Inside the LED host before I pulled out all the other stuff:
One of the special parts in this project, is the ballast. It's a "100w" 12v automotive ballast. Thanks to Ma_sha1 findings on this forum many years ago, I gave it a try, and so far it seems to work!
First some testing:
The test gave me 80 watt to the lamp, and I think that's pretty good for a $28 ballast. And while the lamp is rated for
180 watt, I wouldn't be able to run that much power in this plastic host anyway.
I would however, love to do a resistor mod if possible, so I got around 90-100 watt to the lamp. Any advice on that, let me know.
When I got the ballast, I immediately saw it wasn't going to fit inside. So I removed it from the alu housing, and glued on some heatsinks.
The result is a significantly smaller ballast!
So over to the lamp modding. Started by cutting out two identical 4mm thick aluminium discs. M3 threads in the one that I bonded to the reflector. Then cut out the lamp from it's original reflector, and silver soldered on HV wires. The potting alone was a two day operation. First cement the lamp in the base, let that dry, then make a form, and fill in around the wires with more cement. Rounded off the edges for a cleaner look. If this lamp goes, it will "only" take me 4 days to make a new one :duh2:
On to the reflector mount. It's bascially the front of the old reflector, glued on the new one with silicone. Focal length was about the same, so the fit was good. Slight difference in diameter, so I had to split the ring, and grind a little of the flange.
But overall, i'm very happy with how this turned out.
Always clean your reflector with sandpaper... Wait, what?
Mmmm, shiny!
Unfortunately, the focal length on the new reflector is a little short for the lamp i'm running (all UHP for that matter) so i'm not getting max performance. But it should still be pretty good
Well, that's how far I am with this project when I write this. Waiting on the batteries and the front glass. More to come.
PS: I came across this thing:
Unconfirmed rumors says it's a so-called light emitting diode. If you want it, you can stop by and pick it up