12 volt light in portable

[dfv87]

I am going to "rig" a 12 volt light and bought a clamp light from wally world...I will cut the plug off the light and separate the wires and attach the gator clips and bought a 12 volt bulb. Now the questions is how do I tell which is the positive wire and which is negative or will it not matter?

[S.D. Ice Angular]

It does not matter...

[pikechaser]

Where do you find those 12v lite bulbs?

[bigb56303]

just for your info the wire that goes to the center post would be your "hot" or in your case positive, and the screw shell is the neutral or again the negative to get it correct, but with dc it really doestn matter just alittle in for for ya

[Seeker of Clayface]

Pikechaser,

I think you can get 12v bulbs at Home Depot.

[scaup]

You can usually find 12v light bulds at any good hardware store. At least that is where I got mine from.

[Borch]

If you're planning on using this setup look for the 15 or 25 wat 12 volt bulbs. The 50 watters are everywhere. Someone told me that some of the hardware stores have the 15 and 25 watt low voltage bulbs. The 50 watt bulbs do eat up the battery much quicker. If you plan on using a vex style battery or lawn tractor battery you'll get 3 hours or less with the 50 watt bulb.

[Gus]

I used to run a 50 watt bulb off my car battery. Pulled the car up to the back of my perm, popped the hood and hooked up the alligator clamps. Just to make sure I didn't end up with a dead battery I started the car every 2 hours but I never once ended up with a dead battery. Never had to charge a battery, never had to lift or carry a battery. Worked like a charm. RIP my first permanent.

[Borch]

I used to do the same with two 50 watt bulbs. I was safe for about two hours. Any more than that and the van barely started. House sure was bright though. Especially when the vehicle was running and the altanator was pumping extra juice into the system.

[phishandpheasant]

Another option is to get a 12 volt camper light from an RV supplier. I use this with a jumper pack and have plenty of light all night long. I use the same setup in my permanent.

[Seeker of Clayface]

I picked up a few 12v bulbs at a large RV & camping store in Rogers today (94 & 101, right near Cabelas). They have the "rough service" rated bulbs in 15, 25 & 50 watts.

[Ron Vroom]

Here is my system which takes much less juice out of your 12v battery. I have a small 120vAC inverter I picked up for about $20 which I hook to a 12v garden tractor battery in a battery box with a 120v AC duplex receptacle. I plug in my clamp light which is a high efficiency 120v AC bulb which is 12 watts or so. I also run my 120v AC aquarium aerator in my bait bucket. Both light and aerator draw about 1/3 of an amp from your battery and it runs forever needing a recharge about every 3rd or so trip with running both about 6 hours a night.