DIY Battery Powered Portable LED Light Panel (MEHS) Episode 54 

- Thanks for the great feedback. Best of luck with your projects -- and the nasty weather.

- You're welcome.

This is glorious, I've been looking for "emergency lighting without relying on batteries for cars" for a while now, and I think this has helped. You ever tried - Eenseh Unthinkable Expediency - (just google it )? It is a smashing exclusive guide for discovering how to get emergency light without relying on batteries without the hard work. Ive heard some amazing things about it and my colleague got excellent results with it.

- Hi. I thought about what you said and initially I though why would anyone want a solar charging light. I guess if you had a solar charging module that could charge up the batteries when the lights are not in use (daytime) then that would be handy for situations where access to a power point is difficult. So basically we would be talking about a solar powered lithium ion charging device. I think the XTAR VC4 takes a 12V DC input. Add a solar panel and a 12v regulator and your in business. Cheers.

-Hi. Good ideas and not difficult to implement. I might add barn doors and a diffuser to this light. I find non-reflective material is better for controlling light. Thanks. Cheers.

- Hi. I used a mix actually. I had two flat tops and one nipple type. The battery holders are designed with the nipple top type in mind but they still work fine with the flat top type as long as the project isn't something that jumps around a lot. Cheers.

- Hi. Not as cheap as the picture frame but yes, agree that would be a good base.

- Hi. Take a look at this video -- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SyiUzZJHVx8.html You will find out what you need. No 100ma is not too much for 18650 cells. Actually its too little. You should charge 18650 cells at 350ma to 2000ma. Cheers.

- Hi. In this example about an hour but that's my own limit, not the limit of the battery capacity. The reason I say this is because this LED panel doesn't have a BMS built in which would safely monitor the low state of the battery (the cells). As you probably know if lithium cells get drained too low it can damage the cells (sometimes with serious repercussions such as fire). I run the light for about an hour and then recharge. If I ran the cells completely flat I could get close to 2 hrs runtime. If you want a safer solution watch my other videos on LED panels or BMS boards or just use this design but use protected cells (achieves the same result). Cheers.

- Hi. Yes you could simply double the battery supply (6 batteries) to give between 18 and 25.2 volts. Since the voltage range is more than a 12v approach you may want to drop in a 24v regulator. But it will work without it. Cheers.

StopLossLOL - Hi. Ideally yes for the reason you mentioned. I keep and eye on my batteries using a meter after each hour of use but a BMS would be ideal here. My next light build with batteries has a BMS. That video should be ready in a week or two. Cheers.

- Thanks.

- Thanks.

- Hi. Yes you can use 300 leds easily. It won't be dimmer as long as the power supply has enough current to power the panel. If you use 3 good quality cells you an get enough current to power a 300 led panel at full power, no drop in brightness, just reduced runtime. Add 3 more cells in parallel and double the runtime. Cheers.

My Electronics & Hacking Show thanks a lot for the help!

My Electronics & Hacking Show I need help with a project. im trying to make a bright green fishing light but nothing i come across on the internet seems to be battery powered..."using green LED strips"

- What voltage are the LED's? If we are taking 12v then the approach is basically the same as in this video with one exception. Instead of just connecting 3 x 3.7V cells in series and connecting them to the LED panel you should connect the 3 cells using a BMS and then connect the BMS to the LED panel. The BMS will stop the cells from being drained too low. Cheers.

- Hi. Yes Ive done some videos on BMS and agree. I haven't tried mixing LED color temps before. Might be worth a look although I'm testing an alternate approach that gives a better result at the moment. Cheers.

Hi. Yes its possible. You just need to make sure your power supply is suitable for the lights being used. You would need to check the draw of your lights as a 9V battery typically won't provide more than 500ma each. Cheers.

- Hi. The small panel draws about 1A so this pack will run the light for almost 2 hours. With better quality cells you can get 3 hours. Cheers.

- Yes agree its fun. Yes I can help depending on time which is always against me. Cheers.

susanto adji - Hi. Parallel. Cheers.

+My Electronics & Hacking Show Oke thanks bro

Hi - From memory each cell was 2200mah. Peak draw was about 1A at 12v, so 12watts. Run time was about 1.5hours before the BMS cut in. Cheers.

- A terminal block. Cheers.

Pete Herbert - Hi. From memory the light has a 2 amp draw so it will run about 1.5 hours. Cheers.

- Hi. There is a bit going on here so its hard without seeing it or seeing a detailed wiring diagram but I would start with the basics and look at your power requirements from the start to the end and the wiring that connects everything. If some part of the circuit is getting hot then you have a current / resistance issue and you could be shunting all the power down one circuit path. A 4S 30A BMS seems insufficient to feed a 450watt inverter. I would be wanting a 40-60A BMS. Also make sure your BMS is working correctly. Try a different BMS if you can. Also make sure that all the wiring you use is up to the task of carrying all that current. This is often overlooked. See how that goes. Cheers.

I failed to mention that the cell itself doesn't heat up. Its the the fuse between two cells. It seems to work fine with 3 even 5 amps but anything higher, that particular fuse starts glowing. What you suggested about the BMS seems very logical. I have a 60amp and 100amp on its way. I will change the BMS and try it. Will keep you posted. Thanks...

@@milvolts1 - Also, what is the fuse rated at? It could be that you're current throughput is very close the max rating of the fuse. Try putting your meter in-line and measure the current. Cheers.

It is rated at 3 amps. But its only 1 fuse glowing and its the one that's connected to the battery where the BMS negative is connected along with a balance lead wire. I'm currently testing the pack without the inverter and so far have run 2 led lights equalling 3amps and no heat. I need to find some more devices so I can equal the 7amps I was running with the inverter. Will keep you posted.

My goal is to get this pack right so that I can build a portable power box

- Thank you.

- Hi. Do you mean an LED light bar? or normal car headlights? The answer to both is yes but the number of cells required will depend on the wattage of the light being powered. Cheers.

My Electronics & Hacking Show Thanks for the reply! Just ordered a single row Light Bar. Going to be placing it on my Go Kart so i need a more portable way of powering it up.

- Great. Just make sure you work out the power draw (wattage) of the light bar before connecting batteries as you can cause big problems if not careful. As a rule of thumb the maximum current draw out of an 18650 cell is 5amps and its better to stick to 3 or 4. If you need BIG current draw you might want to look for 18650 cells that are IMR type as these can handle 10-20 amp draw. Cheers.

Hi. Should be fairly easy. You just need a powerbank that can output 12v natively or output 5V at 2.4A so you can use a step up regulator and get 12v from the 5v source. Your panel can only be so big though as converting 5v to 12v means a big drop in amps. Max would be a panel with a 1A draw. Cheers.

Hi. You will be able to get power from the charger to the LED panel but how effective this is depends on your battery charger. If it has specific modes and settings, they may change how power is delivered. Best way to find out is try it. As long as the voltage is correct (12v - put your meter on the charger leads and check the output voltage), you should be okay. Cheers.

The number of cells, when in series, determines the voltage. 3 cells gives close to 12v which is correct for the leds being used. 4 cells produces too much voltage and will burn out the leds. If you need more battery capacity use better batteries or use 2 lots of 3 cells.

Hi. Yes, can be used for any lighting needs really. Change the number of LEDs to meet your specific output needs. Just note that the more LEDs you run, the shorter the cells will last per charge. Cheers.

- Hi. No, yes I know :(

- Hi. Not too difficult. You would need a solar regulator to control the voltage going to the panel but that's all really. To get the best charge you would also install a 3s battery charger circuit as I've shown in recent videos. Cheers.

he already said to charge battery manually in charger port

- The LED's are fairly tolerant and will run from 8.7v up to 14v. The draw is about 1.5 amps. If you install a SEPIC voltage regulator it will handle the under and over voltage and give the panel a clean 12v supply.

Second Account cheap one