Richie086
Enlightened
Hi gang,
I thought some might like to see the photo below of my latest upgrade to my POB.
When using SLA batteries, deep discharging is something to be avoided. My solution for my SLA driven POB was to install a voltage display so I know at a glance how far the battery has discharged. Naturally, the goal is not to allow the battery to fall below 10.8v-10.5v in spite of the fact this HID spotlight seems to continue to light below 6 volts. However, if you abuse your SLA battery and continuously discharge it below 10.5v, don't expect it to keep performing as new, even with a full charge. You'll notice run time will be less and less as that battery degrades or sulphates from over discharging it.
At this point, I had already replaced the tri-wing bezel screws with normal phillips head screws, and also relocated the On/Off switch to the rear of the spotlight, and replaced the stock 35w 6000k HID bulb with a 50w 4300k. Installing the volt meter is the forth of five upgrades I've now made to it.
The volt meter is tied directly into the POB's On/Off switch. When the light is turned on, the volt meter activates illuminating the volts so the operator can view at a glance the current voltage remaining in the SLA battery.
I was going to mount the meter on the rear of the circular battery access door, but felt this would be cumbersome, not only to view the remaining battery power, but would add additional wiring in the battery slot, which is already very tight. Instead, I mounted the meter on the side of the unit and spliced the (+) and (-) wires from the meter to the front of the spotlight just behind the HID bulb. In other words, I tapped into the batteries positive and negative cables that are actually behind the HID bulb near the internal fuse. The third wire from the volt meter was routed up to the "On" side of the switch.
This made for a very neat wiring installation and works perfectly. The voltage meter I used is the "Stinger Digital Blue Voltage Meter". These meters, while in use, display the "Stinger" logo at the top of the display, but I opened up the meter and put a piece of black tape over the name so only the voltage would display.
These are expensive meters at about $29.00, and about what the POB itself cost. But I had several of these meters on hand from a project that never materialized, so I thought I'd put them to good use. The meter is also adjustable to fine tune the voltage being displayed via a "pot" switch. All in all, I"m very pleased with all the upgrades. Next and final upgrade will be a higher capacity and quality SLA battery will be installed.
I thought some might like to see the photo below of my latest upgrade to my POB.
When using SLA batteries, deep discharging is something to be avoided. My solution for my SLA driven POB was to install a voltage display so I know at a glance how far the battery has discharged. Naturally, the goal is not to allow the battery to fall below 10.8v-10.5v in spite of the fact this HID spotlight seems to continue to light below 6 volts. However, if you abuse your SLA battery and continuously discharge it below 10.5v, don't expect it to keep performing as new, even with a full charge. You'll notice run time will be less and less as that battery degrades or sulphates from over discharging it.
At this point, I had already replaced the tri-wing bezel screws with normal phillips head screws, and also relocated the On/Off switch to the rear of the spotlight, and replaced the stock 35w 6000k HID bulb with a 50w 4300k. Installing the volt meter is the forth of five upgrades I've now made to it.
The volt meter is tied directly into the POB's On/Off switch. When the light is turned on, the volt meter activates illuminating the volts so the operator can view at a glance the current voltage remaining in the SLA battery.
I was going to mount the meter on the rear of the circular battery access door, but felt this would be cumbersome, not only to view the remaining battery power, but would add additional wiring in the battery slot, which is already very tight. Instead, I mounted the meter on the side of the unit and spliced the (+) and (-) wires from the meter to the front of the spotlight just behind the HID bulb. In other words, I tapped into the batteries positive and negative cables that are actually behind the HID bulb near the internal fuse. The third wire from the volt meter was routed up to the "On" side of the switch.
This made for a very neat wiring installation and works perfectly. The voltage meter I used is the "Stinger Digital Blue Voltage Meter". These meters, while in use, display the "Stinger" logo at the top of the display, but I opened up the meter and put a piece of black tape over the name so only the voltage would display.
These are expensive meters at about $29.00, and about what the POB itself cost. But I had several of these meters on hand from a project that never materialized, so I thought I'd put them to good use. The meter is also adjustable to fine tune the voltage being displayed via a "pot" switch. All in all, I"m very pleased with all the upgrades. Next and final upgrade will be a higher capacity and quality SLA battery will be installed.
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