Specials stuff from Carley!!!

My 'special' order from Carley came in today! 3 CL-1168 with extra long leads, 2 CL-912 with modified potted material that extends to the flange, 3 CL-716 Xenon Stars (nothing special), 2 CL-808 'non-lensed' with 'uncut' long leads, and 2 CL-808s 'frosted'. WOOHOO! I'll let you know how the frosties are. I think that will be the most interesting. The other stuff is for another mod that I'll have to post if it works out okay. ALOOOHA!

For reference, the 1168 is the non-PR version of the 716 XenonStar bulb. Did Carley say how they frosted the bulbs? Was it through etching, sandblasting or spray?

What is the 912? I can't seem to find any reference to that on their website.

Wilkey

The CL912 is a PR base for T-2.5 bipin bulbs. The ones I have ordered before have the potting material about 2-3 mm from the flange. I special ordered these to have the potted material flush with the flange.

Alright soloco! Now you're cooking. Just don't cook that filament too hot. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Paul

anyone ever try frosting a bulb with 400 grit emery cloth?

too early in the morning ... might have to try this when I'm conscious.

hideo

I just noticed that the Carley site changed. It's not a big change, but the Technically Speaking section is different. Bulbs are stated as being available with or without the lens. The reflector can also be smooth, stippled or texture coated. That's an option I didn't know about. Instead of a frosted bulb and smooth reflector, I'm going to have to order a stippled reflector for my stock bulbs. Hmm.... I wonder what the texture coated one looks like. I'm guessing it'll have a pretty soft wide flood.

Brain fart. Of course, the 912 is not even a bulb.

Soloco, did you ever ask Carley what the potting material is?

Wilkey

oh no. i didn't. i didn't test anything last night either. there was an emergency server crash and i was rebuilding stoopid windows2000 server until 4am. zzzzzz.......

OKAY! I spent the last 2 nights testing my new stuff from Carley. I have a few findings. First I tried the 808 with 4 123s. Holy CRAP! That thing is bright! I LIKE IT ALOT! That was without any reflector. Then I tried to use the same reflector & machine bushings set up that I used with my 716 3x123 mod. Didn't work. The 808 with the 912 is actually a little bit longer than just the 716. That's a pain. So I decided to use the Mag reflector just to check it out. The filament was just far enough that it didn't focus with the mag reflector. Double damn! SO, I decided to use the 1909 reflector I had and the 'special' 912's I had and the long pin 808s. I trimmed the 808s to JUST the right length to be in the focus of the 1909. If you have seen or remember the 1909, the focus is hard to reach because the base is so thick. That's why I special ordered the 912 and 808, to extend the filament into the reflector. Voila! 808 in a 3D mag that matches my 1.5cp Vector in throw. Definitely not in total light, but makes it just as far. This is subjective in that both make it from my house across the valley to the other houses across the valley. Probably about 1/2 mile or so. It is really, really a pain to center the filament in the 808 with the 912. I found the throw of the 716 with the stock mag reflector was just as good and with a nicer beam. The Xenon star bulbs pre-potted seem pretty dead on centered and stable as opposed to using sockets and bare bulbs. Next was the frosting. I kept the same setup with frosted 808s. VERY nice! It doesn't have the same throw, but you can tell it still throws very far. That's probably because I could get it focused with out the frosting and just pop the frosted 808 in to get the maximum focus. It's got such a smooth light, I'll have to post pics of this one. There is NO corona! There is no border between beam and corona. It is that smoooth! And still the center is white hot! I prefer it to the plain 808 and will probably remain that way. I'm actually planning on ordering more frosty bulbs, probably 716s. I think I like the 716 & 3x123 mod for cost and simplicity sake. I can actually give that price mod to friends and such. To all those people wondering how to get the Carley reflector to fit a Maglite, I did the ream out the center thing first. This special order was to figure out a different way. Basically, the special 912 with long uncut leads does the trick. It's a MUCH cheaper way than touching the reflector. I hope this helps out all you Carley / Incandescent mod people shooting for 300 lumens. The 808 is just shy of the 809, but I feel is a much easier mod than adding that extra 1.2v. ALOOOHA!

Innovative! Now you've got me thinking, thinking...

Wilkey

Ok,

So frosted bulbs are a good thing. Any thoughts on how it compares to Write-Right? Long leads, do you see any wobbling of the bulb? Does if move around at all in the reflector hole?

Also, the 1909 reflector has a thick backside. How did everything fit in your Mag head? I would guess it just pushes the plunger down.

Wilkey

>So frosted bulbs are a good thing. Any thoughts on how it compares to Write-Right?
I have no idea what Write-Right is. I like frosted bulbs, just because it gives a smooth beam. Depends if you need throw. Then frosted bulbs are out of the question. The great part about frosted bulbs is that it's kind of like have a orange peel reflector. It minimizes the effect of poorly centered filaments. As in...
>Long leads, do you see any wobbling of the bulb? Does if move around at all in the reflector hole?
the long leads I ordered. There are 2 different 2" parabolic Carley reflectors: the 1909 and the 1940. The 1909 REAM is very close to the width of their bulbs, so the wobbly is minimized by the tightness of the fit. Even so, it is damn near impossible to have the perfect alignment. I think maybe the reflector is so precise that it is very unforgiving. Either that or pre-socketed bulbs are much more stable and centered than sockets with loose bulbs placed in them. However, with the frosted bulbs I could center it as reasonably as possibly and the beam looks centered and smooth.

>Also, the 1909 reflector has a thick backside. How did everything fit in your Mag head? I would guess it just pushes the plunger down.
You are absolutely correct here. I've tried both ways of getting around this: 1) Modify the reflector to push plunger down by pushing the nut on the side of the lamp barrel and 2) letting the reflector hit the retaining ring of the lamp assembly and just extending the filament, the one I talk about in this post. It does push the plunger down so far that it hits the plastic barrel holding the lamp before actually getting to the end of the threading.

I figure the next step I'm going to take is to just lop the base off of the reflector at exactly the right point which will focus a typical PR bulb. Then I won't have to mess with machine bushings or long leads. Anyone know how to do this? I talked to some coworkers of mine, and they said it might be hard to take the base off the solid round aluminum. It might slip or something. Someone mentioned sanding, but that sounds like a very long sanding session.