Amazon Basics motion activated lights

[Wayne]

We have some cabinets and drawers that are lighted from the factory, but some that are not. An example is the under sink cabinet. It's dark and without a flashlight, you're really more feeling around than seeing what you are looking for.

I bought these battery powered motion activated lights. They look well made and come with sticky tape so you don't have to screw them into the cabinet. Of course, I don't have batteries in the trailer! Will post some pictures of the lights on tomorrow.

https://a.co/d/0BYEzY6

 

[Wayne]

....and they don't work. At least they don't work with my NiMH AAA batteries. The batteries start at 1.2v instead of the 1.4v for alkaline batteries. I'll try some alkaline batteries tomorrow.

 

[ctechbob]

Do they need to be that small? The ones I got for my cabinets are rechargeable, less messing around with batts, but they are longer than those.

 

[Wayne]

Do they need to be that small? The ones I got for my cabinets are rechargeable, less messing around with batts, but they are longer than those.

They have one that's twice the length, but for the cabinets, we really don't need the large light.

 

[Wayne]

They work! The lights won't work with the 1.2v NiMH AAA batteries. I put alkaline AAA batteries in and here you have it. In motion sensitive mode, all you have to do is open the cabinet door and they turn on.

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[ctechbob]

They work! The lights won't work with the 1.2v NiMH AAA batteries. I put alkaline AAA batteries in and here you have it:

If you have anything in the Li-ION ecosystem and already own a charger for them, you could probably pick up a couple of AAA sized (10440) rechargeables and 2 dummy batteries and go rechargeable. The lights should be able to handle 4.2 volts.

 

[Wayne]

If you have anything in the Li-ION ecosystem and already own a charger for them, you could probably pick up a couple of AAA sized (10440) rechargeables and 2 dummy batteries and go rechargeable.

We don't have any Li-ION batteries, but you do bring up a good point. How is the safety of these small cheap cells?

 

[ctechbob]

We don't have any Li-ION batteries, but you do bring up a good point. How is the safety of these small cheap cells?

I've had a fair few of the cheapo off-brand ones over the years and never had a problem. I'm pretty comfortable with using them in a few things around the house, there's not near as much energy in the smaller ones as there is in the 18650's and bigger. For 18650's I usually reclaim them from laptop packs or order them through 18650batterystore.com. I use AA lithiums in my electric toothbrushes and hair clippers, and a few of the AAA's in some small electronic gadgets. 18650's are in a pile of flashlights I have laying around.

As long as you use a decent charger that follows recommended charging practices you'd be fine. Doesn't cost a ton of money for one, I generally use a couple older Nitecore chargers.

 

[ctechbob]

Almost forgot, my other use for 18650's.

Father in Law bought me a set of Skil branded battery operated tools ages ago, of course the battery didn't last long, and I'm too cheap to replace it, so I gutted the NiMH cells out of the pack, slapped 5 18650 battery holders on it and bought a set of the most stout 18650's I could find at the time. Fully charged it is over 20v (for 18v tools) but they're all just simple DC motors so they just spin a little faster.

For all the more I use the tools it has been a slam dunk for me.

The pink fingernail polish denotes the + end.

 

[Wayne]

These lights are sensitive enough that walking past a closed cabinet will turn them on. There is a small gap between the door and the cabinet, just enough that the censor can see the motion. There is never a problem getting these lights to come on!