48 to 12 volt conversion [RE-wrenches]

Jeff Clearwater clrwater at earthlink.net
Fri Nov 11 20:33:10 PST 2005


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Hey Ray,

Yes, all good points.  I'm convinced to buy LEDs when I can afford it 
and go 120 VAC when possible and buy thin lite type 12 volt when 
applicable.   But still my question is:   are the 12 V CFs you bought 
the same ones they sell now?  I want to give that the benefit of the 
doubt first.  Dave and gang are pretty good at keeping up on stuff 
that does and does not work.  And I'm still not convinced that 2 amps 
heating the positive contact is the problem.  Doesn't take much to 
connect 2 amps without heat.

Thanks for your excellent points!

Best,

Jeff C.

>Hi Jeff;
>
>I got mine all from AEE. They were good about warranty, but when 
>half the profit is lost shipping in and the rest of the profit gets 
>eaten in the return, you're making negative dollars/ hr. Some of 
>the bulbs are still working ,so I wouldn't be throwing them away, I 
>would sell them "as is", though. Most of the problems were related 
>to low voltage conditions of the power system. At 11 volts your 
>current is going to be higher, combine that with a possibly slightly 
>corroded connector on the $2 Edison base and you might have 
>problems.  I know 2 amps doesn't sound like much, but that would be 
>a 240 watt bulb in 120 vac: their normal use. 12 volt fluorescents 
>like the Thin Lights on the other hand have decades of rugged use 
>under their belts. LED edison bulbs are coming way down in price 
>too. I got a 2 watt bulb (24 LEDs) for $12 the other day.They're 
>still pretty dim for regular use, but make a great emergency light 
>or night light.
>
>Ray
>
>
>
>Jeff Clearwater wrote:
>
>>Hey Ray and all,
>>
>>I just wanted to make sure that before we threw 12 V CFs out 
>>forever based on Ray's assessment that we note that you did say you 
>>stopped selling them a couple of years ago - no doubt on your 
>>experience then but perhaps they have improved since then?  2 Amps 
>>shouldn't cause much heat on the contacts involved.  AEESolar sells 
>>a series of 12V CFs with a two-year warranty and claim 6000 hours. 
>>Anyone have experience with the latest ones from AEESolar or 
>>elsewhere?
>
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-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff Clearwater
Village Power Design Associates
Sustainable Energy & Water Solutions for Home & Village
http://www.villagepower.com
gosolar at villagepower.com

530-470-9166
877-SOLARVillage
877-765-2784
425 Nimrod St.
Nevada City, CA 95959
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~

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