Finally got a Maxabeam

I finally got my Maxabeam !

Since i saw Jurassic Park when it came out in the cinemas, and since i joined here and found out what the light was called (in 2004), i have always wanted a Maxabeam.
I snagged one about a month ago from the Marketplace, with Ushio UXL-75XE and Adapters, USPS managed to lose it, and finally it arrived at my doorstep yesterday.

I took it to work last night, shone it around the industrial area i work, and cant find a range longer than 800 metres to test it (and 800m isnt really working it hard either)


A few quick pics
Bulb cooling down

Tape in the next two is holding the battery box together, the previous owner cracked the box open, replaced the dead pack with a 9ah SLA and superglued it back shut, it cracked open in transit and i have reglued and taped it (also had to adjust the bulb position screws to get a nice tight hotspot too)




Im loving this light, when i find a nice long range to do some beamshots i will post them for everyones viewing pleasure

Very good purchase !

BICK

SO.......
THIS IS THE MODEL FROM THE MOVIE JP???

Beamshots are always great !
Have fun

SHADE02 said:

SO.......
THIS IS THE MODEL FROM THE MOVIE JP???

Click to expand...

Not sure which version was used in JP
This one is a gen2 I believe

The Maxabeam lights have been used in a number of movies and TV shows, Jurassic Park, NCIS and X files are 3 I can think of easily, I am sure there is many more

Congrats Echo. I picked up a pair of Gen2 MB's that were modified and solid bracketed together and used for about 20 years as a searchlight on a Robinson R22 helicopter that was in police service. As such, they had no handles but were controlled by a joystick. Sent them to Peakbeam to convert back to conventional configuration. Upgraded one to Gen3.

Excellent! :thumbsup:

It will be interesting to hear how that SLA battery performs. If it is below expectations, and seeing it has already been opened up, you could consider modding it again by giving it a Li-Ion upgrade - LuxLuthor had a thread about doing that.

DM51 said:

Excellent! :thumbsup:

It will be interesting to hear how that SLA battery performs. If it is below expectations, and seeing it has already been opened up, you could consider modding it again by giving it a Li-Ion upgrade - LuxLuthor had a thread about doing that.

Click to expand...

It seems to work ok, some of the older Maxabeam models had a 7ah SLA in them
When I finally wear the SLA out I will probably put some 14ah F sized nimh in it (for double the runtime over the stock 7ah nicad pack)

The Li-Ion looks interesting, but I am happy with just using protected AW cells in my smaller lights, the seller did give me the option of a custom Lithium pack, but I don't have a balance charger, and I am not 100% comfortable with big lithium packs

Is the lens on this model glass or plastic?

You can use 4 x A123 AHR32113 cells, they give me 40 minutes runtime. They fit the housing very well.
Rebalancing now and then would be smart with any cell type.

ebow86 said:

Is the lens on this model glass or plastic?

Click to expand...

Pretty sure it's glass
I don't think a plastic lens would handle the heat generated by the bulb (the tungsten arc electrodes glow nice and red after running for 30 seconds or so)

Walterk said:

You can use 4 x A123 AHR32113 cells, they give me 40 minutes runtime. They fit the housing very well.
Rebalancing now and then would be smart with any cell type.

Click to expand...

I am thinking of getting a pack built up with 5000mah nimh subc cells, and then building/modifying a cable to work with the light, although those a123 cells look like a good alternative.
I did see a Maxabeam for sale ages ago using similar cells in a solderless tube, and a curlycord so the pack could be stuck in a pocket.
It's another battery chemistry I need to learn to use safely, but it may be worth it in weight savings.

You have me thinking now (which normally results in my wallet crying in pain)

You can get the A123 M1 cells from certain power tool packs. The dewalt 36V pack has 10 of them, and the 28V battery has 8 of them. ( http://www.dewalt.com/tools/cordless-batteries-dc9280_2.aspx ) crack open the pack, and carefully remove the cells, reconfigure it to a 4s2P setup (if you have space, 2x 4S1P if you dont) and add a balance lead for using a hobby charger for charging.

This is what I used:
http://www.batteryspace.com/Custom-LiFePO4-26650-Battery-12.8V-6.6Ah-84Wh-14A-Rate-w/-PCB.aspx

8x26650 Lifepo4. 6.6AH
Cheaper, lighter, safer, current protected & almost plug in & play

ma_sha1 said:

This is what I used:
http://www.batteryspace.com/Custom-LiFePO4-26650-Battery-12.8V-6.6Ah-84Wh-14A-Rate-w/-PCB.aspx

8x26650 Lifepo4. 6.6AH
Cheaper, lighter, safer, current protected & almost plug in & play

Click to expand...

That looks like the way to go
Protection circuit, similar capacity to stock packs, fairly easy to build into a pack (plastic box with some holes milled into the top)

Just need a voltage display and a connector (and I don't really have to worry about some Wally plugging it into the wrong charger, so I can use the same plug connector, assuming I can find one)

Does anyone have the parts numbers for the battery box connector, and both ends of the power lead ?
I assume they are Amphenol connectors, and would be pretty easy to get hold of, but the amphenol connector range is rather large and difficult to navigate.
I might just email Amphenol Australia and send them some pics and measurements, and see if they have any ideas

Echo63 said:

Does anyone have the parts numbers for the battery box connector, and both ends of the power lead ?
I assume they are Amphenol connectors, and would be pretty easy to get hold of, but the amphenol connector range is rather large and difficult to navigate.

Click to expand...

LuxLuthor referred to a source for the connectors in that thread I linked above, in this post.

DM51 said:

LuxLuthor referred to a source for the connectors in that thread I linked above, in this post.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately Tyco has changed names to TE connectivity, which makes it confusing and breaks some searches online, but from other pics I found, they resemble the CPC connectors

http://www.te.com/commerce/Document...EnglishENG_CS_82021_CPC_sections1-5_0807.pdf

Is the product series catalog. They are pretty commonly available from the usual suspects (Digikey, Mouser, Newark, Allied) And even though they are crimp connectors, you can solder to the pins just fine and still stuff them into the connector body.

The connectors on 10-11 are probably some of the ones in use, but they arent waterproof, so either they sealed up the back side of the battery/light connectors with silicone, or they used the waterproof ones on Page 44-48.

You should be able to get a part number off the connector body most likely

If someone is confused about if some parts numbers will work together etc... post what your looking at and I'll look over it.

Echo63 said:

That looks like the way to go
Protection circuit, similar capacity to stock packs, fairly easy to build into a pack (plastic box with some holes milled into the top)

Just need a voltage display and a connector (and I don't really have to worry about some Wally plugging it into the wrong charger, so I can use the same plug connector, assuming I can find one)

Does anyone have the parts numbers for the battery box connector, and both ends of the power lead ?
I assume they are Amphenol connectors, and would be pretty easy to get hold of, but the amphenol connector range is rather large and difficult to navigate.
I might just email Amphenol Australia and send them some pics and measurements, and see if they have any ideas

Click to expand...

you only need a charging system with 2 wires.

This is what I used,
http://www.batteryspace.com/smartch...ls152vcut-offwith55mmx21mmmalebarrelplug.aspx

It even comes with a spare female connector, just drill a hole to mount the female connector on the battery box next to the 4 pin female, wire it in parallel with the 4 pin connector on the stock battery box. The 4 pin has 4 wires but two "+" & two "-" are connected on the inside, once you open the battery box, study the wiring, you'll figure it out.

I had a look at the plugs today, and spent a bit of time at the TE connectivity site
I'm fairly sure I have this right, but take no responsibility if you order these part numbers and they don't fit (I will order some in the next few weeks, and ensure they fit before saying they will fit)

The connector on the battery end of the power lead is marked 206429-1 which is a size 11/4 cpc connector
From that I was able to determine it fits The battery box connector which is 211102-1
The other end is the opposite gender so they are as follows
Spotlight connector is 206061-1
And the spotlight end of the power lead is 206060-1

Both ends of the power lead need a backshell 1-206062-3

Now I just need to get the right part numbers for the pins and sockets inside the connectors

I just need to get a battery pack and charger, then build a box
I have the feeling this is the top of a slippery slope into super lights and building packs

Echo63 said:

I had a look at the plugs today, and spent a bit of time at the TE connectivity site
I'm fairly sure I have this right, but take no responsibility if you order these part numbers and they don't fit (I will order some in the next few weeks, and ensure they fit before saying they will fit)

The connector on the battery end of the power lead is marked 206429-1 which is a size 11/4 cpc connector
From that I was able to determine it fits The battery box connector which is 211102-1
The other end is the opposite gender so they are as follows
Spotlight connector is 206061-1
And the spotlight end of the power lead is 206060-1

Both ends of the power lead need a backshell 1-206062-3

Now I just need to get the right part numbers for the pins and sockets inside the connectors

I just need to get a battery pack and charger, then build a box
I have the feeling this is the top of a slippery slope into super lights and building packs

Click to expand...

Your part numbers look good, but both 206430-1 and 211102-1 are the same thing, but the last one has threaded inserts, so you could use a machine screw without a nut. If you are planning on using a nut and bolt, use the first number for the panel mount on the battery box. Slight difference, not a show stopper either way.


For pins, you could use 66099-4, 66099-3, or 66099-1. Those are all either selective gold or full gold plated which helps it resist oxidization vs the bright tin contacts.

For sockets, 66101-3 or 66101-4 are both good. They are all crimp pins and sockets, but like I said, its not a problem to solder to them and still stuff them into the housing anyway

They have a high current contact which is rated at 25A instead of 13A, (rating for a single connection, you cant actually do a whole connector with each pole passing 13 or 25A )
pins : 1-66361-4 sockets: 1-66360-4


They have ones meant for soldering also, unsure if those would be as available as the crimp ones or not, but the part numbers are 66180-1 for pins, 66181-1 for solder sockets.

Your part number for the backshell looks like the right thing, even though its not in the catalog ( :ironic: )
1-206062-4 is what they have listed, and may give different results on various stock house websites.

For those that want to play around. 1546347-2 is a right angle backshell that can be used. 207490-1 is a cable grip which screws onto the connector, and 207489-1 is a cable boot which goes over the cable grip to make a strain relieved and nicer looking backshell.


Though none of these are water proof or water resistant as they come from the factory, so if you want to do so, some neutral cure RTV silicone (not acid cure, that will corrode the contacts!) may be in order. "Sensor safe" RTV from the auto parts shop would work.

Thanks CKOD, I love the helpful community here at CPF
I just have to figure out how many pieces and which bits I want to order.
I'm planning on making a coil cord type power cable, so I can put the battery in my bag rather then carry it with the light
I also want to do a connection point in the car and a longer extension lead
And have a go at making a smaller lighter battery using one of those packs linked a few posts up.

I managed to play with the light over a kilometre, it put a nice spot on the side of the Perth Convention centre, from south perth (from memory around 1100m measured with google earth)


I'm going to try and get a tripod locking plate made up too, I can't see how an aluminum plate with a few keyholes in it is 50-60 dollars (of course mine will be plastic instead)