35 watt HID at Sams Club!

[Niteowl]

I called around today. Out of four Sam's Clubs in the metro Milwaukee area, one has 48 left, another 47, and another 42. One has none. All were full price. They all told me it's dicontinued, when they're gone, they're gone, like I need to rush in and get one now. I talked to managers regarding their stale stock. One said it would definately be lowered soon, the other two said not with that many left. I told them good luck moving them, having explained that anyone doing a little research is unlikely to buy them for $100. The one who said they would drop in price seemed genuinely interested when I explained in detail about the lights. The mid-west is always behind the curve, it seems.

 

[davenlei]

The Sams in the O.C. are all full price also. When I told the person at Sams, others have picked up these units for serious discounts and at the Sams web site auction, she sounded shocked that they were going for so cheap.

Luckily Christopf here on CPF sold me one he bought from the Sam's auction at cost. Thanks Christopf!

 

[Hemlock Mike]

We don't have a Sam's here in north Iowa so I went to Wally World.
They don't even know what HID is - DUH !! One did say " you mean LED ?? " Their HID bulbs are fillament type with blue coloring :thumbsdow
Where do you look on the net ??

Mike

 

[ooopretty]

Yesterday there were two on ebay for $61 shipped, i purchased one and the other isnt there.

Here is the only one i could find on ebay, its about $71 shipped

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Power-On-Bo...ryZ16037QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

 

[jayb79]

Sam's in Seabrook, NH has about 1/2 a pallet and they are marked down to $69.

Now they are down to $39. Still 1/2 a pallet left.

 

[Hemlock Mike]

Well - I couldn't wait :mecry: I bought one on fleabay for $67.74 delivered.
I'm into lasers but these look to be too much fun .

Mike

 

[lumenjunkie]

I called around today. Out of four Sam's Clubs in the metro Milwaukee area, one has 48 left, another 47, and another 42. One has none. All were full price. They all told me it's dicontinued, when they're gone, they're gone, like I need to rush in and get one now. I talked to managers regarding their stale stock. One said it would definately be lowered soon, the other two said not with that many left. I told them good luck moving them, having explained that anyone doing a little research is unlikely to buy them for $100. The one who said they would drop in price seemed genuinely interested when I explained in detail about the lights. The mid-west is always behind the curve, it seems.

>>The mid-west is always behind the curve, it seems.<<

And so is Jacksonville/N FL. Got lots of them & the lowest price is $85.00 in any of the 5 North FL Sams Club Stores. If anyone can buy these for the $18.00 I read last night, I would like to buy two, + shipping + PM for your fee to go get them. Hate missing out on this! Thx Lumenjunkie

 

[daloosh]

I tried the Philly Swirl site, but they never sent me a guest pass. This one is a printable, scanable pdf. We were on a road trip last weekend and passed thru Hartford, I used the guest pass to buy one at $47 plus the 10% "upcharge" as they call it.

http://www.utmco.cc/pdf/sams_club_pass.pdf

Hey, I dissed the Philly Swirl people too early, they sent me some one day passes. I already bought mine using the utmo.cc link I posted, and my local sams club still has them at full price!

So, if you want a one day pass to sams club, send me a PM and I'll mail one out to you tomorrow. They are good until the end of the month.

daloosh

 

[FNG]

So where are people getting their 4200k replacement bulbs?

 

[davenlei]

When my unit is on, I can see a pretty good haze of dust or something on the inside of the glass lens.

Has anyone opened up their unit to clean the inner side of the glass? If so, how hard was it and do you have instructions?

 

[FNG]

Also, how would it fare sitting in a car trunk with 100+ degrees in the daytime? I plan to keep it in the car and use it as sort of an emergency light.

 

[Handlobraesing]

I would imagine the 35W miniature metal halide lamp takes quite a bit of know how on manufacturing engineering.
Philips is the well known manufacturer of the D2S and D2R 35W automotive HID and its matched ballast.

They have access to engineers and statisticians and rate their product life properly. I wonder if the cheap knock off would last anywhere near as long..

Also, how would it fare sitting in a car trunk with 100+ degrees in the daytime? I plan to keep it in the car and use it as sort of an emergency light.

From what I hear in this thread, the battery is lead acid. I had one of those "portable jump start" box which is basically a sealed lead acid battery in a plastic shell with alligator clips attached to it.

It lived in my vehicle. Well, it didn't get any use and like six months later when I needed to use its on-board compressor, it didn't work. Battery was completely dead.

When you drain sealed lead acid battery and it sits around, that battery is only good as a hazardous waste.

You might want to consider a corded halogen light that plugs into 12v outlet in the car.

 

[Turbo DV8]

Well, it didn't get any use and like six months later when I needed to use its on-board compressor, it didn't work. Battery was completely dead. When you drain sealed lead acid battery and it sits around, that battery is only good as a hazardous waste.

High storage temps will accelerate the rate of self-discharge. Lead acid loses, very roughly, 1% per day. Of course any lead acid battery you leave in a car for months will eventually die, then sulfate. Would one expect to leave one's car battery unused for six months and then expect it to start the car after six months? Give the HID lead acid battery a top-off once a month and you'll be fine. Make it part of tire pressure checks. Spare tires especially get neglected, so maybe once a month you can check your tire pressures, including the spare in the trunk right next to the HID, and it will remind you to charge the light. Also, if you ever do use the light for even a short spell, top it off and you'll be set for another month. I personally can't see a lot of need for that much light, corded or not, in the immediate vicinity of one's car. The HID lantern box depicts the lantern set up on it's stand, shining a nice glow of light on a flat tire being changed. Riiiiight! If you actually tried to use it like that, you would be blind for a week from even the reflected light from that thing at such close proximity!

 

[Turbo DV8]

When my unit is on, I can see a pretty good haze of dust or something on the inside of the glass lens.

Has anyone opened up their unit to clean the inner side of the glass? If so, how hard was it and do you have instructions?

There was a slight haze visible on the inside of all twelve of my HID's. Initially it bugged the anal-retentive side of me a little, then I realized that the thing is so insanely crazy-bright that I can't imagine cleaning it would make any visible difference. It would only haze up again soon anyway. I just let it go!

 

[Handlobraesing]

There was a slight haze visible on the inside of all twelve of my HID's. Initially it bugged the anal-retentive side of me a little, then I realized that the thing is so insanely crazy-bright that I can't imagine cleaning it would make any visible difference. It would only haze up again soon anyway. I just let it go!

oh my.. what did you buy an entire dozen of them for and how much each?

 

[knot]

These spotlights stink. It must be the type of plastic they use. It has a very strong odor.

 

[FNG]

Give the HID lead acid battery a top-off once a month and you'll be fine. Make it part of tire pressure checks. Spare tires especially get neglected, so maybe once a month you can check your tire pressures, including the spare in the trunk right next to the HID, and it will remind you to charge the light. Also, if you ever do use the light for even a short spell, top it off and you'll be set for another month.

I personally can't see a lot of need for that much light, corded or not, in the immediate vicinity of one's car.

So this type of light is ok to top off if used for 10-20 min a week?

Id like to keep it in my car because im always usually close to it if something were to happen, like an impromtu trip to the lake when at a friend's place. Or If I ever need to use it around my house, chances are that my car is in the driveway. I dont have a light that I keep at home (I should though) but when I need something brighter than the LOD-CE, I know the SF G2Z and UKE 2L are close by.

 

[davenlei]

There was a slight haze visible on the inside of all twelve of my HID's. Initially it bugged the anal-retentive side of me a little, then I realized that the thing is so insanely crazy-bright that I can't imagine cleaning it would make any visible difference. It would only haze up again soon anyway. I just let it go!

Ok, let me try..... let it go..... let it go.... let it go.... ugh, I am still thinking about it... I know it probably does not affect the amount of light at all but it still bugs... Why am I so anal...

 

[IndecisiveFlashaholic]

I am so happy I listened to you guys!!! :twothumbs I picked one of these up today as my first HID and I absolutely love it! I have used it on and off for the last two hours and it blew away anyone that stood in its way. My friend had a 1 million c.p. spotlight with him and it got lost in my HID's beam! I realized today why I became a flashaholic. :devil: (Edited due to error with Smiley Faces)

 

[IndecisiveFlashaholic]

Oh, I almost forgot to ask. Why ,after about five minutes of constant use, does the bulb glow orange in the center and blue on the outside? Is this just the cooling of the halide bulb or is there some scientific explanation to this?