Demo lighting idea

[muddywater]

I am trying to think of a better way to demo lights. I don,t want to buy a demo kit. The vista ones break alot, or are either out on loan. Has anyone tried to rig up a 9 volt battery to a light? It would be portable, faster, and easier. I tried it the other day and it would work with led but not with halogen. Then with led, the 9 volt was dim, but 18v was very bright. Any ideas out there?

[LLC RI]

you could go to an alarm supply house and buy yourself one or two 12 volt emergency light / alarm back up batteries. These are usually 7 amp hour which will be plenty to supply a bunch of LED's for short periods. You will need to find a 12 volt charger for them... Years ago.. Nightscaping used to have a demo kit that came in a hard attache' case and it came with a 12 volt battery and they installed a fuse and some female banana plug jacks... made it easy to connect and disconnect.. your demo lights.

As for what fixtures to use... just use the ones you use for your jobs... a bullet.. a wash.. a mini wash,, small accent.. path light... maybe a deck light.. whatever you want

[Zohan]

I have used kichler led fixtures with 9volt batteries

[irrig8r]

The Kichler LED spots light up nicely with a 9V. The Vista spots do not! Learned that while doing a quick demo.
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[muddywater]

Do any of you guys rig up an on off switch and secure it to the lights? I was thinking this would be cheaper and easier than a demo kit.

Also why does it not work with halogen lights?

[S&MLL]

In theory it does but 9volts is going to be a very dim mr16. Plus it wouldnt last very long
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[Classic Lighting]

I install mostly Cast products. Their fixtures have integrated LED modules and 9v will power them for a day. However, 9v will not work with drop-in LED. If I remember right, the LED module converts AC to DC in order to power the LED.

I'd recommend purchasing fixtures that can run temporarily on 9v. The prospective client can see how the fixture performs and that is a great selling advantage.

[Classic Lighting]

Originally Posted by muddywater

Also why does it not work with halogen lights?

Because halogen does not operate on DC power.

[S&MLL]

Originally Posted by Classic Lighting

Because halogen does not operate on DC power.

Maybe im loosing my mind but im pretty sure i have ran 2 35watt mr16fixtures over night off a 12volt truck battery
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[S&MLL]

9volt dc power will power some drop in leds.... i powered 20 pathlights with illumicare led scb lamps off a car battery as well this year. It was for a wedding they wanted a walkway lit in the woods car battery was easier then running a trans
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