Battery display light ideas

[Chapap]

My lady does farmers markets and the night time ones are starting up. I got a handful of these from Harbor Freight for $1. They run on two AAAs. I’d really like to have lights like these that all hook up to a 12v car battery or something. That way I’m not changing batteries all the time. Any ideas? I could rig these up to run on 12v external power, but I’d like it not to be janky. And I’d like an amiable clip. Ideas?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Pick up a set of these and a small spool of red and black ribbon wire

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[Uncle Gump]

I should add...

I bought these to light up the rear of my truck topper and rear of the Bronco II

 

[ericbphoto]

The lights Gump mentioned are a great idea. There are lots of different lights that would work depending on your budget. Offroad floodlights, fog lights, utility vehicle work lights, etc. And don't forget to check out lights made for campers, RV's and overlanding rigs, like rooftop tents. There are hundreds of options.

 

[Chapap]

Automotive lights seem to be good bet. The chinesium spotlights might be good too. Too dim to be on a car but probably great for a tent.

What you reckon kind of battery would be good? don’t really want a flooded battery cause it’ll most likely be getting knocked over. Maybe one of those mini jumper things

 

[ericbphoto]

A note on terminology; spot lights will focus the light beam in a smaller, narrower area. Flood lights flood a larger area of light. Both are available. Consider the intended use when choosing what to buy.

If you don't want a wet cell battery, look for an AGM style battery. It will probably cost more for the same size. Either will work.

 

[Chapap]

A note on terminology; spot lights will focus the light beam in a smaller, narrower area. Flood lights flood a larger area of light. Both are available. Consider the intended use when choosing what to buy.

If you don't want a wet cell battery, look for an AGM style battery. It will probably cost more for the same size. Either will work.

I did a good bit of reading when I had my Camaro. Seems that AGM is essentially a flooded bay with a sponge in it. Are deep cycle and other fancy batteries just flooded?

edit: might give this a try. If they’re too bright I can just wire in parallel.

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[ericbphoto]

I did a good bit of reading when I had my Camaro. Seems that AGM is essentially a flooded bay with a sponge in it. Are deep cycle and other fancy batteries just flooded?

Deep cycle can be wet cell or arm. Deep cell batteries allow you to discharge them further than a regular battery. You do not need to fear anything leaking out of an arm battery if it's tipped over. If you don't like those options, I would recommend Lithium ion batteries. Their voltages are a bit different. But you can find "jump packs" like they sell for jump-srarting a car, that output automotive voltage.

Batteries are rated by "amp-hours". So, what you want to do is figure out how many amps your load will require and multiply that by how many hours you will use it. Then pick a battery power system that will satisfy that need plus some extra. So if you plan to operate 4 led lights that draw 1.5 amps each (at 12 volts) for 3 hours, that would be 4 x 1.5 x 3 = 18 amp-hours. Maybe double that and look for a power source rated for 30-40 amp-hours at 12 volts.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I did a good bit of reading when I had my Camaro. Seems that AGM is essentially a flooded bay with a sponge in it. Are deep cycle and other fancy batteries just flooded?

edit: might give this a try. If they’re too bright I can just wire in parallel.

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I think you mean series

 

[Uncle Gump]

And don't think that works with LED lights...

 

[Roert42]

Didn’t see anyone mention gas lanterns.

My Coleman Dual Fuel puts out some serious lumins.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Didn’t see anyone mention gas lanterns.

My Coleman Dual Fuel puts out some serious lumins.

Those are always an option...

He did say for his lady to use.... while dealing with the public. I'd fear the public would certainly burn themselves and most likely set a bunch of shit on fire.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Maybe even consider some of the jobsite lighting options from the battery powered tool world. Nice addition to your existing tools/batteries... but probably not the cheapest option.

 

[sgtsandman]

If you can afford lithium batteries, I would go that route. They can be discharged more without damaging the battery and are lighter than lead acid and AGM batteries.

Like AGM, you don’t have to worry about spillage. I think you can recharge lithium faster as well.

A down side, other than cost, is you have to make sure the charger is lithium compatible. Lithium tends to last longer too as long as you treat them right. So, the cost hit will be lessened over time.

I’m considering a lithium system for my utility trailer at some point in the future with some solar panels for recharging as well as a small gas generator with an inverter to prevent battery damage. The exact details are yet to be hashed out but the general concept is four utility or flood lights and a charging station for rechargeable batteries, GPS units, and cell phones.

 

[Chapap]

My dad has something that looks like this but without the jumper cables. He could have just cut them off. He uses it to power cooling fans on a telescope. This would be better than an regular car battery… has a handle