Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?- Beam shots added

[Aaron1100us]

The other day at work, I saw that one of the ER Doctors here had a 24 watt Wolf Eyes Shark I. I told him that I had a 24 watt AE Powerlight so he told me to bring it in so we could have a contest. I thought I'd blow his away as I thought the AE Powerlight was the best of the best in the 24 watt class. His Wolf Eyes blew mine away, no contest at all. Shining the light off a wall 50 feet away or so, his had a smaller, way way brighter hot spot, put mine to shame big time. Is something wrong with my Powerlight or does the Shark I really blow away the Powerlight? This sucks, is there anything I can do to make my AE brighter? I've had it for about a year and a half. Do the bulbs dim after a while? Also, my AE only seems a little brighter than my mag 85. Could my bulb be shot? Thanks.

 

[Cigarman]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Well from the specs listed the shark is rated at 1800 lumens whereas the AE Powerlight is gives out 1300 lumens. Thats probably where the brightness comes in.

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

I believe the wolf eyes specs state 1800 bulb lumens and the AE specs state lumens out the front as 1300. The AE also has 1800 bulb lumens. From some other posts that I've read, it sounds like the AE should out perform the Wolf Eyes. I'm just thinking something has to be wrong. Has anyone compared a PL24 to a Shark I?

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

I just sent a message on the AE website to see if there will be any bulb upgrades for the PL24. I just can't have a wolf eyes shark I thats half the size blow my PL24 away, that just sucks.

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Any other thoughts? Does this seem right? I'm confused.

 

[Eric242]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

As much I would like to say size does matter, it doesn´t
I have an AE powerlight 24 as well. My second HID is a Microfire K2000R rated with 1800 lumens (no idea if bulb or torch). The Microfire light is much smaller and is definitly brighter as the AE powerlight. I don´t think the difference is 500 lumens but actually I can´t tell for real how big it is.

Eric

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

According to this site http://home.earthlink.net/~kenshiro2/ The AE was the best of the 24 watt HID's. The picture there shows the AE being brighter than the 24 watt Wolf Eyes. Maybe that is a different wolf eyes light and not the shark I. From everything that I've read, I thought the AE was supposed to be the best and the brightest. Maybe these other companies are making there lights brighter now. I haven't seen any upgrades to the PL24 which is ashame. AE can't let these other companies beat them I do admit, the Shark I is a very sweet looking light and tiny, but damn, does that thing put out the light. I was totally impressed.

 

[Mike@PTS]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

According to this site http://home.earthlink.net/~kenshiro2/ The AE was the best of the 24 watt HID's. The picture there shows the AE being brighter than the 24 watt Wolf Eyes. Maybe that is a different wolf eyes light and not the shark I. From everything that I've read, I thought the AE was supposed to be the best and the brightest. Maybe these other companies are making there lights brighter now. I haven't seen any upgrades to the PL24 which is ashame. AE can't let these other companies beat them I do admit, the Shark I is a very sweet looking light and tiny, but damn, does that thing put out the light. I was totally impressed.

Hi guys, :wave:
There have been some improvements to the WE HID's since that shoot out. Both the Shark and Boxer have identical output with the same components.
1. WE uses a different bulb
2. WE uses a new improved reflector
3. WE uses a new and improved ballast (best in its class!)

One advantage to the PowerLight is the smooth reflector which gives you great throw compared to the Boxer and Shark. Another benefit to the PowerLight is the diffuser lens which is the best close proximity flood I've seen out of this type of light. The Wolf Eyes products seem to be more of an all around light and the PowerLights are more of a specialized tool for professionals. The output of the PL24, Boxer and Shark are very close. The Microfire is very close in output to the Wolf Eyes Boxer 24W although the Boxer has a better runtime.

For the record, WE and Microfire use bulb lumens to make their products seem brighter.

And now AE Light has the New Xenide which further raises the bar for performance and engineering. :naughty:

 

[FASTCAR]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

PL24 should be 2-3 X more light then a M*g 85
Dont shine them at a wall 2 feet away. Try your test outside 1 block away.

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Shining my AE and my mag 85 at the underside of an tall overpass bridge, the AE is brighter than the mag 85 but not by much. The AE does have a smaller brighter hot spot than the mag 85 but the overall light output seems close. I don't think that I'm getting the throw that I should either. I can't light the side of something up only two short blocks away. Granted, its in the city and not pitch black but still. It says that the AE has a range of 3,000 feet, I can't get anywhere close to that range with mine.

Bouncing light off a piece of paper, you couldn't even look at the piece of paper with his light. NO comparison. I'd love to buy another light but don't think the wife will let me spend that much money on a light ever again. I wish I could get better parts for my AE.

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Any other thoughts? Who thinks AE needs to do some upgrades to keep up with the competition?

What mag mod would be fun to build/buy that would blow away a Shark I?

 

[LEDcandle]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

My Brightstar 24w is only about 1300 lumens (DIY litebox reading), and the BS has shown to be 'poorer' than the AE powerlight. I've never seen a Shark live, but I'm guessing it must be nearer to 35w performance even though rated at 24w.

Mag Mods won't be able to win in terms of throw and hotspot 'blindingness', but if it throws out enough light overall, and you compare it right next to a piece of paper, one of those Osram 100watters will work. Or go for the 250w that puts out about 10k lumens. Then, compare who can burn up newspaper faster.

I did a 150w magmod, and output wise it just steps all over my 24w HID and even my house fixed lighting.

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Thanks. Sounds like I'm going to have to build another mag mod, get a shark or the new AE Xenide . I wish AE had a light similar in size as the Shark with 24-35 watts. The Xenide 25 watt is still allmost as big as the PL24. But at $435, I don't think I'll be able to get one anytime soon.

 

[FASTCAR]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Aaron you may be numb.
Let me say this:

Here at my shop I build racecars.Over the nearly 15 years I have found some people are "numb" to horsepower.

I can "feel" gains of 10HP np at all...others need 100 to "feel" it.
Others fall in the middle.I have made cars go from 14.8@90 to 12.0@110 and the person said it was the same.Same car was 0-60 in 7ish to 4ish.


Hell my own brother thinks my stock M*gcharger is as bright as my PL24 or boxer.It is not even close.He is lumanumb.


Perhaps you are just lumanumb.


**this is in no way a flame.Some people are just more sensitive to things.
I have read here that people jumped from 100 to 170 lumens and saw zero change.I sure as hell can see that.

OR

Your Pl24 has some issue.Mine puts a silly M*g 85 to shame fresh off the charger....and 3 mins in its 10x light ( after the horrible dimming happens)

Check the voltage on the PL24 batt pack.Also check/clean ( deoxit) all contacts.

 

[LEDcandle]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

He can't be lumanumb enough to see his PL24 as dimmer than the Shark in a shootout Yeah, u may be right about his PL24 having some problem though. A Mag85 has sub 1000 torch lumens (700-800?) while a PL24 should have 1000+ (1300-1500) torch lumens plus a more concentrated hotspot. It should be quite a difference.

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

I wish I had pictures to show you but my cheap digital camera doesn't take night pictures at all. While messing around with my lights before here at work, people say that the mag 85 is harder to look at than the HID. Have there ever been any problems with HID bulbs? Oh yeah, I just thought about something. About a year ago, I was trying to clean the reflector of my AE with some lense cleaning cloth and now there is a very small area down near the bulb that now has kind of a goldish color to it. I think I might have rubbed off some of the finish. I thought these were polished aluminum reflectors but it seems that they just have a coating. The area is a little bigger than the size of a pencil eraser and right at the bottom. Could that be enough to lessen the light output that much? Its still shinney, just has a gold tint to it in that area. I know that they say you have to run the bulb for a minimum of a minute and I know this bulb has been turned on for less than a minute more than once? Can that really screw up a bulb?

 

[Phaserburn]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Aaron, a great resource may be AE lights. I think they are willing to chat with you on the phone and know just about everything there is to know about lamps, ballasts, etc. I'd love to hear their response to your questions.

I have a Xenide; just got it.

 

[TITAN1833]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Aaron perhaps you have ruined the reflector with allthat rubbing.i had one of these and it was a light saber.also 3000 feet is distance in ideal conditions. did you say someone could look into the beam hmm not on mine.they would have been blind for a week.no i agree something is not right with yours.good luck on getting it sorted.

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

Yeah, I was wondering about the reflector. But yes, the guys at work say the mag 85 is more blinding than the AE. It was like that before I messed up the reflector though. I wonder if it something to do with the color temp. Its easier for me to look at the AE too, the blue light just isn't as hurtful to the eyes as the bright white light that comes out of the mag 85. My mag 85 does perform quite well, I've done all the resistance mods, pro gold, gold bi-pin holder, smooth reflector. I'd still say its only around 800-900 lumens though. Shinning the lights straight up in the sky at night, the AE does have a somewhat brighter and longer beam. But when trying to light up an object, the mag 85 isn't too far off from the AE. I might get another 50-75 meters more from the AE. I'd expect alot more. The overall output of the mag 85 seems to be pretty good compared to the AE. The other day when I was shinning them at the underside of the overpass which was about 100 yards away, the hot spot on the mag 85 was large and bright. The hot spot on the AE was smaller of course and was brighter but not a night and day difference. I have my 15MCP Thor with me and dang, that thing blew away both lights big time I e-mailed AE and they told me about the new Xenide light and that they are working on a lower K bulb for the PL24. I'd love to get a lower K bulb, that might help out. But just replacing my bulb would probably at least to something to help my output.

Phaserburn, how do you like your new Xenide? Could you give us a review and maybe post some pics? Sounds like a pretty neat light. I'd love to get one but don't think the wife will let me spend that much money on a light for quite a while.

Any ideas on a good mag mod design that would walk all over a Shark I

Thanks

 

[Aaron1100us]

Re: Is something wrong with my AE powerlight?

All I have right now is some indoor beam shots. One off the ceiling and one off the wall. I'll try to get some outdoor shots tommorrow night.