A few X990 questions

[MrNonacho]

I've recently come into the possession of a McCulloch X990 light. I'm relatively new to the world of HID lights, and I have a few questions.

First off, while the beam of the X990 is quite bright and stunning, there is a yellowish tinge to the lower quarter or so of it. This yellowish area moves and/or grows larger or smaller with respect to the head's orientation. I've seen this in some pictures online, so I assume this is normal. Could someone explain exactly what causes this tinge? I figure it has to do with how the lamp works, but a simple explanation would be appreciated.

Now, about how long of a life can I expect from the lamp? The instructions mention the "don't turn it on and off repeatedly/make sure to wait five minutes before restarting" thing, but could anyone elaborate on these aspects? How much of an impact on the lamp life will there be if it's turned on/off a few times a day, for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes at a time? Any tips on optimal usage would be appreciated, as well.

Thanks!

 

[FalconFX]

I've used mine pretty liberally. Lamp life should be over 2500 hours. I really don't care, myself, how long it is on or off before turning it on/off again. This isn't like the UK Light Cannon, which is much more fickle of its lamp warm-ups and doesn't allow you to toggle the switch.

The yellow tinge of the bulb/light should be due to some iodide (salts) within the bulb itself, and should be normal for its functions. I usually don't notice it unless it's shined against a white wall at close range.

I think you should be safe turning on and off your X990 as you so choose. Obviously, if you constantly turn on and off the switch once every 1 second and continually do that for hours on end, you're obviously going to risk shorting the ballast, bulb or battery. But if you use it like any other flashlight (albeit an oversized flashlight), it should do you fine.

 

[LEDagent]

Are you saying that the X990 doesn't have switching protection like the Light Cannon? The Light Cannon won't be able to strike after 3-5 seconds after shut-off.

 

[FalconFX]

You can click the X990 on and off as frequently as you like, and as short of an interval in-between clicks as you like. It's not like the Light Cannon... After the X990 warms up, you can click it off, turn it immediately back on, and it would light up just fine... It doesn't have a huge 10-15 second lag like the LC100, nor does it force you to wait 3 seconds to turn it back on after turning it off.

Unless you deliberately turn it on/off like a mad man, the X990 should work just fine with regular use...

I don't think the X990 actually suffers from the same warm-up problems with its ballast like the LC100 does...