Golf cart - LED light bar question

[jjake]

I have a 36v golf cart running on 6-6v batteries (when fully charged the battery pack puts out about 38v). I will be adding a light bar but don't want to add weight or more "stuff" to the cart. There are a couple of ways to power the light bar at 12v. To avoid potentially messing up the battery pack, some folks purchase a voltage reducer or they purchase a separate 12v battery. Others run the 12v from two of the batteries which may damage the battery pack due to the unbalanced use.

Now to the question. Is there such a thing as a 36v LED Light Bar? Most light bars seem to accept a working voltage ranging from 9v-33v. Assuming I purchase a light bar that was 120w at 12V; I could run the light at 36v and only draw 40w and have a uniform use of the 36v battery pack. Seems like the perfect solution.

Thoughts? Has anyone already done this? If so, which light bar did you use?

Thanks

[BigDropTine]

Bowslayer would be the expert to ask this question.. if he doesn't chime in just shoot him a message he would be able to help you out

[culebuck]

Just wire it between two 6 volt in series

[BBReezen]

Maybe something like this

http://m.ebay.com/itm/322035966994

[WTucker]

I have a 36v golf cart running on 6-6v batteries (when fully charged the battery pack puts out about 38v). I will be adding a light bar but don't want to add weight or more "stuff" to the cart. There are a couple of ways to power the light bar at 12v. To avoid potentially messing up the battery pack, some folks purchase a voltage reducer or they purchase a separate 12v battery. Others run the 12v from two of the batteries which may damage the battery pack due to the unbalanced use.

Now to the question. Is there such a thing as a 36v LED Light Bar? Most light bars seem to accept a working voltage ranging from 9v-33v. Assuming I purchase a light bar that was 120w at 12V; I could run the light at 36v and only draw 40w and have a uniform use of the 36v battery pack. Seems like the perfect solution.

Thoughts? Has anyone already done this? If so, which light bar did you use?

Thanks

If the light bar is only rated for 33 volts, I would not use it on a 36 volt system. The electronics probably cannot handle the higher voltage. Also, if the cart is fresh off the charger the voltage will probably be a little higher than 36 volts. As you said, you can wire it to two batteries in series and get 12 volts, but it will discharge those two batteries faster than the others potentially causing you to buy another set of batteries sooner than normal (not sure how much more). Your best solution if you have the money is to buy a DC to DC converter to step the voltage down to 12 vdc.

[FireNguns]

Just add a 12 volt auxiliary battery to run accessories or add a voltage reducer to the battery bank. Some people put an aux battery in the rear compartment. Mine for under the seat.

[bowaddict40]

Just put a voltage reducer on it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ARRA56Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1THAZDOWP300U

[WTucker]

Just put a voltage reducer on it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A1THAZDOWP300U

This is what I would do, but if you are going to buy a 120 watt light bar I would find a converter that is rated higher than 120 watts.