LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Happy New Year! Great shots of the Gorilla shining in the Sky on New Years. Many people came by including a curios Sheriff. I'll post the incredible shots next few days!
36 inch Gorilla
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've been busy, and plan to provide New Year beam shots any-day now...yah right... Seriously, I've been working on the Gorilla offspring; the "LightSport" and at around 25 inches, makes it an ideal, very powerful sport light for all kinds of applications, including camping, search and rescue and hunting, just to name a few. If positioned on a hill, far and high enough above a playing field such as baseball or football, the "LightSport"could act as a stadium light...lol.
Here is the link to that light: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?317206-26-quot-LightSport-700-1200-watt-HMI-powerful-multi-use-light
Here is the link to that light: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?317206-26-quot-LightSport-700-1200-watt-HMI-powerful-multi-use-light
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
The basic parabolic profile I designed is used for the Gorilla, is in a CAD promo. (Just name recognition, no royalties. Have to start somewhere. 😗)
Auto CAD 36 inch Gorilla AD
I am honored to see my Gorilla Searchlight and recently started LightSport used in a CAD software ad.
Auto CAD 36 inch Gorilla AD
I am honored to see my Gorilla Searchlight and recently started LightSport used in a CAD software ad.
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've been trying to discuss shipping and currency exchange rates with the electroforming, copper, nickel plating people in the UK, but so far contact is not easy and my attempt to purchase has failed, resulted in an automatic 'refund'...???. So I will look into American dealers that hopefully don't want $1,500 for a 'kit' like I've found so far.😱
.......Still busy on 26 inch LightSport but will post the awesome photos from New Years....soooome day soooon!....
.......Still busy on 26 inch LightSport but will post the awesome photos from New Years....soooome day soooon!....
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
I'm half way to copy chroming and acid copper electroplating my reflectors, with tinning I just purchased, used after the electrical paint is applied. I've done 'gold leaf' before...not too bad, kind of like working with the 'chrome tape'.
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
See the offspring of the Gorilla...the 30 inch Nighthawk.😎
30 inch Searchlight shines out over Hillsboro.
Searchlight as seen from seven miles away!
Portland is what is lighting up the clouds in background.
Imitation 3-D view of the 30 inch Nighthawk
30 inch Nighthawk ready to paint the sky with artistic homemade lighting.
Beam could be seen seven miles away!
Check out the Gorilla child.
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
The 36 inch Gorilla and 30 inch Nighthawk have been entered into NASA's "Designing the Future" Contest. See the entry and vote!
http://contest.techbriefs.com/safety-and-security-2012-by-title/2636-very-efficient-searchlight😎
http://contest.techbriefs.com/safety-and-security-2012-by-title/2636-very-efficient-searchlight😎
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Future Gorilla lights will have a new reflective coating, If all goes well with the ALSACORP spray chrome. Fingers crossed on test. I have developed a superior building system based on the old method that hopefully produces a better reflective surface and more precision optical qualities.
awenta
Enlightened
Does that mean they will be for sale soon??
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
YES! ...The 36 inch Gorilla is NOW available, plus the little brother of the Gorilla; "30 inch NightSward is on sale now too"! 😀
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Do not use ALSACORP KILLER CHROME PAINT BAD PRODUCT
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Thread: Seattle Area 2013 Spring Candle Power Forum Get Together at the Barn
I'm building new lights to show! BBQ, vending, show off, prizes?! Let's get this show going!!!
I'm building new lights to show! BBQ, vending, show off, prizes?! Let's get this show going!!!
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
this is about what the Gorilla Searchlight will look like when I build it's weather resistant version. Lamb is Clients Custom feature request for Bat Symbol.
recent photo of the NightHawk at this Spring 2013 Seattle Area Get Together. 1,200 watt HMI vs 1000 watt Halogen. Gorilla will look similar but thinner beam.
The NightHawk is basically the Sister light of the 36 inch Gorilla. NightHawk has almost as good of beam, but the slightly larger reflector makes the Gorilla more colluminated.
recent photo of the NightHawk at this Spring 2013 Seattle Area Get Together. 1,200 watt HMI vs 1000 watt Halogen. Gorilla will look similar but thinner beam.
The NightHawk is basically the Sister light of the 36 inch Gorilla. NightHawk has almost as good of beam, but the slightly larger reflector makes the Gorilla more colluminated.
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Well I want to try and place this new 4,000 watt HMI I'm putting together into the 36 inch Gorilla and other searchlights like my new "World's Biggest, Brightest single bulb searchlight.
I may be putting this four thousand watt HMI 380,000 lumen powerhouse bulb into the Monster if things fit correctly. Slowly I'm getting this together. Four thousand watt HMI ignited for the first time with my homemade Tesla coil ignitor. May use a spark gap to connect to the ballast.:thumbsup:
I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time.
(Sneak Preview) Here is a quick look at the Searchlight when half finished, using only a 100watt HID bulb. Eventually I did Upgrade to a 1200 watt HMI with the help of the IgnITEor.
Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.
First time ignition of the 4000 watt H.M.I. hi tech light bulb arc chamber. Now I just have to hook up the ballast with this home made Tesla coil.
One of my homemade Tesla coils with PVC and 1/4" bolt adjustable spark gap, 915 turns of bell wire on PVC 'tower' and high voltage 2 liter/ foil capacitor with bleeder safety resistors instead of $200 'bank capacitor' or equivalent.
Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.
Using a 12 volt NAPA parts relay as an 'interrupter' to "pulse" the steady dc current to act like the points of an old school car ignition allow the ignition coil to power the homemade high voltage capacitor, spark gap and Tesla coil tower. I also purchased the coil at NAPA.
Don't have to actually hook a wire to get the arc chamber to ionize...just having the Tesla coil in the vicinity ignites any discharge bulb in vicinity such as CFL, fluorescent, metal halides, sodium vapor and of course HMI.
Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.
First time ignition with homemade Tesla coil as the ignitor. This will be used in conjunction with a real magnetic ballast to regulate, ignite and operate the four thousand watt HMI bulb.
One of my three Tesla Coils. I have better designs but cost have kept me with this smaller one as the main working unit. The bell wire of the proper gauge and the wider PVC tube, makes the ideal coil very expensive. I also need to get an old school magnetic 10,000 volt ignition transformer or an old school neon sign transformer at 10 kvac output to power the Tesla coil more reliably than the 12 VDC car ignition coil used here.
Homemade Tesla coil cost far less than when I was trying to build one in the 1970's... Today internet demonstrates how to make high voltage parts like capacitor out of foil and 2 liter soda bottle and coil tower from plastic pipe and bell wire, for pennies that would otherwise cost hundreds of dollars if purchased. Estimated voltage, determined by length of spark, is around 250,000 volts
Five hundred dollars to build a Tesla coil back in the 1970's, and no guarantee of operating, I abandoned "Tesla" until a few years ago, thanks to the abundant information found on the internet.
The Gorilla will be literally 4 times brighter than most of the shots seen before when I had the 100,000 lumen 1,200 watt HMI in it. Arc tube on the 4000 watt HMI isn't even one inch, it's about the same as the carbon arc area of the 60 inch WWII light and almost as many lumen. One of my searchlights, either the 36 inch Gorilla, 50 inch Monster and/or the 72 inch World's biggest searchlight will have a beam very similar to the 60 inch WWII carbon arc searchlight! If I try the four thousand watt HMI in some of the other searchlights, the beam will be a little wider as the arc distance is 20mm.
I may be putting this four thousand watt HMI 380,000 lumen powerhouse bulb into the Monster if things fit correctly. Slowly I'm getting this together. Four thousand watt HMI ignited for the first time with my homemade Tesla coil ignitor. May use a spark gap to connect to the ballast.:thumbsup:
I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time.
(Sneak Preview) Here is a quick look at the Searchlight when half finished, using only a 100watt HID bulb. Eventually I did Upgrade to a 1200 watt HMI with the help of the IgnITEor.
Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.
First time ignition of the 4000 watt H.M.I. hi tech light bulb arc chamber. Now I just have to hook up the ballast with this home made Tesla coil.
One of my homemade Tesla coils with PVC and 1/4" bolt adjustable spark gap, 915 turns of bell wire on PVC 'tower' and high voltage 2 liter/ foil capacitor with bleeder safety resistors instead of $200 'bank capacitor' or equivalent.
Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.
Using a 12 volt NAPA parts relay as an 'interrupter' to "pulse" the steady dc current to act like the points of an old school car ignition allow the ignition coil to power the homemade high voltage capacitor, spark gap and Tesla coil tower. I also purchased the coil at NAPA.
Don't have to actually hook a wire to get the arc chamber to ionize...just having the Tesla coil in the vicinity ignites any discharge bulb in vicinity such as CFL, fluorescent, metal halides, sodium vapor and of course HMI.
Click here to view the original image of 960x720px.
First time ignition with homemade Tesla coil as the ignitor. This will be used in conjunction with a real magnetic ballast to regulate, ignite and operate the four thousand watt HMI bulb.
One of my three Tesla Coils. I have better designs but cost have kept me with this smaller one as the main working unit. The bell wire of the proper gauge and the wider PVC tube, makes the ideal coil very expensive. I also need to get an old school magnetic 10,000 volt ignition transformer or an old school neon sign transformer at 10 kvac output to power the Tesla coil more reliably than the 12 VDC car ignition coil used here.
Homemade Tesla coil cost far less than when I was trying to build one in the 1970's... Today internet demonstrates how to make high voltage parts like capacitor out of foil and 2 liter soda bottle and coil tower from plastic pipe and bell wire, for pennies that would otherwise cost hundreds of dollars if purchased. Estimated voltage, determined by length of spark, is around 250,000 volts
Five hundred dollars to build a Tesla coil back in the 1970's, and no guarantee of operating, I abandoned "Tesla" until a few years ago, thanks to the abundant information found on the internet.
The Gorilla will be literally 4 times brighter than most of the shots seen before when I had the 100,000 lumen 1,200 watt HMI in it. Arc tube on the 4000 watt HMI isn't even one inch, it's about the same as the carbon arc area of the 60 inch WWII light and almost as many lumen. One of my searchlights, either the 36 inch Gorilla, 50 inch Monster and/or the 72 inch World's biggest searchlight will have a beam very similar to the 60 inch WWII carbon arc searchlight! If I try the four thousand watt HMI in some of the other searchlights, the beam will be a little wider as the arc distance is 20mm.
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
The 36 inch, (actually it's closer to 40 inches when I finished it), is about to outfitted with the 4,000 watt HMI 380,000 lumen bulb. There's many reasons but the main one is to make the Gorilla hit the night skies, with a big show of light, again and to give something for the 4,000 watt HMI to do. The World's Largest Searchlight, (Lord of Lights), is difficult for me to transport at this time, so I will temporarily borrow it's light and place it into the Gorilla!
Here's the light bulb, Hopefully this photo will be here for a few days. CPF is loosing my photos.
Nice small bulb...amazing the power in this thing.
Ballast to run it.
This thing weighs 200 pounds..!
Here's 1/4 the brightness this thing will be...just for comparison.
The beam will spread a little fast because the discharge area is so large.
This is the emergency ignition Tesla coil I use to ensure I get the 4,000 watt HMI up and running.
I place the Tesla coil anywhere near the 4kwt HMI bulb and it ignites if the built in unit fails to ignite it...(homemade system).
Will add photos of what I'm doing after I figure out what the HELL is going on and my photos are vanishing.
I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time.
Here's the light bulb, Hopefully this photo will be here for a few days. CPF is loosing my photos.
Nice small bulb...amazing the power in this thing.
Ballast to run it.
This thing weighs 200 pounds..!
Here's 1/4 the brightness this thing will be...just for comparison.
The beam will spread a little fast because the discharge area is so large.
This is the emergency ignition Tesla coil I use to ensure I get the 4,000 watt HMI up and running.
I place the Tesla coil anywhere near the 4kwt HMI bulb and it ignites if the built in unit fails to ignite it...(homemade system).
Will add photos of what I'm doing after I figure out what the HELL is going on and my photos are vanishing.
I apologize, but one of my photo hosts has unreliable and unstable links, (Facebook based), and this caused a large amount of my photos to vanish over he last few days. Apologize, but with all the photos I posted I'm not able to update all them do to a variety reasons, mostly time.
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Am nearing completion of the 4,000 watt upgrade to the Gorilla. Three cooling fans with a forth passive forced exhaust vent mounted directly over the intense light-bulb, integrated with the split back reflector..! I've had to upgrade my, still home-made, ignition system directly into the fiberglass shell to make all the components weather resistant to allow searchlight operation in rain, sleet, light hail, snow with little or no winds, or fair to light winds with no precipitation, all possible to operate the searchlight in. I have to work on the ballast and generator being more weather resistant now...lol.
Will upgrade to a better photo system soon.😀
Will upgrade to a better photo system soon.😀
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Getting ready for a testing. The focusing is accomplished with a delta plate for three dimensional adjustments. I'll add vent hoods and other weather proofing soon. I have a tempered glass front lens and a plexiglass front lens for when I need the searchlight to be lighter in weight. The cooling fans provide more than adaquate air to keep things cool under 100 degrees on an 80 degree night. I was surprised by how well the bath fans work at only $15.00 Home Depot.
Ready to test after some basic adjustments. Gorilla searchlight now outfitted with 4k watt HMI The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted to operate in inclement weather, a four thousand watt HMI lamp producing over 385,000 lumen light output.
Ready to test after some basic adjustments. Gorilla searchlight now outfitted with 4k watt HMI The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted to operate in inclement weather, a four thousand watt HMI lamp producing over 385,000 lumen light output.
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LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
This thing just keeps getting better..! This really is the Gorilla at it's Zenith! Bright like sunlight in the day, gonna spook people at night! Vampires, beware...lol.
Cranberry Red, or something like it.
Here's the new 36 inch Gorilla reconditioned into the 4 Kwatt beast it is now. Want to test this at night, but the touchy situation with a neighbor having a fight with her boyfriend means I'll probably have to pack this like sardines into my car and find a parking lot somewhere and not get into too much trouble...lol.
The horizontal bars are from the magnetic ballast lag wave.
Plastic lens works well under the heat, but I wasn't cooling the back reflector enough so it tarnished unevenly into a deep golden color. Will have to work on that, add maybe a forth fan just for cooling some of those critical components, or decide it works well enough for now and make improvements along the way...it's already way super bright..!
→ ←
Getting an idea of the beam
Forms a nice tight beam for several hundred feet, but I wasn't able to shine it way out, for fear of disturbing people....I'm going to have to work on this.
Looks like daylight.
Here's how it looks sitting outside my humble garage / shop.
Looking forward to testing this beauty at night soon. I have a hundred foot extension chord made just for the output from the ballast.
😎
Cranberry Red, or something like it.
Here's the new 36 inch Gorilla reconditioned into the 4 Kwatt beast it is now. Want to test this at night, but the touchy situation with a neighbor having a fight with her boyfriend means I'll probably have to pack this like sardines into my car and find a parking lot somewhere and not get into too much trouble...lol.
The horizontal bars are from the magnetic ballast lag wave.
Plastic lens works well under the heat, but I wasn't cooling the back reflector enough so it tarnished unevenly into a deep golden color. Will have to work on that, add maybe a forth fan just for cooling some of those critical components, or decide it works well enough for now and make improvements along the way...it's already way super bright..!
→ ←
Getting an idea of the beam
Forms a nice tight beam for several hundred feet, but I wasn't able to shine it way out, for fear of disturbing people....I'm going to have to work on this.
Here's how it looks sitting outside my humble garage / shop.
Looking forward to testing this beauty at night soon. I have a hundred foot extension chord made just for the output from the ballast.
😎
LightSward
Flashlight Enthusiast
Had everything set up and by chance many neighbors weren't home and others were up past their bedtime, so I took a quick ten minutes and fired up this bad boy and took some night shots. Beam isn't as well collimated as I wanted, still needs some focus fine tuning, but it still makes a very impressive beam that can be seen for many miles and draws quite the crowd.
Here's a view from a block away. Very impressive. I'll get better photos as time permits.😎
Beam as seen from near my shop with searchlight.
As seen from a block away, The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted and upgraded for weather resistance but now Much Brighter at 385,000 lumen.
Beam looks cool seen through the trees. Dominates the sky and looks quite beautiful. Won't look like UFO's in the clouds, as the beam spreads just enough to still light the clouds, but not so bright and with a beam that can be seen connecting it to it's source for customers to travel joyfully to...lol.
I coudln't go very far as I only had a few minutes, as many people noticed this bright beam in the sky and start to travel towards it. I had to stop the migration before my neighbors got upset over another spotlight traffic jam.
As seen from half a block away, The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted and upgraded for weather resistance but now Much Brighter at 385,000 lumen.
Here's a view from a block away. Very impressive. I'll get better photos as time permits.😎
Beam as seen from near my shop with searchlight.
As seen from a block away, The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted and upgraded for weather resistance but now Much Brighter at 385,000 lumen.
Beam looks cool seen through the trees. Dominates the sky and looks quite beautiful. Won't look like UFO's in the clouds, as the beam spreads just enough to still light the clouds, but not so bright and with a beam that can be seen connecting it to it's source for customers to travel joyfully to...lol.
I coudln't go very far as I only had a few minutes, as many people noticed this bright beam in the sky and start to travel towards it. I had to stop the migration before my neighbors got upset over another spotlight traffic jam.
As seen from half a block away, The 36 inch Gorilla has been outfitted and upgraded for weather resistance but now Much Brighter at 385,000 lumen.
