What's the Voltage of My Lights?

[AzPete]

Originally Posted by lithoman

Sounds like you don't have any kids

Kids are 36/40.....but my 17 year old grandson tried to drive it onto the porch it is parked by. He forgot to put it in reverse and hit the pedal. That dang cart stood on the back bumper while trying to get on the porch floor which is two feet above ground level.....and I was in front of it on the porch. Kids eyes were the size of dinner plates....lol

He still has a hard time living that one down..... His on road driving with his Explorer has been perfect for the last year so......

[bigstik40]

Sounds pretty scary !! I'll bet your eyes weren't all that small either, watching him bear down on you while on the porch. Funny now but a different story then. Glad we can chuckle about it now. _ RAY

[kab69440]

At least it wasn't pointed at a pond...

[AzPete]

Originally Posted by kab69440

At least it wasn't pointed at a pond...

Yep.....and I have 5 on the 4 acres.....lol I was really laughing at him because of the scared look he had plus I knew no harm would come from it that could not be easily fixed.

[simple man]

Originally Posted by bigstik40

I'm not a fan of tapping the battery pack for "anything". If you expect to have other accessories, besides lights, a voltage converter probably makes the most sense. One thing to keep in mind with lights is don't even think about turning the lights on while charging the batteries. I read a post here where someone tried that and promptly "smoked" their bulbs. This may be less of an issue with 12 volt lights but I'm sure those 36 volters wouldn't be happy at 44 + volts . Good luck - RAY

I didn't post about it, but I did the exactly same thing! I am currently running 36V. I used 12V bulbs both hooked up in series then in series again with a ballast resistor for an ignition coil. Worked wonderfully!
One night I wanted to look out in the yard and yup, the charger was on. They didn't poof immediately, but I wasn't fast enough to get them back off either! One went out breaking the circuit, so I still have one good bulb. I have since gotten 48V bulbs ( H3 style ) and am quite happy with them! I want to convert to 48V anyway + I got a good deal on them to boot! I am very pleased at the brightness of them on 36V! I didn't think they would be nearly as bright as they are. They are the 55 watt bulbs also.

[bigstik40]

Never thought about using the 48 volt bulbs, but if they're bright enough, that might be the way to go. I know that my 36's dim quite a bit under hard acceleration so the 48's might be worse in that respect. Thanks for the info. - RAY