firbirdgta
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2008
- Messages
- 6
SETUP:
I am currently working on a HID dive light and things are coming together.
The body is from an ultrafire c2 DIY case. The bulb is a HID 6000k 35 watt with an automotive mini ballast.
I modified the lens by taking a punch and pushing the hole on flat surface to deform into a cone to allow as much of the filament of the HID to be reflected out while just opening it enough to have the bulb fit through. this did not defrom the actual cone of the reflector but just the small flat surface on the back. I cut a small notch to allow the ground wire to pass. The result came out really nice and could not have been more pleased.
The bulb can only go so far before hitting the glass so it is restricted in how far in front of the (centroid?) the filament can go. I am currently looking for a better alternative reflector but positioning the bulb while being unrestrained by the casing, the current position is best for throw.
The bulb has been modified to fit in to the tube by shaving it down to smaller dia and adding clips to the side to grab a machined lip roughly 1/4" down the front of the tube to secure it from falling farther back. I am planning on machining a threaded ring with a lip to screw down on the bulb to restrict forward movement.
The rear end of the flashlight, when the switch is removed the dia. is near perfect after the removal of a small lip to thread in 1/2" NPT fittings for a wire gland
The front glass will stay in place from pressure of reflector sitting on top of the original LED holder. The holder threads into the body of the light, so when the head is screwed on the holder this will push the reflector against the glass.
The body of the flashlight is not the highest quality but with the proper O-rings and sealant in necessary places I believe it should seal up well.
I plan on ordering some cold shrink tubing to place on the head of the flashlight to provide protection of the glass and to absorb shock when necessary.
TESTING:
I am very impressed with the performance of this light, but then again I am not use to this kind of power in a flashlight. As I mentioned above I tested out different placements of the filament respect to the reflector. If the bulb moved farther out I would lose the throw and gain flood. If I brought the bulb a lot farther out I would have a better combination of the two but the glass would interfere if placed in the light bulb. I wanted throw and this was right at the maximum the bulb could come out so conveniently this is where I placed the clips on the HID to retain it.
Temperature is not much of an issue when the design is to be placed underwater where conduction of the water is much higher, however testing I kept the light on for over 5 min and the casing became hot as expected. The temperature was still cool enough to hold.
QUESTIONS, any information would be appreciated…
I am currently looking for better/smaller connectors that can support the higher voltage of the HID igniter and still fit in the body of the flashlight ~.9" in dia.
Are there any better pieces of glass that can fit in the c2 case?
Reflectors, Eventually I would be interested in looking for another reflector that could have a longer length while still fitting in the head of the c2. I am really interested in throw rather than flood.
I need to find a way to post pictures, I will work on that
Thanks for looking,
-Daniel
I am currently working on a HID dive light and things are coming together.
The body is from an ultrafire c2 DIY case. The bulb is a HID 6000k 35 watt with an automotive mini ballast.
I modified the lens by taking a punch and pushing the hole on flat surface to deform into a cone to allow as much of the filament of the HID to be reflected out while just opening it enough to have the bulb fit through. this did not defrom the actual cone of the reflector but just the small flat surface on the back. I cut a small notch to allow the ground wire to pass. The result came out really nice and could not have been more pleased.
The bulb can only go so far before hitting the glass so it is restricted in how far in front of the (centroid?) the filament can go. I am currently looking for a better alternative reflector but positioning the bulb while being unrestrained by the casing, the current position is best for throw.
The bulb has been modified to fit in to the tube by shaving it down to smaller dia and adding clips to the side to grab a machined lip roughly 1/4" down the front of the tube to secure it from falling farther back. I am planning on machining a threaded ring with a lip to screw down on the bulb to restrict forward movement.
The rear end of the flashlight, when the switch is removed the dia. is near perfect after the removal of a small lip to thread in 1/2" NPT fittings for a wire gland
The front glass will stay in place from pressure of reflector sitting on top of the original LED holder. The holder threads into the body of the light, so when the head is screwed on the holder this will push the reflector against the glass.
The body of the flashlight is not the highest quality but with the proper O-rings and sealant in necessary places I believe it should seal up well.
I plan on ordering some cold shrink tubing to place on the head of the flashlight to provide protection of the glass and to absorb shock when necessary.
TESTING:
I am very impressed with the performance of this light, but then again I am not use to this kind of power in a flashlight. As I mentioned above I tested out different placements of the filament respect to the reflector. If the bulb moved farther out I would lose the throw and gain flood. If I brought the bulb a lot farther out I would have a better combination of the two but the glass would interfere if placed in the light bulb. I wanted throw and this was right at the maximum the bulb could come out so conveniently this is where I placed the clips on the HID to retain it.
Temperature is not much of an issue when the design is to be placed underwater where conduction of the water is much higher, however testing I kept the light on for over 5 min and the casing became hot as expected. The temperature was still cool enough to hold.
QUESTIONS, any information would be appreciated…
I am currently looking for better/smaller connectors that can support the higher voltage of the HID igniter and still fit in the body of the flashlight ~.9" in dia.
Are there any better pieces of glass that can fit in the c2 case?
Reflectors, Eventually I would be interested in looking for another reflector that could have a longer length while still fitting in the head of the c2. I am really interested in throw rather than flood.
I need to find a way to post pictures, I will work on that
Thanks for looking,
-Daniel
