Can I direct drive Halogen?

[chelboed]

I've got an old NiteHawk 6v 10w lamp head but no battery unit or switch. I just ordered a new bulb ($2.99) that is a 6v 15w bulb. I know by experience that I can over-volt this lamp head to 9v, so 7.2 won't be too taxing on the 6v bulb I wouldn't suppose.

Can I direct drive it off a 2s/2p 4x 2600mAh 18650 pack?

Will I get at least 1/2hr-1hr run time?


Thanks!

 

[DM51]

I'm moving this to the Incan section for you.

 

[AlexLED]

Hi chelboed,
sure, Halogen are usually direct driven (partially because of their high current demands).

In your setup I would estimate about 3.1 Amps, so I would expect about 1.5 hrs runtime. (Resulting in about 23 watts bulb consumption.)

Just make sure the cells are balanced, otherwise when the first cell is depleted the output will suffer significantly. At least use protected cells and/or include a safety circuit in the battery pack.

 

[chelboed]

DM51...Thanks for moving this somewhere that it will get a response.


Good to know, Alex. I have a MagicShine, MTE SSC P7, and some other smaller stuff, but I really wanted to get this one up and running again for riding buddies. I'll be running it off 4 TrustFire 2500mAh protected cells.



As far as chargers go...I got one of those TrustFire 2-cell multichargers from DX...will it do any unprotected cells? (smart cut-off) I accidentally ordered an unprotected cell from some place here in the states and I have no use for it ATM.