Portable Spotlights

[grimbo]

I have a couple of small spotlights 55w that are just sitting in my shed. I also have a couple of old 12v Fluro lights with the wiring and switches to be used in a cigarette plug. Could I just use that wiring etc and connect to my spotlights to make some portable ones? I want to make a quick attach/detach bracket for the lights so I can clamp it onto the front/back/side of the car if needed

[DamTriton]

I would guess that the wire from the ciggie plug may not be up to scratch for the 5 amps or so that each spottie will draw

[ricky1970]

U will most likely end up with fried wiring at worst, or just nice yellow dim lights at best. Fit a decent plug, with propper fused wiring to it and go from there.

[grimbo]

U will most likely end up with fried wiring at worst, or just nice yellow dim lights at best. Fit a decent plug, with propper fused wiring to it and go from there.

that's what I was thinking but was hoping I could use the other stuff for ease

[-Scott-]

5A isn't really a lot of current, so the wiring would need to be VERY small before it will fry.

What's the power rating of the fluoros?

[Oscars]

3mm will be fine for the 55w light if shortish run

[GQ Bear]

keep the wiring length minimal. I have a similar setup with twin 55w lights as removable reversing light on a swingaway wheel carrier. I used speaker plugs via a cb handset coil (very small wires) and it fires up no worries, so you shouldn't have any probs with cigi plug and wires.
I made a 10m extension cord so i could use light as a floodlight around camp. First time i used it i got a dim glow, never used it again. I imagine if i shortened it to about 3m it would work fine tho.

[grimbo]

5A isn't really a lot of current, so the wiring would need to be VERY small before it will fry.

What's the power rating of the fluoros?

not sure as they haven't worked for awhile now. The wire length is at most 3m. I suppose the worst that can happen is they are dim as I'll try them out keeping one eye on everything to make sure nothing bursts into flame

[r0ck_m0nkey]

Just using a removable magnetic based orange flashing light as an example. A normal one would have a 55W halogen bulb in it, plus a motor to drive, so would draw more current. Plugs into a cigarette lighter with a 10A fuse inside the plug, plus the usual 3m coily lead has cores of about 1mm (thick insulation though)


So if the cable on the leads is up to the task, go for it.