Old Dive Rite HID can light

caveeagle

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I was given an older Dive Rite HID Can Light and was contemplating ideas to make it useful as either a back-up or loaner. I realize there are tons of better options with todays technology, so I am looking for low cost ways to make this useful for cavern or intro-cave dives. Nothing to crazy.

-I think its a 10W version with the test-tube, bare #3 reflector, hard goodman handle and a 3.5" x 8.5" can (ID 3"). The Lead acid battery pack is dead.

-The bulb is still good, and there are little to no signs of wear/damage on the light head or canister, so I am assuming there are minimal hrs on the bulb.

Swapping in a new Lead Acid battery pack seems like the easiest way to go. I was wondering if it would be ok to put in a more modern pack that I have made up from 10x18650 Li-Ions? It would need to be shimmed, but might give better burn time.

Any other thoughts? Or just make wall art out of it?
 
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Swapping in a new Lead Acid battery pack seems like the easiest way to go. I was wondering if it would be ok to put in a more modern pack that I have made up from 10x18650 Li-Ions? It would need to be shimmed, but might give better burn time.

you have to made pack from Lipos with 3S (3 in series ) , you could add 2 same packs for more current (3S3P) or even (3S4P) if you have space . You have to calculate tank buoyancy because PBb is pig heavy.
http://www.banggood.com/ZOP-POWER-11_1V-15000MAH-3S-35C-Lipo-Battery-XT60-Plug-p-1021696.html


4S3P or 3S4P is ok with LiPFePo4 like http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__14074__ZIPPY_Flightmax_8400mAh_4S2P_30C_LiFePo4_Pack.html that battery type have lower voltage .

But you have to know ; old 10W HID analog ballast was extremely sensitive on input voltage ( they made I think 3 or 4 types of 10W ballast with slight different input voltage ) so careful !

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If ballast die , then I would simply mod lamp back on powerful halogen bulb ( ballast out , powerful battery pack and soft start circuit instead of ballast )
http://www.electroschematics.com/3186/halogen-light-switch-circuit/

I could be modified also with power LED but it is more complicated because you have to mod test tube )
 

caveeagle

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I am familiar with using Li-Po batteries and have several for my RC airplanes and Quads. So are you steering me away from using a Li-Ion 18650 pack? Why?
 

caveeagle

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18650 it is just size of battery , use whatever what minimize empty space in your tank and obtain max. electrical capacity

Yes, I guess my question was as to why you recommended the Li-Po batteries? Is it just the size/availability of existing packs? Or is there something about a HID light that makes battery type for critical?

I assume I can get more power/mass ratio in something other than the original 12v lead acid batteries. (right). So, if I found (or made) a pack up from Li-Ion batteries that fits in the canister and produces the same voltage, can I power this 10W HID that way?

**It just happens that I have quite a few single 18650s on hand, as well as a battery pack from another light that's made up of 10x 18650 cells. (13.6 volts)
 
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caveeagle

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What chemistry is your pack made of? There's no combination of 10 LiIon or LiPo cells that yeilds 13.6V.

I am pretty sure the pack to my other light is Li-Ion. I have not taken the shrink wrap off it, but it looks like 10x 18650 cells. That 13.6v is just what I spot checked with a cheap multi-meter.
 

DIWdiver

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If someone is being a bit generous with the cell voltage, you could call a NiMH cell 1.36V, so a 10S pack would be 13.6V. In fact, a healthy, fully charged pack would be slightly higher than that, though it would rapidly fall below that under load.
 

happyhour

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No intentions to hi-jack this thread, but I have a question similar to the OP's. Just purchased a used DR 10W HID, simline cannister, NIMH 12V pack. Burn time is only about 20 mins at the moment, so I am going to try cycling it a few times to see if it will increase. If it does not, I am thinking of building a replacement. My question is... would I be able to switch to Li-ion (3 in series i'm guessing) without damaging the ballast?..or would I be better off just rebuilding with 10 new NIMH's?

Thanks in advance,

HH
 
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If you are not sure if it will ballast survive , try to install right after switch in series LDO voltage regulator ( LDO means Low Drop Output ). That means electronic will stay almost cold when operating.

I know you want KISS with minimum and maintenance-free components . Old SOLARC ballast uses some strange voltages ( you could switch old for new one, which have protections already build-in )

So you could take some for instance LDO with voltage 10 V DC or 12V V with 1 A like http://www.newark.com/rohm/baj0cc0t/fixed-ldo-voltage-regulator-4v/dp/08X1164 which have 300mV drop.

Connection is very simple in pdf . That IC have only 3 pins :IN-GND-OUT. It exist also 5 pin which have one pin for ''control voltage'' that mean that regulator operates also as electronic switch.

1A LDO fits to the ballast , but to be safe ( starting current might be higher ) you can take also 2A version or even take 2 of these LDOs parallel to increase current.

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LiPo are not problematic (you can take safe LiFePo4 which have lower voltage http://www.batteryspace.com/custom-...9-6v-6400-mah-62wh-2a-rate-with-pcb-5-76.aspx ( in that case you don't need LDO because operating voltage is higher)

more important is that canister would be more buoyant (neutral ? )- LiPo s a half lighter than NiMh
 

DIWdiver

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A '12V' NiMH pack will have 10 cells in series. Each cell will have a voltage directly off charge of as high as 1.5V, and at end of discharge about 1.0V (you can go lower, but you don't get much more out of the pack, and it decreases the life a lot). That means the pack has a working voltage range of 10-15V.

A LiIon cell has a voltage as high as 4.2V off-charge, and somewhere between 2.5 and 3.0V at end of discharge, so a working range of between between 7.5-12.6V and 9.0-12.6V. The end of discharge is not determined by the cell, but by the application, the user, or the protection circuit. Like the NiMH, the more deeply you discharge it the more juice you get, but the more you shorten the life.

So a 3-cell LiIon pack could never over-voltage a circuit designed for a 10-cell NiMH pack. What you could find is that the circuit (in this case, your ballast) may not work well or at all below 10V. So it should be perfectly safe to run the light with a 3S LiIon pack, but you might find that the light cuts out (or dims, or whatever it does when the battery voltage is low) before the pack is fully discharged; this should be perfectly fine for the light, and the battery will love it.

Or the ballast may work fine with lower voltages, and will fully discharge the battery, giving you the best possible performance from your battery.
 

happyhour

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A '12V' NiMH pack will have 10 cells in series. Each cell will have a voltage directly off charge of as high as 1.5V, and at end of discharge about 1.0V (you can go lower, but you don't get much more out of the pack, and it decreases the life a lot). That means the pack has a working voltage range of 10-15V.

A LiIon cell has a voltage as high as 4.2V off-charge, and somewhere between 2.5 and 3.0V at end of discharge, so a working range of between between 7.5-12.6V and 9.0-12.6V. The end of discharge is not determined by the cell, but by the application, the user, or the protection circuit. Like the NiMH, the more deeply you discharge it the more juice you get, but the more you shorten the life.

So a 3-cell LiIon pack could never over-voltage a circuit designed for a 10-cell NiMH pack. What you could find is that the circuit (in this case, your ballast) may not work well or at all below 10V. So it should be perfectly safe to run the light with a 3S LiIon pack, but you might find that the light cuts out (or dims, or whatever it does when the battery voltage is low) before the pack is fully discharged; this should be perfectly fine for the light, and the battery will love it.

Or the ballast may work fine with lower voltages, and will fully discharge the battery, giving you the best possible performance from your battery.

Thanks for the info....sounds like the ballast will survive my experiments :sssh: I've got her up to a 70 min run time so far after 4 cycles and she is still climbing..Hope I'm not putting the bulb through too much stress in the mean time. May have to take for for a cold water test run this weekend :)

Thanks again,
 
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