New to spots- Which is good for $60.00?

[My3kidsfather]

After loading up on all the flashlights I need and want, my eyes are turning to a portable spotlight which can be driven/recharged with a 12v car plugin. I've read about the N30, but the price is above my means right now. What do you recommend for about $60?

 

[Stereodude]

Sam's Club Vector Power on Board HID.

 

[BVH]

If you're not a member of Sam's Club, there was a member here that bought 13 units IIRC. Maybe he/she would part with one? The POB is about all I can think of for your budget and is quite a bargain.

 

[Monocrom]

One CPFer (BlueBeam22) recently recommended the Thor 15 million candlepower spotlight. He said his Thor is brighter than the Sam's Club HID that he owns. But the Thor is not a HID light, and thus has none of the negatives associated with HIDs.

You can get the Thor at a Pep Boys Auto Parts store. (It sells for $60 and is re-branded as a Motor Trend light).

 

[BVH]

Monocrom, from your perspective, what are the negatives of an HID? Don't take my question in a negative way. I like to hear different opinions on products and technologies.

One CPFer (BlueBeam22) recently recommended the Thor 15 million candlepower spotlight. He said his Thor is brighter than the Sam's Club HID that he owns. But the Thor is not a HID light, and thus has none of the negatives associated with HIDs.

You can get the Thor at a Pep Boys Auto Parts store. (It sells for $60 and is re-branded as a Motor Trend light).

 

[Patriot]

For the money, I'd much rather have a Sam's Power On Board than a huge H4 bulb incan. There are more more negatives attached to that type of light vs. a medium sized HID light with over an hour of regulated run-time.

 

[RustyKnee]

the only neg for me of (cheap) hid is the warm up time....but my POB (that turned up today) seems to warm up very quickly. Probably quicker than my boxer.....but that may be an optical illusion as its a more powerful light so has more light initially.

The POB is amazing light for the money.

Stu

 

[Patriot]

I don't think it's just an illusion. 35W lights tend to reach full brightness and color more quickly than the 24/25W and under lights. I'm still amazed that the POB performs so well for the price.

 

[FredM]

The thor 15 is huge (HUGE!) and has a non regulated runtime of under 20 minutes. In which time it turns sickly yellow.

 

[Monocrom]

Monocrom, from your perspective, what are the negatives of an HID? Don't take my question in a negative way. I like to hear different opinions on products and technologies.

Mainly two... The warm-up time to reach full brightness. (Although that varies). And having to recharge the lights fully, once you use a HID for more than a few minutes.

Not huge negatives for some folks, and I'm not knocking HID lights in general. But just a couple of things to keep in mind.

 

[Monocrom]

The thor 15 is huge (HUGE!) and has a non regulated runtime of under 20 minutes. In which time it turns sickly yellow.

The runtime on my SF M6 is 20 minutes too. Not bad.

The Thor is big, but it's still a portable spotlight.

 

[BlueBeam22]

After loading up on all the flashlights I need and want, my eyes are turning to a portable spotlight which can be driven/recharged with a 12v car plugin. I've read about the N30, but the price is above my means right now. What do you recommend for about $60?

I have a rechargeable halogen spotlight called the Professional's Favorite 17.5 million candlepower spotlight. I got it at Advance Auto Parts for just $40.

It is a very bright spotlight, brighter than my Sam's Club Power On Board HID spotlight, and also seems to have a good runtime on a full charge.

It can be run directly from a 12 volt car plug-in adaptor, and when the light is off, the adaptor charges it.


I also have a $60 halogen spotlight from Pep Boys called the "Motor Trend 15 million candlepower spotlight" which is a rebranded Thor 15 million candlepower.
It is brighter than my Professional's Favorite, and can be both run and charged from the car plug-in adaptor.

Either of these lights would be great for you, but not the Power On Board HID because IMO it's not as bright as the Thor or the Pro's Favorite, and can't be run from the car adaptor.

 

[FredM]

Mainly two... The warm-up time to reach full brightness. (Although that varies). And having to recharge the lights fully, once you use a HID for more than a few minutes.

1. These are similar to automotive HID's they have a huge voltage spike to get the startup going fast.

2. Why would you have to do this? The HID ballast regulates so even if your battery is 50% you still get full brightness. Its actually the opposite, because at 50% a halogen will be yellow, while an HID will be fine.

 

[FredM]

It is a very bright spotlight, brighter than my Sam's Club Power On Board HID spotlight, and also seems to have a good runtime on a full charge.

.

it may have a better hotspot due to the much larger reflector, but it is not putting out more lumens.

also since they have the same battery the sams light using 1/3 of the watts will have 3 times the runtime. But it wil be regulated instead of brightt then yellow.

 

[BVH]

I agree with Fred. Monocrom, why do you say the battery of an HID must be charged after just a few minutes usage? I'm not sure where you're getting this info or if it's by experience but it is not correct. The type of lighting powered by a battery (be it SLA, Nimh, Li ion etc), has nothing to do with the charging requirements (frequency of charge) of that battery other than how it relates to the amount of current being drawn from it. In the case of HID, typical current requirements are 1/3 that of an equally bright (Watts to the bulb) Halogen light.

I also agree with Fred that the POB puts out more overall light than the Thor15 although the T15 (in my case, anyway) has much longer throw.

 

[CM]

...It is a very bright spotlight, brighter than my Sam's Club Power On Board HID spotlight, and also seems to have a good runtime on a full charge...

You must have a defective POB light.

 

[BlueBeam22]

You must have a defective POB light.

CM,

My POB does have a problem when I leave it off for a few days it has problems turning on again, but other then that, it is an amazing light. Its blue beam gives true color rendition at night (much better than a halogen) which is really nice.

The Professional's Favorite does put out more overall light than the Power On Boad HID, I know this because it beats the POB in a ceiling bounce test.

The Power On Board HID beats the Thor 15 million candlepower in a ceiling bounce, but by very little.

I should have been more specific in my last post about what I meant when I was saying which light is brighter, I was going by the the hotspot intensity, not the actual light output.

If I go by lumens (overall light output) the Pro's Favorite is the brightest.

 

[FredM]

My POB does have a problem when I leave it off for a few days it has problems turning on again, but other then that, it is an amazing light..

Mine never does that even after leaving off the charger for months. Yours may have some problem. You could try switching batteries from your Thor and see if that solves it.

 

[BlueBeam22]

Mine never does that even after leaving off the charger for months. Yours may have some problem. You could try switching batteries from your Thor and see if that solves it.

Thanks FredM,

I will continue to use it every day, and I'm pretty sure it's just a battery problem like you said. If the problem gets worse, I will replace the battery.

It is super bright and works perfectly when I am using it on my walks at night.

 

[Patriot]

CM,My POB does have a problem when I leave it off for a few days it has problems turning on again, but other then that, it is an amazing light. Its blue beam gives true color rendition at night (much better than a halogen) which is really nice.

Something is wrong then BlueBeam. It shouldn't have any trouble turning on. Also, with regards to color, the high color temperature (6000k) that you're calling the blue beam, typically gives poor color rendition compared to today's LEDs and especially Halogen. One of the reasons that Halogen still has a good following with enthusiasts is because of the true color it provides while the less expensive HID lights like the POB give terrible color rendition. Just go look at a big bundle of colored wires with the POB and then with the Thor, there is no comparison because the incan is so much better.

The big problem I have with SLA halogens is their terrible efficiency. And blue, even if your 17mcp light is really producing a tiny bit more light than the POB, (which would surprise me) just wait 5-7 minutes and it wont be. They start to dim immediately after you turn them on and then start crashing very hard around 15 minutes. It wouldn't even make a decent roadside light to help you change a flat tire in many cases.

Almost all HID lights run regulated, so a half or 3/4ths used up battery is going to power the light just as brightly as a fully charged battery. HID lights are just barely getting warmed up with automotive bulb spotlights are pooping out on their tiny SLA's. To run the automotive bulb spotlights for an hour as well as the HID light, you'd need to run it off of a huge 12V deep cycle, automotive SLA.

One last thing, HID lights will always throw further given the same bulb lumens and reflector size.