Wednesday, March 6, 2013

DIY

I decided to give it a try. If it didn't work, oh well. Guess what? I made a car battery powered low watt spotlight. I will use this makeshift light if a power outage outlasts my candles, or we need to shelter inside a small room and don't have enough ventilation for candles. Let me walk you through how I did it. By the way, if I can do it, anyone can!

First, gather some supplies:

Light bulb in socket, and spare bulbs
Wire, high-resistance
Battery clamps
Wire connectors
Tools to strip the wires and to crimp the battery clamps onto the wire

Always use the same light bulb voltage as your battery. Since my car battery is 12 Volts, I used the 12 Volt bulbs in my landscape lights. In fact, I used the landscape light. You can also purchase small 12 volt bulbs and sockets at a radio supply store. LED lights draw the least amount of power from your battery, and are the brightest.

I used some old speaker wire we had laying around but you could use high-resistance door bell wire and anything in between.

Measure then cut the length of wire you need to extend from your car battery to where you will use the light. I plan to bring the car battery inside.

Separate the two strands of high resistance wire on both ends and strip them to expose the bare strands of wire.

Now strip the ends of the landscape light wires, to expose the bare strands of wire.

Then connect the landscape light wires to the ends of the high resistance wires using cap connectors.



Next, connect the battery clamps to the other end of the exposed wires and crimp down on the ends to secure the wire.



When you are finished test it out by connecting the positive and negative clamps to your car battery posts. The light should come on. If it doesn't you may have to replace the light bulb.



Consider how you will position the landscape light in the room. Will you mount it to a wall, hang it from the ceiling, attach it to a stand? Have the supplies on hand to secure the light into a useful position. You might also consider adding mirrors, white boards or reflective material, such as aluminum foil to better reflect the light.

Now you are ready to light up a room for reading or playing games while you wait for the power to be restored.



1 comment:

  1. Great work my Sister!! They also have battery covers to hold the battery in! We take a battery and use it while camping ... when you don't have a camper. We would use vacuums etc. to pump up air mattresses or vacuum up the bottom of a tent. Rick put a plug on ours that would work with anything requiring 12 volts or less! Cheers! =)

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