Car Tail Light Adapter

[Viper28001]

I've heard this gizmo referenced in two different books, but didn't catch the name or part number in either of them. Basically the premise was that post SHTF, lighting would be a pain. Well, there will be an almost endless supply of automotive tail lights - literally everywhere, available for anyone that wants them. The books made reference to a dongle of some kind that basically wires a bunch of tail lights into an adapter for lamps, etc.

I'm not sure if it's some kind of AC/DC inversion like a wall charger would do for a phone, or if it's specifically DC only. Anyway, does anyone know the name of the part I'm looking for, or where to find one?

Viper

[Tex]

Never heard of it, but does sound neat.



Tex

[Viper28001]

In reality either would be neat:
An AC dongle for those using inverters would provide really low-power consumption light.
Then again, a straight DC dongle would be great for just rigging lighting on the fly. If I'm not mistaken, there's something like 8-12 lights of that size in a standard vehicle's front and tail light assemblies total... it'd be way easy to bogart them from gear that doesn't need them anymore; cars, riding lawnmowers, anything with a turn signal on it, etc.

[DarthMuerte]

Such a thing would be extremely easy to rig post shtf. I don't see any reason to worry about acquiring the parts/materials prior to need. DC would definitely be the easiest to work with. Why waste power converting or inverting? Solar panels make DC, car lamps require DC. You will need to watch your voltages, but aside from that I see no issue. Even without a transformer, it would be easy enough to drop the voltage from 24/36/48 to 12vdc through application of ohms law and correctly wiring a series parallel circuit. The thing to remember is that in a series circuit current remains the same at all points while voltage differs, while in a parallel circuit voltage stays the same while current varies on each branch.

[kickstand]

I'm with Darth...about the only additional thing that I can see being needed would be some wire nuts, which we should all have on hand anyway. Maybe some heavy wire, as if you run too many together in parallel, it will pull quite a few amps, more than standard 14ga wire will allow, causing a melt down. Oh, and a toggle switch or two might be handy.

[DarthMuerte]

You can get all of that out of the same cars you pull the lights out of. Heck, take the head light switch and you get a dimmer function too.

[unseenone]

I've heard this gizmo referenced in two different books, but didn't catch the name or part number in either of them. Basically the premise was that post SHTF, lighting would be a pain. Well, there will be an almost endless supply of automotive tail lights - literally everywhere, available for anyone that wants them. The books made reference to a dongle of some kind that basically wires a bunch of tail lights into an adapter for lamps, etc.

I'm not sure if it's some kind of AC/DC inversion like a wall charger would do for a phone, or if it's specifically DC only. Anyway, does anyone know the name of the part I'm looking for, or where to find one?

Viper

Scavenging is great post shtf, but I would rather pick up some more efficient and longer lasting LED lights ahead of time. I have a vehicle solar system, and a 'home' solar system. The vehicle one will run fridge, ham, battery chargers, etc. The home one is bigger and also has an inverter. The home system is "transportable" but would take two men and a small boy. There is quite a bit under "power" which talks about solar quite a bit. If you need help, or want a AC/DC portable fridge / freezer for post SHTF let me know.

If I had to scavenge, I would go for trailer tail lights first, with the harness so you had a little length for the lights. I would also hard wire it, rather they attempt to drive it all through a socket that is not designed to carry the amperage, resulting in burning down your location and more defense and scavenging, not to mention walking. I also have battery power boxes with 75A connections and various outlets on them, so you could set them aside with some 100Ah batteries and take it with you.

Post SHTF on DC/Solar, consider converting power to AC is a waste of energy. If you can do it with DC, do it. That includes phone chargers, small battery chargers (also in power section) as well as Coffee Pots, and anything else you might want. AC should be a last resort, I just want options, so I have enough to run almost anything (not the AC ) I might run across for a short time on the inverter, like a tool, vacuum, washer, etc. I hope that while you/yours are out beating your clothes on rocks, nobody sneaks in and steals your stuff. You'll also be burning calories to beat the ban. Forgive the humor..

[unseenone]

I'm with Darth...about the only additional thing that I can see being needed would be some wire nuts, which we should all have on hand anyway. Maybe some heavy wire, as if you run too many together in parallel, it will pull quite a few amps, more than standard 14ga wire will allow, causing a melt down. Oh, and a toggle switch or two might be handy.

Interestingly, the Ameritron ALS500 Amp, which is DC uses two pairs of AWG #6 cable, rather than a single larger cable. I'm with you, but if you were in a pinch, you could use a bunch of smaller wires to carry more amperage, it would be a mess. I tend to stockpile stuff like marine grade DC wire on rolls from #10, #12, to #6. Distance will be the enemy, so keep wires as short as possible. You can use a multimeter. Test the voltage at the source, and at the destination. If there is less than a 3% drop, you will probably be ok. When I am doing my various wiring projects, my goal is 0% voltage drop, no sense in wasting any energy to heat loss.

[Viper28001]

I certainly agree it can be done by anyone with any sense of electrical knowledge and access to Google (cause I long ago forgot Ohm's law) but that's the exact reason I'm looking for the out-of-the-box solution. I wire my trailers and lights outside now. I can hang a fan, install a new socket, even rewired the new fourwheeler with a little help, but on the off chance it's post-SHTF and I don't have google, just breaking out the little lightbulb-doodad thingy I got would be nice.

I know how to do the basics, but some goober has already done it and packaged it up in a pretty cheap little package ready to plug in and go - so why bother reinventing the wheel? I'll just buy his and spend the extra free time studying for my Technician license. lol

[MillenniumMan]

Had this setup in groveland for lighting. 45 watt solar panel running into 12 volt emergency batteries into led lighting in the bathroom, pantry, kitchen and front lounge room.

[kickstand]

Viper,
We're certainly not trying to put you or your ideas down . I don't recall anything like what you're describing in the books that I have read, but I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast.

With that said , it would be fairly simple to make what you are describing. The only real "prep" that will need to be done prior to any event which might necessitate their use is the solar charger.
If you get busy with that HAM license , you'll have the basic electrical knowledge to make what you want .

One final thought : Unseen is absolutely correct . Some high quality LEDs will most likely serve you far better than the standard automotive light bulbs. They will use less power and will last longer.

[Viper28001]

Yeah I just wish I could remember the dang book. It "had" to be a shtf book, and I know it wasn't One Second After and I know it wasn't A.A.'s book, and it's not likely to be anything from he-who-shant-be-named either.

And yes, LED's are definitely the way to go. I have lots now - just wanted to know the name of the danged gizmo. It's been driving me NUTS. Every time I pick up a lightbulb in the shop I keep walking back over to google to look again with no luck. lol.

[DarthMuerte]

Most automobile tail lights are LED these days.