Advice on how to rebuild broken DIY HID torch, i.e. go LED or stay HID?

[tony.budge]

Hi all, newbie to these forums.

I built myself a 10W Brightstar HID torch a few years ago and the globe has just died. Rather than simply replace the globe I'm thinking about retro fitting the canister and head to fit either a 21W HID or to go LED. I've looked a little at the LED stuff over the years but have not put any serious thought into it and I would love your collective experience/advice on what you'd do.

Firstly the rough specs of my current torch are:

• Delrin canister and converted D-Cell maglite torch head, (cable length approx 800mm, heavy duty (10amp power) cable)
• Battery is currently 4am 12V NiMH battery pack
• Current (broken setup) is a BrightStar 10W HID with the ballast in the canister (sits above battery) with the ignitor and globe in the torch head (pretty obviously..)
• Torch head has been machined to fit a standard MR16 size (i.e. Halogen style) globe
• Refer rough (not to scale but has measurements on it) pic below

Looking at the Brightstar site I could probably squeeze the 21W HID potted ballast into the canister and use the 21W globe (I assume this kit doesnt have a seperate ignitor.. I've emailed Brightstar to check this, awaiting reply).

However I like the idea of high power LED but haven't done enough research to know where to start. So.. What would you guys do/recommend. All advice appreciated..

Note, I'm in Perth, Western Australia in case supply of parts is a question/issue.

cheers Tony

 

[CouldUseALight]

Lots of more expert folks here, but IMO if you are set on keeping your battery and head, the HID replacement (+upgrade) will be easier / more modular.

An LED would be a more efficient setup with longer runtimes, and could potentially supply as much light output as the 21W HID you are considering. Color rendition underwater *will* suffer somewhat, however (not sure if this matters to you).

The LED retrofit would most likely require either a new battery setup or a change to your current pack's innards. You could definitely fit an LED and driver in the light head you've got, but parts selection might take a bit of research and maybe some fitting. What kind of shape is your current battery pack in?

(Oh, a mod will remove that image unless you resize to <= 800 pix on the long side)

 

[350xfire]

A buck driver like a Taskled H6CC or H6Flex can take up to around 25 volts and step down to the LED usable voltage so the battery pack can still be used. If more than about 4 LEDs are being used in series a boost driver like the HBFlex can also be used.

 

[lucca brassi]

Well , I'm not maglite man but some hint

http://britelumens.com/ ,

http://www.zbattery.com/Maglite-D-Cell-LED-Reflector , or http://dx.com/p/aluminum-smooth-flashlight-reflector-silver-108911 ,...

 

[Klem]

With a Maglite for a wand I think you're better off going LED.

A HID under 35W comes off second best to a LED of equivalent wattage or less. 35W and above however HID's hold their own with a decent spotllight reflector. If it's spill you want, defnitely LED.

 

[tony.budge]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I'll do some more reading but LED's looks like the way to go

 

[hwdsndf]

if you might still consider replacing the Brightstar with another brightstar, I have a bunch of stuff sitting around and can supply something cheap. If you dive in turbid waters (lots of particulate) no led will out perform an HID. I dive in the great lakes, dive with a 24 watt hid by brightstar, that I built and no LED divelight I've built or bought will cut through the particulate like an hid.

email me if you're interested. [email protected]

 

[Packhorse]

If you dive in turbid waters (lots of particulate) no led will out perform an HID.

I disagree with that.
Use the right LED and optics and the LED will be as good if not better than a similar powered HID.



For a LED maglite you have lots of options.
44mm aspheric and a single LED. I use a XML but a SST-50 or 90 would work assuming you want a larger beam and drive them to their limits. I use the DX 44mm Aspheric but I am under the impression they have changed it and the new one is not as good. There may be something else that will fit.

Or try a 50mm reflector and a XML ( SST-50 or 90).

Or try one of the multi led 50mm reflectors on DX. I have the 3 x XML which puts out a huge amount of light but its wider beam than I like. Or the 6 x XRE which puts out a very nice beam. You may want to change the driver for more output. Try wiring the LED's 3S2P and use a 3 amp driver.
It will over drive the LED's but if you can heat sink them well it shouldn't be an issue.