Webster Art

If you live in an old house your clothes closet doesn’t have lights. What did people do back then? I wasn’t about to pay an electrician to wire a new circuit from the main panel to each closet in each bedroom.

Amazon sells motion activated rechargeable closet lights for $17 advertised to last 60 days, but I don’t believe they are as good, bright or as controllable as my DIY system. I did buy a couple units from Lowes but they ran on 4 disposable C cells which are expensive and short lived.

The system I built uses 4 separate components.

• Motion – infrared sensor
• battery
• charger
• LED light strip

The battery can be something as simple as a motorcycle battery, recharged with a car trickle charger. So it depends on what you have on hand. I already had two 12 volt rechargeable LiFePO4 batteries that I use when I hike with my ham radios.

I charge them with a $37 LifePo charger that plugs directly into the battery:

I also had a 20 foot 110V dimmable plug in light strip already up in my closet. These Chinese made light strips are cheap and super bright. You can also find them at Lowes. But it was annoying because the power chord over to the wall outlet ran under the closet door and looked like a fire risk. And it wasn’t motion activated. I’d plug it in to use the closet, then forget and leave the light on. I looked into door activated switches, meaning the light turns on when the door is open, but that requires hard wiring 110 volts which seemed too much.

Over the span of a couple years I went though the C cell Lowes closet light, the 110V LED strip and a simple headlamp hung on the door. None were ideal. Then I was on a climbing trip and went into one of those classic cement outhouses at night in Joshua Tree. A light came on in the ceiling. There is no electricity in Jtree. I looked up and they had the solution.

Rechargeable battery powered closet light sensor

Inside a metal cage on the cement ceiling they had a small rechargeable battery wired into a motion-infrared sensor with wires that led to a small LED light and a small solar panel on the roof.

While staring at it I realized I could replace the solar panel with my Bienno battery and charger and my system would be complete.

I wired in a standard automotive fuse for safety. I used Anderson PowerPole connectors because that is the standard in the Ham radio community and the YouTube learning curve is short. Plus that is what the battery ships with.

The beauty of this DIY closet light is that it is very bright, lasts for weeks, is rechargeable, is fused, and never has more than 12 volts in it. So fire risk is low. The only real risk is when charging the battery with the 110V chord going under the door. We are always careful to unplug any chargers before leaving the house. This includes laptops, iPads, phones, vacuums, etc.

I offered to put one in my wife’s closet but she prefers replacing C cell batteries. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.

Mountain closed, what to do?

Yesterday we were supposed to ski Rainier but two of the plow drivers recently retired. As with many boomer staffed blue collar trades these two old dudes took a ton of experience out the door with them. Our inside connection tells us that the online park service application process is incredibly cumbersome. The local loggers and diesel equipment operators who would be ideal for the job don’t have a chance of wading through the byzantine park service application process. Besides, who wants to drive a snowplow?

Fortunately there is a skinny ski and snowshoe trail on the way to Rainier. It is run by volunteers. It’s basically a couple old logging roads with reservable huts at the top. They have their own ski resort style grooming plows. If it snows a lot you park at the highest parking spot they can keep clear. You need a $50 yearly Snowpark pass, but other than that it’s free.

Yesterday Lisa and I skied – skinned 3 miles up the snow covered road to the 4700 foot high hut. I’d forgot to carb up the night before and ran out of gas in the last mile. I should have brought a rope so she could tow my sorry old ass. Both kids are incredibly strong: lungs with legs. But by stopping every 60 feet I managed to dig deep and arrive on top.

Lisa took off down the road like a shot, effortlessly linking turns on the narrow cat track. Both kids bought season passes as soon as they got hired in the ER. They can ski anything anywhere, including off the summit of Rainier. I ski the lifts maybe once a year. Who can afford $230 a day?

So when we go as family we skin up which is totally free and better exercise.

There was a crew of women dragging light plastic sleds. We couldn’t figure out why they needed McKinley style sleds to haul up light backpacks. But when they hopped in at the top and went zooming down the road, steering with their feet, we quickly saw the logic. No skill required and a fast trip down.

I started out snow plowing like a raw beginner. But with 3 miles to go I cramped up. The slope lessened and I was able to practice my cat track turns. Couldn’t keep pace with Lisa but she’d stop now and then and look back. Twas a fun ski day. Thanks to Sue for babysitting so Lisa could get out. My wife is a saint.