Sold/Expired SOLD: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cable

SOLD: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cable

SOLD to CMAG Up for sale is one of the Maxabeams I bought as a pair that had been on a Robinson helicopter as it's mini NightSun searchlight. They date from about 20 years back. Because they both were wired for remote operation, they had no handles. I sent both lights to PeakBeam where I had one upgraded to gen3 with enhanced reflector option. This is not the light for sale. The light for sale received the following from PeakBeam: Price is $485 shipped to your door.

The best of the two original reflectors was installed. (In very good condition)
New front window installed
New OEM handle w/switch installed.
Light opened up, inspected, cleaned and re-assembled with new gasket set.
New round chamber Gen3 bulb installed. (I am told this is not the very latest Gen3 bulb)
New rear power connector installed.
Bulb aligned and light output tested with results showing output is 7,400,000 CP

When I got the lights, this one had some of whatever the OEM body powder coating worn off from time-in-use. I completely took the remaining material off so the body now is uniformly an Anodize color pretty much the same color as what the coating was. Overall, I would call it in upper good to lower very good condition because of the coloration differences you can see in the pics of the bare, Anodized surfaces instead of the power coating. Price is $485 shipped to your door. First "I'll take it" with PayPal payment gets it. PayPal is: bvh {at} bvh {dot} net

All it needs is one of the Peakbeam batteries and a connection cord. I think you can get a new PeakBeam LiFeP04, 10 AH battery for close to $500.00 and a cord for $35.

Re: F/S: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cable

Hi BVH, A few questions, as I am new to the world of short arc
What does she draw Amps/volts (I have half a dozen 5,5A 3s 25c lipo packs and not into +$500 for battery)?
Would this be a user (in your opinion) or more of a collector item?
Do you think this would be a good lamp for someone new to short arc?

Re: F/S: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cable

The Maxabeam is sort of the Holy Grail of production handheld Short Arcs. Well, so is the Megaray, maybe even more, but at a much higher cost, usually. The light is a "user" if you have medium to long distance lighting needs or if you want a "show & tell", laser beam like light. In my opinion, it is not an "up close and personal" use light - even though you can use the power focus to provide a more floody beam. But that is the case with all Short Arcs - they are specifically for distance use. A 4S LiFeP04 is perfect, Voltage-wise. A 3S Lipo is also fine, too and a 5.5AH will power it fine, especially since all Maxabeams (except the Gen3's with the LiFeP04 only), do not have "latching High" mode. Hi mode (Gen2 = 75 Watts) is momentary up to 15 seconds, then it reverts back to low (50 Watts). In high, it's probably pulling about 7.5 Amps based on a 12V input. You definitely don't want to go over about 14.4V input, preferably a little less.

EDIT: You say you're new to the world of Short Arcs. Just want to be sure you're knowledgeable of the difference between Short Arcs and conventional HID?

Re: F/S: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cable

I will take it. Pay Pal and PM sent.

Re: F/S: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cable

Sold to CMAG. PP received. Will ship out tomorrow via USPS. Thank You!

Re: F/S: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cable

BVH, Thanks (and USPS)
Talk about fast, in my hands (cross country) 48 hours from the time I sent Pay Pal

Found some connectors in one of my boxes of good old stuff that fit the pins nice, 2x 5.5A 3s and fired her up
Wow I'm hooked, cant wait till its dark out.
As far as the 4 power pins, viewing socket from the back of the light the 4 pins form a diamond the top and left pins are + keep going counter clockwise bottom and right are -

Hi, how do you get 12v from a 3s battery? All my 3s are rated 11.1v.
Thanks

Re: SOLD: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cabl

AceDan said:

Hi, how do you get 12v from a 3s battery? All my 3s are rated 11.1v.
Thanks

Click to expand...

Battery voltage is genrally is just a nominal figure. The battery actually charges to 12.6v (for a 3s lipo) Battery voltage changes with use i.e. the voltage drops with use. I've heard in other places that the nominal voltage is the minimum voltage the battery reaches before it starts to lose power when under load. It can still put out power but not nearly as much and if you run a lithium battery down too far you could well damage it.

http://www.fortbendrc.com/tips/LithiumBatterySecrets.pdf

pinkpanda3310 said:

Battery voltage is genrally is just a nominal figure. The battery actually charges to 12.6v (for a 3s lipo) Battery voltage changes with use i.e. the voltage drops with use. I've heard in other places that the nominal voltage is the minimum voltage the battery reaches before it starts to lose power when under load. It can still put out power but not nearly as much and if you run a lithium battery down too far you could well damage it.

http://www.fortbendrc.com/tips/LithiumBatterySecrets.pdf

Click to expand...

Thanks for that.
So would it be possible to use my LiPo 3S batts rated at 25C and 60C I use with my model planes with my maxabeam, and if so just a matter of connecting the terminals together?

I've just pulled the original nicad box apart that came with the maxabeam as they are dead. Probably never been charged in years. Need to find an alternative power source.

Re: SOLD: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cabl

Yes, you can use 3S Lipo's for the MB. When a typical Lipo reaches "Nominal" Voltage (3.7 Volts per cell) it is typically nearly empty. Maybe 10 - 15% of capacity is left. There are 4 input pins on the MB. Two are + and two are -. You need to feed all 4 pins. The wires connected to those pins are fairly small inside the light and might get warm/hot if only one of each is used.

Cheers BVH.

I've a voltmeter alarm I can plug onto the balancing lead from the 3S's. Really useful for when flying model planes with huge amp draw.

Is there such thing as a connector you can buy for the MB? What is that batt connector on the MB called anyway?

Re: SOLD: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cabl

You can buy a kit right from PeakBeam with connector and female pins. I had to do that so that I could make a cable to charge the newer LiFeP04 battery with my own hobby charger. IIRC, it was $25 or $35 for the kit.

Do you have the fancy Lipo alarm with the led screen that shows up to 6 cell voltages at once in pretty blue and the total pack voltage in gold?

BVH said:

You can buy a kit right from PeakBeam with connector and female pins. I had to do that so that I could make a cable to charge the newer LiFeP04 battery with my own hobby charger. IIRC, it was $25 or $35 for the kit.

Do you have the fancy Lipo alarm with the led screen that shows up to 6 cell voltages at once in pretty blue and the total pack voltage in gold?

Click to expand...

Ah this thread.
I'm looking at buying one of those LiFePO4 batteries to replace the old nicads. Opened one up today and dumped the old batteries. Was thinking about how to charge a LiFePO4. Do you have a pic of the cable you made up?

Not sure which LiPo alarm you have but nothing that kinky ;-) Think it only shows 4 cells and flashes momentarily each cell in a loop.

Re: SOLD: Maxabeam Gen2 @7,400,000 CP as measured by PeakBeam without battery & cabl

Gotta head out for the afternoon but will post a pic of charging cable when I return and a pic of the fancy Lipo alarm. Can't go wrong with the LiFeP04 from PB. That's what I'm using.

BVH said:

Gotta head out for the afternoon but will post a pic of charging cable when I return and a pic of the fancy Lipo alarm. Can't go wrong with the LiFeP04 from PB. That's what I'm using.

Click to expand...

Sounds good BVH. Thanks and enjoy your afternoon.