L35 build and performance discussions

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I thought your L35 did great from the first beam shot compared to your N30. No convincing necessary. Now Mr TB's beam shots have me wondering how much better it would look on 14.4V-16.4V ....and since you have a tripod, camera, higher voltage source and great 'skillz'...
😉 :grin2::popcorn:
 
Isak Hawk said:
Woah! 20 hours? 😱 Mine only took 8 and a half hours (from totally empty, the battery indicator wouldn't even light up).
Click to expand...

Yeah, mine too. I thought that with these batteries its not always a good idea to completely drain it. After an almost 2 hour burn time, the light just turned off. I thought I read that when it cuts off, the LED lights will still glow and that your not really draining it all the way. Well, the LED lights would not come on or the battery level indicator. And yes, the charge time is kinda long. (-_-)
 
I was doing a runtime test, that's why I drained the battery completely (got around 113 minutes btw.).

Here is MattK's quote:

MattK said:
In an early test we found that once the batteries were too low to fire the HID they could still run the LED's for DAYS.
Click to expand...

He did say "fire the HID" and not let it run until it shuts itself off. Do HID's require a lot more power to start up than they need to just keep running?
 
Hid's take about 2 to 3 times to current to start. The over-discharge protection circuit should activate when the battery has reached the minimum designed cutout voltage. You should be able to run the HID and/or leds until that circuit cuts off the battery power supply.
 
Patriot36 said:
I thought your L35 did great from the first beam shot compared to your N30. No convincing necessary. Now Mr TB's beam shots have me wondering how much better it would look on 14.4V-16.4V ....and since you have a tripod, camera, higher voltage source and great 'skillz'...
😉 :grin2::popcorn:
Click to expand...

It won't look appreciably better and you could ruin the ballast and or bulb if things are not done properly, the ballast has a set voltage and the input voltage CANNOT exceed 16V. I made that very clear in previous posts.

Mr. Ted Bear and I had a great talk today. We independently came to the came conclusion in seperate tests. The price to be paid by the 11.1V pack is a significantly slower warm up to operating color temp. Mr Ted Bear said around 3 minutes with the L35. Even in my street shots, I do not think the L35 was on for a 3 full minutes.
It has useable light from right after startup, but the lower voltage input does clearly result in noticeably longer warmup up time for the ballast and bulb to reach it 'running' color temp.
Once again, the light output is useable and nice fairly quick after starting but it takes probably around 2 minutes longer for the color temp to finally settle in. As a result when doing picks it can look like it is ready for a photo when it is not.
Mr Ted Bear is going to do some real interesting tests with numerous lights that he will explain when he is done 😀
The lights work fine and the LiPo was more desired as a battery pack and requested by numerous people, so that was used. Well the pros of LiPo packs do have costs too (remember law of TANSTAAFL, Ther Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch 😀)
The end result was an even lighter weight light (dropping from 3 lb 1 oz to 2 lb 14 oz); space and shape constraints limited packs to 3 cells 11.1V, the L35's work fine and warm up to useable level fairly quick, but take longer to reach operating color temp.

I must say, for me personally, as an L35 owner that 2 lb 14 oz is just so worth a little longer warm up to full operating color. I never thought I would think of the N30 as heavy.
But when you have a 2 lb 14 oz light available the 3 lb 8oz light seems like a tank :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: .


Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 
mtbkndad said:
I must say, for me personally, as an L35 owner that 2 lb 14 oz is just so worth a little longer warm up to full operating color. I never thought I would think of the N30 as heavy.
But when you have a 2 lb 14 oz light available the 3 lb 8oz light seems like a tank :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: .


Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
Click to expand...

cost L35 - cost N30, lets see now...

$332.95 - $198.95 =$134.00; 2 lb 14oz -3 lb 8oz = 10oz or 0.625 lb;
that is $214.40 per pound for HID :wow:
you bought 10 ounces of HID spot light for $134.00; at $13.40/oz. :crackup::lolsign:
:huh2:​


lovecpf
​
and you too, mtbkndad​
​
​
 
Northern lights,

When I spent $4,000 on my custom built Titus Motolite in July 2006, for 'only' $2,000 to $2500 dollars more I could have taken 1 more pound off of the bike weight of the bike 😀 .

Don't forget extra run time, longer battery storage while holding charge, stronger ABS, CE & ETL certifications, I believe also thicker lens (I originally specified double thickness though have not checked), improved reflector. SUPER SEXY rubberized Black finish, etc..

Oh yeah this is one sweet light 😀

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 
IIRC Kobe beef is about the same cost per pound. Once you eat it, it's gone and so is your money!😀

Let's see....Kobe beef-L35? Kobe beef-L35??
 
Does anyone have a good idea for how to mount an N30/L35 in a car or truck
so it's easily accessible near the driver's seat but still out of the way?

Perhaps some kind of simple bracket that fits the handle?
Or a Quick Fist clamp that goes around the tubular body of the N30/L35??
Or....?

Update: Checked size of available QuickFists (www.endroad.com) and measured the L35:

Handlemount: The L35 handle has a diameter of about 27mm so you'd need the "Mini Quick Fist"
quickfist005%20005.JPG


Body mount: The L35 body has a diameter of about 86mm so you'd need the "3 inch Quick Fist"
quickfist004%20002.jpg


A different option might be to use a fire extinguisher mount. This would also support quick release, and enable mounting in an upright position. Haven't found products that fit yet....
 
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mtbkndad said:
Northern lights,

When I spent $4,000 on my custom built Titus Motolite in July 2006, for 'only' $2,000 to $2500 dollars more I could have taken 1 more pound off of the bike weight of the bike 😀 .

Don't forget extra run time, longer battery storage while holding charge, stronger ABS, CE & ETL certifications, I believe also thicker lens (I originally specified double thickness though have not checked), improved reflector. SUPER SEXY rubberized Black finish, etc..

Oh yeah this is one sweet light 😀

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
Click to expand...

I do not dare make a confession. What if I leave my mail and cpf open?
If SHE reads it I am done.

But we all have our priorities. Strange how similiar they are to everyone that participates in a forum of interest to them.

We have to step back and chuckle and enjoy it, don't we?

Imagine telling the crew at work we buy lumens by the pound?
 
mtbkndad said:
Northern lights,

When I spent $4,000 on my custom built Titus Motolite in July 2006, for 'only' $2,000 to $2500 dollars more I could have taken 1 more pound off of the bike weight of the bike 😀 .

Don't forget extra run time, longer battery storage while holding charge, stronger ABS, CE & ETL certifications, I believe also thicker lens (I originally specified double thickness though have not checked), improved reflector. SUPER SEXY rubberized Black finish, etc..

Oh yeah this is one sweet light 😀
Click to expand...



Yeah, definitely many other advantages than just a bit less weight huh!

If you get the chance I'd love to see some pictures of your bike. :wave:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=209273
 
Patriot36 said:
Yeah, definitely many other advantages than just a bit less weight huh!

If you get the chance I'd love to see some pictures of your bike. :wave:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=209273
Click to expand...

Will do when I get a chance; actually I will put picks up of my Motolite, HPL Alchemy, Specialized Enduro Hardtail, converted to single Speed and my MUNI 😀 .

I must say I am REALLY having a blast with my new L35.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 
mtbkndad said:
It won't look appreciably better and you could ruin the ballast and or bulb if things are not done properly, the ballast has a set voltage and the input voltage CANNOT exceed 16V. I made that very clear in previous posts.
Click to expand...


4S packs typically settle to 16.4V within a very short time but evidently that's still too much voltage. How about a 4S pack with a peak voltage regulator? Even if it was held to 15V it would still be much better that 12.3V.

Just thinking...:thinking:



Also, can anyone verify if the L35 actually has a "double thickness" front front window compared to the N30?
 
Patriot36 said:
4S packs typically settle to 16.4V within a very short time but evidently that's still too much voltage. How about a 4S pack with a peak voltage regulator? Even if it was held to 15V it would still be much better that 12.3V.

Just thinking...:thinking:



Also, can anyone verify if the L35 actually has a "double thickness" front front window compared to the N30?
Click to expand...

Once again, the main thing you will be benefitting with a 15V pack is initial warm up to operating color temp.

I really like the light the way it is right now. That sub 3 pound weight is just sooo nice 😀.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
 
MattK said:
Heya folks - I'm back. 🙂

Any questions that Daniel didn't answer yet?
Click to expand...



None from me anymore. 🙂

Daniel, Jeff, Bob and many others have been a wealth of information.


One suggestion though, I do think that this light needs a faster charger. The .5 or .8mah (whichever it is) seems to be the only real handicap for this package. I don't doubt that many considerations were weighed regarding price, compatibility, performance and perhaps other factors when considering the charger but as a heavy li-po user, there's really nothing to be gained in a charge rate that slow.

Just my one cent 🙂
 
We're investigating the question of higher charge rates but it would either be a next generation thing or a battery AND charger upgrade; the PCB on the battery pack has a triode that limits input currrent - I'm waiting for the spec on the limit.

You could always buy another battery. 🙂
 
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