rufusdufus
Newly Enlightened
MONOLITH
BVH
IDLEPROCESS
RDH226
Thanks for the charger info.
Warwick.
BVH
IDLEPROCESS
RDH226
Thanks for the charger info.
Warwick.
Amondotech Illuminator 35 Watt HID Searchlight
- Thread starter mtbkndad
- Start date
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rdh226
Enlightened
A couple more observations.
After leaving the wall charger hooked up for about 15 hours (goes "green"
after 10 or so), with battery voltage up to around 15.5V, I started hearing
the occasional hissing/spitting sound coming from the general direction
of the light...pulled the battery, no obvious signs of venting or other such
undesireable effects. But ... still ... do NOT leave your AI unattended
charging from the wall charger.
The ballast/control unit is a fully-regulated one (Yay!), which somewhat
surprised me (I expected el-cheapo unregulated). The AI maintains constant
beam intensity from 14.8V (as high as I could persuade my power supply to
go) down to about 7.6VDC (with the current draw roughly doubling as the
voltage roughly halved!).
Aside from the surprising quality built into the light (I just luv pleasant surprises!),
the light will happily suck the life juices out of the SLA before giving you the
slightest warning that the battery is effectively exhausted. In other words, if
you run the light to dimming/strobing, you have seriously stressed (likely damaged)
the battery. (Then again, they're only $20 or so.)
After leaving the wall charger hooked up for about 15 hours (goes "green"
after 10 or so), with battery voltage up to around 15.5V, I started hearing
the occasional hissing/spitting sound coming from the general direction
of the light...pulled the battery, no obvious signs of venting or other such
undesireable effects. But ... still ... do NOT leave your AI unattended
charging from the wall charger.
The ballast/control unit is a fully-regulated one (Yay!), which somewhat
surprised me (I expected el-cheapo unregulated). The AI maintains constant
beam intensity from 14.8V (as high as I could persuade my power supply to
go) down to about 7.6VDC (with the current draw roughly doubling as the
voltage roughly halved!).
Aside from the surprising quality built into the light (I just luv pleasant surprises!),
the light will happily suck the life juices out of the SLA before giving you the
slightest warning that the battery is effectively exhausted. In other words, if
you run the light to dimming/strobing, you have seriously stressed (likely damaged)
the battery. (Then again, they're only $20 or so.)
mtbkndad
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,295
I have some answers for the different problems that some people have reported regarding the battery charging issues.
1. One person reported the light would not charge at all, ever, with multiple batteries. DEFECTIVE unit. I believe it was replaced.
2. Somebody reported that the light would not stop charging.
3. A few others reported that the light would sometimes stop charging and other times not stop charging until the plug was unplugged and put back into the socket.
The circuit is very simple and has a relay that cuts off electricity when the voltage gets to somewhere arountd 14.6 volts(I say somewhere around because 14.6 is the target but different lights may have slightly different cutoff say from 14.4 up to 14.8). The problem is that charger is a relatvely slow charger that only supplies a little over 15, I believe 15.5 under ideal conditions, volts. Now if the general electrical load of an area is high, the engineer said a circumstance where the charger is not supplying enough voltage to get the battery to 14.6 volts could happen until the load in the area decreases. The net effect would be a slower then normal charging cycle.
I am not an engineer and we were having a three person conversation through (like the party game telephone)
Wayne on two different lines relaying information so I may not get every detail right.
The engineer said the charger that was supplied with the lights will vary slightly in it's output if the current supplying it is subject to fluctuations.
It seems the current the charger supplies is close enough to the target cutoff of the relay to give the appearance that battery is not charging when, in effect it isn't
I know in my area all of the lights in my house get noticeably brighter after around 11:30 PM.
I pointed out that the Costco and Harbor Freight HID have had similar problems reported.
The issue seems to be that nothing is technically defective. Rather there seems to have been a slight design oversight with a charger that supplies voltage so close to the cutoff voltage of the relay even under ideal conditions.
The reason the plug can be unplugged and then replugged back in and have the light turn green is because the charging threshold for starting charging is around 12 volts( I forgot the exact amount). If the light is in a charging cycle and is over 12 volts but is not yet at 14.6 volts it will stay on till the target voltage is reached. If you unplug the chord and plug it back in it will not start charging again if it is over 12 volts, however it is more then likely not at full charge since the target shutoff voltage was never reached.
Wayne asked if a charger could be supplied with the next order that will supply more voltage to the circuit so the relay will always have a battery getting to it's target voltage. The engineer said that should not be a problem. Wayne asked for this to be tested to make sure one fix does not create other problems.
My personal long term solution will be one of the following
A. Keep the screws out of the tail cap, buy an external charger and several spare lead acid batteries since they are cheap, and use the setup like a crude cartridge battery system. (One light 3 batteries = 3 to 4 1/2 hours of run time)
B. Make some NiMH packs and charge them externally.
For the mean time I just charge them overnight since my one "occaional problem" prototype has always behaved when charging overnight.
On another note, just in case I did not mention this before, this order only has about 20 left. Wayne is not putting them on his web site yet because the second order will take some time to get here. The current order will stay $130 total cost (price + shipping). Of course us lucky CA residents pay sales tax too.
Due to increased shipping and related costs from Shanghai to Sunnyvale
then next order will have two different prices.
There will be an ongoing CPF special price of $135 total and the regular web site price of $145 total.
These prices are good for the continental US.
Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
1. One person reported the light would not charge at all, ever, with multiple batteries. DEFECTIVE unit. I believe it was replaced.
2. Somebody reported that the light would not stop charging.
3. A few others reported that the light would sometimes stop charging and other times not stop charging until the plug was unplugged and put back into the socket.
The circuit is very simple and has a relay that cuts off electricity when the voltage gets to somewhere arountd 14.6 volts(I say somewhere around because 14.6 is the target but different lights may have slightly different cutoff say from 14.4 up to 14.8). The problem is that charger is a relatvely slow charger that only supplies a little over 15, I believe 15.5 under ideal conditions, volts. Now if the general electrical load of an area is high, the engineer said a circumstance where the charger is not supplying enough voltage to get the battery to 14.6 volts could happen until the load in the area decreases. The net effect would be a slower then normal charging cycle.
I am not an engineer and we were having a three person conversation through (like the party game telephone)
Wayne on two different lines relaying information so I may not get every detail right.
The engineer said the charger that was supplied with the lights will vary slightly in it's output if the current supplying it is subject to fluctuations.
It seems the current the charger supplies is close enough to the target cutoff of the relay to give the appearance that battery is not charging when, in effect it isn't
I know in my area all of the lights in my house get noticeably brighter after around 11:30 PM.
I pointed out that the Costco and Harbor Freight HID have had similar problems reported.
The issue seems to be that nothing is technically defective. Rather there seems to have been a slight design oversight with a charger that supplies voltage so close to the cutoff voltage of the relay even under ideal conditions.
The reason the plug can be unplugged and then replugged back in and have the light turn green is because the charging threshold for starting charging is around 12 volts( I forgot the exact amount). If the light is in a charging cycle and is over 12 volts but is not yet at 14.6 volts it will stay on till the target voltage is reached. If you unplug the chord and plug it back in it will not start charging again if it is over 12 volts, however it is more then likely not at full charge since the target shutoff voltage was never reached.
Wayne asked if a charger could be supplied with the next order that will supply more voltage to the circuit so the relay will always have a battery getting to it's target voltage. The engineer said that should not be a problem. Wayne asked for this to be tested to make sure one fix does not create other problems.
My personal long term solution will be one of the following
A. Keep the screws out of the tail cap, buy an external charger and several spare lead acid batteries since they are cheap, and use the setup like a crude cartridge battery system. (One light 3 batteries = 3 to 4 1/2 hours of run time)
B. Make some NiMH packs and charge them externally.
For the mean time I just charge them overnight since my one "occaional problem" prototype has always behaved when charging overnight.
On another note, just in case I did not mention this before, this order only has about 20 left. Wayne is not putting them on his web site yet because the second order will take some time to get here. The current order will stay $130 total cost (price + shipping). Of course us lucky CA residents pay sales tax too.
Due to increased shipping and related costs from Shanghai to Sunnyvale
then next order will have two different prices.
There will be an ongoing CPF special price of $135 total and the regular web site price of $145 total.
These prices are good for the continental US.
Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
mdocod
Flashaholic
just thought I would let yall know... posted some beam shots in a hallways compared to a typical 1MCP light over here... https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/120793
(my first post to CPF _ever_)
I just got my Illuminator and so far so good - works great, seems to be as advertised but alas, it came with a US-only charger (SPEC LIN model L5A-138075R, 120V/60Hz - 13.8VDC @ 750 mA). I searched through my box of chargers and the only one that came close enough AND has 230V was the charger for my trusty old IBM ThinkPad laptop.
As it was plug-compatible, I took the chance and tried charging the Illuminator with it. (The charger is IBM P/N 02K6543 with 100-240V 50-60Hz input and 16VDC 3.36A output.) I didn't time it but after a few hours, the charging light turned green and it seems to work fine.
Do you guys see any issues with what I just did here? I recall seeing something about the internal wiring not being good enough to use it while charging, otherwise 3.36A should be enough, right?
Note that I don't recommend doing the same as I did, there's probably a good chance to encounter problems...
I just got my Illuminator and so far so good - works great, seems to be as advertised but alas, it came with a US-only charger (SPEC LIN model L5A-138075R, 120V/60Hz - 13.8VDC @ 750 mA). I searched through my box of chargers and the only one that came close enough AND has 230V was the charger for my trusty old IBM ThinkPad laptop.
As it was plug-compatible, I took the chance and tried charging the Illuminator with it. (The charger is IBM P/N 02K6543 with 100-240V 50-60Hz input and 16VDC 3.36A output.) I didn't time it but after a few hours, the charging light turned green and it seems to work fine.
Do you guys see any issues with what I just did here? I recall seeing something about the internal wiring not being good enough to use it while charging, otherwise 3.36A should be enough, right?
Note that I don't recommend doing the same as I did, there's probably a good chance to encounter problems...
IsaacHayes
Flashlight Enthusiast
The output of the IMB has enough amps, but the voltage is a bit high, and you might be charging it too fast. It could take some life off of the battery.
idleprocess
Flashaholic
L-Fin said:
DC adaptor ratings are interesting. Keep in mind that a constant voltage source can only push as much current as a given load will accept. The current ratings on DC adaptors are typically maximum ratings, not what the adaptor will attempt to deliver - they're voltage sources, not current sources. Another wrinkle: an unregulated DC adaptor needs to be delivering its rated current in order to meet its voltage rating - open-circuit (no load) voltage on unregulatred DC adaptors is typically much higher than voltage at their rated current (a 50% increase is common).
In the case of your laptop PSU, odds are that's regulated. You can test that by applying a voltmeter to it which will simulate almost no load - if it's close to 16V, you'll probably be fine.
wquiles
Flashaholic
Well, I could not take it any more. Enough arm twisting from you guys 
I ordered my own AI last night
Will
I ordered my own AI last night
Will
idleprocess
Flashaholic
Somehow, I think I'm going to be blamed...
wquiles
Flashaholic
But of course. "You" are the one who showed me how awesome the AI was - so yes, it is "your" fault. Thanks bud :buddies:
Will
Will
wquiles
Flashaholic
IddleProcess and I had a mini gettogether to evaluate the PILA GL3 during the passaround about a week or so ago, and he came "prepared" with a couple of HID lights. The "most" impressive beam came from the AI - I was just blown away that an HID could have so much usefull side-beam as this one, plus the color/tint, size, weight, etc., felt perfect to me.Chris_S said:
As I said, it is "his" fault I "had" to order one :naughty:
Will
idleprocess
Flashaholic
No-effort arm-twisting!
I went out last night for a few minutes for a quick comparison of my Amodotech Illuminator vs. My Harbor Freight 35w HID.
First quick impressions:
The HF is a much more focused, brighter, whiter beam with greater throw.
The Amondotech has a better corona (the artifacts and donuts in the HF are absurd!) and is more useful for medium distance searching, especially given how compact it is compared to the HF.
Unless I was trying to put a point of light on something half a mile away, I would grab the Amondotech.
First quick impressions:
The HF is a much more focused, brighter, whiter beam with greater throw.
The Amondotech has a better corona (the artifacts and donuts in the HF are absurd!) and is more useful for medium distance searching, especially given how compact it is compared to the HF.
Unless I was trying to put a point of light on something half a mile away, I would grab the Amondotech.
wquiles
Flashaholic
I got a shiping confirmation email late last week, so it should be here shortly :naughty:idleprocess said:
Will
wquiles
Flashaholic
Mine came today - charging as we speak
Will
Will
lasercrazy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Any word on a nimh pack for it? I'd like to build one myself but it would cost more than the light lol.
mtbkndad
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,295
Wayne would need to put in too big an order to make these affordable for it to be practical to pursue a NiMH pack. There would need to be a significant demand for these packs for lights other then just the Amondotech Illuminator.
Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:
Mine has already been put to good use!
Went to the Score Baja 500 a few weeks back to help a friend by being one of the pit/chase crew members. As you can figure I was the guy that brought all the illumination tools! I had a few lights in my chase truck and put the AI in the other chase bronco that some one else was driving! They had an alternator/electrical issue while they where off road in some forest area, about 40 minutes from any road. They could not use the truck lights at all or the truck would not run. They remebered that I had put the AI in thier truck and set it on the dash and used it as thier headlights until they met up with another chase crew to fix thier problem!
When I saw them you cant belive how thankful they where that they had the AI in thier truck. They said that they would have had to wait till morning to get out of that forest area with no truck lights at all.
AI saves another day - I mean night! :rock:
Patrick
Went to the Score Baja 500 a few weeks back to help a friend by being one of the pit/chase crew members. As you can figure I was the guy that brought all the illumination tools! I had a few lights in my chase truck and put the AI in the other chase bronco that some one else was driving! They had an alternator/electrical issue while they where off road in some forest area, about 40 minutes from any road. They could not use the truck lights at all or the truck would not run. They remebered that I had put the AI in thier truck and set it on the dash and used it as thier headlights until they met up with another chase crew to fix thier problem!
When I saw them you cant belive how thankful they where that they had the AI in thier truck. They said that they would have had to wait till morning to get out of that forest area with no truck lights at all.
AI saves another day - I mean night! :rock:
Patrick
Azecos
Newly Enlightened
I orderded mine today, payment is on it's way.
Can someone please post the specs of the charger? I'm searching for an 230V version so I need to know the output values.
Can someone please post the specs of the charger? I'm searching for an 230V version so I need to know the output values.
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