Re: Electrical Question


[Follow Ups] [Post Followup] [Dodge Power Wagon Forum]


Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.28] on Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 22:41:35 :

In Reply to: Electrical Question posted by S. Bear [72.219.252.19] on Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 19:34:39 :

If the lamp draws too much current for your radio shack power supply, it should still make a small spark when you touch the final wire to it, thus showing that the bulb and wiring are good. One problem with powering incandescent bulbs from wimpy power supplies is that even if the power supply has enough juice to light the bulb once it's lit, it often doesn't have enough to light it when it's cold. The resistance of a cold bulb is MUCH less than that of a hot one, so it takes a pretty good surge of current to get the bulb hot. For long-life bulbs with heavy filaments, the starting surge could be 10X the operating current. I don't how what bulb your "beacon light" uses, but a normal 12 volt headlight bulb draws 6 to 8 amps when hot.

If the only thing in your light is a bulb (no motor), you can power it just as well with 12 volts AC as 12 volts DC. That gives you more options in power supplies since all you need is a transformer. You can buy a "control transformer" from an industrial supply place or get a "low voltage landscape lighting" transformer from a home improvement store. A bare transformer will also give you a stiffer kick of start-up current than a fancier power supply will.



Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:
Subject:
Message:
Optional Link
URL:
Title:
Optional Image Link
URL:


This board is powered by the Mr. Fong Device from Cyberarmy.com