homemade "RALS"

[Bushman5]

I'm working at a campsite in a few months, and i need to be able to flip a switch and light up the front entrance at night, for several minutes at a time while the Guards check the late arrivals. I'm in the guard booth (canopy with a lawn chair and desk) about 200 meters from the gate.

i plan to mount a Optima 12V deep cell battery inside a Pelican case, and use a heavy duty toggle switch, 10 gauge wiring. Nice and simple. The light will be a 55 watt (85w) PIAA Pencil beam spot lamp, mounted on a aluminum pole (ala Pelicans RALS)

How long do you figure the battery will last, figuring about 10 activations for several minutes a night......? just wondering if i should get TWO Optima deep cycle batts.....

:shrug:

EDIT: WRONG AREA, CAN THE MODS MOVE THIS TO HOMEMADE AND MODIFIED LIGHTS!

 

[Kremer]

I'd consider just sitting a POB hid on the desk ;)

 

[The Dane]

55W at 12V equals 4.6A
So in 1 hour Your SLA will loose 4.6 Amps of it's capacity.
10 activations of 3 min is 30min and therefore 2.3Ah of the capacity.

Expect @ 60% of the stated SLA capacity to be usefull before the light gets to dimm.

 

[Patriot]

Basically with the capacity of the Optima you could run the thing all night and then into the morning. In some ways it's overkill but I figure you must have a specific reason why you want to do it that way. :)

 

[Bushman5]

yes, i like the form factor and zero issues of the Optima. Lightweight too for its capacity. And i can charge it off the truck, or swap it into the truck if my starter battery fails. so its dual purpose.

Plus i cannot afford the entry level RALS, its over a $1000 cdn up here. The newest one is over $4000

 

[65535]

If the guard booth is just a canopy with chairs and a desk can't you just move it closer to the gate? It's a campsite not a war zone. I must be missing something.

 

[Patriot]

yes, i like the form factor and zero issues of the Optima.

They're the finest 12V batteries I've ever used. I have my hobby charger hooked to one because I need the capacity to charge large li-po's in quick succession. When ever I take a road trip or go hunting I put it in the trunk or in the bed of the truck for emergencies. I've been an Optima loyalist for 10+ years now and have never been let down.

 

[Bushman5]

If the guard booth is just a canopy with chairs and a desk can't you just move it closer to the gate? It's a campsite not a war zone. I must be missing something.

yes, its a 10 acre campsite. The Guard booth is in between the parking lot (1.5 aces), and the rest of the camp. At night after late check-ins, the front gate is locked and the guards come up to the booth (and the campfire) . When a person at the front gate attempts to enter the buzzer goes off, and we pit lamp them.

anyways, camp operations aside, thanks for the numbers on the optima. Ya'll saving me about $500.

(and i could actually say that it can be a war zone. we had three attacks on campers in the last 4 years, one attack sent 20 campers to hospital with broken bones - basically it is unemployed drugged up locals that we are there to keep out. )

anyways, how i run the run security operations is IRRELEVANT and off topic.

what is relevant is getting a rough estimate of the runtime using the stated lamp assembly, battery and heavy duty wiring/switching. Cheers.

 

[Illum]

They're the finest 12V batteries I've ever used. I have my hobby charger hooked to one because I need the capacity to charge large li-po's in quick succession. When ever I take a road trip or go hunting I put it in the trunk or in the bed of the truck for emergencies. I've been an Optima loyalist for 10+ years now and have never been let down.

the hobby charger will charge it?
1.8A charging current
http://www.batteryjunction.com/ch-un180.html
I have a couple of these:D