LED inspection light.

[Slim]

The only connection with boating is that it's for my boat......................

 

My old inspection light fell apart and I bought a new one on e bay. I can't get my head around the chargers supplied One is a 12 v cigarette plug and that puts out just over 12v plugged into the car. That's fine. The other 'charger' is simply a USB lead with a 4 mm approx plug as you see on many lamps, radios etc. Checked out on a usb socket at home that puts out 5.13v Again as you would expect. Logic tells me that one or the other will seriously over or undercharge to the  point of magic smoke. Am I missing anything, ? The lamp was only £18 so it's hardly likely to contain clever circuitry. More daunting is having to negotiate the e bay returns policy. Feeling a bit bolshy after discovering earlier today that Insure4boats double debited me for my boat insurance.   

[Tracy D'arth]

It likely has a voltage regulator inside to charge an 18650 Lithium cell at 3.6v. Its common now with rechargeable things.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, Slim said:

The other 'charger' is simply a USB lead with a 4 mm approx plug as you see on many lamps, radios etc.

 

It could well be a USB 5V to 12v DC lead. My VHF radio uses one so it can be charged dircetly from a USB socket. its optput voltage is switchable 10v or 12v.

 

Only a couple of £s

 

USB to 9v / 12v power supply | eBay

 

[OldGoat]

Too muc blurry technology.

Whe  I were a lad a tallow candle in a holder was good enough.....

 

Nowadays 'everyone' is pushing technolical solutions - and with a price so match - just to catch the unwary...

 

To my aling mind the KISS principle still applies. A rubber car inspection lamp with a cage to protect the bupb and a couple of croc clips will last you out - Mine's nearly as old as me - and that latter still works  (though the reverse doesn't apply).

XX years of boating and similar experience suggests that where boating is concerned - string and ceiling wax, although not 'cool' (whatever that really means) can be mre reliable and certainly more cost effective  than any device priced at a magnitude of 10+ being sold on ebay or elsewwhere ....

[Alan de Enfield]

10 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

.........can be mre reliable and certainly more cost effective ...........

 

mre = meals ready to eat ?

[Slim]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

It could well be a USB 5V to 12v DC lead. My VHF radio uses one so it can be charged dircetly from a USB socket. its optput voltage is switchable 10v or 12v.

 

Only a couple of £s

 

USB to 9v / 12v power supply | eBay

 

I'll double check but when I put a meter on the cig lighter output it was 12v and when I put the meter on the usb output it  was 5 v with no means of adjusting..

Edited May 7, 2022 by Slim

[Slim]

59 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Too muc blurry technology.

Whe  I were a lad a tallow candle in a holder was good enough.....

 

Nowadays 'everyone' is pushing technolical solutions - and with a price so match - just to catch the unwary...

 

To my aling mind the KISS principle still applies. A rubber car inspection lamp with a cage to protect the bupb and a couple of croc clips will last you out - Mine's nearly as old as me - and that latter still works  (though the reverse doesn't apply).

XX years of boating and similar experience suggests that where boating is concerned - string and ceiling wax, although not 'cool' (whatever that really means) can be mre reliable and certainly more cost effective  than any device priced at a magnitude of 10+ being sold on ebay or elsewwhere ....

I had a real KISS 12v inspection lamp, it used an incandescent bayonet fitting bulb. Unfortunatly I couldn't find a replacement bulb. 

[Slim]

1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

It likely has a voltage regulator inside to charge an 18650 Lithium cell at 3.6v. Its common now with rechargeable things.

No, bumph states Mi-nH battery

[Rob-M]

There may be some auto switching inside that switches the 12v input to 5v.

[Tracy D'arth]

44 minutes ago, Slim said:

No, bumph states Mi-nH battery

That is really so last century, was it cheap?  You meant Ni-mH?  3 cells charge to 3.6v so could still be the same regulator.

[Ex Brummie]

1 hour ago, Slim said:

I'll double check but when I put a meter on the cig lighter output it was 12v and when I put the meter on the usb output it  was 5 v with no means of adjusting..

You need to check the voltage at the plug end when the lead is plugged into the cig lighter socket.

[Ianws]

It doesn't answer your question but I have one of these which works well. usb rechargeable. Sealey LED180 12 SMD LED + 1W LED Rechargeable Slim Inspection Lamp Lithium-ion https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075B6N4C5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_i_YH92A94XV4VT2CT0Q48E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Slim]

11 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

That is really so last century, was it cheap?  You meant Ni-mH?  3 cells charge to 3.6v so could still be the same regulator.

Quite right, I got my ns and my ms mixed up. Yes it was cheap, under £18. May wait until Fireworks night and plug it into a throwaway USB charger.😀

Edited May 8, 2022 by Slim

[Slim]

11 hours ago, Ex Brummie said:

You need to check the voltage at the plug end when the lead is plugged into the cig lighter socket.

Voltage at plug when the lead is plugged into a 12v cig lighter socket was 12v. Can't check the voltage when the plug is actually in the lamp.

[ditchcrawler]

Just use it with the power leads and plugs supplied. 

Edit to add

 

Lots of things these days designed to plug in cigarette lighter sockets are 12/24 and it all gets sorted in the electronics

Edited May 8, 2022 by ditchcrawler
Cause I forgot a bit