Can I modify my HID light to use a 145,000 LM bulb

[Astronula]

Hey

I have a light made my ccmacclel, and I finally got my ballast back and it all works great. I also put a 5AMP fuse on the red wire which comes out of the ballast, one that is used on your car, since 6.8AMPS is the max load.

Anyways... Since this light utilizes a Philips/Osram D2S bulb, would I be able to use the same housing but different ballast (sodium) and this bulb, and would it really be 50 times brighter? Or any other bulbs, such as projector? I guess I want to build an ultimate Ken 4.

 

[Astronula]

* "This bulb" was supposed to link you here

http://www.bghydro.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=HLRBHPS10H&Category_Code=RB

 

[Astronula]

Anyone have any input on this matter? Like using some of them 1000Watt/150,000 Lumen bulbs powered by a sodium ballast and using batteries of some sort, etc?

 

[cheesehead]

OK, ok, you've dragged me out of the shadows. I too looked at some of these bulbs, but the only ballasts and combos I could think of weighed way too much to be in any way practical (even for a CPF member that thinks a 7 lb Vector light could almost be an EDC). The bulbs aren't light, then add a reflector, then add a 5-10 lb ballast, some 5-10 lbs lead acids, a 5 lb power inverter (to get back to 120 volts needed for the ballast) and good grief you'll need a wheelbarrow to carry the whole thing.

If you NEED 1000 watts,
http://www.goodmart.com/products/34841.htm
seems like a good bulb to start with.

 

[phyhsuts]

I am not sure what you want to do. If you are thinking of using a spotlight like the Vector and putting in a HPS (high pressure sodium) lamp, then you are in for a lot of disappointment. The source size of the HPS lamp is huge. The small reflector of the spotlight cannot form a decent beam with it. For a good beam with a HPS lamp, the reflector will have to be about 18" in diameter! Try this . There is another problem: battery. At 1000W and taking conversion losses into account, you will need no less than 1200W. That is 12V 100A. A 12V 100 Ah marine battery will last a mere 30 minutes or so. Don't ask about its weight. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[cheesehead]

Surplus shed has some 30 inch reflectors if you want to continue in this quest.

 

[AilSnail]

thanks for the pointer cheese. Thats right up my alley, especially if I find the blitz too weak to scare off freight ships with. They have a nasty habit of ruining my nightvision by putting their spots on me.

I saw your note in the other thread about 24v 600-1000w aircraft landing lights. I'll look into that now. Have you got any idea on the filament size of those? Who makes them?

 

[cheesehead]

As far as I can tell both GE and Sylvania make the 4559 and 4557, 600 and 1,000 watts respectively. They are rated at 28 volts, but don't worry, that's the float voltage on 2 12 volt SLAs. Plus with a life of 25-50 hours, it's probably good to run them a little cool. I haven't found a good source yet, that's my project thurs and friday. The beam is tighter on the 600 watt (I think 11 x 6 degrees, while the 1,000 watt is 15 x 11 degrees). Overall, the GE Q4559X is probably the best one to use. 1,000 watts is just too much, 600 is much more reasonable?

Eh, but the freighters likely have real search lights. Surplusshed.com has 30 inch reflectors if you are so inclined to pursue that further. If you figure out a way to "touch" them let me know.

 

[AilSnail]

I don't know where you get such ideas as "1000 watts is just too much" from, but thanks for the info /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. I crank at 100-200A I think, 12v unfortunately. I don't suppose they are removable from the reflector /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Yeah, I looked at that 30" you mentioned, and I really want to try it out.

 

[cheesehead]

Good point, what was I thinking? The fun begins at 1000 watts. Although for 100-200A, I think your run time would be in the order of seconds, maybe a minute if you're lucky. The 7 ah SLA have a max discharge of 230 Amps, so at least it's not just crazy talk.

Cheer up, Osram has many lights without reflectors that go to 20-30 amps. I just figure I'd bypass the reflector issue by getting one that's already in a beam. Centering a bulb that takes 20 amps in a reflector sounds like a hand scorcher.

 

[AilSnail]

The aircraft landing lights oughta have some spread I think. Where do you find these bare bulbs of 20-30A?

 

[cheesehead]

I don't think they'll have much more spread than other spotlights (hopefully I'll find out soon). They are described as having a 6 x 12 degree spread, which I assume is about as good as you'll get with the typical 100 watt spotlight with a 5-7 inch parabolic reflector. If you want less spread, you need a bigger reflector (or "segment" of reflector), but I think you are better versed at this reflector business than I.

I'm not too sure where you can find them bare. bunch of bulbs has a lot of different ones, but I couldn't find too many matches. Don's has a nice search engine too.

 

[AilSnail]

i ordered a 450w 13v PAR56 sealed beam from www.warbirdrelics.com. We'll see if anything comes of it. Either it goes on the boat (has more than adequate lighting allready) or maybe with some A or 5/4A's in a 3-4 D mag with the reflector cracked off.

 

[cheesehead]

Excellent idea about the 3-4 D mag, I was thinking the same thing, but with a lower power GE H7680HIR. It's "only" 80 watts with 260K CP or so. Let me know what happens.

cheese

 

[NikolaTesla]

We used to use these bulbs cheeshead recommended for our light show. Use 200 of them to be exact in a real neat truss. (200KW) they ain't battery powered though. Had to use a 250 KW Force generator to run it at a county fair.. they just did not have that much juice onsite. [image]http://www.goodmart.com/products/34841.htm[/image]
when you turned all of them one at the same time, that generator sure blew smoke...
I would NOT recommend this as a search light bulb- verg fragile-short life and they get REAL hot! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

 

[cheesehead]

Aircraft landing light, fragile??? Makes no sense to me, but I defer to your experience with 200 of them. Hmm, just when I thought I needed a few more. Short life is sometimes good (as long as it's measured in hours and not minutes), since they then give out more light.

yes, I realize this is way off HID.