Black & Decker 6 volt Spotlight Upgrades

[lozninja]

Hi guys Just wanted some information or help !!!!!

Yesterday i Bought Black & Decker Spotlight Rechargeable Thingy 6 volt 3 Ah 55 Watt Halogen Bulb . The unit is well made gun type grip and reasonably solid . It comes with two chargers both car and mains its got little LED lights on the back to tell you the charge of the battery . It also has 3 power lighting settings on the trigger control again which is handy to reserve Battry Power !!.
Any way i charged it up took it out last night and was very delighted with the unit itself nice and confortable to use , the beam is a bit strange but i can put up with that . The power of the beam was ok ( well usable anyway ) .All in all a nice solid light really .

The thing that totally blew me away was how long the battery actually lasted , it was rubbish 10-15 mins maybe not in continuall use neither nor was it on full power the whole time . Whats more the 12 volt car charger is like the mains charger and can take upto 10 HRS to charge again . Rediculouse i would of thought that in todays technoloy the car charger would at least power the unit or be a quick charge unit.

Any idea guys how i could get a better running time out of this unit . Maybe a LED upgrade or any ideas . What about a direct wire to the lamp bulb from my car charger or quick charger or anything ??????.

All ideas would be much appriciated ..:thinking:

Many Thanks ( NEW BLOKE )

 

[Flashanator]

yea those lights are totally ridicules, last 5mins then 5hrs to charge.
not a whole lot of options for its small size, & if you want it portable & light weight.
If not, run it off a 12v SLA & up grade the bulb to 12v.

I LMAO when I compare these lights to my Borealis.....

 

[M@elstrom]

The idiotic (virtually unusable) runtime you're getting is because a 6V 55w lamp requires around 9.16A to run, thus a 3Ah battery will theoretically provide up to 20 minutes MAXIMUM

FWIW hot-wiring the bulb directly to your automotive 12v cigarette lighter socket would damage the 6V battery & lamp :thumbsdow

Upgrading to 12v components will improve efficiency/runtime by about 50% but seeing as this a brand (spanking) new 'spotty' I'd be hot footing it down to the place you purchased it from (with receipt) and getting my money back pronto (unless you're going to build a multi emitter P7 project)!

Arlec make reasonable rechargeable spotlights, I've got an RT3500 which in stock trim sports dual 6V 4Ah batteries (in series = 12V 4Ah) a 100w H3 globe & adjustable foot/bar, if you're happy with a 55w halogen beam replacing the original 100w H3 accordingly should yield around 40~52 minutes of runtime @ 55w (dependent on battery quality/condition) :thumbsup:

AFAIK these units can be picked up in Bunnings (if you're in Oz) for about $50.00 AUD

 

[lozninja]

Well Thanks for your reponce and suggestion ,
Could i upgrade to a Decent LED or Not ?
The torch itself is a perfect size and weight and feel its just a crap runtime .

Look forward to your responce

Many thanks

 

[lozninja]

multi emitter P7 project Sounds Very Impressive What is it ?????

If I Can I Will !!!!!!!!!!!!!


:twothumbs

 

[Flashanator]

yea Bunnings has Arlec lights.

LOL- Ive brought countless Arlec lights from my local bunnings.

RT500's
RT3500's
RT10000
Those pistol grip 1million CP lights.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

P7s cost about $20-$25 each or more so if you want to fork out about $100 for 3 plus reflectors etc and then have to work out a driver for each of them or buy a 12v battery for it and stuff....
A lot of work to take a $20 spotlight and make it a $200 spotlight when you could just save and invest in an HID spotlight that would be brighter and outthrow it a ton.

 

[Illum]

lol, stuff a whole chunk of aluminum in and stuff in a couple P7s where the reflector is with a regulator circuit that has an overhead capable of exceeding 6Vs [6V is the nominal voltage, it might hit 9V right after charging]

mighty mule anyone?

 

[Patriot]

mighty mule anyone?

lol.....yes, exactly. One big flood machine.





lozninja, the P7 conversion truly would be a lot of work for anyone who wasn't modding lights as a career. The only other problem that I see with the concept is that it somewhat defeats the purpose of a spotlight because it would be all flood. The light in its current configuration would outthrow the P7 arrangement by a large margin. That's not to say that only spotlights that throw are useful. It's just that most of the time that's what people find most unique about them and what distinguishes them from other types of lighting including the edc.

As Lynx Arc stated, it would usually make more sense to just purchase a HID light ready to go. The POB is a nice light and if you were in the mood to perform a mod you could upgrade the battery to Li-ion or something. Much easier than modding into a P7 spotlight.