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Several items in the shop require 12 volts. On one side I already have a power box I use to run a roll down shade powered by a power window motor from a Ford, as well as 12 volt power outlet for testing and a LED fog lamp I use on my swing arm lamp. Not wanting to run that much wire across the ceiling I made another power box for the opposite side of the shop. This will be running some 12 volt LED fog lamps I converted for use as task lamps for the drill press and bandsaw. Looking through my supply of stuff I had a old computer power supply, found the digital voltmeter and said hey that tells me how many volts and is a visual sign I have line voltage at the ports. The blue light I also had in stock have no idea why. The box is straight forward design, nothing fancy just scraps and no sexy joinery. The other power sources I built are yellow with the metal covers being aluminum so I kept that theme going. My overall cost on this was $14, had everything but 18 gauge wire in stock so had to break down and purchase that. To keep from having to remember to turn this off I put an outlet in the ceiling tied to the lights overhead. When the lights go out, it turns off and no fires or other issues since it becomes a dead circuit. Special thanks to Bearpaw he is the one that showed me to put outlets in the ceiling for the lights to individually be plugged in rather than hardwired. That paid off over the years this project included.

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Great job buddy
 

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Slick Trick, looks Good.
 

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If you're going to do it, might as well do it right!
 

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Nice power supply box, Gunny! I too have one on my bench and just used it yesterday to test a switch I bought from China that had the wrong wiring diagram with it. Having that power right in front of you makes it easy to try out stuff and test stuff without having to find a 12 battery. Yours looks like work of art compared to the one I use.

Here is a shot of my crude box with a transformer inside. I also found a rheostat to take the 12v to 3,6,7.5 & 9v for testing where small batteries are used. That is the second box.




Nice going…..............cheers, Jim
 

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Jim I have plans to upgrade the other power supply. I am going to incorporate your rheostat into the design when I do. Be nice to dial it in. Granted I don't do much lower than 12 volts but hey for a little bit of time and min expense I won't be kicking myself later if I needed it. Thanks for that tip.
 

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Hi Gunny. I use the 9v and 3 v setting a lot. I think there is a 1.5 too that I forgot to mention.
I do some electronics work and I need those voltages for the circuits.
Have you tried Fractal burning yet? You can do it with a microwave 200 volt transformer.

Cheers, Jim
 

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Good use of rescued materials! we are way too much a throw-away society!

I have used ceiling outlets as a better way to power shop lights for over 30 years now, still think it is a good idea!
 

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Hi Ralbuck. I have 6 ceiling outlets in my barn and they are hooked to three switches by the door. I just put 6 new LED shop lights in and it is now like daytime all the time!!

Cheers, Jim
 

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Thanks for the comments guys, very supportive and constructive. Off to the drawing board for the upgrade to the old one to include more outputs with the correct connector as well as some wiring set up.

Jim, never tried fractal burning. Saw a video of some guy doing it with a microwave transformer. Uhhh not sure my insurance policy covers electrocution by stupidity. LOL
 

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Nice job and congratulations on your 'Daily Top 3' award.
 
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