Under hood LED lamp/torch, wireless, rechargeable, and auto on

I hadn't seen this idea anywhere after searching through every relevant word combination I could think of, so I think I came up with an original idea that's pretty cool! It's an under hood LED lamp/torch that's wireless, portable, rechargeable, and turns on automatically when you raise the hood.


It's a power outage/ emergency light that plugs into a 110v receptacle. It charges until full then shuts off the charger automatically. It remains off until power is removed/lost, then it turns on automatically.

So, I removed the 110v power pack with a step down transformer to 5 VDC. I bought a 12VDC to 5VDC transformer off of Amazon for $7, I think, and wired it to full time on from the battery.

Then I took a momentary switch that closes on push (normally open) from my local hardware store for like $5 and installed it near my driver side headlight.

So, basically, when the hood is closed the momentary switch is closed and delivering voltage to the 12 - 5 VDC transformer and then to the emergency LED charger (built into the light itself). The charger shuts off automatically when the LED is fully charged so it won't drain your battery. The light remains off until there is a power loss (you open the hood) then turns on automatically, running on battery.

Now you can leave the light in it's mount ( I have a TRD sport and it sits conveniently behind the scoop support, so you might have to come up with a different way to mount it to the hood) or you can unplug the light from it's charger and use it wherever you need light. You also have the option to use it as a lamp or a flashlight (torch) via the switch on the side. To anyone who doesn't know any better it's a typical under hood light and behaves as such, to those in the know, it's an anytime flashlight/lantern that can be used anywhere! I plan to install a second one on the other side of the under hood as soon as it arrives. The idea can be applied to anywhere on the vehicle. I'd like to see a dome light done this way, or door pocket courtesy lights. In a car, there could be 2 inside the trunk that could be removed from their cradle to look through luggage, find tools to change a tire, or a setting for strobe so that one or both lights could be placed on top of or behind the vehicle to warn oncoming traffic in a roadside emergency type scenario.

This might be the best idea I've ever had and I swear to God if someone links to a thread where this was done 5 years ago I'm gonna lose my shit!! If not, it should be called a pigeon light, because I'll never get a dime for the idea so I should at least get to name it.

 

Nice job I like it!

 

Awesome!! Great thinking!!

 

Thanks guys. I'll update after a while to let people know how durable it is.