36v to 12v DC/DC power reducer question

[TXUSMC]

I’m wanting to install a reducer on my golf cart to power a light bar. The light bar is 405W but I can’t find a reducer with more than 360W output. Will the lights just be less bright than intended?

[roughneck266]

360W is 30A at 12 volts. That is a pretty good bit of power. What lights are you running?

[TXUSMC]

It’s a 32 inch spot/flood combo light. It says it’s rated at 10-30v ands it’s a 405W light.

[silencer2011]

I'm assuming its an LED light bar? 405 watts sounds like it may be giving you the "equivalent" output to incandescent lights. If you can tell me the manufacturer and model I can likely figure out the specifics.

[roughneck266]

Gotcha. If you keep it stepped down to 24VDC you will be able to do more with less so to speak. higher voltage means less current draw. Pretty much anything you want here:

https://www.amazon.com/Daygreen-Voltage-Regulator-Transformer-Converter/dp/B07KQY6JRH?th=1

There are some that are 960W or so. If you want to stay with 12VDC I believe there is one that is a 50A output, so you will get 600W with it.

[TXUSMC]

My other thought was to wire it direct to my cart batteries to get 24v but it wears the batteries unevenly.

Light description from Amazon:
AUXTINGS 32 Inch 405W LED Light Bar 7D Lens Spot Flood Combo Beam Waterproof Dual Row LED Work Diving Lights for Off Road Jeep ATV AWD SUV 4WD 4x4 Pickup

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078Y3ZRKY?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[roughneck266]

No way that is drawing 30 something amps. As mentioned above that is going to be equivalent output. I would ask the what the current draw is before I bought it. Probably be able to get a cheap 36 to 12 dc/dc converter and run that thing easily.

[TXUSMC]

That’s what I was thinking but didn’t want to buy too small of a converter.

[kingranch]

i did it both ways on my old cart... the converter didnt like the amount of amperage those light bars draw..... I ended up putting a small 30$ 12v lawnmower battery in the empty space and I could run the stereo and lightbar without the extra converter and it was a simple install

a small gel agm jetski battery would be perfect also

[roughneck266]

i did it both ways on my old cart... the converter didnt like the amount of amperage those light bars draw..... I ended up putting a small 30$ 12v lawnmower battery in the empty space and I could run the stereo and lightbar without the extra converter and it was a simple install

That is probably the smartest thing to do. Don't have stereos and lights getting you stranded that way, if something shorts out with water ingress and such.

[cj7zrcool]

That sounds like a lot of wattage. I'm running a 32" LED bar @ 180W on my 48V cart wired into a 48Vx12V converter.

[TXUSMC]

My original plan was an auxiliary battery but at an assumed 33.75 amps per hour on 12v I was going to need a massive battery and was getting to be an expensive project. What amp hour battery do y’all think is sufficient? Even a 50ah is about $75.

If a small enough battery would work I’d wire a solar panel to it to keep it spruced up when not close to a charger.

[TXUSMC]

I just walked the fuses down from 30-5 to see where it would blow. Never did. So I’m under 5 amps and ballpark 60W on 12v.

The light ran on a 12v 7ah battery (from my feeder) for 30 mins which is longer than it would ever be on during normal circumstances. A 12v solar panel for a feeder on the roof and we should be good to go.

[roughneck266]

I just walked the fuses down from 30-5 to see where it would blow. Never did. So I’m under 5 amps and ballpark 60W on 12v.

I looked at another one on Amazon that was very similar. The specs on it said it drew 3.7A. I would guess that it is pretty close to what you have there, and a 5A would be perfect.

[roughneck266]

I just walked the fuses down from 30-5 to see where it would blow. Never did. So I’m under 5 amps and ballpark 60W on 12v.

The light ran on a 12v 7ah battery (from my feeder) for 30 mins which is longer than it would ever be on during normal circumstances. A 12v solar panel for a feeder on the roof and we should be good to go.

Nice ingenuity!