Vector twin halogen lamp converted to HID

English_Mart

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 15, 2005
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UK, Midlands
Well after looking inside the lamp I thought there just might be enough space for the ballasts to go, if not then I'd just tape them to outside underneath and find a way to tidy it up later.

For those that know what this lamp is (and it doesn't seem to have been very popular) it's a big black lump with a 7Ah lead acid battery inside and runs 2 H7 100w halogen bulbs in its standard trim, from the front the reflector houses the 2 bulbs each in its own reflector -which over lap a bit in the middle, I like it cos it's different.

89039024.jpg


It was pretty bright like that, but one of the bulbs died and while I was looking for some new ones on ebay I noticed some HID kits. I wasn't sure if the 7Ah battery would be man enough for the task of running 2 55W HID bulbs and initially ordered a 35W kit - but changed my mind later and upgraded to the 55's. I could always try and shove a better power source in there if necessary.

When the kit arrived the ballasts looked quite big and I was sceptical as to whether I'd get them in the body. I didn't need to worry! After pulling out the plastic gubbings that held the battery in place, the 2 ballasts dropped in perfect, lying flat on the head of the battery, with the wiring from the ballasts pointing at the wiring attached to the lamp switch. The reflector dropped back in on top and only required a little push to seat.

Flipped the switch and both bulbs lit up fine. I think the battery was quite low as after only a couple of mins use one bulb switched off - I could turn it back on but then the other would go off. I left the battery charging and took the lamp with me when I walked the dog later. WOW!!! now that it was dark I could see just how much light this thing chucks out. It's insane!! It just lit up everything in front as far as I could see, a whole lot of fun.

Unfortunately it only lasted about 7 mins this time - I've ordered a new battery to try, the one in there now had sat around with out being charged probably for over 6 months. If I can get nearer to 20 mins out of it I'll be happy, otherwise I'll have to look at making a Nimh pack - or something else (I know I'll find plenty of options on this board :thumbsup:)

I'll add to this post over the next few days with some pics and beam shots.

I'm amazed at how easy it was to do this and I'm well chuffed that the ballasts fit in so well and especially impressed with sheer amount of light it produces :twothumbs :twothumbs :twothumbs

Edit - Beams shots futher down in the thread now.

regards,

Martin
 
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Always a nice upgrade: buy cheap spotlight using anemic automotive bulb, slap HID bulb into it, party on :D

Seems that the batteries are pretty weak too: you should get a lot more than 7 minutes, even on two bulbs. 2x55W is still less than 2x100W.

Which kit did you get and which seller did you buy from? I am looking at building a similar spot.. I've done it before, this will be my second generation spotlight, bigger, brighter, and better. Especially interested in the 50W kits if they are not too expensive.

I used to run a 10 or 11 cell ( can't remember) NiMH pack, 2500mAH high rate cells, and I'd get nearly half an hour on a single 35W.

My adventure: http://lights.lightrefineries.org/?page_id=94
 
great job!... hey I've been keeping my eyes out for one of these bad boys and haven't seen em around... any recommended places to buy one or order one from?
 
:cool:

Always a nice upgrade: buy cheap spotlight using anemic automotive bulb, slap HID bulb into it, party on :D

:crackup: suprising how big a grin it put on my face. :D

Seems that the batteries are pretty weak too: you should get a lot more than 7 minutes, even on two bulbs. 2x55W is still less than 2x100W.

Yeah, I think the battery was weak, it's been charging again for over 12 hours now, the green light still isn't on, I seem to remember that it can take 24-30 hour to do a full recharge on an empty cell - so I'm hoping to get a lot more out of it. Unfortunately I don't understand the physics going on, you see these HID's being advertised as 50% more efficient, so you'd think that all other things being equal I should get nearly 4 times the run time with the 55W compared to the 100W halogens

Which kit did you get and which seller did you buy from? I am looking at building a similar spot.. I've done it before, this will be my second generation spotlight, bigger, brighter, and better. Especially interested in the 50W kits if they are not too expensive.

Not sure who made the kit, bought it off ebay, there is a flyer that came with it giving a link to www.convert2xenon.com - they may be uk only based though? they cost me a little under £100 so possibly not the cheapest source, the 35W kit was £20 less. I got the 4300K temperature ones.

I used to run a 10 or 11 cell ( can't remember) NiMH pack, 2500mAH high rate cells, and I'd get nearly half an hour on a single 35W.

My adventure: http://lights.lightrefineries.org/?page_id=94
 
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great job!... hey I've been keeping my eyes out for one of these bad boys and haven't seen em around... any recommended places to buy one or order one from?

I think I got mine of ebay....but I just looked and couldn't find any one selling it.
 
:cool:

:crackup: suprising how big a grin it put on my face. :D

Yeah, I think the battery was weak, it's been charging again for over 12 hours now, the green light still isn't on, I seem to remember that it can take 24-30 hour to do a full recharge on an empty cell - so I'm hoping to get a lot more out of it. Unfortunately I don't understand the physics going on, you see these HID's being advertised as 50% more efficient, so you'd think that all other things being equal I should get nearly 4 times the run time with the 55W compared to the 100W halogens

No detailed understanding of physics needed, just a quick bunch of electrical calculations. I'll skip the 'deep theory' and use rough, approximate numbers but they will give you a good enough idea of what you can expect.

All of this stuff is assuming that everything runs at their rated wattages. My spotlight, prior to modification, had a "150W" bulb, at least that was marked on the base. I threw a digital multimeter on it and it read 2 amps. 2A x 12 volts = 24 watts. Hardly 150W. (note that all these systems, including HID, are nominally 12 volts, but really tolerate a voltage range of 10-16V)

That was one ambitious spot, but it would run for quite a long time because it only pulled 2A from the battery pack.

Battery packs are measured in mAH or AH. SLA's would be around 7-9AH, let's take it as 9 for your spotlight.

Normally, 200 watts for both lamps running simultaneously would be 200/12 = 16.6 amps.

9AH / 16.6 amp draw = 0.54 hours, or slightly more than 30 minutes. This is assuming your SLA delivers full 9AH of capacity. Most do not.

HID would reduce wattage to 2 x 55 = 110 watts, or 110/12 = 9.1 amps

9AH / 9.1 amps = almost a full hour of runtime


Your battery probably isn't performing as well as it should. You might be better off replacing it with a high capacity NiMH battery pack and high speed NiMH pack charger.
 
Do we get to see some pictures, mabey some beamshots, or a video of it firing it up. :)
 
Do we get to see some pictures, mabey some beamshots, or a video of it firing it up. :)
 
I"d like some pics as well. I have a vector double like the one you describe I think. I've thought about converting it to NiMh, and I may as while do an automotive HID conversion while I'm at it.
 
Ok ladies and jellyspoons, I've gone and taken a few snaps for you all :D

I took the following torches out with me, my new 110W HID vector, a 85W H4 12V lamp and my Mag85 with Fivemega 3 inch head. All had freshly charged batteries.

89039023.jpg


All the outdoors shots had white balance set to 4300K.

These first 3 were 1.3 seconds exposure at f5.6 and ISO 400.

First the Vector twin HID

89039019.jpg


Next the 12V yellow 85W H4 Lamp

89039020.jpg


And lastly the Mag85

89039021.jpg


These next 2 had longer exposure of 3 seconds

Vector

89039032.jpg


Yellow lamp

89039031.jpg


These next lot are all the Vector, same exposure

89039033.jpg


89039035.jpg


89039017.jpg


And finally the guts, the ballasts fit in perfectly, with the reflector in place the back of the bulbs put a small amount of pressure on the ballast, which are sat directly on top of the battery.

89039030.jpg


Overall I'm really pleased with it. I got 17 mins of run time out of it on a fully charged battery. I may get more out of a new battery.

Finally, image links working!!!

Regards

Martin
 
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Hmmm I'm not seeing the pics. :(
Anyone else seeing them? Thanks

:mecry: I'm not seeing them either....maybe the post is too big with all the pictures

try the link to my web page while I try and work out why whats wrong http://www.pbase.com/mart_williams/image/89039024 the link should take you to the first picture from that night, the rest are after it.

Anyone have any ideas why I can't post pictures here? I've made sure all the pictures in the post above are at 800 pixels or less.

I've even tried putting a single smaller image in this post but that wouldn't show up either.

I've tried reading the Rules and FAQ but didn't find the answer there.

My posting rules does say that I may not post attachments - is that the same as inserting an image??

I'm clearly board rusty :eek:
 
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Thanks, that works for me. Very nice pics, that is an awesome amount of light.
I have a different model vector twin lamp. So it doesn't look like I can retrofit mine. Not nearly as much room in the one I have. Oh well.
Thanks for sharing.
 
:mecry: I'm not seeing them either....maybe the post is too big with all the pictures
After loading the pics by visiting that other site and looking at them on that site I can now view them inline, in your post above. I'd say it's the other site that's not allowing third party viewing (or whatever it's called).

AWESOME beamshots. :twothumbs

Wow.
 
Thanks for posting the picts. I have this light, and have always thought about doing an HID conversion. I'm glad to see that everything fits so well, and it seems to put out a ton of light!

I'm curious as to the condition of your battery. I would like to see if a brand new stock replacement battery would give you the close to 1 hour runtime as KevinL suggested previously. If it did, ...WOW!

Please keep us posted with any updates on this light, such as if you get a new battery, etc.

Thanks --Tim
 
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