A few weeks ago, I decided to add lights to my setup to highlight my paintings at shows. I bought an inverter, 12v marine battery and a charger intended for running 3 60-watt incandescent bulbs. All went well for the first day of a 3-day show, but when I hooked up the battery to the charger (which claimed a full charge in 5hrs!), the battery only ran for 1.5 hours the next day. Back home, I returned the battery and charger (the 600W inverter seemed to work OK, so I kept it) and decided to re-examine the issue.
Does anybody have any suggestions for a reliable brand of battery and/or charger? Also, should I carry more than one battery?
Samuel Whitehead
Replies
LCD's are the most efficient to operate on this type of of system. Here is some good info from pro panel. http://www.propanels.com/battery.html A good automatic charger is critical for maintaining a battery.
LEDs, not LCDs. LEDs aren't necessarily as bright, and some can give off a decidedly cool cast. Check the lumens rating on the package to compare the amount of light emitted.
For jewelry cases, you may be able to use light ropes with LED's.
In general, LEDs use much less power, and so you can use a smaller inverter. CFLs don't take as much power as halogens, but are bigger, bulkier, and more fragile.
Cost is an issue with LEDs, still, but prices are slowly dropping. To light up a booth, you may need six or more LEDs at 600 or more lumens. They can run anywhere from $20 to $50, depending on where you shop. Check your local Home Depot or Lowes, and look online.
For the OP, 3 60W incandescent bulbs is not a lot of light, and you'll get much better efficiency from LEDs or CFL bulbs. You should be able to power half a dozen LEDs with a 300W inverter. Your inverter may be sucking too much current out of the battery.
Thanks Jim - I agree that the LEDs would be best for jewelry. I found a website that offers LEDs and they look pretty good. Their lights are 1200 lumens a foot and their prices are not too bad. Check them out.
http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com/products/led-lighting/iclex-led-show...
When I started using this kind of setup a few years ago, the first charger I had was actually bad. I bought both the battery and the charger at my local O'Reilly's, and they tested both the battery and the charger for me to see which was to blame. I got a different charger from a different manufacturer and haven't had a problem since.
What kind of battery, charger and lights do you use??? I have been thinking of lights as well. I want to do my homework first before buying anything. I have a couple of jewelry case that need lights. I'm going without for now, but other artists have told me that it's important to have them to light up my cases. They said it will be very important on over cast days. If anyone has any recommendations, that would be appreciated.
It's hard to say which had the issue, the battery or the charger. I'd suspect the charger didn't do it's job right.
You should switch your lightbulbs to day light CFL bulbs. You could run more lights on the same battery, or run the lights longer - possibly for two days.
I purchased both my marine battery and charger at Walmart. I've used them for 2 shows now and have not had any issues. The charger was able to fully charge the battery overnight. The batteries are pretty heavy. I don't know if I would want to carry 2 around. One should be enough.
Marine Battery: http://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-Maxx-Group-Size-29-Marine-Batte...
Battery Charger: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XCS15-15-10-2-Amp-Marine-Batte...