Ammo Can searchlight

[Bushman5]

tonight i took one ammo can (6" wide x 10" tall x 12" long), and mounted a angle bracket on the front. This will eventually hold a PIAA or HELLA 12" wide pencil beam lamp and housing assembly (H3 form factor) right now it has a 100 watt Hella pencil beam lamp on it. PIAA makes a 160 watt UltraWhite lamp assembly that i'll eventually drop in.

for power i have 12V 15AH SLA.

wiring: I used 10 gauge copper strand wire, silversoldered, crimped and heat shrinked connectors. The switch on top of the ammo can (by the handle), is a milspec grade metal toggle, rated for 600 amps , 240 volts. SPST.

its not a barnburner or maxablaster, but for a inexpensive searchlamp its pretty damn bright. It lights up houses over 3 blocks away .

will have pics soon.

 

[electromage]

I had a similar idea, but I'll probably use floodlights. It would be nice to have a weatherproof light that I can use for camping and random outdoor tasks. If I do build something like this, I'll probably use a Pelican case, since I can utilize the foam to hold the battery.

One variation/addition to this would be to add an inverter so it can double as a small solid-state AC power supply.

It would be like a rugged, slightly useful version of this http://www.4lots.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1008&HS=1

 

[scott.cr]

If you use NiCd cells with solder tabs you can put together a battery pack that will keep 12 volts at the lamp under load. Why NiCds? Cost, and the unbelievable capacity for electrical abuse.

It will take experimentation, but with NiCd D-cells it'd probably take at least 14 of them to run the lamp at spec voltage. Obviously, more if you want to overdrive it.

BTW, I looked it up at CPB, a NiMH pack would cost approximately 50% more but give you triple the capacity.

 

[electromage]

This might be a good application for an HID flood/spotlight. Self-regulating, and lower overall current demand.

 

[scott.cr]

This might be a good application for an HID flood/spotlight. Self-regulating, and lower overall current demand.

That's the exact reason I swapped HID guts into my Thor Cyclops. Checked the lamp with an ammeter, it was nowhere near spec voltage. A lamp trying to draw ~11 amps from a 7 AH SLA battery = major voltage drop.

I pulled the guts out of a Harbor Freight HID and put them in my Thor. Much, much nicer current draw figures, way better efficiency, and WAY better output.

Costco's price on the Thor was less than a pair of those Hella conversion headlights that allows you to use an H4 lamp in a sealed beam housing... it's still the most cost-effective host I can think of, considering it comes with a battery, charger, glass lens and a decent aluminum reflector.

 

[electromage]

That's the exact reason I swapped HID guts into my Thor Cyclops. Checked the lamp with an ammeter, it was nowhere near spec voltage. A lamp trying to draw ~11 amps from a 7 AH SLA battery = major voltage drop.

I pulled the guts out of a Harbor Freight HID and put them in my Thor. Much, much nicer current draw figures, way better efficiency, and WAY better output.

Costco's price on the Thor was less than a pair of those Hella conversion headlights that allows you to use an H4 lamp in a sealed beam housing... it's still the most cost-effective host I can think of, considering it comes with a battery, charger, glass lens and a decent aluminum reflector.

Is the HF HID bulb an H4 base? I have both as well, and I like the size and reflector of the Thor more. Was it an easy swap?

 

[scott.cr]

Is the HF HID bulb an H4 base? I have both as well, and I like the size and reflector of the Thor more. Was it an easy swap?

The HF HID lamp has an H7 base. I had to machine an adapter, but it was easy. Basically just an aluminum donut with a "step" in the ID for the H7 flange. It might be do-able with a stack of washers, but they'd have to be thin washers so you can get the focus the way you want it.

You could probably even use the clip that holds the H4 to hold the adapter for the H7, but I chose to epoxy mine. I'll post some pics when I get home tonight.

The ballast easily fits into the Thor body. You can reuse the Thor's battery charging circuit and on/off switch, but you'll have one switch leftover. I installed a CPU cooler on my HID ballast, and the leftover switch now turns the heatsink fan on and off.

EDIT: I posted the pics on this thread.