Until LED in a handheld with internal batteries can adequately manage the heat for sustained periods of time without seriously reduced LED and electronics durability and life. Low cost LED still has a long way to go in this aspect before it can rival HID handheld searchlights.
The costs involved to do it correctly are such that a professional or military grade unit will have a very similar cost or possibly higher than the current prices for high grade HID.
Adding an external fan in the handle can't do the job. That's a bandaid. The real solution is not only heatsinking, the localized extreme heat at the high-powered LED(s) cannot be adequately pulled away by an external fan. As of yet, nothing has otherwise been proven here. Things are changing but haven't gotten there yet.
We in fact are in development (for some years now) of such a thing.
Notice how the goal post has now moved to another topic now? I made an observation about strictly the performance of the two instruments in hand, you made a claim that my test was invalid and "subjective", ample evidence was shown that YOU were INCORRECT, then comment "Nothing has been proven here". No, what was proven is that an LED exists that outperforms your $2300 HID. It has nothing to do with the intended market, what grade components was used, any of that. Talking about Amazon and how they overrate lights, perhaps you could provide those candela numbers like I asked for previously. Or you could just acknowledge that LED outperforms your light. We're not comparing what can be run over with a car here. Yours wins there.
I have to agree with XeRay, and this isn't because I have one of his HID searchlights. I have several LEDs and there are several aspects of LEDS where they lose to HIDs. First is heat, heat in LEDs dramatically limit run time at high output. The very largest LEDs out here have fans installed in them to try to help cool them but this completely compromises water integrity, only slightly helps with runtime, and opens then up to damage due to dust and dirt. Even with fans the 100,000 lumens only run around a minute before stepdown. The higher the LED output, the shorter the runtime before thermal shutdown. A handheld searchlight with only a couple minutes runtime before stepdown is worthless in a practicality aspect. While it might be cool to show your friends, in a real emergency it will burn your hands and step down before you can start your task.
It is for this reason I run a 6000 lumen Fenix LED duty light with a 20 minute time on full and then steps down to 4000 after that. It is about the best practical tradeoff of time to stepdown vs. output I have found. I also have a 85/40 watt HID with multiple heads. The HID runs near 10000 lumens indefinitely without any stepdown. It also provides color rendition few LEDs on the market offer. This is key for recognizing differing objects at great distances. It is also military spec on its qualities and capabilities.
There are a lot of cheat HID and LEDs on the market with highly inflated ratings. But even the best manufacturers of LEDs have not come close to the performance and capabilities of high quality HIDs. I use my HIDs for rescue calls and my LEDs on other emergency calls. Both have a place but one does not replace the other. High quality HIDs cost a lot of money, but that is because they can do what no other lights can, run continuously at high output indefinitely. With my 12 volt adapter, my HID has unlimited runtime and 100 meter water capability with the correct head and double seals. Show me any hand held LED searchlight that can claim the same.
Toolboy, I agree with some of your points, and you are correct on some of them, but others you are repeating the same old stuff we have already shown in this thread to be false.
(1.) Right, and that LED light is still putting out many more times the amount of light as XeVisions brightest HID, or anyone's best HID as far as I can see, even when fully heat saturated.
(2.) How is a searchlight that puts out 6 to 10 times more output more than an HID useless? How is a stepdown, which still results in a light that is still brighter than any HID, render a searchlight useless? I would like to hear the mechnisims behind this.
(3.) The large lights have carrying handles, and the large one's with a lot of mass don't do not get uncomfortably hot to hold. Not a good arguement.
(4.) Your Fenix is a good light, but it's output and capabilities are anemic. Other's are putting out pocket lights that can output that for short periods.
(5.) Many LED lights can do that, though they start out higher, and settle at that amount or more.
(6.)Yes, they do inflate numbers. But there are long term reputable manufacturers who don't, and the lights get tested independintely, with enough people and samples where we can know what a particular model outputs.
(7.) This again. Look at the specifications and different lights I've listed throughout this thread since the beginning. A member has even posted beamshots of some of his that will easily beat most high end HIDs on sheer performance. In regards to total output, throw, sustained output, what you are claiming is just totally untrue.
I'm not doubting some of the points that have been made here and by XeRay. The heat is most certainly an issue, and I am not sitting here thinking these cheap china toys are any replacement for the High End HID's, cause they are not.
This entire thread went this direction because a Polarion rep, as well as others, have claimed that LED's cannot match HID's when it comes to sheer performance, and performance only, and that's been shown here to just simply not be true.
The only single as thing we seem like clinging onto here is this heat argument, which is valid, but they seem to ignore that LED's are going to keep getting more and more efficient, which means more brightness without having to push as hard.
I am not aware of such a project. but im very intrigued
