Tektite Trek 300 - standard bulb?

Hello all

Can anyone tell me if the Trek 300 uses a standard bulb or some proprietary lamp assembly?

Jesper

Much to my disappointment I just found out from Tektite, that it uses a proprietary bulb.

So my next question is: How proprietary is it: Is it's just a case of "you have to use the original bulb for optimum performance" or is the base non-standard so there is no way around it.

As I live in Denmark I would really like to avoid the hassle of ordering the replacement bulbs from Tektite which includes waiting and shipping charges.

Also I would like to replace the bulb with a non-overdriven one for reliability reasons (I'm assuming it's overdriven since all divelights seem to be).

Jesper

Jesper,

Hi again, The lamp uses a T1 3/4 S.C. midget-flange base. We provide a 3.6v lamp that is custom-made for us. There are others available through Carley lamps, www.carleylamps.com.

Scott

Hi Scott,

Thank you for replying. It seems like your lights are not discussed a lot here.
I see that the bulb is overdriven. Can you use the bulb from the Trek 400 (4,8 V ?) in the Trek 300 to avoid overdriving? If that is the case I could just order a couple of those with the Trek 300 and I should be set for a long time.

Jesper

Hi Jesper,

The Trek 300 and Trek 400 use different size lamps, (T1 3/4 flange vs. PR-base T2 1/2) they can't interchange. Standard lamp design for flashlights the world over is to design for 1.2 to 1.25 volts per cell since this is where the bulk of the discharge curve is for primary batteries, as well as rechargeables.

If you use a lamp designed to 1.5v per cell, you will be tremendously dissapointed. You will have the rated output for 10-15 minutes, then a rapid fall-off of light.

The Expedition Star has a 6 deg. beam angle, which narrows to about 4 deg. underwater. It works well as a "hole" light, looking into holes and crevices. I personally prefer a wider beam. I've been diving for 20+ years, and I just don't get why people want a coin-sized spot beam for close-in work. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Best regards,
Scott

Good explanation about the lamps. That design strategy makes good sense. The concern about overdriving the lamp is something that exists among some tech-divers, who probably know more about diving than about flashlights. I'll just forget about it.

I don't know about the conditions where you dive, but here in Denmark the standard visibility is in the 10' - 15' range /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif, so we need a spot beam to cut through the murk!

Jesper

Scott, remove the fullstop after the carleylamp website link. With it, I got a "Welcome to Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack" and I'm not even running WinNT.

Opps, fat fingers. Here's the link:
http://www.carleylamps.com/