Lightpipe 250W HID

Was searching eBay to find my beloved Eznite when I came across something called the Lightpipe:

http://www.lightpipeflashlight.com

You can choose from the following wattages: 35, 50, 70, 100, 150 and 250. Some models have the option of an extended battery. Looks decent, but $100 for a 50W light sounds too good to be true... and we all know what that means. Heck $425 for a 250W HID is a bit unbelievable.

I am willing to give this light the benefit of the doubt. It doesn't give many details, like where it's made, what kind of collimator, etc. I contacted the seller and I'll post what he says here.

Hmmm... the site says they are made from PVC pipe. I wonder how durable they are.

lol yeah PVC is not exactly known for its strength.

dudemar said:

lol yeah PVC is not exactly known for its strength.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but if it doesn't work well as a flashlight, you could always use it for a quick bathtub drain repair in a pinch....

These flashlights look like they are a piece of duct tape away from being made at Possum Lodge.....

My primary concern is the plastic melting, seemed to work ok in this incan mod:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?52744-H-amp-M-Contest-Class-2-Entry-The-LightPipe

Slartibartfast said:

These flashlights look like they are a piece of duct tape away from being made at Possum Lodge.....

Click to expand...

Looks don't tell everything... you never know!

Too true! I comment only on the appearance. They maybe absolute beasts.

PVC begins to soften at what > 70 deg C? The ballast will get quite hot as well. But I guess for 10-15 mins use it should be alright.

Turns out the body for the 20,000 lumen "brightest flashlight in the world" on YouTube uses a common drain pipe in Germany, and drain pipes are commonly made from PVC.

Not as far-fetched as one thinks.

Interesting product, seems prices are reasonable and guts could be swapped out into other available materials if desired. I might order the 50W to review before going for the 250W.

Why don't you just order the guts and skip the bogus bodywork?

EDIT: I do appreciate their honesty, their website clearly states what the bodies are made out of. But, seriously? I can see making your own light out of parts like these, but to sell them?

There is a good likelihood that the bulbs and ballasts are nothing but what you yourself could find on ebay for much less, then just go buy the pvc from home depot or lowe's or whatever and build it yourself.

onetrickpony said:

Why don't you just order the guts and skip the bogus bodywork?

EDIT: I do appreciate their honesty, their website clearly states what the bodies are made out of. But, seriously? I can see making your own light out of parts like these, but to sell them?

There is a good likelihood that the bulbs and ballasts are nothing but what you yourself could find on ebay for much less, then just go buy the pvc from home depot or lowe's or whatever and build it yourself.

Click to expand...

While you are probably right, it's hard to say because no one here on CPF has actually handled the light (much less heard of it).

dudemar said:

While you are probably right, it's hard to say because no one here on CPF has actually handled the light (much less heard of it).

Click to expand...

That's kind of my point, I really want for these guys to be making a great product in so-so packaging, but I want anyone that is interested in buying one to be careful not to waste their money.

I'm just thinking that the potential market for these lights is someone that would really like/need a powerful hid spotlight, but can't afford a polarion. If they're like me, 75 bucks is a lot of money for something that doesn't have a proven track record.

That said, it could be a great deal, and I don't pretend to have experience with the lights. I just doubt that the internals are all that great when the externals are typically used to carry human waste. There, I said it.

Looks kinda neat given the specifications. I do sort of hope someone tries one out. Who knows, might be a sleeper!

I'm kinda on the border of pulling the trigger...

Just had a root canal done, set me back $1400. Still need the build-up and crown, so I have to wait until that's all done. The other thing holding me back is the return policy, otherwise I'm gonna be out 425 bucks on the 250W.

Maybe I should try out the 50W first so the loss isn't so big.

Another question: how the heck do you charge it??? There's no description or pics on how it's done.

After the 70W Lightpipe, there are no more pictures. There are no pictures of chargers, no beamshots, no reviews etc. The lights are made by "Epsilon Industries". I recall Epsilons from the Aldous Huxley novel (and movie) "Brave New World". I would not like them to build me an HID.

On the positive side, they use PayPal and therefore one could always lodge a dispute if the item is advertised incorrectly. Secondly, it gives a US address (Maryland). This will hopefully give additional consumer protection. And about mixing PVC with a 250W HID...will it go ??

I noticed in the FAQ section that the 150W and 250W models are Metal Halide.

Has anyone else tried to email them? I sent them a link to this thread, perhaps they will fill us in on some information.

There is just one picture BTW, they are just showing the same picture for each model. Really not much effort was put into the website. Perhaps its just too new.

Sent them an email few moments ago asking questions about charging, reflector and shipping... might consider getting one to play since they're fairly cheap. PVC for the lower wattage lights should fair well. For the higher power ones they need active cooling and lots of air vents to assist in cooling. Noticed the MH lights are substantially pricier than the Xenon HID ones... I think they are claiming input watts to the ballasts, not output watts. We'll see, very interesting so far

Seriously considering the 70 W. I think that might be the "sweet spot" for bang-for-buck here. Depending on what we hear back here on charging, etc, I might agree to be the test subject.