jasonck08
Flashlight Enthusiast
So over the weekend I decided to get very creative and make a hotwire out of PVC pipe. Now your probably thinking, this is not a good idea because the PVC would melt at high temps. Well, I actually used the metal head of an old chinese maglite style light, so the PVC shouldn't heat up much at all.
The 12v bulb is overdriven to about 15v (when batteries are at 3.8v because the 18650's voltage sags under high current and resistance). I'm using Sony 18650's they are rated at 4.8Amps discharge, so I should be well under that.
It was a very simple project and costed me about $3.50 worth of PVC parts. And then an old flashlight was sacrificed. I used an Osram 12v 50W track light style bulb w/ reflector. Cost about $1.50 for the bulb / reflector. Bi-pin socket was like 50 cents. Then I already had the wire and the 18650's from a laptop battery pack. So total cost was about $5.
I can say with confidence it puts out more lumens than any other hotwire at this price / lumen ratio. About 2,000-2,500 bulb lumens when overdriven. :twothumbs
I'm going to paint it black, but I'll try and post pics soon.
The 12v bulb is overdriven to about 15v (when batteries are at 3.8v because the 18650's voltage sags under high current and resistance). I'm using Sony 18650's they are rated at 4.8Amps discharge, so I should be well under that.
It was a very simple project and costed me about $3.50 worth of PVC parts. And then an old flashlight was sacrificed. I used an Osram 12v 50W track light style bulb w/ reflector. Cost about $1.50 for the bulb / reflector. Bi-pin socket was like 50 cents. Then I already had the wire and the 18650's from a laptop battery pack. So total cost was about $5.
I can say with confidence it puts out more lumens than any other hotwire at this price / lumen ratio. About 2,000-2,500 bulb lumens when overdriven. :twothumbs
I'm going to paint it black, but I'll try and post pics soon.