Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah battery

I have a rechargeable 14.4V 4.2Ah battery that is not being used right now. It is of very high quality and I was wondering if it would make a good battery for a modded light. And is so what/how should I go about doing it? IE what kind of bulb would run off of it, ect.
The battery has three contacts and I am not sure what any of them are. Can anyone help me? Thanks,
Forgot to add the battery is a Ni-MH.
Jeff

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

Hmm,

14.4V is quite the odd voltage for bulbs. About the only options you have are tool light bulbs like those made for DeWalt or Makita, etc. They don't make pretty beams and aren't all that bright but could work. All the nice low voltage MR reflector lamps and such are also 12V or 24V.

You might try the Welch Allyn WA01125. It is rated at 14V and makes 550 lumens. The 14.5V WA01131 is also impressive at 780 lumens. The 15.1V WA01132 would be slightly underdriven but would still be expacted to make about 700-ish lumens. I know a few folks picked up WA01125 and the '31 and '32 in the last GB. Perhaps you can post in B/S/T and see if anyone would be willing to part with one.

Of course, you'd still need a bulb socket, switch and reflector. You could probably also drive up to 3 5W Luxeons but I don't know much about the LED world.

Is it a brick or tube shaped battery pack?

Wilkey

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

My Collins Dynamics spotlight uses a 7 amp 14.4 volt pack and uses a 100 watt H2 12 volt automotive bulb. What did your pack come out of ?
Larry.

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

Bulbs meant for auto use (spotlights and such) will work with 14.4 volts too. Auto voltage regulation is very sloppy.

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

Ahh,

Then that opens up more possibilities. I wasn't aware of how wide an operational latitude auto bulbs are designed for. In that case, go for 100W bulbs for the maximum brightness. I suppose you could also buy a Vector 12V spotlight and attached your battery to a carrying strap and run the light off the provided 12V cord.

Wilkey

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

The battery came off of a $1200.00 welding respirator it can be seen at www.hornell.com It is off of the adflow system. I think there is a pic of it there. Anyway it is kind of a brick shaped battery. I brought home a volt meter today from work and with a fresh charge it is putting out a solid 16.4 volts. I was also thinking a car bulb might work.
I just ordered a vector 12v spotlight yesterday and it should be here in a few days. But I think I'll run to the auto parts store tonight and see what I can find.

I just checked my link and there is a good pic of it there.
I'm getting giddy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

I just got back from the store. I couldn't find anything brighter than 65 watts so I decided to buy 2 optronics 50 watt bulbs that were already sealed and set into a relector.
I dropped it into the head of a 2d mag, and it fits but is just a little loose. Anyway I hooked it up to the battery and it was a monster floodlight. The only problem is it puts out way too much heat, and melts the insulation on the wires, or whatever else is even remotely close to the bulb including a couple o- rings. I need to find a better way to keep all of the meltable stuff away from the bulb /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

Ahhhh,

Now THAT'S what I call a hot wire /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Replace the O-rings with silicone gasketing and use silicone insulated copper wire. That's what I use for my monster mods.

Wilkey

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

Ginseng, Thanks for the info. Where do you get the silicone insulated wire from?
I really need some. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
BTW: I just ran the battery straight to the bulb and stripped away about three inches of insulation next to the bulb. It ran very bright for about 45 mins continuosly. Then dropped off to no light at all within two minutes.
I need to make some type of custom housing for the bulb/reflector and battery. I would prefer it to be a single unit. Man I love the way it was throwing. It didn't go further than 200 feet but it was like daylight!

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

Not sure if your interested, but you might also consider going the led route. Get a Uflex board from George here and buy a 1W or 5W luxeon star. It would probably make for outrageously long runtimes!

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

I get my silicone wire from www.dynamoelectrics.com Great place, decent prices. You can find it a quite a few other hobbyist sites as well.

Wilkey

edit: removed period at the end of the link

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

Runtime? Who needs runtime? "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long" is the mantra of the Hot Wire crowd. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Wilkey

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

also make sure you use large gauge wire. When you pull a lot of power through thin wires or thin wires that go a long distance, resistance builds up quick and the wire may be getting hot itself!

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

O.K this thing is almost finished. I turned it into a bike light that is mounted to the brim of a hat. (I can't find my helmet anywhere) I set it into the mag head any siliconed it into place. I replaced the old wires with new ones that can handle the heat much better. I also had to break open the battery housing so I could get a better connection to the terminals, as they were very odd. I am going to recase the battery in a plastic box that I have to go buy today. Anyway this thing rocks!! It blows my M6 HOLA away in terms of sheer output. And best of all it cost around 20.00 to make excluding the battery, which I already had. My brother in law just got a light in motion bike light that puts out 390 lumens. When he sees this thing put out he is gonig to be shocked! I think I'll be hooked on the modding for a while /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: Need light suggestions for a 14.4V / 4.2Ah bat

The reason you didn't find any stronger auto bulbs might be that they are not street legal. Osram has some 100w 12v Offroad lamps. Let me know if you find any 12v lamps stronger than that.

Wilkey, thanks for the link (it has a dot at the end, though). You always come up with the right info at the right time.