Maxabeam: how many lumens

[FRITZHID]

yeah i know.... years old thread.... but i had a thought as i was thumbing thru Maxabeam threads.....
as far as IS's go.... from what u understand, a IS should be a perfect sphere, with the source and receiver being at certen angles, and that the interior should be "white???".... why not a total mirror or atleast be an OP of some type? woulden't that make a better overall reflective reference for output?

 

[ma_sha1]

I like keep things simple. xenon short arc in this power range only has efficiency of 20lumen/watt. I.e. Gen II 75W max, ~1500 bulb lumens, Gen II 85W max, ~1700 bulb lumens.,

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

specular reflections may create hotspots that can skew the data. I think the white coating reflects a high percentage of light while also diffusing the reflections so that the entire sphere is lit evenly. From there, you can take how many lumens hit the area of the sensor, do the maths to figure out how many lumens hit the entire interior surface, blah blah blah

Speaking of the maxabeam, I rewatched Jurassic Park last weekend

 

[Colonel Sanders]

All I can add, as a Maxabeam owner, is that it looks like a helluvalot more lumens when it's shining at you than by you!

 

[FRITZHID]

All I can add, as a Maxabeam owner, is that it looks like a helluvalot more lumens when it's shining at you than by you!

damn right! rather take the stanley or even my Hand-Sun H.I.D to the eyes than my MB! that thing hurts!

 

[Ra]

I like keep things simple. xenon short arc in this power range only has efficiency of 20lumen/watt. I.e. Gen II 75W max, ~1500 bulb lumens, Gen II 85W max, ~1700 bulb lumens.,

I think you meant "Gen III 85W max,..."


Regards, Ra.

 

[PhillyRube]

OK, while this has been resurrected, how do I bump up my Gen 1 MB? I have seen someone selling small connector caps for different bulbs, but really can't get enough info to make a decision. Peakbeam has been great as far as customer service on my oldie (bought during the group buy in 2005), but I am now in need of a new battery pack, and have though about going further, but now we're talking almost a grand for that. I'm powering mine now with a SLA sling pack and cig plug. I use this at least once a week (last Saturday night at a double shooting), and I'd like to go back to the handheld package.

 

[ma_sha1]

I think you meant "Gen III 85W max,..."
Regards, Ra.

Yes, Gen III, sorry for the typo.
Welcome back Ra, curious as what telescope you made while MIA from CPF?

 

[ma_sha1]

OK, while this has been resurrected, how do I bump up my Gen 1 MB? I have seen someone selling small connector caps for different bulbs, but really can't get enough info to make a decision. Peakbeam has been great as far as customer service on my oldie (bought during the group buy in 2005), but I am now in need of a new battery pack, and have though about going further, but now we're talking almost a grand for that. I'm powering mine now with a SLA sling pack and cig plug. I use this at least once a week (last Saturday night at a double shooting), and I'd like to go back to the handheld package.

Are you sure it's gen I? Never seen anyone has a Gen I. I think 2005 might be Gen II, can upgrade to Gen III lamp w/o adapter.
You can cut open the battery box & put in a 6AH 12.6V Lifepo4 pack for $99 + a new smart charger $24. There's room to reduce battery box height by 1", making it low profile.

 

[BVH]

Yeah, gotta agree with Ma, that's got to be a Gen2 from that date. You can get new genuine Peakbeam Gen3 bulbs on Ebay from a particular seller for about $100 IIRC plus shipping. He's got a bunch. Search for Maxabeam bulbs. Just a note that even though they are Gen3 bulbs, there is a newer bulb being used by Peakbeam now. The big difference is going from the stick bulb with tubular arc chamber to a round arc chamber. Significant difference in the beam.

 

[FRITZHID]

Yeah, gotta agree with Ma, that's got to be a Gen2 from that date. You can get new genuine Peakbeam Gen3 bulbs on Ebay from a particular seller for about $100 IIRC plus shipping. He's got a bunch. Search for Maxabeam bulbs. Just a note that even though they are Gen3 bulbs, there is a newer bulb being used by Peakbeam now. The big difference is going from the stick bulb with tubular arc chamber to a round arc chamber. Significant difference in the beam.

thats an understatement!

 

[PhillyRube]

What's the difference? Beamshots??

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

A tubular arc chamber will diffract the image of the arc to varying degrees depending on the viewing angle. Since the reflector takes a range of viewing angles, the thing it is trying to image will see varying degrees of refraction at different angles, leading to a less well focused beam. Think kind of how if you look at an object through a piece of glass at a sharp angle, the object appears to have changed in its location in space.

A round chamber minimizes this effect, since at any angle within the lamp's viewing angle the light is hitting the surface of the round chamber at a normal of ~90 degrees. Kind of like how if you look straight through a piece of glass at an object on the other side, the object will appear to be where it actually is.

 

[Calibu]

hmmm how many lumens/watt does a xenon short arc produce?

HID 50 watt (with ™XeStrike™ and D1S) 100 lumens/watt

 

[FelmarCorp]

Yeah, gotta agree with Ma, that's got to be a Gen2 from that date. You can get new genuine Peakbeam Gen3 bulbs on Ebay from a particular seller for about $100 IIRC plus shipping. He's got a bunch. Search for Maxabeam bulbs. Just a note that even though they are Gen3 bulbs, there is a newer bulb being used by Peakbeam now. The big difference is going from the stick bulb with tubular arc chamber to a round arc chamber. Significant difference in the beam.

How hard is it to switch out the bulb?

 

[FRITZHID]

Just a few Allen screws, remove front lens and anode wire, pull bulb, put new bulb in, reassemble and then center the bulb using the x/y adjustment.

 

[Echo63]

Just a few Allen screws, remove front lens and anode wire, pull bulb, put new bulb in, reassemble and then center the bulb using the x/y adjustment.

And try not to snap the clip off the end of the anode wire ! (I may have done this to my Gen2 MB - still haven't got around to sending it back to peakbeam, good thing I still have a Gen3 to play with)

and I already asked, it can't be soldered, the connection gets hot enough to melt solder, needs to be spot welded or crimped like the factory connection - its a pretty cheap part to buy, but shipping with insurance to the US and back to Oz is the issue (that and I have been slack)

 

[BVH]

What about Silver solder? It has a higher melting point.

From a forum post:

Solder goes liquious at 450f*

Silver(45%) melts at about 1100to1200

15% silfoss at 1250 ti 1300.

Go here to see melting points of many solders:

http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/Technical-Documents.aspx

I can tell you that in my experience with conventional short arc lamps and the Cermax type, no manufacturer wants to see lamp base temps exceed 250C and I would guess that MB bases would not see more than the 250C temp. So silver solder should work fine.

 

[FelmarCorp]

Regarding the Gen 2 and Gen 3 bulbs..
Its hard to tell what the bulb looks like from just looking thru the lens, I may need to open it up to see the bulb.

Is there a way to know what kind of bulb it has without opening it? Anything on the actual unit that would identify the bulb type ?

 

[BVH]

If you can't tell from the outside, then no, there's no markings etc. to tell you. I just looked at mine with its Gen3 lamp and if I wasn't familiar with both, it might be difficult to tell what I had based on our descriptions. The round chamber is way back just before the reflector hole and with all the reflections and clear quartz, even I had to look close to see the round chamber.