Remember The Thor HID Conversion Craze?

[therock]

Its been so long I lost track of the member here that build this one for me. A quality job, he even set the beam focus up nicely.
Quite the conversation relic and long throw search beam.

 

[KuanR]

I definitely remember these. I had one too with a similar host, with the ballast attached to the outside.
I wouldn't mind having one again just for fun!

 

[Galvnometer]

I have just binned mine. The lead acid battery has died and I havent used it for over 10 years.

 

[yaesumofo]

I remea mile away.mber buying the HID version from costco way back when... Great for lighting up stuff a Mile away!

 

[therock]

I was on call for search and rescue but not anymore. Thinking about donating it to a similar assoc if not a fire department.
Been so long forgot what battery to get for it. Tell me?

 

[BVH]

IIRC, it came with a 7 Amp Hour, 12V SLA battery but you can find 9 AH batts in the same physical size and about the same price. The battery has standard slide-on spade terminals.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

IIRC, it came with a 7 Amp Hour, 12V SLA battery but you can find 9 AH batts in the same physical size and about the same price. The battery has standard slide-on spade terminals.

I often wonder if those batteries are one and the same and the 9Ah ones are just overrated. Those 12v SLAs used to be worth replacing but now they are over $30 each which puts them out of contention vs lithium ion packs IMO.

 

[XeRay]

Not only the price tag for the Lead Acid now.
Any of the Lithium chemistries weigh much less improving the practicality of those large legacy units.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Not only the price tag for the Lead Acid now.
Any of the Lithium chemistries weigh much less improving the practicality of those large legacy units.

And don't forget a lot lower self discharge. Lead acid batteries are irritating as you have to make sure and charge them up every few months or so while lithium ion can sit for several years and still perform as long as there isn't a current drain on them the self discharge rate is low.

 

[BVH]

I agree with all the great lithium points but....(always a but) the light has a built in charging system and wall wart in the case. For the non-battery knowledgeble, it's best to stick with an SLA. I have a 12.8V Nominal/8Ah LiFeP04 in mine. MUCH lighter and almost no self-discharge. And if I'm not mistaken, I still have one of Dan's "Barn Burner" ballasts in it giving about 80+ Watts. $25 bucks shipped on Amazon was what I found for an SLA.

 

[therock]

Thank You, Gonna note it down this time.

I have a 12.8V Nominal/8Ah LiFeP04 in mine.

How do you charge it, pull it out and connect? Please share?

 

[BVH]

Yes. I open the back door and plug the batt into my FMA or iCharger hobby balance chargers. I have lots of other Lithium Polymer and LiFeP04 batts for other uses. On another converted light, I installed panel plugs in the back cover so I simplly run cables from the charger to the plugs on the back cover. It's is an original Amondotech Illuminator.

 

[therock]

Thanks, I still have mt Tenergy charger from my RC Heli days.

 

[KuanR]

Thanks, I still have mt Tenergy charger from my RC Heli days.

Thinking about this again after I saw this post. Depending who built this, it might not have the original battery anymore. Mine had a Li-Po battery in it for more power/run time/ease of charging.

If I recall, JayRob was the guy that built mine. He did a ton of Maglite builds and sold quite a few. After he built my Thor conversion, he built a couple more and one for himself. He eventually sold the one he built for himself. Maybe you could contact him and see if he built yours?

 

[IlluminatedOne]

I still have my two i made i have the smaller Thor and the bigger one both with a cheap 55w hid kit. Still quite fun lights mostly because people laugh at the the size of them lol.

 

[Dr. Mario]

Sorry about reviving the thread, but anyways, I still have the modified Cyclops Thor Colossus for over 7 years, this time with the 39 Watts ceramic metal halide bulb (4,200 Kelvin version installed at the moment) which I have been using this setup for a year recently, no issues so far except for the fact that it's not as easy to restart when very hot, and I upgraded from Kensun ballast to Hylux A2088 ballast which is expensive but much better than the original ballast I used, especially with the CMH bulbs.

Plus, if you still have the Cyclops Thor spotlight with HID kit, but not sure if you shall replace the Lead-acid batteries in it with Lithium-ion battery, definitely do it! On my current 35 - 39 Watts CMH setup, I got 1 1/2 hours or longer of operation on 6.6 Amps hour Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack depending on how much time I turn the spotlight on, on a single charge as ignition and warmup consume the most juice. So yes, totally worth the battery upgrade.

* EDITED: Added a few more pictures.

 

[Dr. Mario]

And if I am to make a LED spotlight or another metal halide HID spotlight, I would definitely do it again as Cyclops Thor spotlight is still the way to go regarding the large portable Halogen spotlight host body choice, especially with large high capacity Lithium-ion battery pack which can be as big as the Lead-acid batteries inside, and maybe a 35 or 55 Watts inverter HID ballast (in my case, I have to fit both the 26650 4s2p LiFePO4 battery pack and the inverter ballast into the battery compartment).

 

[Dr. Mario]

Lastly, FYI, if you have regular inverter ballast and want to upgrade to Hylux ballast, be mindful of the size of the inverter (in silver or black metal case) as it's a bit bigger than the cheap sketchy ballast. Had to ziptie it against the battery compartment wall (which the G8.5 Halogen bulb socket is attached to in picture of my spotlight above), so it stays put.

And it would be neat if I could find a 35 - 39 Watts CMH bulb with totally transparent ceramic arc tube (Alumina can now be made to be as transparent as glass) to put in my spotlight. I would be surprised if it will eventually happen as ceramic metal halide bulbs are apparently not going away any time soon due to the fact that it's as efficient as a LED, so the CMH is already given some governmental exception on bulb phase-out list, plus there's Mercury free flavors too as well, obviously. So technically metal halide HID technology is here to stay, especially in scientific applications which requires certain wavelengths to work with (which can be tailored with chosen salts).

 

[alpg88]

Oh i remember those, especially the moment i accidentally knocked one overboard, and saw it sink like a brick, while still on.

 

[2filthy3]

I enjoyed the larryK style 1000W GE4556 lamp with JimmyM driver, pretty impressive in 2011, Think I estimated the output at ~1150 Watts to be 28K lumens.