Suggestions for new Spotlight/Emergency light build...

[stabby888]

Hello,

Just got this yellow mini monster from work. It was just sitting there in our storage and not being used because the batteries were not charging properly anymore.





So I thought why not take it home and make it work again
What I want to use this light for is for in emergencies when the power goes out. Or just to use it as a spotlight when searching for something. I figured since it's using 12V why not use a car battery as a power source. You can see that it has the cigarette lighter connection connected to it. so riding around with this in car and blinding people is not a problem:devil: But a external car battery is also an option.

Currently it has a H3 12V 100W bulb in it. It's pretty bright, but i know there are brighter lights out there. Although not really a fan of incan mods would prefer go the led route. So my question to you guys is do you have any suggestions?
I was thinking of dropping a sst-90 in there. But currently there aren't any drivers with multimode for a sst-90 am i right?

 

[AnAppleSnail]

To make this work at high power with an LED would require extensive rebuilding. Unless you have scrap metal and tools to work it, you'll get more light for your money buying new.

That said, you could probably manage to cut it open, insert CPU heatsinks and maybe fans, and run it off 12v. You could also insert a mode selector using resistors to cut brightness. Not efficient, but cheap and effective.

 

[stabby888]

Actually i do have some cpu heatsinks and fans lying around..will be a little problem to make them fit..but it's doable.
I already started by cutting the grill that the light had in front since it was throwing weird shadows when switched on..
And if i were to use resistors, which one would you recommend? The switch that the light is using is a two mode kind of switch. So i could probably use one resistor on one end and the other nothing. (High and low mode) Hmm...:naughty:

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Depends on the build. With a lead-acid cell (12v nominal, 13.8v charged 11.1v dead) you're looking at 3 or 4 LEDs in series, or a buck driver. Resistors do not work well to throttle buck drivers.

I say start small. Get yourself 3-4 cree LED on stars (XR-E or something) and smack them on a CPU heatsink with thermal epoxy after wiring them in series. Hotwire it to the battery and check how the heat does, then picture it inside a plastic housing baking in its juices.

 

[stabby888]

Re: Suggestions for new HID Spotlight/Emergency light build...

ok, i've been reading and finding information only to come to the conclusion that putting a high power led in there is possible but will also cost big money:sick2:

So what I think would be a better option is converting this light in HID. Still with the car battery as a source and since the bulb is a H3 i'm assuming that to fit a HID bulb in there one should also buy a H3 HID kit? not really sure on this one. And could anyone point me to some good hid kits then? Preferably one that can be as bright or slightly brighter than a sst-90 then.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Re: Suggestions for new HID Spotlight/Emergency light build...

ok, i've been reading and finding information only to come to the conclusion that putting a high power led in there is possible but will also cost big money:sick2:

So what I think would be a better option is converting this light in HID. Still with the car battery as a source and since the bulb is a H3 i'm assuming that to fit a HID bulb in there one should also buy a H3 HID kit? not really sure on this one. And could anyone point me to some good hid kits then? Preferably one that can be as bright or slightly brighter than a sst-90 then.

"Car conversion" HID kits are street-illegal, but can be quite bright. But you might spend $50 on one worth having, and the Stanley HID is a powerful (I can't turn it on in town) performer for $70. There aren't any good ones at a decently low price.

That said, "HID Country" has decent cheap-chinamade HID flashlights, and here's their Motorcycle HID kit. It may work for you because:

1 bulb, 1 ballast.
35W gives around 2000 bulb lumens. (If your reflector sucks, this will drop)
I suggest 4300 or 6000K temperature, by my Stanley HID is okay at 8000K.
I have no idea what "Bulb Size" you should choose for this build.

The real advantage of HID and other short-arc lights isn't their output, but the source size. The arc is fiercely bright and small, so it throws like the ****ens in a given-size reflector.

 

[FRITZHID]

Re: Suggestions for new HID Spotlight/Emergency light build...

i agree with Apple, there are plenty of HID kits avail on FLeABay for decent prices and most slim ballast kits will fit nicely into that light, if your looking for as much LM as you can cram in there, 55w or 100w kits are avail as well as the 35w. i'd go with the 4400K bulbs to give you best color rendition as opposed to the 6000-8000K bluish lamps. my stanleys color rendition sux IMHO but its nice and bright for the price! lol
and with the FLeABay kits, you get 1 as a spare OR for use in another build! :naughty:
just keep in mind, HIDs arn't instant blinding bright, they have a warmup delay, and most kits/bulbs don't like to be hot restruck.

 

[Hoop]

Rather than an SST-90, since you have room for it, I'd say go with a CST-90 because it is already mounted to a nice copper pcb and so has better heat dissipation and power handling.

DerWichtels 9 amp buck driver has dimming capability which is appropriate on a light such as this I think, rather than fixed levels. Taskled.com sells suitable drivers with multimodes, but only up to 6.6 amps. There are a few cheap buck drivers on KaiDomain with multi-modes that would work. You could go the CST-90 route fairly inexpensively with a DerWichel or KaiDomain driver, a standard lowprofile CPU (or NB etc) heatsink, and I suppose a good size NIMH pack or SLA battery and a fairly inexpensive designated charger, depending on battery type.

My personal recipe would be:
Luminus CSM-360 LED, 4500k. (6000+ lumens, 6.2 amps, 13 volt)
TASKLED H6CC driver. (6.6 amps, 25v max in)
50kohm logarithmic taper potentiometer for dimming. Rec'd by taskled. (perhaps this)
6+ amp rated on/off rocker switch. (overkill example)
Six LiFePO4 (for safety and life rating) batteries in the largest size that you can fit in your enclosure. Probably M size (or D or F). 6S config for 19.2v nominal.
Low profile copper CPU heatsink, such as Cooljag DEN-A 1U Server CPU Cooler, or for smaller, Cooljag SEA-A or this EC-COP-5B-3T. A voltage regulator should suffice for powering it properly.

This would give you 6,000 lumens, dimming capability, and several hours runtime on MAX. Probably days of runtime dimmed down. It would cost a bit more than $400 or so though, and you would want a hobby charger to charge those LiFePO4's, assuming you don't have one, so another $50 or so.