bedside table to read. They are VERY bright even on the lowest setting, it was like a supernova in there
@mchamden1
Will not arrive in time for the eclipse.
meh
/giphy funky-gripping-gnome
@AdmiralDave Got a blue pair, which hasn’t happened since my 20s.
@AdmiralDave
I saw what you did there!
Here a picture of the bottom, which solves many of life’s mysteries:
Gaze upon it, and see a vast field of opportunities open before you, unlocked by the information contained therein.
For example, the USB output is 1A. The “WT” in the model number refers to the color, not watts (seriously though, you thought this thing ate 40 watts?).
And we find evidence of other colors… vivid orange, bright yellow, and dainty pink. Will Meh ever let us have those? Probably not.
@awk Interesting - mine were made (stamped) 2017.3.10.
@awk …and [I think] GY should stand for gray- my go to color.
Someone bought these last time and was going to use in their 12vdc cabin.
Any update?
@gustador That might have been me. Gotta build that off grid cabin first.
But they work fine off our custom built solar-battery box, running 12 volts DC when tent-camping.
@gustador Cool thought about not needing the wall wort adapters since we wire directly to the 12 volt DC fuse panel in the battery box (via a connector)…
We live near lots of automotive R&D stuff. That means we know engineers who throw out various interesting assemblies after testing.
Our son recently asked me, “do we have any 12 volt power adapters so I can mount my tail light on the wall and light it up?”
Hmmm, I just might have one or two in the surplus adapter box…
@RedOak I like his use of a post it.
@RedOak is your son Alton Brown? This looks just like his post-it notes on Twitter… lol
@kadagan I’ll admit, while the name sounded familiar, I had no clue who Alton Brown was until I Googled him. Cut the cord over 20 years ago. He sounds like a character.
Grabbed two last time, in black. Daughter prefers white, Meh as well have two in white. I have enough USB chargers, the light itself is great!
Also got these last time. Very happy. Light is bright, USB charger is a bonus. As mentioned above, extremely touch sensitive.
Didn’t notice it said above, but Meh is selling these at the same price as last time.
Very tempted to pick up another pair of them.
Did so. indigo-acceptable-jaguar
Should I have ordered blue instead of black again?
Love the pair I got as well. Good little lamps.
Bought these last time and they are decent lamps. Consider the low power USB port a bonus. I did have a packaging issue though. They are packaged with nothing separating the lampshade from the base, so all mine arrived with scratches on the base. I was not happy but mom and sis did not care and love the lamps.
Bought these last time too. They work better as lamps than as charging stations. The ports are too shallow so the cable tends to slip out.
@SweatGuruLyle That’s what she said
Got Friday’s email a few minutes ago. I think Meh is just trolling me now.
/giphy ungracious-overactive-cobra
I have a pair. They’re great. 3 settings, and the brightest is very bright. Nice to have the USB charging dealy too.
I have a pair…
but no lamps…
Oh.
Got them last time at the Mehrathon, love them. Settings are bright, really bright and wtf. USB charger is handy for most non-demanding charging. Clicked the meh button anyway.
Hmmm … queasy costly pickle. Is this foreshadowing ?
I think this will be a nice add on gift.
They all have marks on top of the base from how they are packaged.
Five o’clock world by the Vogues should be part of this playlist. Because it’s one of my favorite upbeat songs.
/youtube Julian cope five o’clock world
These are great lamps, I wouldn’t care if they had no USB port but it works for a slow charge as another player said. They have a very small footprint and give out a nice bright light without glare, since the flexible neck can be adjusted however you need it. I have one on my desk at home, and took the other one to work. Not exactly sure what I’ll do with these, but I think one will go to my husband’s work bench.
Put me down as another satisfied user. I bought a pair before, put one into immediate use as a very satisfactory bedside lamp. Just opened the other one last week when I had to repair a laptop, excellent work light.
Passed it up the 1st time, was broke the second. Regretted both. Just what will improve my nightstands.
I bought these the last time to use as lights on the bedside tables and love them. In for another 2. Light is great and the usb charger works fine for what I need.
Like most others I picked up a set in May as well, they seem to have worked out really well on both my nightstand in the bedroom so I’m in for a set of white and blue ones to go along with my black set, yeh I’ve got a trifecta going on now…
Let’s see if I am in favor with the giphy gods today.
/giphy murderous-clingy-almond
Ok that was dumb.
Has anyone used these in an art installation? I’m thinking about it but my brain isn’t working with me today to come up with a plan. It would likely go in my living room.
/giphy brawny-rocking-meal
The promise of using these in the car is high enough to justify the couple of bucks.
@fuzzmanmatt You read that these aren’t powered by USB, right?
@sammydog01 Yup. Wall wart that puta out 12v, so perfect for the car. Well, after some soldering, anyway.
@fuzzmanmatt Cool.
@fuzzmanmatt The work great directly off 12 volts DC.
@RedOak How do you have them wired up? Right now, just to check it out, I’ve got it hooked up to my inverter in the truck, but is yours wired right up inside the base to 12v? I took it apart, and I’m thinking if I can run 12v right to the lighthead I’ll just plop it on a toggle switch, put the lighthead and arm into a trim panel, and I’ll be happy as pie!
@fuzzmanmatt our future use case might include mounting the base to the wall of the small off-grid (solar) cabin we are designing. That might very well include opening up the base to hard wire them into the solar setup.
In the meantime we use them with our solar battery box setup (Deep cycle RV battery, solar charge controller, 120 VAC smart battery charger for pre-camping trips, and of course solar panels) when camping at our rural property. In the current setup we simply cut the provided wall wart power cord, tested polarity with a DVOM to assure we had the polarity of the wires correctly identified, and hooked the lamp side half of the cable to a standard 12 VDC cigarette plug. We threw the wall wart side of the cut into our misc wall wart parts box (actually, we plan to use one of the warts to power a free-standing vehicle tail light assembly my son is playing around with). Our battery box has cigarette plug ports on it.
@RedOak hrmm… Well, I have a long weekend ahead of me, with no plans tomorrow, so I just might try and burn myself!
My first thought was the same, to cut the cord, but add some Anderson power pole connectors, then I could run it off anything, but once I actually got my hands on it and realized how large the base is, it’s going to be hard to plop the lamp onto something with 3M tape, or screw it down into a panel. I’ll have to play around with it. I wonder where my multimeter is…
@fuzzmanmatt
Those are interesting but two separate and loose connectors is not really a convenient substitute for a single cigarette plug. I don’t like cigarette plugs (they can be loose and wobbly) but until I find a similarly convenient single plug alternative, we’re sticking with it, even in our cabin power receptacle plans.
I am tempted by the connectors used by NOCO (our excellent smart battery charger), but they’re a bit stiff for quick use.
@RedOak So, I ripped into it today, and sure as heck it’ll run off 12v direct. It’s bright! It wouldn’t be hard at all to just add a cigarette connector and run with it with the base, but for what I want, bright is fine, and having a direct wire switch works way better. I’m stoked, regular 12v work lights cost a lot more for anything near as bright as this.
@RedOak These look slick: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:695374
Xt60 connectors are a standard in RC gear and rated for 60 amps. This panel mount and plug gripper set would make them quicker and slick on a built in setup. And you could always make a cigarette lighter male to xt60 female pigtail for interoperability/portability.
Hit the contacts with some graphite and they are usually pretty easy (This may help your noco connector as well).
@djslack How would I wire three of the light parts up under my kitchen cabinets? Perhaps two in a series on one side and one all by itself on the other side of the range? I’m envisioning the light part affixed up underneath with the power wall wart back behind something and the base switch perhaps up under the cabinet as well where it would be out of sight but still could be tapped?
@therealjrn With DC wiring and the connectors i mentioned, or just in general?
I mentioned the connectors as a way to replicate the wall outlet experience in a 12V DC system like a camper or off grid cabin, where various accessories could be plugged in wherever an outlet is present. Since you mention wall warts and kitchen cabinets, I’m going to assume you mean in general.
Note: I’m not addressing code here; that compliance is left up to you. All wiring past the transformer is low voltage wiring and while that’s not usually dangerous, it’s still worth planning for safety.
You’ll not want to wire anything in series, or you won’t get expected voltage. Power is always supplied on a parallel circuit.
I assume you want to use one 12V transformer/power supply to power all three lamps. Make sure you use one that is rated to supply enough power for all three. (If you’re eliminating the usb power outlets you can subtract their needs, roughly 420mA each at 12V not accounting for inefficiencies in the voltage converters. A 12V 2A supply should be sufficient for three lamps with no usb). Wire to your lamps and tie all the positives together and all the negatives together. This can be done with solder and heatshrink or with terminal strips and appropriate connectors.
Your switch would go in the positive line between the transformer and the junction with all the lamps. You would wire to the 12V power input on the lamp circuit board. I don’t have these to know what can be eliminated from the lamp itself. If 12V is fed into the lamp head you can wire straight to them. (The puck lights Meh has sold before would be easier to use for this type of setup).
To protect against short circuits you should install fuses in the positive leg of the wiring. Safest would be a fuse in the run to each lamp, as close to the source of power as possible. You could probably use just one in the positive run from the transformer feeding all three lamps and be okay. Or you could rely on the transformer to fail (or blow an internal fuse if it exists) if there’s a short - it’s unlikely to be able to supply enough current to ignite the wiring (unlike a system powered by large batteries where this could easily happen).
I haven’t tested the failure modes of wall warts to see how they handle a short, but I’d err on the side of caution with an installation on flammable wood structures in my home. The maximum amperage of the fuse is dictated by the amount of current the wire can handle safely. This can be googled for the wire gauge and run length you’re using.
There aren’t normally fuses between the transformer and the DC plug but you also don’t normally hack up the wiring; it’s one manufactured unit from end to end.
@djslack Yeah, I meant in general, thank you!
I’m reaching back in my memory to Jr.High science club to remember the proper terms.
From your advice, what I kind of have in mind then, would be to dismantle each lamp, each plugged into their respective wall warts on a fused power strip behind the refrigerator. Maybe mount the nastily-stained switches somewhere unobtrusively (up under the cabinets next to each light too?) and extend the wiring for the light part as needed. Or, if the switch is going up under the cabinet next to each light, then extend the power supply wiring?
I think that would stay true to the design and mitigate the need for inline fuses?
@therealjrn Depends what you’re going for and what’s inside the lamp.
If i wanted one switch to control all three at once, and the lamp feeds unadulterated 12v to the head, then the head is all I’d use. Maybe the gooseneck if you wanted positionable lights and could mount them.
Wire + back to a central switch and - to a junction next to that switch from each, and feed that with a wall wart. I’d prefer to fuse the dc side, as a short circuited 12v line may not draw enough power to trip your fused power strip but draw enough to heat up a thin wire to the point of ignition. A 2 amp fuse on a 12V 2a power supply should be sufficient to protect 22 gauge or better stranded wire and power three lamp heads and is cheap insurance in a setup like this.
You could use the switch from one of the lamps or get one from an automotive store. A prefab inline fuse holder and 2A fuse would also be available in the same place.
It might be far easier to paint these ugly lamps and get some dc puck lights, but if you’re determined to repurpose these it can be done and could be a fun project.
@fuzzmanmatt Thanks for the innards photos - very helpful. Did you find that you had to destroy the soft bottom foam to gain access?
We intend to leave the base as unmolested as possible. The idea is to either use the lamp on a small shelf over our bunks or perhaps capture the base in a vertically mounted custom set of slides, leaving the touch function accessible.
We don’t want to permanently mount (or hard wire) them since we have no idea how durable they are. But now we have backups!
Agreed, they are amazingly bright!
@djslack Those XT60 connectors look interesting, more compact, and more reliable than cigarette lighter plugs (can you believe in this day of shrinking smoker population, a suitable replacement has not been implemented???).
However, they seem to be implemented for cord to cord or cord to PC board connections.
We need to have suitable wall mounted receptacles, similar to the NOCO connectors shown above, but without built in battery gauges.
@therealjrn While the desire to hack these desk lamps into under cabinet lights is admirable, under cabinet lights designed for that purpose are myriad and inexpensive.
And there is the problem of assuring you have a wall wart of suitable capacity to run several of these desk lamps as @djslack mentions. And, if you are not fully comfortable with hacking electrical components, the risk of a fire hazard.
@RedOak The panel mount linked on thingiverse is a solution for the receptacle problem. There are also ready built panel mounts available for purchase:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/xt60-panel-mounting-kit.html appears to include the connector
https://m.banggood.com/Nylon-XT60-Connector-Panel-Mounting-Kit-for-RC-Model-p-1188351.html appears not to.
@RedOak if you do experiment with xt60 connectors, some tips:
@djslack 'Not a fan of cobbled solutions for a durable, repeated use situation. A holder for a connector designed for cable to cable is a cobble.
Cigarette lighter plugs and receptacles, while inefficiently large, are at least pretty durable and easy to engage single-handedly with minimal fear of pulling the wires out of the connector.
Need that solution in a compact form factor.
@RedOak I missed quite the conversation today! Yeah, the foam was easy to get off, one piece, just some basic adhesive, and four screws holding the metal base on. I’ve got my switch all wired up, but i messed up and should have mounted the lamp before finishing the wiring, now it’s too big to fit through the hole I drilled.
@fuzzmanmatt Thanks.
…so do you think it would go back on cleanly?
@RedOak oh yeah. A little glue, like, a glue stick, and it’ll be fine.
I just received a pair of black ones (8/28/17) and very disappointed in the condition they arrived in. The top of both bases are scratched and have stains. Kind of look like cum stains to me. Poor packaging that allows the light at the top of the neck to touch the base while Fed-X treats the package like it was eggs…right. I tried and the scratches and stains are not going away.
I don’t even know if the damn things work. 
@Spyder63 My blue ones are in the same state…I can’t figure out what the white splotches are…ewww
@therealjrn @Spyder63 I bought a pair of black ones. The first one I opened was almost perfect; just a minor scuff where the head rubbed on the base. The other is still in the box at work, but I’m hopeful.
The one did put out good light.
@duodec
@Spyder63
@Spyder63 mine had some sort of spot on it as well, it looks like it is embedded within the plastic, but I have not tried to clean it yet.
This is one bright light, I really like it.
@ConAndLibrarian I just received an email from Meh CS - Jaclyn replied:
"Thanks for the photos J.
We can offer you a 10% refund for the cosmetic damage to these lamps."
I told her to keep the $1.50 and donate it to the people in Houston and Beumont, TX. I am done buying from Meh. This is the 2nd time they screwed me over.
@Spyder63 So you’re mad they offered a partial refund that was only $1.50? Seems to me the problem was the lamp wasn’t more expensive in the first place. That way, a 10% refund would have been larger!
Amazon is lots better about returns/refunds. I highly recommend shopping there.
/image later skater animated gif
Received my two white lights today and I’m really impressed. Wish I had ordered another set
@jmbunkin mehbe white was the best color to get…
@therealjrn I’ll bet the stains are there but he/she just can’t see them as easily. I received a reply from Meh CS, but no solution yet. I sent pictures.
@Spyder63 Looked it over closely and I don’t see anything nasty. Checked the other one as well and nothing. I ordered another white set via Morningsave so we shall see if they are clean too.
Sorry for the people who got lights that were stained because these are nice lights.l
Is there some kind of paint that won’t interfere with the “tap on, tap off” switch?
I got the black ones, what I think others are calling ‘stains’ are really air bubbles or scratches.
I thought there was a scratch guard, but it appears that it’s the actual top surface, a thin plastic layer, I have no idea if it’s part of the ‘touch’ sensor mechanism.
The 2nd one only has impact hits, no air bubbles.
I hope they have invested in 1 extra piece of cardboard to keep this from happening again… but I did notice one review at amazon that had the same damage so maybe not.
The light is bright and highly aimable with no bleed-through from behind, great for project lighting.
It would appear the amateur packaging designer (the very common scratches on the top front of the base due to the front edge of the lamp head rubbing on it during shipping) at IVY might be one of the reasons Meh ended up with a truck load of these lamps.
I ordered a second set this round, fully realizing their bases might also have scratches (they do). I don’t like the scratches, but two of ours will put to a less visually critical use (camping).
Given the problem the first time these were sold, it might have been a good idea if Meh had done some good 'ol poking at itself for the second round by acknowledging the base scratches are common, but “you’re getting them cheap, so shut up”.
@RedOak Um…there are scratches, and then there are “blobs” or “bubbles” of some sort. It looks to me to be some sort of manufacturing error, perhaps when the on/off symbol was added…
It looks pretty gross…I wouldn’t want to put these in the guest room. I had plans to use them there, but they simply are not presentable.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don’t consider $15 (+$5 shipping $10 each!) to be all that cheap. Oh well. I’m going to try some bar-keeper’s friend or bon-ami on them…mehbe paint?
@RedOak just 1 more piece of cardboard and we would have never seen these here
@RedOak @therealjrn they were only priced correctly for us VMPers
with the flaw and the shipping they should price them at $10 for 2 to be honest… but they perform pretty well (light output) for $7.50 compared to most of the $9.99 ones at target and wally world.
@therealjrn I thought I had some luck moving the bubbles with a big microfiber cloth, I have been aiming them at the power symbol on the touch area, but I just went back and looked and they are back. I think the air bubbles are also part of the light hitting the the base in shipping… but it could be a mfg defect.
@thismyusername @therealjrn
None of our 4 have bubbles. They all do have varying degrees of scratches where the front edge of the head rubbed them during shipping, handling.
Either a piece of cardboard - or a wider slot in the cardboard insert so the goose neck radius could be increased, thus pulling the head away from the base.