12 volt undercabinet/rock lighting?

JEONLYEP · Feb 10, 2005

Okay so I was installing these today, and got to thinking that they are nice low profile surface mount lights that could be put most anywhere under the XJ. 3 for $20 isn't too bad.

The question is that they're 12 volts ac. Not sure how they'd work dc. I'm more of a plumber than an electrican.

Was just putting this out there as food for thought. What do you think?

Daryl

bigredjeep · Feb 10, 2005

get a acdc inverter that wires up to the battery in ur jeep then just plug em in and stickem somwhere

5-90 · Feb 10, 2005

Plug 'em in and try 'em. An inverter would cost more than the lights did, and you probably don't need it. There's a device for regular light bulbs that's just a rectifier (changes AC to DC) that is supposed to make the lighting more efficient, so why shouldn't these run on DC? You headlights are halogen, aren't they?

5-90

bigredjeep · Feb 10, 2005

5-90 said:
Plug 'em in and try 'em. An inverter would cost more than the lights did, and you probably don't need it. There's a device for regular light bulbs that's just a rectifier (changes AC to DC) that is supposed to make the lighting more efficient, so why shouldn't these run on DC? You headlights are halogen, aren't they?

5-90

good point see what happens with that and let us know

JEONLYEP · Feb 10, 2005

Well, they light up when pluged on to a battery. Not sure of their life span, since they were designed to be under a cabinet, and not under a jeep. BUt it can't hurt much to try em for a while (well can't hurt more than $20)

Daryl

Bloose · Feb 10, 2005

A light buib is a resistive device so DC will not hurt them. They should actually last longer as the DC voltage doesn't constantly go back and forth through 0V and +-12V, so there is less stress on the filament. Also 12VAC has a peak voltage of like 20.76V. So 12VDC from a battery should make them last much longer. Also small Halogen bulbs like that usually have pretty durable filements.

The only real problem I could see with them is the reflector and housing. I'm not sure how much light you'll get to the ground compared to a regular fog or driving light but it's definitley worth a try.

P.S. those devices that are for regular light bulbs are just a diode. It cuts off the negetive 1/2 of the AC wave. They may or may not put in a capacitor to smooth out the resulting "DC".

hth,
B-loose

5-90 · Feb 10, 2005

Ah - so it's not a FW bridge - just a single diode? Sounds like the result would be a "DC Ripple" then.

I'd imagine there'd still be something to the claim, but I've not ever bothered to get a set and play with them - I just use the compact fluorescents now.

Since you said that 12VAC peaks up around 21VAC, does that mean that 12VAC is the RMS value? I've not played with that much, either (if it's not 115, it's probably 230, 277, or higher when I get into AC electrics...)

5-90

creeperjeep · Feb 10, 2005

5-90 said:
Since you said that 12VAC peaks up around 21VAC, does that mean that 12VAC is the RMS value? I've not played with that much, either (if it's not 115, it's probably 230, 277, or higher when I get into AC electrics...)

5-90

Right on target Bro

JeepFreak21 · Feb 10, 2005

We have those at my work here, but aren't they a little too fragile?
Billy

Camel_Joe · Feb 10, 2005

Look fragile. Are they weather resistant or anything?

Jeepin Jason · Feb 10, 2005

Camel_Joe said:
Look fragile. Are they weather resistant or anything?

They are fragile, and they're not weather resistant at all. We've got them under all our cabinets in our kitchen. They get HOT too.

Just to go to Wal-mart and get yerself some $15 ricer driving lights. That's what we use for rocklights on both our rigs. $15 gets you two 35 or 55W lights and a simple wiring harness w/switch. Add in a relay and you're good to go.

You can see one of mine sitting on the front of the spring hanger in this pic.
http://jeepin.com/features/rexdalbum/images/DSC01115.jpg

JEONLYEP · Feb 10, 2005

Yea, after looking it over, They'd be too fragile. It was just a thought.

Daryl

Blackash132 · Feb 11, 2005

you can get little halogen light's that are external dc auto lights at wa-mart for 15 or 20 bucks. do that instead, prolly easier to mount too.

Dingo509 · Feb 13, 2005

i actually flush mounted some in my rear bumper for a while the worked really well, i sealed them with silicone around the lens worked for about a year before i replaced the rear bumper. never replaced a bulb. i am going to try them again as backup lights mounted in the liftgate as i am adding LED tailights from FUllsize XJ gear but i want to keep the amber lense.

Dingo

12 volt undercabinet/rock lighting?

JEONLYEP

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