Can anyone tell me where I can find battery operated flood or spot lights for my booth? I do a lot of shows that do not provide electricity and because we have black walls and pedestals, when the weather is bad and it's dark and dreary, our booth looks like a cave!! We do mixed media sculptures and we would like to put 'spots' on a few pieces when that happens. Any suggestions??
THANKS!!!!
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I use wheelchair batteries since I can't lift the other ones. With the LED lights it works fine.
Joe Holiday > Alison ThomasApril 4, 2015 at 5:09pm
I'm not very familiar with wheelchair batteries, but most look to be pretty heavy too. The lithium-ion battery pack from Silicon Lightworks weighs only about a pound and is not much bigger than a large smart phone (see: http://siliconlightworks.com/mobile-power-center ). It also has a built in USB port so you can charge your cell phone or tablet if need be. It's worth a look in my opinion.
Back when I had a credit card processor I had one of those carry battery packs. I bought it from a person who had bought it to run her lights. It was perfect for my credit card machine but it didn't run lights more than an hour. I need two wheelchair batteries at 25 lbs each to run six led lights and a fan for an entire show day. Since I have 2D art under glass which doesn't like light shining directly on it I point the lights to the top of the tent and get a nice overall light from reflecting off the top of the tent. I can get by on one battery if I run only lights or only fan. Usually if I need the fan, I don't need the lights and vice versa.
Just went and looked at your link Joe and it looks cool but it also looks like you need specialized lights. How do you plug in a standard two or three prong power cord?
Joe Holiday > Alison ThomasApril 6, 2015 at 4:51pm
You do need specialized lights in the sense they need to be able to run on the direct current (ie DC power) of the battery. It sounds like what you are doing with your present setup is taking your wheelchair batteries and attaching an inverter (which turns the DC power of the battery to AC power) which then allows you to plug-in the standard two or three prong "AC" power cord of your lights or fan. If that is the case, you could theoretically connect your inverter to the Silicon Lightworks battery, so long as the inverter can handle 12V, 16V, or 19V DC (these are the 3 voltage settings on the Silicon Lightworks battery). The only reason I would shy away from doing so is because you are effectively running an AC system from a DC source, which is not very efficient. You will be much better off finding lights (and a fan for that matter) that are designed to efficiently run on DC power directly. For example, the LED lights from Silicon Lightworks (http://siliconlightworks.com/c-700b-banner-light) that are specifically designed for "DC" battery power output a tremendous amount of light relative to the power they consume. A single 6W LED bulb from Silicon Lightworks outputs roughly 700 lumens, which is an extremely efficient 115 lumens per watt! Bottom line: you will get more light and longer run times with a well designed efficient system. Hope the above is helpful.
I use a very similar system that I put together myself and use Optima sealed deep cycle batteries. I run 12 lights on two batteries and get about 11 hrs of lighting on a full charge. It takes about 7 - 8 hrs to fully recharge the batteries.
Pro Panels offers a very nice system. The big drawback of course is having to lug around a car battery (or two in your case). What kind of bulbs are you powering?
You may want to consider Silicon Lightworks. We make an ultra-bright battery operated LED exhibit light that runs over 14 hours on a single charge and can be attached to virtually any surface. Our lights are also very lightweight and affordable. In other words, we offer an easy and practical solution if you're looking for a high-performance battery powered lighting system. Detailed information about our lighting systems can be found on our website: http://siliconlightworks.com/
Vera Foley > Joe HolidayDecember 4, 2016 at 4:45pm
OK, update: I went to Lowe's and found a very nice, bright LED bulb. It's made by Feit Electric. It says it replaces a 45-watt bulb for 8 watts usage. The color is a nice, neutral white and I like the light a bit better than that of a comparable CFL bulb. The price was a little higher than I expected, though, at $30. This bulb fits a standard socket so I will use it with some clip lights I have "upgraded" with enameled shades for the few non-electricity shows I do. Thanks again for the info!
Leds have a color temperature and are available in warm and cool whites. You can get the specs from the supplier if you ask. For jewelry case lights, my first were some i had an led manufacturer make for me $$$. There are now case ready ones available for Arizona cases that are very good color for jewelry. I've given up on Dynamic Display cases, they are not secure, they wiggle when clients approach your booth and the lighting options are very expensive. While the Arizona case lights aren't cheap, they work and fit perfectly. In most towns you can find a store or a custom electrician that can put together correct color, focus and voltage for your booth. You will have to search a bit, but they are out there. And a bit about batteries - the 12 volt marine or trolling batteries are better bets than car batteries. The car batteries do not respond well to being nearly drained while the others don't seem to care. When I lit my 3 cases - each with 3-30 watt halogens, I had to recharge both 12 volt batteries nightly. When i went to leds - the very bright ones - the batteries are good for a three day show without recharging. Leds are now much brighter than the old ones, but not as bright as halogens. I'm not fond of lugging two 45 pound batteries around so I have chosen a compromise. When it is cloudy or Im in shade, the leds work great, in the sun, not so well.
The LED spot I have is 110 and I got it at Lowes or Home Depot for about $15. It is brighter than my incandescent spots. I have both kinds in cans over my counter in the kitchen.
Replies
I'm not very familiar with wheelchair batteries, but most look to be pretty heavy too. The lithium-ion battery pack from Silicon Lightworks weighs only about a pound and is not much bigger than a large smart phone (see: http://siliconlightworks.com/mobile-power-center ). It also has a built in USB port so you can charge your cell phone or tablet if need be. It's worth a look in my opinion.
Back when I had a credit card processor I had one of those carry battery packs. I bought it from a person who had bought it to run her lights. It was perfect for my credit card machine but it didn't run lights more than an hour. I need two wheelchair batteries at 25 lbs each to run six led lights and a fan for an entire show day. Since I have 2D art under glass which doesn't like light shining directly on it I point the lights to the top of the tent and get a nice overall light from reflecting off the top of the tent. I can get by on one battery if I run only lights or only fan. Usually if I need the fan, I don't need the lights and vice versa.
Just went and looked at your link Joe and it looks cool but it also looks like you need specialized lights. How do you plug in a standard two or three prong power cord?
You do need specialized lights in the sense they need to be able to run on the direct current (ie DC power) of the battery. It sounds like what you are doing with your present setup is taking your wheelchair batteries and attaching an inverter (which turns the DC power of the battery to AC power) which then allows you to plug-in the standard two or three prong "AC" power cord of your lights or fan. If that is the case, you could theoretically connect your inverter to the Silicon Lightworks battery, so long as the inverter can handle 12V, 16V, or 19V DC (these are the 3 voltage settings on the Silicon Lightworks battery). The only reason I would shy away from doing so is because you are effectively running an AC system from a DC source, which is not very efficient. You will be much better off finding lights (and a fan for that matter) that are designed to efficiently run on DC power directly. For example, the LED lights from Silicon Lightworks (http://siliconlightworks.com/c-700b-banner-light) that are specifically designed for "DC" battery power output a tremendous amount of light relative to the power they consume. A single 6W LED bulb from Silicon Lightworks outputs roughly 700 lumens, which is an extremely efficient 115 lumens per watt! Bottom line: you will get more light and longer run times with a well designed efficient system. Hope the above is helpful.
Pro panels has probably the best explanation for battery operated lighting. http://www.propanels.com/lighting/
I use a very similar system that I put together myself and use Optima sealed deep cycle batteries. I run 12 lights on two batteries and get about 11 hrs of lighting on a full charge. It takes about 7 - 8 hrs to fully recharge the batteries.
Pro Panels offers a very nice system. The big drawback of course is having to lug around a car battery (or two in your case). What kind of bulbs are you powering?
You may want to consider Silicon Lightworks. We make an ultra-bright battery operated LED exhibit light that runs over 14 hours on a single charge and can be attached to virtually any surface. Our lights are also very lightweight and affordable. In other words, we offer an easy and practical solution if you're looking for a high-performance battery powered lighting system. Detailed information about our lighting systems can be found on our website: http://siliconlightworks.com/
I'm going with Silicon Lightworks next Spring
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