Ask a Shiter

[DeeJay]

Given that everything I know about electronics can be written on the back of a capacitor, this may seem like a really stupid question.

 

I have a moderately watertight old prefab concrete garage with no power feed (the roof doesn't leak but water can get in under the edges of the floor when it rains, which will eventually get fixed).  I'd like some light in there and I have a spare car battery knocking around so was thinking of hooking it up via some sort of regulator to something like this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/45W-Ceiling-Suspended-Recessed-LED-Panel-White-Light-Office-Lighting-600-X-600/152186076839?hash=item236eff3ea7:g:tfYAAOSwARZXljrE

 

Would that work?  I understand that the battery's output needs regulating to a steady 12v, I'd need to somehow attach it to a wall switch as well and had the thought of using a solar charger to keep the battery topped up.  However, I am not sure where to start or what's best to get.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pro-User-Petrol-Generator-850w-max-Very-little-used/112664203393?hash=item1a3b4f5081:g:-esAAOSwke9aDJvM

 

 

£50 buy it now.

[phil_lihp]

Thanks, that's very helpful.  I'm on the lookout for a wiring diagram of how the whole thing should work.  There's no car in there, it's not big enough so it's more storage and workshop, it would be useful for a bit of evening bike maintenance as I cycle to work and at the moment if something on the bike breaks or needs adjustment it has to hang on until the weekend just so I can see what I'm doing.

[phil_lihp]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pro-User-Petrol-Generator-850w-max-Very-little-used/112664203393?hash=item1a3b4f5081:g:-esAAOSwke9aDJvM

 

 

£50 buy it now.

 

Oh how the neighbours would love me!  Quiet residential street, I don't think I'd be very popular!

[Tickman]

Would it not just be easier with something like this?

 

https://www.homebase.co.uk/ultimate-bat-light-led-torch_p375110

[Kiltox]

How close is the garage to the house? Wouldn’t be hard to run a 230v spur if close

 

Otherwise I would buy a decent leisure battery and a solar panel.

[phil_lihp]

You're not wrong and it is close to the house, I will be asking an electrician I know about a spur, it's been in my mind for some time but I was just curious about how easily the old car battery could be rigged up for a bit of cheap light.  Likely not worth the hassle but it seemed like an interesting little project to get my head around.

[DeeJay]

65 decibels, quieter than the light of my life.

[Kiltox]

You're not wrong and it is close to the house, I will be asking an electrician I know about a spur, it's been in my mind for some time but I was just curious about how easily the old car battery could be rigged up for a bit of cheap light. Likely not worth the hassle but it seemed like an interesting little project to get my head around.

TBH with a small LED strip it would take a while to drain a fully charged battery so it’s a decent interim measure

 

Either that or Screwfix do rechargeable LED work lights for about £25

[cobblers]

Just running a light off a battery is about as easy as it gets, two wires and it illuminates. Take one of them off and illumination stops.

Drag the battery back in the house after 3 hours of light and put it back on charge. 

 

Or do what most people do and run an extension cable down to the garage that runs through a hole in the corner of the kitchen door, screw the socket on the wall and have a plug that goes to a flickery 5 foot flourescent tube that came out of a skip.

[phil_lihp]

I just got rid of the flickery flurescent tube out of my kitchen too!  Awful things.  Yep, I realise now, plenty of 12v options so I don't need to be looking at 230v stuff at all.  See?  Told you I was useless with this stuff but every day's a school day.  I'll pick up a cheap 20w LED light and go from there, I have some suitable cable which was bought for the van but not used so should be able to knock something simple up.

[Kiltox]

Fucking LOADS of 12v work lights out there

[robinmasters]

Where does one purchase a shite American car? FWD small-engined type American shite to be more specific.

 

Loads of places to look for muscle cars, but I don't want (can't afford) one of them.

[Des]

Solar panel is quite workable for garage lights, some years ago I stuck one on my garage roof, it's a bit crap as fairly shaded by the house, charges an old half dead battery wired via a light sensor to some outdoor lamps fitted with LED headlamp bulbs, they were the cheapest high power LEDs back then, It's been up to the task of lighting the yard all night. The voltage regs commonly have six terminals, marked as a pair to the panel, a pair to batt and a pair to load, where the switch can go, so very simple.

A bonus is that you can wire the panel direct without the reg to wake up an old battery, give it a bit of an overcharge, balance up the cells, done within reason and not bubbling the knackers off them is a good routine maintenance thing.

[Des]

Where does one purchase a shite American car? FWD small-engined type American shite to be more specific.

 

Loads of places to look for muscle cars, but I don't want (can't afford) one of them.

 

Are PT Cruisers FWD? If not I reckon the Neons Probably are, or a later Matiz certainly is and they have a Chevrolet Badge.

[robinmasters]

Are PT Cruisers FWD? If not I reckon the Neons Probably are, or a later Matiz certainly is and they have a Chevrolet Badge.

That's a thoroughly egregious answer, as well you know, although I didn't fully explain myself.

 

Smaller versions (visually at least) of full-sized stuff, j-bodies for example, fox-bodied mustangs would probably be the top end. There is no lower limit.

[egg]

I don’t believe the battery pack will be fucked at 65k if it’s genuine - might be something else.

 

I think it will drive fine on the petrol only tho.

Apparently a weak 12v battery can cause hybrid battery issues, wouldn't it be great if that was the solution!

[Asimo]

 

I believe you can drive the original Honda Insight mk1 as a petrol only.

 

Can a Mk1 original Prius do the same?

 

Google hasn't helped me (definitively).

 

Prompted by this Prius for sale

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201712021769350

 

'Hybrid Issue but does drive'

 

 

The Honda Insight is only a hybrid up to a point: recycled electricity to boost the performance a bit. It is perfectly viable without the hybrid bits working. To me it feels like a 1.3 mini with electroboost working and a 1.0 mini with it switched off.

 

A Prius is 100% Hybrid and can't even move or start the engine without most (all ?) of the hybrid bits working properly. But if it drives normally the most likely problem is tired battery.

 

But who knows, not I.

 

Take the plunge and become an expert!

 

Look at some of the "how a Prius works" videos on youtube and you will see how completely different their drivetrain actually is from everything else.

[Timewaster]

Wonder if KwikFit* did the usual,

 

Your battery has had it. You WILL be stranded this winter, think of the children, won't SOMEONE think of the children!

 

And the owner soiled their undergarments and wants rid.

 

*other scaremongering shisters are available.

[fatharris]

I am not scrolling through 16,000+ posts on here to find out if it's been asked before.

 

Why do some 4x4s only use the bumpers for their rear lights, when most of them even have fixtures and fittings for lights higher up? For example, the Daihatsu Fourtrak, which goes as far as having body coloured light clusters and the Freelander Mk1.

[fatharris]

Also, IIRC, the Prius doesn't even have a starter motor.

[Asimo]

Rear lights is something to do with a requirement to see them from the side which is made impossible by the (completely daft) fashion for hanging a spare wheel on the back door. So duplicate lights are bodged into the bumper to meet the regs.

[Snipes]

I've always wondered about that, too.

 

 

[MorrisItalSLX]

The spare wheel/tail lights thing is partially Australia's fault, as we were one of, if not the first country to introduce the spare wheel obscuring the lights law.

 

On behalf of Australia, I apologise for your weird tail lights.

[Eddie Honda]

Can you also apologise on behalf of Australia for the headlamp rules too?

 

[cobblers]

I see Suzuki Jimnys. They seem alright, but seem a bit more expensive than what I'd expect. Is this cos they're actually good? I'm not gonna offroad or owt but I quite like the idea of an automatic one for a bit to nip to work and back in.

Is the ride incredibly bad? Are they incredibly underpowered? 

[Pillock]

I knew a guy who went proper offroading in a Jimny. Used to turn up to work on a Monday with 6 inches of mud on every surface, a fish in the glovebox and various new dents. He reckoned they were the best thing ever - just as good as a SJ but a fraction of the price.

 

As for on-road, no idea. He used it every day but his had bucket seats, daft tyres and a roll cage so probably not the best example.

[320touring]

I see Suzuki Jimnys. They seem alright, but seem a bit more expensive than what I'd expect. Is this cos they're actually good? I'm not gonna offroad or owt but I quite like the idea of an automatic one for a bit to nip to work and back in.

Is the ride incredibly bad? Are they incredibly underpowered?

Funnily enough, I dun a wee review of one..

 

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/jim-jimny-jim-jimny-jim-jim-jaree/

[MorrisItalSLX]

Can you also apologise on behalf of Australia for the headlamp rules too?

 

 

I am unfamiliar with this rule, enlighten me.

[Ghosty]

Where does one purchase a shite American car? FWD small-engined type American shite to be more specific.

 

Loads of places to look for muscle cars, but I don't want (can't afford) one of them.

Weird American mid size cars come up on eBay oftenish, just keep an eye on the tat thread. There was a great little Olds wagon about a month ago for less than a grand iirc.

It tends to be FWD V6 stuff that’s fairly run of the mill, random Oldsmobiles and such. You’re unlikely to get a Ford that’s not a Crown Vic or a Chevrolet that’s not a Camaro (unless you like dayvans and Luminas) though.

There was a Saturn on earlier this year!

Might be worth checking Auto Trader too.

[Eddie Honda]

I am unfamiliar with this rule, enlighten me.

Nor me, I just remember back in the '90s the stunning Massimo Tamburini designed Ducati 916/748 with it's dual lamps got a crappy single headlamp for the Australian market model to meet local regs.

 

Thus it looks crap.

 

The weak 350 watt single-phase charging systems on the 916 and early 748s prevented the use of both headlamps at once. High beam is one side, low beam is the other. According to Aussie laws if there are two lamps both need to have symmetrical beams. Because this would overload the delicate charging system, the solution was to install a single square headlamp instead of the signature dual lights.