Hi guys,
Although I don't post here often (or ever), I've regularly found solid advise on this site, thanks for that!
I've recently bought an old work light in a military surplus store which I want to convert to LED with new 18650 batteries. Next to show off this project, I would like to hear any of your comments or advise on how to enhance this idea.
First off, the light:
Turns out to be a simple PAR36 GE halogen light 6V/2A (30 Watt they say) with a cylindrical aluminium base which should hold the batteries. In here, I found an old charge regulator looking/smelling like it came from the '70s '80s, which probably charged some NiCd cells originally.
To replace the light, I've ordered an 18 Watt LED light from China. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Warm White ones and the USians who do are madly expensive ($60 in shipping alone), so this goes up to 6500K with 1300Lm. Fortunately, it is made of glass and has an internal driver for 10-30Vdc.
Next item I've selected is the cheapest balanced dis-/charge controller I could find for 6 cells. Why it can handle 50~60A for 18650's beats me, so I will definitely add a fast-blow fuse to the battery's positive end.
Now the batteries I've ordered are 6x Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mAh - 10A with solder tabs. They allow charging with 1.4 A, so this needs to be limited too. Looking through my stuff I found the following module, it's a boost-buck or SEPIC module which transforms any DC input up to 35V and then regulates it back to the offset Voltage and Amperage.
In conclusion:
Please let me know what you think about this project.
Although I don't post here often (or ever), I've regularly found solid advise on this site, thanks for that!
I've recently bought an old work light in a military surplus store which I want to convert to LED with new 18650 batteries. Next to show off this project, I would like to hear any of your comments or advise on how to enhance this idea.
First off, the light:
Turns out to be a simple PAR36 GE halogen light 6V/2A (30 Watt they say) with a cylindrical aluminium base which should hold the batteries. In here, I found an old charge regulator looking/smelling like it came from the '70s '80s, which probably charged some NiCd cells originally.
To replace the light, I've ordered an 18 Watt LED light from China. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Warm White ones and the USians who do are madly expensive ($60 in shipping alone), so this goes up to 6500K with 1300Lm. Fortunately, it is made of glass and has an internal driver for 10-30Vdc.
Next item I've selected is the cheapest balanced dis-/charge controller I could find for 6 cells. Why it can handle 50~60A for 18650's beats me, so I will definitely add a fast-blow fuse to the battery's positive end.
Now the batteries I've ordered are 6x Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mAh - 10A with solder tabs. They allow charging with 1.4 A, so this needs to be limited too. Looking through my stuff I found the following module, it's a boost-buck or SEPIC module which transforms any DC input up to 35V and then regulates it back to the offset Voltage and Amperage.
In conclusion:
Please let me know what you think about this project.
