Ideas for the ultimate spotlight (non-HID)

I currently have a 1 Million CP spotlight from LSI. It is DANG bright for 55w, but being the CPF member i am, i need more.

I'd like to make my lSI as bright as Kenshiro's mods. Also, i'd like it to run for at least an hour or more. I have dreams of stuffing a backpack full of batteries to power a 100-200watt spotlight. But i don't know what i need to do

So if you have any ideas...let 'em rip!

I am thinking a 150 watt or so MR16 style projector style lamp, over driven to 14.4 volts (UNDER LOAD!) with 24 or so D cell NiMH's (would be pulling about 6 to 7 amps each cell) with around a 1 hour 15 minute runtime. It is going to cost $250 or so just in batteries though. It is going to weigh 8.5 pounds just in batteries, but hey I don't think you will be able to do 100-200 watts with a 1 hour runtime for cheap (unless you do lead acid) or light weight (under 10 pounds). Sure would be freakin' awesome though!!! 4000+ lumens...drool

Spud

Edit: Just saw on a website the D's can be had for $7.80 in 20+ quantities, so you could do the batteries for $187. Still freakin' expensive. HID sure would make this a much more feasible project.

Hey great idea! I was thinking of going with the lead acid or SLA battery route. I don't really care about weight because i plan on putting the batteries into a backpack.

Hey LEDagent,

Thank you for your compliment.
As for making the brightest non-HID light.
Well, I'm working on it!

TaterRocket,
Good idea of going parallel with 24 D-cells. Just make sure that you use "High-drain NiMH", not the normal type, so that they can sustain this punishing load.

Guys:

I just won a couple more old Big-Beam flashlights which will be modding platforms.

The model 211 is designed for 2 lantern batteries, so it can handle 12 rechargeable D cells.

The model 700 looks as though it might be designed for 4 lantern batteries. If so, it would hold the 24 cells that Spud wants to use. I'm hoping that I can fit and run 10 to 14 of my $2.00 a pack surplus 2450-2700 Sanyo mAh 7.2 V A NiMH packs ganged up at 14.4 volts

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=921314995&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2071287954&rd=1

The nice thing about these Bib Beams is that it's easy to remove the Big Beam head and mount whatever replacement head I choose. Alternatively, each has its glass lens so I could also choose to mount multiple separately switched MR lamps inside the original Reflector / Head assemblies.

I would use as many of those packs as you can. Say they are all 2500 mAH, you are going to want 2 packs to get 14.4 volts and 2500 mAH. If you are using a 150 watt bulb you are going to want at LEAST 16 amp/hours or so, so I'd say at LEAST 12 of those packs, preferably 14 or 16 of them. If you have more and can fit more, that would be even better. 20 wouldn't be overkill I wouldn't think. 20/2=10 14.4 volt packs. 10*2500-25 amp hours which would be between an hour and a half to two hours!!! It would take freakin' forever to recharge though, but it would be well worth it.

Spud

I am thinking about making a 50 or 75 watt 4D cell mag, even though I would only get about 5 minutes runtime with the 75 watt lamp. It would be worth it to beat my dad's 100 watt spotlight though in terms of light output AND weight (but alas, not runtime).

Spud:

Internally, I would run lead wires for each of the two 7.2 V sub-groupings that will be connected in serial to tamaya connectors. I could also set up a parallel Y cable with Tamaya connectors at each end so I could charge the entire grouping at 7.2 V.

I could charge each of the two parallel 7.2 banks separately (or in parallel) with my MRC SuperBrain 959 R/C charger set to the highest 4.5 Amp charging rate. Charging for the hypothetical 20 * 7.2 V pack grouping would deliver 225 mA per grouping which would fully charge in perhaps 14 or 15 hours.

On second thought, I should probably turn the charging rate down a bit. The charger boasts that it can sequentially charge 3 @ 3000 mAh 7.2 V packs in a row at the max charging rate without overheating. I could also set the charging rate at 500 mA, 1000 mA, 1500 mA, 3000 mA, 3500 mA, or 4000 mA. I suspect that the 3000 mA rate might be the highest prudent charging rate consistent with avoidance of overheating the charger.

Wow, not a bad charge time at all. You have GOT to be sure to show us all pics of this light if you build it! If you stick it in the monster light, what sort of bulb will you use? It would definately be a waste to stick any mr16 style bulbs in there with that monster reflector. I wonder if that reflector would project a tight spot. You could probably find a 150 watt car lightbulb. Not sure if you are going to find any other sort of decent bulb and/or holder that would handle 150 watts. In that lantern, do you know if the reflector is metal or plastic? No way the plastic would work. This sounds like a fun project. Wish I had a bunch of those batt packs, I could make a great light out of them (kind of like you are doing .

Spud

Spud:

I am very close to completing a 12 D cell mod in the referenced Brass Big Beam model 287X. (This brass case brasso'd up much nicer looking than the picture. I don't know what I'm going to do with the removed reflector assembly.)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=726942787&rd=1

I have attached a PIAA model 540 55 W H3 Extreme White (4150 color temperature) running light to it. This lamp focuses to an extremely bright line of light that is 6 degrees vertical by about 30 degrees wide. PIAA advertises that the brightness of this 55W H3 lamp is equivalent to a typical 110 A H3.

http://www.piaa.com/h3bulbs.html

(The beam in the 540 assembly surprises me because the light is advertised as a 15 degree beam that I thought was going to be a pencil beam. On the other hand, it is an effective pattern for seeing a broad swatch of horizon without wasti9ng much spill light)

I am wiring a separately switched control for another TBD lamp that can be run separately or at the same time.

The other PIAA 540 will be installed in the Model 211.

I don't know what I'll do with the model 700 yet.

Spud:

Everything in the Big Beams is metal, glass, wiring insulation, or lens gasket material.

The seller of the Big Beam 700 just advised me that the inside dimensions of the BB 700 are 5 1/8" wide by 5 1/8" tall by 6 3/4 " long.

This would accomodate up to a tightly packed 7 A cells wide by 7 A cells high by 3 A cells long. I plan to use the following 6 cell wide by 6 cell tall by 3 cell long configuration.

I could use my stock of 3 long by 2 wide 7.2V 2.450-2.700 Ah NiMH A packs in two equal loosely fitting 7.2 V 22 to 24 Ah "bricks" of 9 packs each (3 cells wide by 6 cells tall) that I can then connect in series for 14.2 V.

As these surplus 7.2 V packs cost me $2 per pack, the $36 total battery cost isn't particularly painful. This battery pack would have sufficient capacity to comfortably support a nominal 12V 130W bulb drawing about 10.8 Amps at a delivered 13.2 V because the draw would be < 0.49 C.