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ellipsis
16th February 2012, 05:45
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lMYOQ31OKM4/TzySfAVh_5I/AAAAAAAABjQ/XlwKdP05I-0/s512/IMG_1594.JPG

My building was changing out all the exit signs and emergency lights, so naturally i snagged all the old shit for components, etc. The 6v rechargable batteries in these lights are very useful, so I i wanted to convert the old lights into a plug in charger for these batteries. The light takes AC from the grid and converts it to DC and charges the battery. Above is the finished product, all that i did was remove all the green LED strip inside, the external emergency lights, and the associated wiring.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9rW-C372Mjc/TzySfVU-QXI/AAAAAAAABjU/6Y5sR6TMNvg/s640/IMG_1596.JPG

Then i stripped a random two prong wall and spliced it onto the AC wiring (above)


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RsQ9LJPTl8g/TzySesI0FrI/AAAAAAAABjk/YFKOQBXld3M/s640/IMG_1595.JPG

My friend made me an led light with reflector, which can run straight off the batteries, or be plugged into the charger. Above is the charging unit, light and battery.

The charger is mad slow, but i am amazed that it works at all. the batteries are 12 years expired and this is my first project of this kind.

PC LOAD LETTER
16th February 2012, 08:04
This is fucking cool. I'm definitely going to do this soon.

Check out http://www.instructables.com if you haven't already. It's a huge DIY community, and has a lot of electronics hacks like this.

ellipsis
16th February 2012, 15:49
Cool, thanks. I went to a local hacker space/ collective for ideas. I'll be going back, they have 3d printers!