midnite135
Contributor
I have decided to take on the task of creating my 1st canister light and I was hoping I could ask you guys for some advice as this is very much a learning process for me.
For starters I have picked up airspeeds book, its been extremely helpful and I am maybe 2/3 through it.
I have pretty much decided for an initial project size of the can is less of an issue and I am trying to be cost effective. I am looking at modifying a maglight an using MR-16 50w Halogen lamps.
I have selected SLA batteries and I think I will be using a pair of 12v 7.5Ah in parallel. The hypotenuse of the battery I have selected is right around 4.5 inches and I was hoping I might get some recommendations on where I might get the pipe. Home Depot, Lowes and McMaster seem to carry mostly 6" pipe and while I find references to 5'" thats a closer fit I am having trouble locating it. Any recommendations on what I should look for?
I also have a trickier question regarding batteries. From my understanding you can overdrive a lamp by providing a slightly higher voltage while increasing the drain on the battery and decreasing the life of the lamp. When using NiMH batteries lets say they are 1.2v and 13Ah, you can run 10 of them in series to get 12v @ 14Ah, but if you add another you can get 13.2v @ 14Ah thus overdriving the bulb. I have not seen people attempt to do this with SLA and I was hoping I could get a better understanding of why... For my example lets assume 3 SLA batteries, 2 of them being 12v/7.5Ah and one being a 2v/5Ah what effect would wiring the 2 identicle batteries in Parallel to get 12v/15Ah and then wiring in the additional 2v/5Ah battery have. Forgive me if this is a stupid question but I would appreciate someone enlightening me. Feel free to correct my assumptions ) I tried asking an employee at batteries plus and I think I stumped him, he wasnt sure if it would work, or drain the batteries evenly or what.
If it would work, I think I would need to make this seperate battery removable so that I could charge it seperately, would this give me a brighter light for the charge on the 5Ah and would it drain evenly or would the 5Ah die 1st?
While I am asking... for the maglight mod considering no glass cover on the mr16, any idea what glass lens dimensions I need cut if ordering from my local glass house. Thicknesses and diameter... and will I need more than 1 piece, if so should I bond them? Or is there a better way to prevent it from rattling around? It seems I need one with enough diameter to make the seal, and another behind it with enough diameter and thickness to sit between the outside glass and the MR16 to prevent it shifting in the lighthead and rattling around.
Hopefully down the line I can get into something a bit fancier but I figured I would go this route while I am learning. Thanks for any input you can provide.
Josh
For starters I have picked up airspeeds book, its been extremely helpful and I am maybe 2/3 through it.
I have pretty much decided for an initial project size of the can is less of an issue and I am trying to be cost effective. I am looking at modifying a maglight an using MR-16 50w Halogen lamps.
I have selected SLA batteries and I think I will be using a pair of 12v 7.5Ah in parallel. The hypotenuse of the battery I have selected is right around 4.5 inches and I was hoping I might get some recommendations on where I might get the pipe. Home Depot, Lowes and McMaster seem to carry mostly 6" pipe and while I find references to 5'" thats a closer fit I am having trouble locating it. Any recommendations on what I should look for?
I also have a trickier question regarding batteries. From my understanding you can overdrive a lamp by providing a slightly higher voltage while increasing the drain on the battery and decreasing the life of the lamp. When using NiMH batteries lets say they are 1.2v and 13Ah, you can run 10 of them in series to get 12v @ 14Ah, but if you add another you can get 13.2v @ 14Ah thus overdriving the bulb. I have not seen people attempt to do this with SLA and I was hoping I could get a better understanding of why... For my example lets assume 3 SLA batteries, 2 of them being 12v/7.5Ah and one being a 2v/5Ah what effect would wiring the 2 identicle batteries in Parallel to get 12v/15Ah and then wiring in the additional 2v/5Ah battery have. Forgive me if this is a stupid question but I would appreciate someone enlightening me. Feel free to correct my assumptions ) I tried asking an employee at batteries plus and I think I stumped him, he wasnt sure if it would work, or drain the batteries evenly or what.
If it would work, I think I would need to make this seperate battery removable so that I could charge it seperately, would this give me a brighter light for the charge on the 5Ah and would it drain evenly or would the 5Ah die 1st?
While I am asking... for the maglight mod considering no glass cover on the mr16, any idea what glass lens dimensions I need cut if ordering from my local glass house. Thicknesses and diameter... and will I need more than 1 piece, if so should I bond them? Or is there a better way to prevent it from rattling around? It seems I need one with enough diameter to make the seal, and another behind it with enough diameter and thickness to sit between the outside glass and the MR16 to prevent it shifting in the lighthead and rattling around.
Hopefully down the line I can get into something a bit fancier but I figured I would go this route while I am learning. Thanks for any input you can provide.
Josh
