New Sam's HID...doesn't work. :(

[wotblake]

Yesterday I got my Sam's HID off ebay, brand new in box.

I plugged it in, let it charge for a few hours. I played with it for a few minutes and stuck it on the charger.

Tonight (after being fully charged) I took it out to a field to try it out. It worked for about 20 seconds, flickered, and then died. It will not come back on. None of the lights LED's will do anything. I checked the battery connections, they are fine.

Someone please help. :mecry:

 

[rufusdufus]

I'll bet the battery has no charge in it.
Take it out and check it with a multimeter.
Maybe your charger is not working properly.
If you can charge it separately whilst out of the light to a voltage of 14.4 volts it will be fully charged.
If it shows less than about 10 volts it is pretty much dead flat.
Using it in this condition will kill it quick.

 

[wotblake]

Now when I plug it in to the AC charger it buzzes extremely loud.:thinking:

 

[LK5GB7]

lol, i hate to say it, but i hope you kept the receipt...

...you might need it

 

[Ra]

Hi wotblake,

The flickering before shuttoff definitely points towards a very dead battery!!

Propably the HID was stored and not charged for too long..
I think reviving the batt has no use: The forming of sulphates meight have destroyed its capacity permanently! In this case charging has no use eighter!

You'll have to change the SLA by a new one..

I hope you succeed in getting it alive again, and enjoy the power of the beast..


Ra.

 

[wotblake]

Well, now all that happens is when I try to charge it (with the power switch in the off position) the purple light comes on and a loud buzzing noise is coming from near the area where I plug in the charger.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[twosouls2gether]

I have one of those spotlights and had the exact same problem. It came on for a brief moment and then wamm, nothing. Plug it in, and it oscilliated back and forth from charging to full, yet not battery charge indicator. I'll bet you a million bucks your fuse inside the light is toast. Since it's inline with the battery the charging circuit most likely can't read the voltage and so gets easily confused. I opened mine right before calling their support line and notices the fuse was popped. Placed another 10 amp auto fuse in there and thought all was well. Popped again later (usually when trying to impress people, bad luck?). Upgraded to a 20 amp. Lasted a bit longer but still went. Finally settled on a 30 amp and all is well. For whatever reason it draws more current during the initial warmup of the bulb but then settles down (I hope, no fires yet!).

If you take the back cover off (two screws I believe, and then it twists off) you'll see the battery. It's a bit snug, but you can get it out, be careful the battery wires are a bit short. Unhook those and peer inside and you should see an inline fuse holder, I had to use some long needle nose pliers to gently tug it out a bit since it was stuffed in there. Change the fuse if it's blown, and tuck it back in. Getting the battery back in was the most challenging since there are some plastic parts of the casing that the battery connectors can't get by. You have to place the wires just right so the battery doesn't pinch them. So far my spot light is working great, even took it on a long walk in the wood and I would say their runtime for 70 minutes looks pretty reasonable so far. I just bought another one for a gift, but haven't changed the fuse out yet. I want to see if mine was just a fluke or what. Hope that's your problem.

On a lighter note, I recently helped my uncle get a 32 in flat screen tv for about a $1. He got it from someone who didn't want to take it in to get it fixed and just bought a new tv. Took it apart and guess what was wrong, blown fuse!!! Great upgrade from his old old tv for the price of a 3A fuse.

Rob

 

[robbydob]

Wow, very informative-

twosoulstogether wins an award for 'Best first Post'.....congrats!

 

[twosouls2gether]

Wow, very informative-

twosoulstogether wins an award for 'Best first Post'.....congrats!

Thanks! Still haven't heard if that was the problem though. :shrug: Sometimes being a tinker-er can be helpful, sometimes it gets you in trouble (ever had 'extra' parts left over taking things apart?!?!)

 

[wotblake]

Thanks! Still haven't heard if that was the problem though. :shrug: Sometimes being a tinker-er can be helpful, sometimes it gets you in trouble (ever had 'extra' parts left over taking things apart?!?!)

Hey buddy, sorry for not getting back to you. I did check the fuse, it was blown. I put in a bigger one, it blew that one, bigger one...blown again.

Something was very wrong with the electronics inside it. I have no clue what though. I eventually got an exchange for another one and am now enjoying the light.:twothumbs

 

[xboxbrasil]

Please,i need some help,check my problem here : http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=178993

The blue power light turn on,but the light not working :mecry:

 

[65535]

I'll bet a wire melted (does it smell bad inside?) and every time you add a new fuse and turn it on the wire that melted had shorted out and is blowing your fuses left and right. I'll bet if you short out the fuse it will start something smoking.

 

[xboxbrasil]

no,i cant fell any smell bad inside,can be the ballast ?,try a 30 ampers fuse too,not work...

 

[xboxbrasil]

i really sad with this light...,maybe is better forget it