Re: (ET) Batteries and lighting

[Robert Adsett <subscriptions aeolusdevelopment com>]

At 10:07 AM 3/11/05 -0500, steves wrote:
> I'm no expert on lighting, but in general, incandescent lamps are pretty 
> sensitive to voltage. Their need to run pretty close to their max to get 
> much efficiency. If you look at 'super long life' bulbs you'll see they 
> are actually rated for 130V. They last long because at 115V they are 
> running well under rated voltage. They are also very inefficient when run 
> that way. Likewise running over the rated voltage will shorten life 
> greatly while increasing brightness. The limit is a bright flash and dead 
> lamp. Aircraft landing lights may be different. I would think they would 
> be more tolerant due their critical application, but 36V may be too much. 
> If you don't use them much, I would run them off off 24V - they'd last 
> longer, be a bit less bright, but would discharge the pack a bit unevenly. 
> Hmm if the stereo and siren are 12V, run them off the other 2 batteries 
> and it may balance out!

They are also going to be a pretty substantial load on the battery pack 
(assuming they are incandescent).  raising the voltage from 28 to 36 V 
raises the power to 990W or nearly 30A per light.

Robert

" 'Freedom' has no meaning of itself.  There are always restrictions,
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