Costco HID arrived today 11" model

[typhoon]

Hello-
I am now a HID owner Wippee!!

Ok
I need advice! I plugged it in to charge and the battery indicator went "red" indicating it needs charging. I plug it in thinking 10 hours later ther batt will be fully charged. Not 10 min into the charge cycle I hear a clicking coming from the unit and the green LED is flickering. The red is still on but a shade dimmer. So I unplug it and the green led goes out. I plug it in and the same thing.
Again I unplug it and re-plug it in. Now the green led is on and the red is out.

AM I looking at a defective charging unit or what? Potential battery explosion??

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

B

 

[Ra]

Hi Typhoon,

First let me welcome you in this world of enlightment, and ofcource in the bright world of HID !!

These spotlight use a SLA-battery (Sealed Lead Acid).. These batts need to be kept at full charge all time ! They don't have a memmory-effect like NiCads do.

So it seems you (fotunately !) have a very fresh unit !! The only thing I can think of is that it already is fully charged, so you can start the fun part of owning a HID-monster: ANNOY NEIGHBORS !!!

Keep in mind: Charge the beast after every use, no matter how short !! And if not in use for a longer time: Charge every month or so.. This way you can enjoy the full capacity of your battery for years to come !

Tip: If you have the skills: Create a (fused!) seperate charge-input, directly connected to the SLA-batt: With a constant-voltage charger (13.8volt 1amp max) you can keep the batt in top condition and no need to unplug after the batt is full !!!

For now: USE THE THING ! And see if it takes up a charge after that !!


Regards,

Ra.

 

[typhoon]

Hi RA

Yup- New fully charged unit, I called the place where I got it and he said all units come fully charged.

Took it out side last night- Jesus!!! the 15MCP Thor clone I have is a POS when comparing beams side by side. I am thinking of tweaking the HID buld location to optimize the beam.

Now to get a 50 or 75 watt bulb and ballast and see what I can come up with.

And that $600 dollar reflector you told me about in your maxabeam may be what I need.

To bad it is 13 degress out or I would be out playin with it.

B

I did get it from hidfoglights.com also- they have bulbs and ballasts at resonable cost too

 

[Ra]

With automotive-HID you don't need a 600-dollar reflector!

With my HID Thor project I successfully used the stock-reflector !
Those high-dollar reflectors are made to be used with very small arc-sizes, down to 0.1 square mm. Automotive-HID has about 4 quare mm !

And.. The high-dollar reflector I used has a lower reflective Rhodium-coating: Needed for systems with high UV output, not nessesary for automotive-HID !

Start a thread about your project, I thing there are many fellow CPF-members that want to know what the ..@#%$!!.. you are doing !!


Regards,

Ra.