LED Workbench Lighting

Here is a very useful workbench lighting unit for electronics hobbyists. The portable inspection lamp circuit consists of an on-board voltage regulator and a high-bright 5mm white LED. Any 9 to 18 volt dc rated ac mains adaptor, capable to source about 100 mA of output current can be used to power this portable inspection lamp.

After construction the led workbench light circuit should be enclosed in a suitable plastic bottle cap as illustrated here. The miniature lens shown is an optional component. In the prototype, plastic made lens lifted from a discarded torch was used!

LED workbench lighting lamp circuit schematic

The adjustable 3-pin voltage regulator IC1 (LM317L) in TO-92 pack, is here tuned to supply an output of near 4.5 volt dc. This supply is directly fed to the white LED (D2) through the current limiter resistor R3 (51 Ohm). Diode D1 (1N4001) works as an input polarity protection guard and two small electrolytic capacitors (C1 and C2) connected at the input and output pins of IC1 improves the overall stability of the regulator circuit. Use a standard RCA or EP socket as the input terminal J1.