opinions on 65, 75, & 85w ebay lights?

[R10500]

that's normal, since 4300k is towards the warmer end of the HID spectrum. the yellow color inside the bulb are salts that gives the warmer white output. does the 4300k differ from the 6000k bulb physically in any way btw? do you note any gain in range too?

 

[magicmatt]

i wonder why my first question didnt post but my second one did, thats weird my first question was i cannot get the focus ring to adjust it is stuck i have tried my hardest with two people wont budge. and as for the difference between the 4300 and 6000 i dont know as i broke the 6000 trying to modify the insides which are encapsulated in black rubber i did however get the black rubber completely off all three controller boards inside the ballast and can now make my own. i am going to order a new 85w 6000k hid bulb soon.

 

[R10500]

i think it was hidden between the new posts at the time. the o-rings on these lights are real flimsy so either there isn't enough lube or the o-ring is busted. i'm not sure how to go about that since mine arrived perfectly fine. have u figured out if those ballasts can be modified in any way, like what ur doing now?

 

[Flashlightaholic]

Lots of great information here guys..... lot of the technical stuff over my head but absorbing as much info as i can.
Definitely thinking of buying an 85W one. Does anyone know how long it will run for using the 9300 mAh battery ?
Also read that they dont run for a long time before they reach a temperature & shut off. Not sure if i want one that constantly turns itself off after a shortish run time. Would it be better to get a 65W or 75W that puts out less heat than the 85W version ?

 

[langham]

The 85W version has multiple modes and the battery lasts very long for the output, but overall not all that great. I would recommend just using the lower modes, what are you looking for? I may be able to recommend a better light for the options you need.

 

[CouldUseALight]

Also read that they dont run for a long time before they reach a temperature & shut off. Not sure if i want one that constantly turns itself off after a shortish run time. Would it be better to get a 65W or 75W that puts out less heat than the 85W version ?

My 85W has never shut off due to heat. It kicks down to a lower mode but 8700 mAh lasts 3+ hours; it blinks at me for the last hour, but I've run it 4+ hours on med/low, and could still switch to high when I turned it off.

 

[R10500]

ok bad news. just found one of my batteries not charging up to blue and green mode when fed into the torch but they cycle through all modes when taken out. what could be the problem here? too much voltage or amps and the ballast shuts it off? i don't need to put it into the charger to get it on again so i doubt its a protection thing.

 

[Blueknight]

This is going to sound like a stupid question but since Hong Kong is a part of China and looking on ebay at these HID flashlight,some say from hong kong ,others from china. Is there a difference in quality?

 

[langham]

The difference will be shipping time.

 

[R10500]

is there an explanation as to why the firefoxes III has been reported to be brighter than the 75W ebay hid and just about as long lasting if not longer on only 4 18650s? i can only think of bulb and ballast inefficiency at levels unconceivable lol or poor QC with batteries. the reflectors are comparable in size i thought

 

[langham]

Well, the ebay hid uses something like 9 2200 or less mAh cells. While the Firefox is probably calculating using some of the best at 3400 mAh, and I think the Firefox is 40 W so that is some simple math with half the power and a lot better cells not to mention AR coating and a lot better QC on the reflector that is actually designed to specification for the light that it would be brighter. I also think that the ebay hid has some efficiency issues.

 

[jayrob]

is there an explanation as to why the firefoxes III has been reported to be brighter than the 75W ebay hid and just about as long lasting if not longer on only 4 18650s? i can only think of bulb and ballast inefficiency at levels unconceivable lol or poor QC with batteries. the reflectors are comparable in size i thought

Yes better quality parts as langham mentioned...

I have both lights, and I can tell you a couple of things:

The 9 cell pack is still only 12.6 volts at full charge. (stacking the cells in parallel for more capacity)

So the FF3 using 4 cells is higher voltage.

That said, this is not necessarily the reason for which light would be brighter or not.

About brightness, the main thing that will make a difference, is the bulb color temp.

I talked to one of the ebay sellers and asked them if they could provide 4300K replacement bulbs and also 4300K new lights, and that makes a huge different in brightness!

My ebay HID is brighter than my FF3, as it should be. And especially since the reflector is larger on the ebay HID. (better throw as well)

But yes the FF3 is such a finely made and assembled unit, and it seems brighter than you would think it should be.

I only have 4 different HID lights, but in comparison, it seems like the FF3 is more like a 55W light in comparison to the other lights that I have to compare it to. See here for beam shot comparisons:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...85W-Ebay-HID&p=3964916&viewfull=1#post3964916

 

[R10500]

Well, the ebay hid uses something like 9 2200 or less mAh cells. While the Firefox is probably calculating using some of the best at 3400 mAh, and I think the Firefox is 40 W so that is some simple math with half the power and a lot better cells not to mention AR coating and a lot better QC on the reflector that is actually designed to specification for the light that it would be brighter. I also think that the ebay hid has some efficiency issues.

ahh didn't think of that, that explains perfectly why. i wonder if replacing the 9 batteries with 3400mAh ones would change anything other than runtime. i've read about the lens on the FF3 cracking though but none with the ebay one. do both HIDs use borosilicate lens?

 

[R10500]

Yes better quality parts as langham mentioned...

I have both lights, and I can tell you a couple of things:

The 9 cell pack is still only 12.6 volts at full charge. (stacking the cells in parallel for more capacity)

So the FF3 using 4 cells is higher voltage.

That said, this is not necessarily the reason for which light would be brighter or not.

About brightness, the main thing that will make a difference, is the bulb color temp.

I talked to one of the ebay sellers and asked them if they could provide 4300K replacement bulbs and also 4300K new lights, and that makes a huge different in brightness!

My ebay HID is brighter than my FF3, as it should be. And especially since the reflector is larger on the ebay HID. (better throw as well)

But yes the FF3 is such a finely made and assembled unit, and it seems brighter than you would think it should be.

I only have 4 different HID lights, but in comparison, it seems like the FF3 is more like a 55W light in comparison to the other lights that I have to compare it to. See here for beam shot comparisons:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...85W-Ebay-HID&p=3964916&viewfull=1#post3964916

and my battery isn't even reading 11V on full charge lol.... yeah i have the 4300K bulb for my ebay HID now but somehow i find the 6000K beam going further than the 4300K. maybe its my eyes or maybe the new bulb needs more time to kick in. is the FF3 at 100lumens/W efficiency then? what ranges are you getting on the FF3 and ebay HID btw? i think my ebay HID hits 450m+ with stock reflector(DX.com sst-90 reflector isn't working out as well as i'd hoped from reviews)

 

[jayrob]

and my battery isn't even reading 11V on full charge lol.... yeah i have the 4300K bulb for my ebay HID now but somehow i find the 6000K beam going further than the 4300K. maybe its my eyes or maybe the new bulb needs more time to kick in. is the FF3 at 100lumens/W efficiency then? what ranges are you getting on the FF3 and ebay HID btw? i think my ebay HID hits 450m+ with stock reflector(DX.com sst-90 reflector isn't working out as well as i'd hoped from reviews)

Check out this battery pack:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200883833735?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

[R10500]

holy.. that's one hell of an expensive battery pack lol are those legit panasonic 3400mAh i see?

 

[Colonel Sanders]

holy.. that's one hell of an expensive battery pack lol are those legit panasonic 3400mAh i see?

No, 3100s. 3400s have a "B" at the end instead of an "A".

 

[jayrob]

Oh just in case you order one, I messaged them and paid an extra $15 bucks to have a custom one built with the Panasonic 3400's.

Mine is labeled 1200mAh's... Edit: Correction - 10,200mAh's

 

[R10500]

oh. didn't know that one lol.

did you find the 3400's working perfectly? why is yours labeled 1200mAh though?

 

[jayrob]

oh. didn't know that one lol.

did you find the 3400's working perfectly? why is yours labeled 1200mAh though?

Well so far so good, but I don't intend on taking it apart and checking what is inside. Just have to use it and so forth...

Oops, I meant to 10,200mAh's... (typo) 3400 X 3 = 10,200.

They parallel 3 cells, X 3 in series. - 12.6 volts at full charge with 10,200mAh's capacity...