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12-17-05, 03:30 AM
I have wanted to post my lighting setup. When I started screwing around Li on cells were not easy to deal with. So runtime was short if I wanted a lot of light. Now I did not really need a lot of light but I wanted it.
I had an mr11 and mr16 bulb and foglight to choose from. I had two 9.6v ni mh 3ah packs to power my system, I used a LVR this is a controller that you pay a lot for in a digital system it controls the power gives the system a soft start it lets me overvolt the light. I had it setup so I ran the cells in series so I could choose 12v 14v or 16v. It also kept the cells from over draining.
20 watts of halogen is not bad but it blends in with streetlights and such. Runtime on this setup was about 1.5 hours or so.
If I cranked it up to 16v maybe 1.15 minutes. But I had some great light. I got about the same if I used this cool 35 watt bulb. That thing was fantastic it light the whole lane brighter then a HID does. But it sure sucked the juice (G)
Well I finally wanted a longer runtime so I did not have to charge the cells as often. I also wanted to run my cold cathode tubes on the same cells. They ran ok at 9.6v but once the voltage dropped they died fast.
So I finally decided to visit www.batteryspace.com a HID light is the way to go to get longer runtimes since it is a lower wattage light. 120.00 is a good price for this light
It is stainless and the mounting is very nice. I use a wooden block with a recessed hole and two holes in the sides for zipties. I use good connectors through out. But I made the mistake of getting the larger ones (these are the standards that were on my cells) and I used too small of wire and the joints broke and my soldering gun was wimpy. Anyway I have these connections so I can change the light out if needed easily.
Not a great pic of the waterproof switches that turn the light on and the cold cathode tubes. I used those male/female crimp on plus for automotive use. If a switch goes back I can connect them and bypass it if needed.
I could have made this far easier but I wanted to be able to power the cold cathodes separately if something happened or bypass the twitch wire to them. So I have a splitter and the switch for the cold cathodes where I can remove them from the look if needed.
This is a 11.1v li ion pack it is around 9.6ah so it can run both the HID and the cold cathodes for atleast 5 hours so I only have to charge the pack once a week. It is about ½ the weight of my Ni mh pack and almost 4 times the power. And at about 120.00 or so with a charger far cheaper in the long run.
Ok here is the fun thing. These are two cold cathode tubes. Bought here
http://www.elwirecheap.com/
Pretty cheap bang for the buck about 20.00 shipped. They need between 9.6 and 13v. They are supposed to draw 400mah for both so they should not suck too much juice.
These are nice bright white that is very noticeable. Part of it is that they are so different 12” of light is a weird thing to see in the air.
Since I have had these for a month I have had atleast 5 people in cars pull up and say they are fantastic and so well seen. So far with them I have not had any problems at night. So they seem to work very well. Plus they are handy if you need to change a tire at night (G)
I had an mr11 and mr16 bulb and foglight to choose from. I had two 9.6v ni mh 3ah packs to power my system, I used a LVR this is a controller that you pay a lot for in a digital system it controls the power gives the system a soft start it lets me overvolt the light. I had it setup so I ran the cells in series so I could choose 12v 14v or 16v. It also kept the cells from over draining.
20 watts of halogen is not bad but it blends in with streetlights and such. Runtime on this setup was about 1.5 hours or so.
If I cranked it up to 16v maybe 1.15 minutes. But I had some great light. I got about the same if I used this cool 35 watt bulb. That thing was fantastic it light the whole lane brighter then a HID does. But it sure sucked the juice (G)
Well I finally wanted a longer runtime so I did not have to charge the cells as often. I also wanted to run my cold cathode tubes on the same cells. They ran ok at 9.6v but once the voltage dropped they died fast.
So I finally decided to visit www.batteryspace.com a HID light is the way to go to get longer runtimes since it is a lower wattage light. 120.00 is a good price for this light
It is stainless and the mounting is very nice. I use a wooden block with a recessed hole and two holes in the sides for zipties. I use good connectors through out. But I made the mistake of getting the larger ones (these are the standards that were on my cells) and I used too small of wire and the joints broke and my soldering gun was wimpy. Anyway I have these connections so I can change the light out if needed easily.
Not a great pic of the waterproof switches that turn the light on and the cold cathode tubes. I used those male/female crimp on plus for automotive use. If a switch goes back I can connect them and bypass it if needed.
I could have made this far easier but I wanted to be able to power the cold cathodes separately if something happened or bypass the twitch wire to them. So I have a splitter and the switch for the cold cathodes where I can remove them from the look if needed.
This is a 11.1v li ion pack it is around 9.6ah so it can run both the HID and the cold cathodes for atleast 5 hours so I only have to charge the pack once a week. It is about ½ the weight of my Ni mh pack and almost 4 times the power. And at about 120.00 or so with a charger far cheaper in the long run.
Ok here is the fun thing. These are two cold cathode tubes. Bought here
http://www.elwirecheap.com/
Pretty cheap bang for the buck about 20.00 shipped. They need between 9.6 and 13v. They are supposed to draw 400mah for both so they should not suck too much juice.
These are nice bright white that is very noticeable. Part of it is that they are so different 12” of light is a weird thing to see in the air.
Since I have had these for a month I have had atleast 5 people in cars pull up and say they are fantastic and so well seen. So far with them I have not had any problems at night. So they seem to work very well. Plus they are handy if you need to change a tire at night (G)