Converting to battery power (1 Viewer)

[ryan.sager]

I recently bought a new entertainment center and unfortunately the previous owner modified the cabinet lights by snipping the ends of the cords off and wiring it directly to a wall switch. I hate the way it looks with the lights off and would like to, once again modify it, this time by, converting the power source to batteries and installing a small switch in the back to turn both of the lights on and off simultaneously. I'm sure a 9V battery, or perhaps a few, would be enough to power the two cabinet lights. I'm not exactly sure how to go about doing this though.

The light panel reads VERBATIM as follows

Cabinet Light UL Listed E210130
Warning-Risk of fire-MAX 25 watt,
Type T bulbs
Place light source no closer than 3/8" to any surface
120V 60HZ AC only

Any Ideas/Help would be greatly appreciated.

Very Respectfully,
Ryan

 

[Greg_R]

The bulbs run on A/C power. You cannot feed them with a DC source directly... it simply will not work. If you want to go the battery route, you will need a DC-AC power converter (not the cheapest item). These items are popular in car audio and RV circles for powering equipment and are typically intended to run off a car battery. You might be better served switching to a DC powered light source and replacing the existing cabinet fixture. Those push-click puck lights do a good job and are ultra easy to install (peel off sticky paper, then stick to the wall).

 

[Cowbell]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the formula is:
DC voltage * .707 = AC voltage.

To figure out how much DC voltage you'll need to run a 120V ac light bulb.
You'd take 120Vac/.707=169.7 Vdc. Not really practical I think.