The things you do for Love

[Yummyrum]

We bought these lanterns in Vietnam about 6 years ago .
Mrs Yummy thought they would look nice in out new outdoor area .
Alas they came with no light . The requirement was , it had to be bright , but not too bright , movable , not have wires that could be seen and not allowed to use replaceable batteries …. Oh and had to be Warm LED .

The ceiling is insulated steel panels .So after some head scratching and Ali-express searching I hatched a plan. I found 5 volt 3watt Warm LEDs . 10 for $3.00
USB LED controller with Wireless Remote . $1.75 each , but couldn’t find that supplier again and had to spent $4.50 .
Then some power banks . I think they were 20amp hours . $15 each ( we pay about $80-90 for one in a shop here)

So just made a wooden box to house the crap and glue on some rare earth magnets to attach to roof .Stuck tje crap in it with hot melt glue gun .

Turns out one remote will control them all ….. so I got two spares

Biggest ballsup was I used a cheap spray can it wouldn’t cover the ply even after numerous recoats . So I did what every self respecting bloke does . Sprayed the shit out of it . Unfortunately it was humid as fuck here so paint wouldn’t dry before I had to “make it all work “ for Xmas .
So the paint job is total crap .
They look better at night .
I ideally would have liked to have 4 magnets each , but my “scabby bastard” streak was coming across too strong , so I went with three . I should have ordered them from Ali too but I forgot and had to pay top dollar at Bunnings

[Swedish Pride]

Pretty slick yummo

[jonnys_spirit]

Great idea with the power brick! How long does 20Ah last for those?

Cheers,
j

[Wildcats]

Looks great. My wife would love that. Pretty work Sir.

[Yummyrum]

Thanks fellas .
Got to get back to you on how long they run .
Only run them one night but it was close to 6 hours OK .
The very bad Chinglish instructions said that they will take a few charges to reach full potential . And how bright I run the LEDs will effect it .

[Ben]

Next time you want to paint ply put a base coat of shellac on it (spray or brush), it will seal the pores and solve your sucking in paint problem. It's friendly to just about every top coat.

Nice job on the project! Bonus points for using magnets. Vietnam is high on my bucket list, cool way to remember the trip.

[Yummyrum]

Thanks for the hint Ben . Haven’t heard of using Shelac for so long I’d forgotten it existed .

I ran all three lamps full brightness after a charge . First one tapped out after 4 hours and the other two made 5 hours .
They are pretty bright so will use dimmed for long nights .
I’m still hoping with a few more charge cycles , they last a bit longer .

[Yummyrum]

They sell a lot of really cool lights, lamps and lanterns in Vietnam and Thailand .Alas the wiring and fittings leave a lot to be desired . Most would never pas quality control on Aussie , and I’d guess the USA

[Ben]

I have to rewire everything bought abroad anyway, since the sockets are different from North America... usually easier to just buy an entire lead and fit it. I will keep in mind having some extra luggage room when I go, I love lighting.

On the paint topic, I don't know if you would have the brand, but Zinsser sells a product called BIN, it is a shellac based primer. It's the easy button on porous surfaces. Plus since anything shellac based is alcohol based the smell is nicer, it dries fast and you probably have high strength fores for cutting and clean up.