Can a 12V Light Bulb run on a Ryobi 18V Battery?

I test out a Feit Electric 12V RV/Marine LED Light Bulb to see if I can run it straight off a Ryobi 18V battery
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This is a mass-market 12V light bulb by Feit Electric, available at major retailers such as The Home Depot: www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Elec...
It's listed as "12V", but doesn't tell the RANGE of voltages it can run at. So, I tested it. Sure enough, it looks like it works fine anywhere 10-30VDC.
With a simple adapter like this one: 300mpg.org/ryobi-18v-light-bu...
the bulb works directly from the 18V Ryobi battery.
The only down-side to this bulb is it's a little on the expensive side. I've found that the LeMeng brand bulbs work GREAT with Ryobi batteries, and they are about 3 times less expensive.
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[@ewicky]

Great test! I imagine this would come in handy for 24VDC sources, like diesel-powered marine, trucker, and other applications.

[@glenndarilek520]

LED lamps have a constant current circuit (within a range) so this works. Do not try this with incandescent bulbs. Maybe 5% over voltage can reduce the life to 50%

[@ewicky]

@@glenndarilek520 yup

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

@@glenndarilek520 A few years back, my daughter and I built an exercise-bike generator for her elementary school science fair. We rigged it up with a 12V incandescent bulb. The faster a student would pedal, the higher voltage it would go.
Of course, some kid would have to pedal REALLY fast and blow out the bulb. I think that was at about 18V on those. Fun to watch though!

[@jackhodgson]

Interesting experiment. Thanks. Although... you buried the lede: Where'd you get that light-bulb ryobi adapter?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Link to the Ryobi light bulb adapter is in the description, and here it is again: 300mpg.org/ryobi-18v-light-bulb-adapter/

[@electricboatsandcars7066]

I haven't tried, but I suspect you can run 120v led bulbs from any voltage under 120v. ac or dc. I think the 120v bulbs are actually lower voltage bulbs with a step down transformer inside. I have used 120-240vac phone adapters in my EV's to get 5v power for a bms system, running the adapter directly from battery voltage. They ran just fine directly on 96vdc battery packs and 120vdc battery packs, even under heavy load with total battery voltage down below 80v.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

No. That's not quite how LED bulbs work.
Bulbs designed for 120V AC typically do have rectification and step-down circuitry inside them, but that doesn't mean they can run from any voltage. They are designed for that 120VAC input. You can't just put a 120V LED bulb on an 18V battery and have it work. Keep in mind that light bulbs are going to be designed to be as simple as COST EFFECTIVE as possible.
A traditional 120V incandescent bulb CAN run on 18V, but it will only produce a dull glow. Here's an example: ua-cam.com/users/shortsRwQGGQx0_gc

[@1ssac1]

Question is how long the led in that bulb will be able to work with that voltage.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

A 4Ah battery ran the bulb for more than 8 hrs continuously.
No difference in the amount of heat at the base of the bulb whether on 12v or 18v.
Maybe I’ll hook the bulb up to the power supply and just keep it running continuously at 18 or 20v.