Garage/Shop 12 volts

[Torkman66]

Had a neighbor come over and asked if I had a car battery he could use for a 12 bolt project he was working on his shop bench. I told him to just use his dewalt cordless battery with eyelet leads. He had never heard of that.

For those who haven’t ever done that, you can just use the cordless batteries as a bench top power source for any 12 volt requirement. 18 or 20 volt batteries work fine. I use one for my ceiling mounted winch. Just have a battery with Velcro on it that mounts right next to winch on ceiling and the wires have eyelets on the ends that slide right into the battery slots. On dewalt batteries one slot is marked B+ and another is marked B- so it is easy to know where power leads go.

 

[1sicbronconut]

These work great. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVG1HTM2/?tag=classicbroncos-20

 

[Jdgephar]

Old computer power supplies have 12, 5, and 3.3v, "wall warts", aka AC/DC converters that just about everything uses that plugs into the wall, just find a 12v one.

 

[gnpenning]

They work great for checking power window and lock motors at the jy etc.

Testing trailer wiring, lighting. Pretty much anything low voltage for a vehicle.

 

[ared77]

I've had for decades a good 12volt DC power supply that I salvaged from back of a old car stereo store display. Used it numerous times over the years, but I like the idea of a more "portable" source so I just ordered the Milwaukee M18 adapter. Thanks for the tip.

​

 

[Torkman66]

Here is a pictuire of my ceiling mounted winch. It uses all thread up through ceiling to a huge beam in the attic. You could just as easily connect to the ceiling joists (I would use a 2x10 that set on top of at least four joists and then just anchor to that board). Anyway, in this picture the battery is not included but you can see a black velcro patch where the battery goes when needed. The wires just slide into the +- slots. This winch with wireless remote costs $80 at HF. Just built the mounting plate and customized the wire length so everything is in a neat package on ceiling. Works like a charm.

 

[904Bronco]

I've had for decades a good 12volt DC power supply that I salvaged from back of a old car stereo store display. Used it numerous times over the years, but I like the idea of a more "portable" source so I just ordered the Milwaukee M18 adapter. Thanks for the tip.

​

Similar experience with (Dating myself) a Radio shack regulated 12v power supply that I have had for 40 some years. But definitely like the option of a power source that doesn't need a 120V outlet for power.

 

[DirtDonk]

Haha. Good one Doug. I think I haven’t used my homemade one in almost 50 years.
Can’t remember who made it though, but I think it might’ve been Tim.
Last time I used it, I think it was to power up a CB radio in the house with an antenna that I put in the attic and on the roof.