Please educate me!

[artec540]

Once again, HJK, thank you very much for your patient help. I have printed out the whole string so that I have a reference to go with the other two I printed earlier. That way, I should be able to avoid asking the same question again!

In the hope that I might be able to get what I want in the way of performance in one go, rather than starting small and building up, I've dived in at the deep end and ordered a Wolf-Eyes 24W. Some-one called Vincent Qin at Wolf-Eyes in China sent me a helpful e-mail answering the questions I asked and, to my surprise, offering to sell to me directly. Although delivery from China would probably be quicker (he said three days!) than from the US supplier, shipping from China was $45 vs $16.49 from the West coast. Since this is an HID, I'm hoping it can compete on more or less equal terms with the headlights on my BMW. I'm a little concerned that the spread angle, or whatever it's called, at 15 degrees, may be wider than I'm looking for. Since that must be controlled by the reflector-bulb combination and/or any lens effect, maybe the spread can be modified by after-market parts?

Anyway, I really appreciate all your help and you have filled in a lot of the gaping holes there were in my understanding. I'm amazed at how much trouble you and others are willing to take for a complete stranger, who must come across as a driveling idiot!

 

[HKJ]

Look like a nice light, what price did your have to pay?

One caveat, the specification does not say anything about "instant restrike" capability. This means that the flashlight may have to rest a little when your turn it off, before your can turn it on again.

 

[Gunner12]

The main problem with HID lights is the starting time and the period of rest necessary for the bulb to cool. Some of the better ones have an instant restrike capability which means you can turn the light on immediately after turning it off if necessary. Some also have instant strike which means the light starts off at a good output.

I think the light will be bright enough for the beam spread to be a plus.

I hope you like it!

 

[artec540]

Thanks again HJK and Gunner12. I paid $346 plus $16.50 freight and I'm looking forward to trying it out! I had a hard time deciding among a number of the cylindrical HIDs. There seem to be a good half-dozen with similar specs, at least they appear similar to me!

I've had to give up on my 7 inch long requirement and focusing, too. I probably should have added instant re-strike but I wasn't aware of the need.

The restrike question is interesting..... The lights on my car can be turned on and off as fast as you like. They seem to have a very short warm-up to full blast, maybe a second but they don't care about the off-on time. Could that have anything to do with the starting voltage? I fitted an HID bulb to a motorcycle a few years ago and both it and the car have bloody great transformers to bump it up from 12 volts. How do flashlights manage?

Again, many thanks!

 

[HKJ]

For instant restrike both the bulb and the electronic must be designed for it. It is done with a very high voltage puls to the bulb.

All HID lamps need some electronic, this is also used in flashlight. Some people buys regular (big) flashlights with car lamps and converts them to HID with a car conversion kits. For this to work your need space inside the flashlight for the electronic.