12 volt battery lighting

MaddMaxx

Member
Greetings! I need to light up = very bright = lighting in some small set pieces that are carried around. Must be on battery = 12 volt?= and rechargeable. Should have brightness of 100 par. Is there a battrey driven halogen? Thanks.

Madd Maxx
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Look at under cabinet lighting, you can get some pretty bright lamps in 12v, and of course there are always car headlight mods. How long does it have to be onstage, and more importantly.... how much can it weigh? Your going to have more issues weight then anything else, even motorcycle batteries are 15-20lbs.
 
I would start by bastardizing some flashlights. There are some xenon or LED flashlights that are incredibly powerful that run on lithium ion batteries like Surefire. Even some of the better MagLED retrofits are pretty punchy.

The film industry makes many battery belts for camera, lights, etc. that are typically 12v. A battery system of that kind usually works well for long duration usage. Running some 6v lamps in series could give you what you need. I'd also check out KinoFlo. They make some fluorescent tube based fixtures that are tiny and battery based that pack some serious punch.

As always, some more information about your application, needs, and desired output will always help us answer your question better.
 
If you do go the route of using a large battery, I highly suggest getting the MK ES17-12, or similar. We use them in robotics for FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition). They're 12V, reliable and relatively light (~13lbs).
 
I don't have any experience with it, but I've heard of running car headlights off of a 12v screwgun battery. There is an article about it in this book. (amazon link, I hope that link is kosher with the rules) They came up with the idea for a dance company that wanted a small, portable, bright light source that could be spirited on and off stage by the dancers.
 
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something to look into is LED MR16's They have a nice punch, come in various spreads and dont use much power. You can power them with any 12 volt battery. As for a housing, you can put them into most standard mr16 fixtures, or just use an mr16 socket with a bare bulb. I know Color Kinetics makes them, that is who we use, but I am sure there are other options as well
 

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