Reliving the Stanley HID.... again

[FRITZHID]

:help:ok, after ripping my stanley HID apart again... for like the 5th time, i've taken some high grade electrical tape, and covered that spill puking flat spot on the edge of the reflector, noted that the lamp has 3 tags on it, 1 says it's a H3 bulb with 8000K yet the other tag, (most of which is in jap/chi writing) has a selection of boxes with 1-12 written in them, and 6 is the box that is checked off. this is making me wonder if this is a 8K or 6K bulb.... since it doesn't seem as Blue as the 8000K HID headlights i've seen around.
for those who have mod's this lamp, does a standard H3 fit? or do i have to mod it 1st?
also, the black tape i covered the flat spot with DOES decrease spill significantly, however, i can't help but feel there is significant lumen loss. anyone know of a drop-in replacement parabolic for this lamp? i'd love to convert that spill into forward focus and tighten up the beam as much as i can. i'd also like to drop the 6-8K down to atleast 5000K if possible, but how will this effect performance? increase of start-up/warmup time? decreased run time?
now... as far as the 3 cute lil LED's they decided to put on, they run at aprox 3v, in series, with a total of 9v going to the array after the on-board control circuits, prior to that full 12v are supplied to the PCB itself. lumens are fairly low, i'd like to increase them as high as i can using 5mm leds, i'm confident in removal/rewiring the PCB as needed to power what ever anyone suggests, cooling however is where the main issue would lie.
any suggestions to this point in my project?:thanks:

 

[fyrstormer]

When you say "spill puking flat spot", do you mean the forward edge of the reflector is cylindrical instead of parabolic? That's the only shape I can imagine that would cause a reflector to increase the amount of spill instead of diminishing it.

The perception of diminished brightness is accurate, of course, since you're blocking some of the light. However, HID and filament bulbs emit light omnidirectionally, so the light reflecting off the "flat spot" isn't significantly brighter than the light reflecting off the rest of the reflector. Probably your perception is exaggerated by the loss of peripheral vision as a result of the reduced spill. Your peripheral vision isn't very detailed, but your brain places a high priority on what little data does get collected from your peripheral vision, because that's where you'll first notice a predator sneaking up on you. Most likely your brain is reacting more strongly to the loss of that little bit of data than you might consciously expect it to.

If you were to measure the light output in an integrating sphere (which I think should be called a "lumenometer" :D), the actual change would most likely be insignificant.

 

[BVH]

If you find the "short" length of H3, it will work perfect with just a tiny bit of shimming.

There is a bit of lens distortion in these Macro shots. Despite how the rule does not look correctly placed next to the bulb in the bottom photo, it is perfectly placed. Things look correct in the middle of each photo, but not on the ends. The measurement I give is correct.

The overall length of the quarts envelope is 1 15/32" from the very tip of the quartz to the flange face.

The distance from the flange face to the very center of the arc chamber is 3/4"

 

[FRITZHID]

*UPDATE* the new parabolic is on it's way! YAY! i can't wait to try it. that along with an improved bulb, be it better Kelvin rating or if i'm lucky enough to figure out a way to convert it to xenon short arc, all should be a vast improvement over stock. not sure what °K i'm going to go with if i can't make SA work tho... any suggestions?
anyone know of a rectifier capable of handling a 30-80kV charge for a short period of time?

Next step.... SLA upgrade to LiPo!

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

4300k

 

[FRITZHID]

4300k

4300k huh....? that won't be to... "yellowish"? from the pix i've seen, it looks like its more Incan but pix can be deceiving. i'm pretty sure i want as white as i can get. but as lil blue as possible. again, hard to tell from pix.

 

[JacobJones]

4300k huh....? that won't be to... "yellowish"? from the pix i've seen, it looks like its more Incan but pix can be deceiving. i'm pretty sure i want as white as i can get. but as lil blue as possible. again, hard to tell from pix.

4300k makes halogen bulbs look positively orange. I really like 4300k, it's a bit warmer than pure white (5000k) but not yellow

 

[BVH]

5000K is Diamond White. 4300 is good but 5000K is the sweet spot for my eyes.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

4300k has higher lumen output, and within a few hundred hours, shifts to ~5000k anyways.

 

[FRITZHID]

well i guess i'll keep my eyes open for some 4300-5000k bulbs then.... :)