Overvoltage and light bulbs (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

Am I correct if I were run a 6v bulb at a higher voltage than it is designed for, it will be brighter but wont last as long?

I just built up a 5 D-cell battery pack to run a 6v 12Watt bike light. Used 5 cells because I want to run 1.2v NiMH D-cell batteries in series to make 6v. If I were to use brandy new Alkaline D-cells that would make it 7.5V. Although what I will actually do is simply run 4 and just jumper the 5th battery cell holder with a removable wire, I am currious about the electrical properties of overvoltaging a light bulb...

Jay

 

[Eric Kahn]

in that small of a light bulb, the life will be measured in minutes if not seconds, but you can always try it, bulbs are not that expensive that you can afford to waste one on a test

 

[Todd Hochard]

Try it. How much does the bulb cost? Can't be much. It'll burn brighter, and while it's lifetime may be reduced, you may not even notice. It may only last 5 years, instead of 10.
I've run actual 12V bulbs on my car (that weren't meant for my car) for years, and they've lasted just fine at the 14.3VDC the alternator puts out.
At work, we run our 24VDC bulbs anywhere from 22VDC to 26.5VDC (depending on how sloppy the tech is who aligns the +24VDC power supply ), and I've never been able to correlate life there, either.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks, I doubt these light bulbs are cheap unless I can get them from someplace other than the mfgr. The reason I made my own battery is that a new 8ampHr 6V battery from the mfgr battery is $125! which is probably about twice the amount one could simply buy the batteries and a smart charger for (which is what I will do. I haven't purchased the batteries yet because it is now light enough in the morning, I don't need my full-on lights anymore). I hate to check out how much a new 6v 12W bulb is from them. The bulb hasn't ever burned out yet since I bought it and if it's proprietary, it is probably fairly costly.

I plan on running NiMH D cells which are 1.2v but alkalines (at least when new) are 1.5v

Jay