Fully focusable 55W 4300K HID Mod.

[Morepower!]

Well I had to do it. I've had this light for years, it had a 100w H4 Halogen globe. I bought the 55W 4300K kit from HIDworld and I have to say their service is very good, and fast. For the focus mod. I bought a childs toy telescope for $14 for the focusing mechanism. I am exremely pleased with the results, this thing is an awesome colour and when focused down has an unbeleivable throw. The complete mod only took 1 and a half days. There are still a few things that need fine tuning, like the bulb is not quite in the middle but that is for another day.
I really enjoyed doing this mod. and will be doing many more, only with more power of course :devil: See pics below with more to come later.

NOTE: The other light in the pic is not finished yet because I dropped the bloody reflector as you will see later.


The host

The focus adjustment knob

The deeper reflector is the one that is used in this light

Almost back together

Beam shot on flood

Beam shot focused

 

[Morepower!]

Reflector Mod

I wasn't happy with the huge hole where the H4 bulb went and wanted to make it smaller but wasn't sure what to use. So while having a couple of beers with some friends this evening I saw the bottom of a coke can when my wife took a drink, they are pretty much parabolic so I thought I just needed to polish it, cut it out, and glue it in place. It was easy enough to polish, cutting it out though was a different story. All I can say is I love my dremel !!

.

 

[Flashanator]

Cool Idea

Would that piece you dremeled put significantly more light forward?

Got any pics of the inside. The focus mechanism?

Thanks. :thumbsup:

 

[Illum]

Nice Eureka moment,
mmm, the flood isn't pretty, but at least the artifacts are pretty uniform
care to tell what your powering this sucker with?

 

[accr]

quick question....wouldn't the heat from the bulb melt the telescope ??

 

[Stereodude]

Can you show more pictures of the focusing mechanism and how it works.

 

[Patriot]

My favorite feature is the focus mechanism. I'd also like to see more pics which detail how it operates.

Nice work!

 

[Morepower!]

Cool Idea

Would that piece you dremeled put significantly more light forward?

Got any pics of the inside. The focus mechanism?

Thanks. :thumbsup:

I think the the coke can mod adds a little more light when focused to a point, other than that I was really just being pedantic. Neither the reflector or focus mech. even gets warm after a 20min run so heat won't be an issue. Power is supplied by the original 7Ah SLA. Pics of the insides and mechanism as requested :


Mechanism Host

The connection into the H4 socket was the perfect press fit as it was

Updated Pic, fine tuning is done

 

[Patriot]

That's sweet! More robust and precise that I had pictured it. A+ for the original idea and execution. :thumbsup:

 

[climberkid]

yet another mod to add to my list!

 

[mdocod]

genius!
nice mod idea there with that focusing knob!

 

[AlexGT]

Very ingenious Mod! Congrats! Can you share the details of the model telescope you used, Brand model and where you got it? I'm on vacation right now and would like to experiment with it.

AlexGT

 

[Morepower!]

Very ingenious Mod! Congrats! Can you share the details of the model telescope you used, Brand model and where you got it? I'm on vacation right now and would like to experiment with it.

AlexGT

Thanks guys, it really did turn out as good, well actually better, than I'd expected.

Just a note to anyone wanting to do this Mod. it is possible to get the focusing mechanism absolutely rock solid, as in NO lateral movement or slop in it at all. I took some close ups of the parts that make it up. Basically you will need to tighten it a bit more than it already is. This is pretty easy, just use a small round file to slightly(if you go too deep it will be too tight to turn) deepen the chanels that the little gear sits in so it meshes tighter with the teeth on the focusing tube. Then sand the shaft housing(at the point where the saddle screws down to hold the spindle shaft) down so the saddle will pull down tight on the gear shaft again. The knobs are just pushed onto the square shaft so modding them is straight forward. I bought the telescope at Big W, on special for $14 from memory. Have fun, I did. See pics below:


The telescope

Saddle

.

 

[climberkid]

that actually helps explain a lot. i am a visual learner and that is just the icing on the cake that is this wonderful mod. thanks!!

 

[Morepower!]

I took some quick beam shots tonight because it is a cool night and there is a bit of moisture in the air. They are not exactly what I saw with a naked eye but they are not that far off. They give good insight into what is happening to the light exiting the lens at different focal points, I've learn't a little more about reflectors and bulb position by mucking around with the focus and being able to clearly see what the beam is doing. That little coke can Mod. did make a bit of difference, I can make out a smaller beam within the main beam from it. Anyway it looked awesome, similar to a fat white laser beam, two of my neighbours stuck their head over the fence to see what the hell it was.



Focused

Focused(bulb out)

Focused(bulb in)

 

[AlexGT]

Impressive! Now you have your own affordable version of the maxabeam LOL!

 

[DM51]

That is very nice improvisation indeed - great work!

Do you have a shot of the beam on tight focus hitting a target at long range?

 

[Morepower!]

That is very nice improvisation indeed - great work!

Do you have a shot of the beam on tight focus hitting a target at long range?

Thanks for that, some of the credit definately has to go to the Forum and the guys that make it what it is.

I will be testing the range on it but I only have one tri-pod ATM and that's for the camera. My only other problem will be working out how to use all the manual settings on the camera properly. It should be interesting to see what it can do though.

 

[Lumencraft (Matt)]

Brilliant! I love a tighly focused beam that shoots into the sky slashing the darkness like a lightsabor.

 

[LuxLuthor]

Really great and innovative work with that telescope adaptation. :twothumbs