Wanted a way to video record overnight 3D prints without leaving the room lights on. Since I had several Harbor Freight 3-1/2 in. 9 LED Mini Flashlights laying around, I decided to put them to use in this LED light bar design for my Monoprice Maker Select 3D printer (rebranded Wanhao Duplicator i3).

The required non-printed parts:

1. Six LED flashlights (often free at Harbor Freight).
2. Four 2mm small screws (can be replaced by glue).
3. Some small insulated wire to power the LEDs.

There are two light bar configurations: One that focuses all six LED downward in parallel (straight), and another that focuses each to a separate area of the Wanhao Duplicator' print bed when rear mounted (wanaho_rm).

Each configuration includes brackets for mounting the light bar in front (fm) of the the gantry, in view, or behind it (rm), hidden from view. The photos above of my installation show an example of the wanaho_rm mounted in the rear.

It should not take much effort to create a mounting bracket for other printers...

The measured operating power of the resulting light bar is 1.8 watts! So it should not impact your power bill if it runs continuously:)

Designs

Choose which lamp design bar and mounting configuration you prefer and print the required parts.

Although rendered STL models have been provided for each part with each configuration (see stl-models.zip), only two files are required from the list below to print all the parts needed to assemble a light bar.

wanhao_rm-build_plate_1o2.stlwanhao_rm-build_plate_2o2_Xm.stlstraight-build_plate_1o2.stlstraight-build_plate_2o2_Xm.stl

For front or rear light bar mounting, replace Xm with fm or rm respectively in the second build plate.

Monoprice Maker Select

No

No

I obtained best results using Slic3r on the light bar brackets.

Remove the LED PCB and rear switches from the six flashlights. Use a rotary tool with a cutting disc to cut a small slit along the edge parallel to the flashlight body and then peal it open with pliers.

Pinch and gently pull the rubber switch cover to reveal the switch and pry out the switch with a small screw driver.

Trim the switch terminals and drill small holes to facilitate the solder connection.

Build the wire harness to power the light bar and place in wire channel of the printed body.

Solder the leads to each PCB and power switch on the support bracket. The inner circle of LED leads are the positive terminals.

Insert the switch and switch cover/plug into the switch bracket and assemble the light bar.

The small rectangular bracket-lock is placed onto the bracket prior to inserting the light bar and is subsequently pushed downward to lock the bar clip in-place.

Mount the assembled light on your printer and connect to a powers source. The total current draw is less than 500ma at 4.5v and can easily be powered by the printers power supply, a USB plug, etc. For example, when powering at 5 volts, add a 1 milli-ohm resistor in series to provide a suitable voltage drop.