Any 50W conversions to fit in a POB?

[Parker VH]

I'm wondering if there are any 50W bulb/ballast kits such as those on Ebay that would fit in a POB? Is that all that would be required so long as a kit contained the H7 style bulb and there was room for the ballast? I'm not against doing mods to the light to make a ballast fit. In other words, if grinding were required etc. I would still be interested. I have not had my POB apart other than to swap out a bulb so I'm not sure how much room there is. Any info. would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Bob

 

[Parker VH]

Anybody?????? Let me restate, for anyone else who as done an HID upgrade whether in a Thor etc. Since the POB is already an HID, what else would be needed to upgrade to 50W other than a ballast and H7 bulb? Are there other components I need to consider? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[BVH]

It's probably as simple as you state. A new bulb and ballast. I haven't had my Amondotech 3152 (precursor to the POB) apart so I'm not sure of the size of the original ballast. I'd recommend taking yours apart to double check how much room you have for the aftermarket 50 or 55 watt ballast. All other wiring, switches, battery should be fine for the minor power requirement increase. If you want more run time, look into the 9AH sla batteries available from many sources. You can find them in the same exact size as the 7 AH batteries.

 

[Parker VH]

Thanks. I've already bought two 9AH batteries locally for $20.00 each but haven't put one in yet.Are you aware of any particular ballasts that might work that you have seen or heard of? I know I can just search Ebay but is there somewhere else worth checking? As far as ballasts in general, is a 50W a 50W? or are there different configurations to be concerned about?
Thanks again.
Bob

 

[BVH]

I purchased a 55 Watt, two-ballast/bulb kit for my 08 Chevy pick-up and am very happy with the performance and color of light. I bought from "Retro-solutions" on Ebay. I bought the 5000K color temp and am extremely happy with them. Not too purple, not to yellow. He has all the different bulb bases and was very responsive in the sale.

 

[Richie086]

Anybody?????? Let me restate, for anyone else who as done an HID upgrade whether in a Thor etc. Since the POB is already an HID, what else would be needed to upgrade to 50W other than a ballast and H7 bulb? Are there other components I need to consider? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Parker,

I needed to disassemble my POB's today because I wanted to shine up the reflectors on them for maximum brightness. While in there, I took a couple of photos of the ballast and measurements for you. Hope this helps.

Stock ballast - 3-1/4" Wide X 2-5/8" Deep X 1-1/4" High

 

[Parker VH]

Thanks guys. Do you think that a 50 or 55 watt ballast would have the same type connectors on it that my POB has? I'm not unwilling to do some adapting, soldering etc. to make it connect if necessary. Do you think ballast heat will be an issue with this upgrade?

 

[amaretto]

Today i wanted to exchange the stock ballast against a 55 ballast. But i have a problem with the connectors. As you can see on the picture above there a three wires going into the original ballast (black, red, yellow). The new one has only two. So what's that yellow one for? I would be happy for any help.

edit: here's a picture from another thread (where i found no answer): http://rsdivelite.com/photos/harbor.JPG

 

[Richie086]

Today i wanted to exchange the stock ballast against a 55 ballast. But i have a problem with the connectors. As you can see on the picture above there a three wires going into the original ballast (black, red, yellow). The new one has only two. So what's that yellow one for? I would be happy for any help.

Hi Amaretto,

I just took apart a POB today I was lucky to get as a "spare parts" POB. I checked that yellow wire you mention. From what I was able to tell, it may be for those charge LED lights. If correct, I'd worry about them another time. I've never found them to be of much help when it comes to remaining battery power. I'd get the positive and negative wires hooked up and see if the modication works correctly before dealing with that circuit board. Whatever you end up doing, please post the outcome.

 

[petersmith6]

i cant help withe the yellow wire but i do love the wooden floor boards you have.hey im sad, but you have respected the wood.

 

[AlexGT]

Hi Richie086! I am wondering how you shine up the reflectors on your POB, what did you use and what was your result?

AlexGT

Hi Parker,

I needed to disassemble my POB's today because I wanted to shine up the reflectors on them for maximum brightness.

 

[Richie086]

Hi Richie086! I am wondering how you shine up the reflectors on your POB, what did you use and what was your result?

AlexGT

Hi Alex,

The POB reflector has good plating on it, and I used some Meguiar's automotive carnauba wax. I let it dry as you would on a car and then buffed it off with a very soft cloth. Just don't muscle into it. Prior to reassembling everything, I used my compressor to blow air on the reflector to make sure no lint was remaining on it or the lens. I also washed the lens to remove the fogging residue from burning in the new HID bulb.

The result was a really shiny reflector because that fogging all POB's accumulate on the inside of the lens also gets on the reflector.

 

[Parker VH]

Hey Guys bear with me as I try to post pics of my 55W mod. We'll see if this works.:shrug:

 

[Parker VH]

I'll try and make the images smaller as I assume this is too large. I'm using Photobucket but it's new to me.

 

[Parker VH]

We'll see how large th

is is.

 

[Parker VH]

How do I delete this post and pics that are too large while I try and downsize the images?

 

[Parker VH]

Another try. I loaded this image to size "medium" hopefully it's smaller than the previous two tries, if not, I'm sorry. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[saabluster]

How do I delete this post and pics that are too large while I try and downsize the images?

You can't technically delete your own posts but you can edit them. There should be a button to click on when you are looking at your own posts that says edit down at the bottom right.

​

 

[Richie086]

I can't wait to read about this one. Make sure you post where you purchased your parts from. Thanks.

 

[Parker VH]

Well,
I finally got my POB converted to 55W. I bought the 55W ballast locally form a guy on Craigslist for $75.00. It has an internal igniter but was a little too big to fit in the stock ballast location so I placed it along side the Lipo battery in the existing battery compartment. The battery I bought from Hobby King along with a charger that I still need to learn how to use. I made a divider out of lexan and aluminum that fits fairly snugly between the battery and the ballast to help hold them so they don't flop around in the battery compartment.
I ground off the round ring from inside the tailcap to hold the divider in the compartment as you can see in the pics.
I weighed the complete unit on my digital fishing scale and it said 5lbs 11oz. Not sure how accurate the scale is but it's noticeably lighter than with the stock SLA battery.
I spliced in another Deans type connector to the battery leads and ran it out the top of the light below the handle along with the Lipo balancing lead so I can charge the battery without removing it from the light.
I've only run it for a few minutes so far so I don't know how long the Lipo will last but it's not a real concern for me as I don't use this light for long periods at a time anyway.
I'm probably going to put a small digital meter on top by the Deans connector so I can plug it in when needed to keep tabs on the battery status.
All in all a pretty easy mod once I found a suitable ballast. I will post some beamshots soon when it warms up a bit here in MN comparing it to a stock POB.
I'd like to thank "Patriot and Richie086 for all their help in leading me along with this mod. I wouldn't have attempted it without the help from great guys like them who aren't afraid to help a newbie like myself.
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii1/Parker-VH/POB55W001.jpg