OK, I've Finally Done It.

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
Thats right, i've finally done a HID mod! i've talked and talked about it, well... wait no more cause here it is!!!!

Farm and Fleet 100/130w Halogen Spot Light with 7.2Ah SLA.
IMG_2474.jpg


New Bi-Xenon 4300K 55W HID H4 Bulb.
HIDBulbAssm.jpg


HID and old Halogen
HIDHalogen.jpg


Everything laid out for assembly.
IMG_2475.jpg


Cozy lil spot for the ballast and igniter.
IMG_2477.jpg


Finished and ready for beam shots!!
IMG_2482.jpg


1st beam shot, cam settings to best show what my eyes see.
aWallShotEyes.jpg


on the wall spot mode
wallSpot2.jpg


on the wall flood mode
wallFlood2.jpg


Control. the light seen is from my EDC reflecting off my car. the garage i'm shooting on is slightly gray bluish.
IMG_2494.jpg


Stock Halogen on HIGH left, HID mod on spot mode right.
IMG_2495.jpg


Stock Halogen HIGH and HID Flood mode.
IMG_2496.jpg


Stock Halogen LOW and HID Spot.
IMG_2497.jpg


Halogen? WHAT Halogen???
IMG_2499.jpg


Stanley 35w HID on left, Mod on right. hard to tell in Pic, but Mod is much tighter in center and a much nicer color as well, auto-white control makes everything look bluish.
IMG_2503.jpg


Aerial control shot.
IMG_2500.jpg


Aerial Spot, shutter @ 1 Sec F-Stop at 4.2
IMG_2502.jpg


And a JR CPF'r in the making!!! :D makes daddy proud!
IMG_2197.jpg



lovecpf
So... Did i do it right?
 
Last edited:

spc smith

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 9, 2011
Messages
308
Location
PATRIOT NATION
That is too cute seeing that pic of your boy with daddy's flashlight=)

My son has his own flashlight and he turns it on when my wife puts him to bed.
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
tyvm everyone. Yes SPC, Jr has a lil light he sleeps with as well, has a momentary switch so he can't fall asleep with it on. i'd be afraid if he took one of my big boys to bed with him, he'd wake up with a tan!!!!:laughing:

well, mod'd the 2nd one tonight, now only 5 more left to go :tired:

they have a 1hr run time, the eletromag only draws .7A so not much loss there, when it dies, leave it off for 5 mins, then u can get an additional 10 mins of run time out of it as well.
the stock Halogen runtimes SUCKED! i coulden't believe how bad they were. 20mins max and getting dimmer by the second.:sick2:
now it's a beast!:naughty:
now i just need to find a US supplier so i can get the mod kits a lil faster, almost a month delivery time is a lil slow for me:eek:
if anyone has a lead on one, please let me know, i hopefully have a market for these affordable HIDs here in my area for hunters and the like.
thanks again guys! lovecpf

(now i just need to figure out a name for them!):hairpull:
 
Last edited:

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
i believe i am! i did some query'n about them earlier but no-one seemed to have the answers, so i took a chance, and thus far it's worked out great! :D now that normally useless 2nd switch can serve a purpose!
 
Last edited:

KuanR

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
1,823
Location
Macau S.A.R.
Looking good! I will contact you about a Thor mod when I get back into town! Wonder if it would feasible to try and overdrive it a bit for more light:)
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
i know you can put a 35w bulb with a 55w ballast, IDK about overdriving the ballast by much tho. these ballasts were very well potted so i diden't wanna go pokeing around in there yet...:poke::poof::ohgeez:

i know i can get away with driving it up to 16v with out any issues tho. the next batch will all have the 35w bulbs.
 

bshanahan14rulz

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
2,819
Location
Tennessee
Generally speaking, a simple resistor mod or a potentiometer to modify the current sense resistor is all that is needed.

Of course, the potting compound is really the biggest hurdle. I've been hoping that someone will stumble upon an unpotted ballast, but nobody seems to take these apart anymore. Maybe the compound dissolves easily in some common solvent.
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
well, the potting compound in the ones i bought is fairly soft and breaks out easily, however, its in every nook and cranny and there are several very thin wires mixed in with the potting compound, so my fear is whilst try'n to remove it, breaking one or more of the thin wires and not being able to repair it. a solvent is a great idea, but i'd fear that if it dissolves the compound, what else may it dissolve inside? if i had more exp or a walk thru, i'd certenly give it a shot when i have an extra ballast! (more POWER! OHHOOHHO! *like Tim the tool man*)
untill then, i think i'm gonna stick with the overdriven 35w with 55w's or maybe even 75w! :devil:

and ofcorse if anyone has any advice as to how to improve my mod, i'm open to suggestions!
i'm also still try'n to think of a name for these lights, suggestions again are welcome,.... 1st one that comes to mind is "HandSun" but IDK if its been taken yet or not... (since all you older mod guys have taken all the good names!!!! (i'm looking at you Ra, Lightsward and Get-Lit!!!!) lmao
 

Norm

Retired Administrator
Joined
Jun 13, 2006
Messages
9,512
Location
Australia
A really good way to improve this type of mod is to replace the heavy Pb battery with a 4 cell Lipo of suitably capacity. The weight savings make it much easier to carry, you may also like to add a Lipo battery monitor to keep an eye on your battery.

Most ballasts I've seen handle up to 16 Volts, perfect for a 4 cell Lipo.

Norm
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
yeah i may do that to my personal version, but i'm not comfortable selling lipo packs to the average joe, i'd hate for someone to burn their house down mis-charging one of the lights i sold them. i will be selling these with the option of a 2nd SLA or w/o SLA at all for those who want to add their own custom packs. but most people who i'm try'n to sell these too have little knowledge of Lipo and the dangers.
 

Norm

Retired Administrator
Joined
Jun 13, 2006
Messages
9,512
Location
Australia
That's sensible Fritz, it certainly will make your personal light far more usable, I replaced a 12V 7Ah battery as you show with a 4 cell 5Ah Lipo (there is plenty of room for a larger battery if needed) and run time also improved, charge time is also quicker.

Norm
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
yeah, there's plenty of room in the back for a wad of lipos, and with the higher voltage, amps decrease, so better run times. i like the current charge set up, it won't allow the light to function while charging, so i'm eventually going to add a reverse protected plug so it can be ran off a cig lighter or batt clamps, similar to the stanleys set up. i'd like it if i could fit a lipo charger inside with the lipo pack to avoid the pack removal, since it is a tad of a pain. but as any good CPFr, i'll do what ever it takes to be safe. :) (don't want my house or family burning down eather!)
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
OK, so i went out to the farm lastnight to get some open field beam shots in a much darker area... here they are as well as google earth distances....

Silo, 100' away, spot mode.
silo100S.jpg


Silo, 100' away, flood mode.
Silo100F.jpg


Tree @ 822' in spot mode
IMG_2541.jpg

IMG_2542.jpg

IMG_2545.jpg


and in flood mode...
IMG_2544.jpg

Goggle Earth Distance..
map3tree.jpg


and back field shots....
Map1.jpg


HID spot mode, 1476'
IMG_2536.jpg

Flood mode
IMG_2535.jpg

Halogen stock
IMG_2526.jpg

Stanley
IMG_2525.jpg

Sky Shot HID Mod
IMG_2533.jpg




All in all, i think a successful build. i hope you all agree :)
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
ok guys, now i need some advice... the stock charging system on this is not only unregulated, but as also renders the light unusable while charging... this may pose an issue for my customers. i'd like to add not only a "smart charging" system to tie into the internal stock set up (so people can just leave it on the charger with out having to worry about over charging the SLA), but also a aux power input for use with an external power source (i.e. car, boat or belt pack) similar to what the Stanley has under the pistol grip handle. there seems to be some sort of "anti back flow" device in place there, anyone have a clue as to what that is, where i can source it?
 

FRITZHID

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
2,500
Location
Icelandic wastelands of Monico, WI
Added favor, if anyone can give me a rough est of the CP of this light, i'd be grateful. i have NO way to measure CP, Lms, or Lux, but something close to what its capable of would be greatly apreceated. i KNOW Ra, BVH, or one of you can give me Some idea what CP range this thing is in. the stock "sales CP" is 15million, and say it reached 400m... which is total BS, i know:thumbsdow.... if i were to go by those #'s... i'd say it's a 35m CP easy! :whistle: but i'd rather have a real est then the fake sales pitch #'s.
Thanks again guys! :D
if anyone needs spec's on it, please ask and i'll do the best to give you the info you need to help me figure this out untill i can get a light meter.
 
Top