Stanley H.I.D. and 1365 lumen spotlights (Part 2)

[thermal guy]

Just picked up the Stanley H.I.D! Now i know why people have said that when you start using hid lights all your other lights will start collecting dust! This thing is amazing.Took it to my old school late last night and lit stuff 500 yards away with NO problem.Only problem i had was trying to explain to the local police what i was doing there

[Patriot]

Congrats TG. It usually follows that you'll be wanting an compact aluminum tube HID of some type shortly after. That's what happened to me anyway after I got my X990 and Costco. Having that kind of output coming out of something smaller and lighter is addictive.

You know, it's practically mandatory now for new hid owners to post a couple of beamshots....

[StandardBattery]

Picked mine up Saturday. Shimmed the bulb and removed the cover on the electrode wire. I also gave the yellow case a coat of paint while I had it apart, I wasn't too fond of all the yellow.



It doesn't look right in the picture, but it's more of a dark gray color.

Looks like a beautiful paint job.

Certainly makes it look like a more serious, or professional, light. Ok course once you switch it on no one really notices the case anymore.

[Yadao]

Haha, true. I showed it off to a couple of my buddies last night, I almost didn't get it back.

[brightnorm]

Those initial few ultra-bright seconds are really astounding. If only there were some way to prolong it.

Brightnorm

[Mjolnir]

Yes, see the pics I just posted showing the battery pack disassembled.

Wait, so if the pack is low voltage protected (I only had a minute to skim over your thread, but it doesn't seem to conclusively say), then why did you say that it does not have a cutoff? Am I misreading/misunderstanding something?
Now I am confused...

[Patriot]

Wait, so if the pack is low voltage protected (I only had a minute to skim over your thread, but it doesn't seem to conclusively say), then why did you say that it does not have a cutoff? Am I misreading/misunderstanding something?
Now I am confused...

It was before he took it apart and realized that it did.

[Benson]

The vast majority are regulated. As voltage falls, Amperage increases providing the same Watts to the bulb. There may be a more technical explanation of what's happening but someone more knowledgeable than me about electronics would need to jump in here.

They're all "regulated" in a sense (more properly, ballasted), because a discharge tube is a negative resistance device, that is, as voltage drops the current increases. This doesn't result in balancing for constant power, but runs away, so some drive circuit is needed to stabilize the desired operating point by controlling the current.

However, and I'm racking my brain to remember, there are some that actually dim as battery voltage falls. Maybe it's the old 10 Watt WA Solarc? Just think of a two-stage ballast. When you're making the switch from low to high, you're changing something in the ballast. Not sure what it is but the end result is that it is being dimmed.

Yep, the old Solarcs are the only unregulated ones I'm aware of; they apparently control the arc current proportional to the input voltage (or something like that), so the brightness falls off as the battery drains. This also permits overdriving them somewhat for more brightness off fresh batteries, as in the typical setup with 3x3.7V driving a 10.4V ballast. I don't know if anyone's done it, but you could probably also use it to rig a low mode with a two-level buck convertor; I know they'll light up from a 9V battery, which is probably down around 7.5V under load...

[BVH]

It was before he took it apart and realized that it did.

Correct! Thanks, Paul

[brightnorm]

Congrats TG. It usually follows that you'll be wanting an compact aluminum tube HID of some type shortly after. That's what happened to me anyway after I got my X990 and Costco. Having that kind of output coming out of something smaller and lighter is addictive...

Do you mean something like a Boxer or Microfire 3500?

Brightnorm

[Patriot]

Something like that Brightnorm...lol. At the time it happened to me, only the Boxer and AE24 were available. I sold the Boxer but still own the AE. Nothing terribly wrong with the Boxer except the output fell off as the batteries ran down. What I did like about the light is that you could use your own 18650 batteries. Now you have a few more choices including the Tactical24, Oracle, Microfire, & Xenide. I sort of put them in the class of "walking" lights, the kind of lights you could hold in your hand during a 30 minute walk without them feeling awkward or heavy. I'm off topic now but wanted to answer your question.

[brightnorm]

Thanks for answering. I'm disappointed in the Boxer; I thought it was regulated. It could have been (could be?) a great light: only the size of a Tigerlight FBOP, batteries as you said, belt-carryable (I did it for a whole day and easily got used to it). All it needs is full regulation, a lower Kelvin bulb and quicker ramp-up. (OTOH we could make apple pie if we had apples).

Brightnorm

[Beamhead]

Is mine a dud, my POB's blow it away?

[Patriot]

Is mine a dud, my POB's blow it away?

Do you have any other 1500-ish lumen lights to compare it to? The POB is a pretty darn good performer, so it doesn't surprise me greatly that there's a big difference between the two. I didn't own those two lights at the same time but the small OP reflector is no match of the large SMO one.

How old is your Boxer?







Brightnorm, it wasn't bad little light at all. I owned one from the 1st or 2nd batch from PTS flaslights so mine was a 1st gen. There was a lot of talk about failing battery packs due to poor balancing so I thought it wise to sell mine even though I hadn't experienced any problems yet. The regulation wasn't terrible but the color temp was pretty blue. I suspect it would have warmed acceptably if I would have put more run-time on it. The newest version looks nice but I don't think I'd pay over $300 for one until that improve the color.

[brightnorm]

Is mine a dud, my POB's blow it away?

Does that include the Stanley's initial high voltage surge that produces amost twice the brightness of its "normal" power? I don't have a POB, but I'm surprised that one 35W HID would actually "blow away" another, unless the POB's beam is more concentrated than the Stanley's. Do you mean total brightness (lumens) or lux? If the former then I would say either that your POB is freakishly bright or your Stanley isn't functioning up to spec. Perhaps both.

... I suspect it would have warmed acceptably if I would have put more run-time on it...

I forgot about that featutre of HIDs. Any idea of how "warm" it might get? (I'm not sure which boxer generation; possibly not the first).

Brightnorm

[Beamhead]

I have 4 of the POB's and the worst of them is far brighter than the Stanley, the Stanley comes close when first fired up but quickly gets stomped.
Must be the opposite approaches to firing up, one blasts higher then settles while the other blasts high and gets higher.

The POB's have a larger reflector so that must be part of the difference.

[brightnorm]

POB sounds like a great light for the money. Where is the best place to get it online? (It's unavailable on Amazon).

Brightnorm

[Patriot]

I forgot about that featutre of HIDs. Any idea of how "warm" it might get? (I'm not sure which boxer generation; possibly not the first).

Brightnorm

Probably not that much warmer but possibly enough to make them acceptable for me. If I was to make a wild guess......maybe 5500K. My AE lights for example are much better now that they both have 20-40 hours on them. Also I'd say that I have a bit more blue tolerance than many CPFers. The main point that I intended to make is that the regulation, although not rock solid, wasn't terrible, wasn't noticable to the eye and wouldn't be a deal breaker by itself.



Graph by Quantile.

[ANDREAS FERRARI]

POB sounds like a great light for the money. Where is the best place to get it online? (It's unavailable on Amazon).

Brightnorm

This time last year you could have bought one on E-Bay for under $30.00.I paid $39.99 for mine and I thought I overpaid at the time.Now there are non(on E-Bay) and the last one I saw was over $100.00.The supply has dried up and the prices are going through the roof.

I'll bet Beamhead paid less than $200.00 for all four of his POB's.

[brightnorm]

Thanks Patriot and Andreas

BN

[ColoradoStoneman]

Well, after reading this thread I decided I would see if Walmart had any.

They had four, but unfortunately I picked one with a bad battery. Pulled the trigger and no go. Plugged in the AC charger and the green light came on but no go. It would fire up plugged into DC. I tore it apart, and found 7 volts on the 12V battery, and it wouldn't draw current on an external charger. So the battery was fried.

Just got back with a second unit, and this one seems OK. The hot spot on the beam is also centered better then the defective unit. It's on the charger now, and I await nighttime for serious neighbor irritation.

I have been pretty happy with the throw on the Jet M1X I just got, but this plastic beast makes a lot of light. Mucho lumens for $69.95.

All that said, it is a bit heavy, and not exactly something I want to carry around, but it will be great for the fishing boat at night.

All in all, I think anyone looking to play with HID, will enjoy this light. Even if you don't have a use for it, you can still have some fun for cheap.

It could use some improvements, and has room for some mods.

I don't like the cold bulb much, but I'm not sure I want to spend $50 to replace it with a 4200K bulb. Taking out the SLA battery and replacing it with LIPO or A123 would help with the weight, but I think I will save that money toward a TITANIUM N30, when they get some in stock. The N30 is about perfect for the price. I would use an N30 alot more then this beast.

So beyond the bulb color and the weight, this sucker does throw some light. Point it at a white wall at 5 feet, and it will burn a dot in your retinas.

[MikeF]

ColoradoStoneman, Welcome to CPF. Are you a Stone Mason?

[Beamhead]

POB sounds like a great light for the money. Where is the best place to get it online? (It's unavailable on Amazon).

Brightnorm

Brightnorm, if you are in the US shoot me a pm.

[Yadao]

My Stanley seems to have went to crap one me. I took it out camping with me, it worked fine the first night. The next day, it wouldn't work. The led on the back just flashed red. When I got home, I charged it, and it still didn't work, only this time the led turned green after a second or two when I hit the trigger.

No chance of getting a replacement, I shimmed the bulb, removed the coating on the electrode wire, and painted it... warranty = void lol

The top three led's still work though, but they flash on dimmly when I hit the trigger.

Edit: I also lost my favorite customized flashlight while on a four-wheeler. It wasn't a good weekend.

[ColoradoStoneman]

Mike F, no I'm not a stone mason.

Yadao, for a quick check of the battery, you can read the voltage with a VOM on the 12V socket on the bottom of the pistol grip. You should see 13+ volts with the battery charged.

I am just speculating, but after the problem with the first unit I got, I have a feeling that the battery they are using is poor quality.

If you take it apart, I am wondering if you could measure the battery. We may need to start searching for a quality replacement battery.

[BVH]

Try running off the 12 V adapter to bypass the battery.

[Yadao]

Thanks for the advise, I'll try these suggestions when I get some time. Probably this weekend.

[ANDREAS FERRARI]

I see one seller on E-Bay is selling a Stanley HID for only $50.00-but only ships to the USA.

Item number: 230355311065

[brightnorm]

My only disappointment is the return to cruising speed after a brief wild ride. I almost prefer the initial gradual brightening.

Brightnorm

[ColoradoStoneman]

Try running off the 12 V adapter to bypass the battery.

That worked on my first one with the low voltage battery, but if the battery has internal shorts, it may load the 12V supply to the point that there is not enough voltage.

Since there is voltage on the pins at the bottom of the pistol grip, it would seem that the 12V adapter connects directly to the battery. Not the greatest way to do it, as a shorted battery will take the light out of commission even when using the 12V supply.

I am going to leave it stock for a while, to see how the ballast holds up, along with the other components. For $70 it is a bargain, but like most things, you get what you pay for.

I have a prediction that the battery is going to be the problems we see in the future. The question for me is if the rest of the components are robust enough to justify a battery mod.