I bought some Model Power grain of wheat bulbs which are rated at 12-16v and .03 amps. Can I use the 14 volt accessory output on a Z-1000? How do I lower the amps?
Thanks,
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
No need to lower anything. The MTH accessory output will work fine for those bulbs,
You do not "lower" amps. Loads, such as lamps, use a certain amount of current, measured in amps, and this current draw depends upon the internal resistance of the lamps, and the voltage that they are attached to.
I would suggest that you use a lower VOLTAGE for these lamps, because at 14 volts, you are driving them at the top of their maximum voltage range.
I would use 6 to 8 volts, first, as an experiment, and see how they look. You can do this simply by putting two lamps in series. Each will get half the supply voltage. Remember, that LED's have pretty much supplanted GOW and other incandescent lamps. LED's last forever, if not abused, and use around a 7th of the amperage of the tungsten equivalent lamp.
The reason that I asked the question is that when I installed a bulb in a streetlight that I have and powered it up, the insulation burnt on the wires immediately. Maybe I scraped the wire insulation and shorted it out?
The bulb didn't do that, you had a short. I can power a pretty large bulb with #32 wire-wrap wire, no burning in sight.
The old one shorted out at the bare wires next to the bulb and the metal lamppost. Used some liquid electrical tape on the new bulb and all is well.
I'm also using reduced voltage with the accessory output of a CW-80.
Thanks for all of the advice.
