Running garage lights on a car battery

[ban-all-sheds]

I once knew someone who had a glass eye.

It took the place of the real one he'd lost to acid damage when a gassing battery blew up in his face.....

 

[ericmark]

I note Aldi are doing a battery pack see http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_8567.htm?WT.mc_id=2009-01-12-14-25 may be worth a closer look?

 

[HawkEye244]

I'll probaly forget this whole thing. Most of the responses have just lead to more questions on my part. I don't know anything about electricity I just want to power a few floresant lights in a garage. I'm really none the wiser

 

[HawkEye244]

I note the OP has no knowledge regarding batteries invertors etc. I would make the point that in the wrong hands batteries are more dangerous than mains power. If you've ever seen a car battery explode through incorrect charging conditions you will know what I mean and a short or wrong polarity connection can be lethal. Now the warnings are finished the advice re batteries is to use either leisure batteries or sealed lead acid and charge with a constant voltage charger, and this must be housed in ventilated enclosure outside. Before retiring I provided outdoor public address systems for fetes etc and ran the whole systems on battery power so I have long experience of this. I would suggest that it will be far cheaper to use the generator.

Leisure batteries require constant recharging? I just want a battery that is similar in character to a drill battery pack. In otherwords its there when you need it until it runs out and dosen't need constant attention.

 

[breezer]

I'll probaly forget this whole thing.

Thats what worries me.
You obviously want the light so chances are you will do something

I'm really none the wiser

Most forget this is a DIY forum, although what they said is true, it was interesting to read, but i agree, of no use to you.

However, how about a couple of

The do exactly what you want, light up, last for a while (i think the 7 hours of light is on the lowest setting) and you can plug it into a charger which is supplied.

it came from here
other suppliers of rechargable lanterns are available

 

[Trazor]

I once knew someone who had a glass eye.

A good friend of mine had a glass eye.

He used to keep an eye out for me.

 

[HawkEye244]

I'll probaly forget this whole thing.

Thats what worries me.
You obviously want the light so chances are you will do something

I'm really none the wiser

Most forget this is a DIY forum, although what they said is true, it was interesting to read, but i agree, of no use to you.

However, how about a couple of

The do exactly what you want, light up, last for a while (i think the 7 hours of light is on the lowest setting) and you can plug it into a charger which is supplied.

it came from here
other suppliers of rechargable lanterns are available

This is what I read about lead acid batteries :-


When batteries are frequently deeply discharged then sulphation build up occurs. Sulphur molecules from the battery acid (electrolyte) start to coat the lead of the plates. Once the lead is coverered in sulphur the battery is dead and cannot be recharged. Sulphation starts occuring once the charge of a starting battery descends below 75%. Therefore lead acid batteries must be looked after well if they are to remain useable for a long time. Click here to read our article on battery desulphation - a method to bring dead batteries back to life.


What is the likelihood of this happening? 35 pounds is reasonable but not if its going to be dead in a few months time.

 

[breezer]

What is the likelihood of this happening?

very likely, question is when

I have the answer for you

go here buy what you like and some flex and a plug top and plug it into your generator.

 

[HawkEye244]

What is the likelihood of this happening?

very likely, question is when

I have the answer for you

go here buy what you like and some flex and a plug top and plug it into your generator.

My garage is in a residential area and generators make noise. Its not an option at night. And that link dosen't work...

 

[ericmark]

This is what I read about lead acid batteries :-


When batteries are frequently deeply discharged then sulphation build up occurs. Sulphur molecules from the battery acid (electrolyte) start to coat the lead of the plates. Once the lead is coverered in sulphur the battery is dead and cannot be recharged. Sulphation starts occuring once the charge of a starting battery descends below 75%. Therefore lead acid batteries must be looked after well if they are to remain useable for a long time. Click here to read our article on battery desulphation - a method to bring dead batteries back to life.


What is the likelihood of this happening? 35 pounds is reasonable but not if its going to be dead in a few months time.

Not quite true although I can see how the mistake has been made.
When a battery is discharged sulphur is deposited on the plates and when it is recharged the sulphur is removed from the plates but it the sulphur is left on the plates too long it can set like cement and the battery will no longer take a charge this is pure neglect and does not happen when batteries are looked after and is nothing to do with deep cycling of the battery.

When a battery is deep cycled then active material can drop off the plates. There is an area in the battery to catch this but it will reach a point where the batteries self discharge reaches an unacceptable level. Battery design can remove this problem but in doing so it increases the internal resistance of the battery and it’s ability to start cars. There are other battery types that don’t have this problem most using alkali instead of acid as an electrolyte. Buses, milk tankers etc use Nickel Iron batteries which last years longer and can be deep cycled and do not lose the voltage until end of chemical cycle.

If we consider the garage lighting problem then Nickel Cadmium would be better option and holders are available to take the C cell or they can be bought in pre-connected groups of cells Maplin or RS Components I am sure sell these. The Alkali cell tends to have a lower voltage of 1.2 volts per cell rather than 2 volts per cell for lead acid and so a battery of 10 cells rather than 6 cells is required to get 12 volt.

However the alkali cell is more expensive and one has to consider how much you want to spend.

The local market sells LED lanterns at £8 each which can be charged either by a small charger or turning handle on the side with three light levels which may be enough but to see to navigate a garage is very different to seeing to work in a garage and no one except for garage user knows what level of light is required.

As yet no one has suggested solar panels on the roof and of course if every so often you need lights but this may be days or weeks apart this may be an option but since we don’t have any idea of use we can’t answer questions as to best method only able to give pros and cons of different methods.

 

[mattylad]

The canoe club I used to go to had an old barn type building next to a canal that they used for a changing room etc, we managed to light that pretty well using 5 foot strip lights wired form a car battery.

The lights were converted using emergency lighting units so they ran off of 12v and the battery was in a wooden box with a socket/plug on it's output.

When the battery ran flat it was taken home and recharged.

AFAIK it worked well for quite a long time, if the battery was to fail I'm sure another could be obtained from a scrap yard that still has plenty of life in it.

The canoe club seemed to get adequate lighting, so why the big hoohar over this for a remote garage?

Just get some 12V lighting & use a car battery in a box then take it home to charge. Or fit more windows & work during the day.

Oh and get someone that does know what he's doing to help you, to fuse it properly etc.

 

[big-all]

if you have a car just buy a second identical battery and swop them round every week or sooner if reuired this will stop all the worries of dammaging the batteries
you may have to additionaly charge the batteries dependant on how long your car runs are ect

you would also have to check if frequent battery changing will compromise the electronics on your car

 

[P.S.]

1 x

battery

1 x

solar panel

1 x

charger/regulator

and get some lights. Personally i'd go for caravan 12v fluorescent ones as saves the use of an inverter

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That makes it notifiable, of course...

 

[HawkEye244]

Like I say this is a residential area. Solar panels on the roof I can't see working, although its an option. Its possible for people to get on the roof and steal them so how I would secure a solar panel I don't know. And that's just the start, I would need to OK it with someone elses whos known for being a grumpy difficult bastard. Its difficult enough for me to use my power tools lets put it that way.

I already have the lights like I say. I've got four 17w floresants longer than a foot long and about 10mm wide. They are kitchen lights and they are very bright. Two would actually be enough I reckon.


If we consider the garage lighting problem then Nickel Cadmium would be better option and holders are available to take the C cell or they can be bought in pre-connected groups of cells Maplin or RS Components I am sure sell these. The Alkali cell tends to have a lower voltage of 1.2 volts per cell rather than 2 volts per cell for lead acid and so a battery of 10 cells rather than 6 cells is required to get 12 volt.

So a Nickel Cadmium batteries AKA normal AA batteris e.t.c that can be clumped together and recharged as a set?