# First Impressions: AmondoTech Titanium Mega Illuminator



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 11, 2008)

I recently bought the AmondoTech Titanium Mega Illuminator from Battery Junction. It is truly an amazing light and out throws my Professional's Favorite 17.5 million candlepower by a large margin.
The Mega Illuminator throws much farther than the Thor 15mcp and blows away the POB in all ways (brightness, throw, features).

I really like the way the two chargers are built in to the light. Just open the hinge on the back and the AC and DC cords from the built in chargers can be pulled out to be plugged in, and are very nice and long!

It has a much brighter hotspot than the Professional's Favorite 17.5mcp, and the Thor and POB don't even compare. The Mega Illuminator is the brightest and most powerful light I have ever personally held, and I am blown away by it! It has easily 30% more throw than the POB and a MUCH brighter spot.

The Mega Illuminator surprisingly beats the N30 in a ceiling bounce test, and puts out a TON more light than the POB. It is the highest lumen-output light I own.

The most amazing thing about the Mega is how it throws like a LASER compared to my other spotlights. Its beam is just as visible in the sky as the POB's beam despite being 4200K, and is much thinner and appears to go up much farther. The beam it makes in the sky reminds me of the Maxabeam; it just keeps going and going and going. I thought I could see it cloud bouncing on some very high clouds tonight that were out of range of any of my other lights. It lit up building and trees 300 yards away 30% brighter than any of my other 3 best throwers.

It has a nice charge status indicator on the side, a red light for "charging" and a green one that come son when it is "full". It has a nice rubber cover over the switch (I believe to make the switch water-proof) which I really like!

I am thrilled with this light and very glad I decided to get it! Here are some pictures I took:

Shining on the base of a tree 50 yards away. It appears much brighter than this in person.






And here it is next to my all-time favorite N30:





:twothumbs


----------



## BVH (Dec 11, 2008)

Hey Blue, you might want to try shimming the bulb out of the reflector by about .015" to .025" and re-checking the focus. The Ti Mega Illuminator is exactly the same as its predecessor - the Costco HID in every way except for the Costco's 5000K bulb. Many people found the Costco's focus to be very sharp but even sharper with a little focusing work. It's worth a try. Try it in increments of .005" or so. For trial purposes only, you can just use some thin packaging cardboard. It won't get hot enough to be burned during short runs. When you find the right thickness, make one from shim stock. As far as overall brightness/Lumens output, remember, the N30 is only 30 Watts so the Ti should output significantly more than the N30.


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 11, 2008)

Hello BVH!

Thank you very much for the heads up and instruction on how to refocus it.
It seems to be perfectly focused, and in terms of beam intensity (hotspot and coronal brightness) it looks over 50% brighter than the N30. In overall output it beats the N30 by about 20% (my estimate based on how it looked) in a ceiling bounce, and puts out quite a bit more overall light and has even brighter spill than the N30.


----------



## BVH (Dec 11, 2008)

Blue, I agree that the Ti's have a very sharp beam and hotspot. But I can relate to you that Mtbkndad has two Costco HID's. One has been fine-tune focused, the other was left stock. Looking at either one by itself - the beam appears very sharp. But when compared together, especially at long distances, there is a marked difference. If you don't have two, it's hard to tell whether its focused as tight as it will go or not. Wouldn't hurt to play around with it a bit. It's good "experience".


----------



## mtbkndad (Dec 12, 2008)

The Mega Illuminator is actually different then the Costco HID's in 4 ways

1. 4200K bulb
2. Improved hinge mold on the door that displaces the load on the two body tabs better.
3. Larger capacity battery, 9 mAh as opposed to 7 mAh.
4. A modified reflector. The reflector in the Mega Illuminator puts more light into a better defined corona. You could try fiddling with the focus if you want.

With my two Costco HID's that BVH referred to the difference is the lateral orientation of the bulbs in their holders as opposed to their vertical orientation. One bulb is centered ever so slightly better.

I also have two 10 MCP Thors and with those a vertical change makes a big difference in throw. One of these has a spacer ring in it.

So you could fiddle with the vertical and horizontal positioning of the bulb if you would like. I just leave them the way they are since I primarily use them for non chorded outdoor illumination of objects or areas when working or playing outdoor games with the family. 

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:


----------



## Gunner12 (Dec 12, 2008)

Thanks for the review Bluebeam! Now I know how it compares to other HID lights that most people have.

I can't contribute to this thread because I don't own any HID lights, but I am saving up for one.



mtbkndad said:


> ...
> 3. Larger capacity battery, 9 mAh as opposed to 7 mAh.
> ...


You mean Ah right?


----------



## mtbkndad (Dec 12, 2008)

Gunner12 said:


> Thanks for the review Bluebeam! Now I know how it compares to other HID lights that most people have.
> 
> I can't contribute to this thread because I don't own any HID lights, but I am saving up for one.
> 
> ...



Yes Ah, I have been helping a friend with his development of some LED bike lights and have been in mAh mode  . I left a few zeros for accurately listing 7000 mAh and 9000 mAh


Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 12, 2008)

BVH said:


> Blue, I agree that the Ti's have a very sharp beam and hotspot. But I can relate to you that Mtbkndad has two Costco HID's. One has been fine-tune focused, the other was left stock. Looking at either one by itself - the beam appears very sharp. But when compared together, especially at long distances, there is a marked difference. If you don't have two, it's hard to tell whether its focused as tight as it will go or not. Wouldn't hurt to play around with it a bit. It's good "experience".


 
Thanks BVH. I might try to refocus it in the future, but for now I am very satisfied with its current focus.
I took it out on a walk tonight and lit up trees from 300-1000 yards away, and it performed amazingly. It surprisingly out throws the POB by a huge amount and has the most laser like beam I have ever seen. I felt like I was holding a Maxabeam seeing it put a bright little pin spot, almost like a laser pointer, on trees 500 yards away.
I have verified with Google Maps that the farthest away trees I shined it at were around 1000 yards away, and it lit them up quite easily and they were very nicely painted with light. I am sure it can shine farther than that though, as the Professional's Favorite 17.5mcp and Thor 15mcp don't come anywhere near the throw of the Mega Illuminator.
I am also amazed at its light output and coronal brightness! I am still getting used to a light this powerful and just can't believe the sheer output of the light; it can make a large swath of a 500 yard field appear like daylight.
It makes an amazing beam in the sky which is just as visible if not more than the POB's 6000K blue beam, which I am guessing is because the Ti Mega's beam is so much more concentrated and has a lot more lumens. I love everything about this light so far!:twothumbs

BTW the 4200K beam of the Ti Mega is very nice and seems to give the best color rendition out of all my large spotlights. I have never seen any of my other lights illuminate the dark fields and distant trees as well as it did tonight.



mtbkndad said:


> The Mega Illuminator is actually different then the Costco HID's in 4 ways
> 
> 1. 4200K bulb
> 2. Improved hinge mold on the door that displaces the load on the two body tabs better.
> ...


 
I notice the extreme coronal brightness of it. It has an even brighter corona than the N30 and brighter spill despite having a huge reflector. I am used to lights with large reflectors like it putting all the light into a focused beam and very dim spill and coronal brightness.

By the way, I have noticed the same phenomenon with focusing my Pro's Favorite 17.5MCP. The bulb has to be positioned just right vertically in the reflector to give the perfectly focused hotspot. If it is too high or too low the hotspot will be unfocused, and the filament has to be centered in the reflector. 




Gunner12 said:


> Thanks for the review Bluebeam! Now I know how it compares to other HID lights that most people have.
> 
> I can't contribute to this thread because I don't own any HID lights, but I am saving up for one.


 
You're welcome, I will be posting more pictures and beamshots of it in the near future. It is an incredible light and seems to be a great choice if you just want the most throw.:thumbsup:


----------



## mtbkndad (Dec 13, 2008)

BlueBeam22,

I was a real stickler with the manufacturer with regard to the reflector.
The Original Costco had such a tiny hotspot with a not so bright corona that anything not in the hotspot just seemed to look dark.
This lowered the overall usability of the light to me.

The Corona is smaller in the Mega Illuminator but much brighter.

I tried spacers in the original Costco's and did not see as much difference as making sure the bulb was centered real well.


Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 13, 2008)

mtbkndad said:


> BlueBeam22,
> 
> I was a real stickler with the manufacturer with regard to the reflector.
> The Original Costco had such a tiny hotspot with a not so bright corona that anything not in the hotspot just seemed to look dark.
> ...


 
Perfect description mtbkndad.:twothumbs 
I am amazed at how much brighter its corona is than all of my other lights. Its corona is considerably brighter than both the N30 and POB's coronas. My halogen spotlights have very dim coronas in comparison to the the HIDs due to their relatively very low light output.

The 4200K bulb makes an incredible difference. The POB at 6000K doesn't come close in any way even though it is the same wattage.

I also agree with you that lights with pin point focused hotspots and dim coronas are not very usable. I experience this with my 17.5mcp, as it has a very focused hotspot and incredible throw but everything is dark in the area outside the hotspot that the Mega Illuminator would be brightly lighting up. What an awesome light the Mega Illuminator is.:thumbsup:


----------



## Patriot (Dec 13, 2008)

That light has much better color than my Costco. I think your picture captures the true color fairly closely too.

An interesting and unexpected feature from the "Costco" design of lights is that the spill is somewhat wide and intense. They really illuminate the ground around your feet more than one would expect when considering what a "thrower" this HID is. 

Thanks the sharing your thoughts Blue!


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 13, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> That light has much better color than my Costco. I think your picture captures the true color fairly closely too.
> 
> An interesting and unexpected feature from the "Costco" design of lights is that the spill is somewhat wide and intense. They really illuminate the ground around your feet more than one would expect when considering what a "thrower" this HID is.
> 
> Thanks the sharing your thoughts Blue!


 
Hello Patriot!

The Mega Illuminator's spill is in a really nice pattern. I like how smooth it is and how it fans out at almost a 180 degree angle. It really is the perfect combination of a thrower and a flood light, as I have never seen a light with this much throw and this much flood and coronal brightness!

I'll add some more beamshots to this thread tomorrow night. In the picture I posted the ground was wet after the rain, so it didn't look nearly as bright as it truly does normally. I'll take a beamshot of it shining on that exact same spot, which will show how it has a much brighter hotspot than the Pro's Favorite.:thumbsup:


----------



## Patriot (Dec 13, 2008)

Do I foresee a Bluebeam sponsored incan spotlight sale in the future? You've now seen the light!  Great value you've got there in those two lights btw.


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 13, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> Do I foresee a Bluebeam sponsored incan spotlight sale in the future? You've now seen the light!  Great value you've got there in those two lights btw.


 
Lol!:laughing: I'll always love my Incans, but the HID's sure do blow them away in every way possible. I do feel these two lights were a great value for the performance, as they are both incredibly unique lights. HID is by far my favorite now!


----------



## [email protected] (Dec 13, 2008)

Ah BlueBeam22... welcome to the world of 4200K/large reflector HIDs!  :thumbsup:

I'm glad you're thoroughly impressed by the MI's grunt/throw!


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 13, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> Ah BlueBeam22... welcome to the world of 4200K/large reflector HIDs!  :thumbsup:
> 
> I'm glad you're thoroughly impressed by the MI's grunt/throw!


 
Thanks [email protected]!

The Mega Illuminator has turned out to be everything I could have wished for and more.

The Mega Illuminator does even better than the POB cloud bouncing. Its beam appears to go up a lot farther, is much thinner and more concentrated, and makes a considerably brighter spot on the clouds than the POB does.

Here is a full daylight beamshot of the Mega Illuminator and Thor 15mcp. The Mega Illuminator's hotspot appears 40% brighter than the Thor's to me and has a much larger and brighter corona.





The Mega Illuminator's beam is a little bit warmer colored than the N30's beam, which I attribute to the fact that its HID bulb is driven at a full 35 watts. I favor its beam color over the N30's.

Here is a size comparison between the Mega Illuminator and Thor 15mcp:





By the way, the beamshot I have updated my shootout with is NOT the one I posted in the beginning of this thread. The one I posted in this thread was taken after it had rained so the ground and target were wet and absorbed a lot of the beam. The beamshot I just took and added to my shootout does a much better job of depicting how bright the Mega Illuminator truly is, and turned out very well. The color of its beam in the picture is exactly how it appears in person.


----------



## Patriot (Dec 21, 2008)

Got your PM's about the MI Bluebeam. I'm sure happy that you're pleased with it. I for one wouldn't be carrying it on walks if I had the N30 but the MI can do a few things that the N30 can't. You should post that other beamshot here in your thread.


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 21, 2008)

Hello Patriot36 and thanks for your reply.

Here is the Mega Illuminator putting its incredibly bright spot at the very top of a church about 75 yards away from where I was standing:






I am more impressed with the Mega Illuminator than ever before! It was able to put a bright spot on some high rise buildings over 1/2 of a mile away, and lit up very distant trees around 1000 yards away. I am amazed at how much it out throws the Pro's Favorite 17.5mcp.


----------



## RBH (Dec 22, 2008)

If you fully charge the Mega Illuminator, then let it sit without being used, how long will the battery stay up . Also, is it possible or affordable to replace the battery?

Thanks, Bruce


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Dec 22, 2008)

RBH said:


> If you fully charge the Mega Illuminator, then let it sit without being used, how long will the battery stay up . Also, is it possible or affordable to replace the battery?
> 
> Thanks, Bruce


 
I have heard of the Mega Illuminator being left in a "discharged" state for 2 months and still giving over 1 hour of continuous runtime. Lead acid batteries tend to hold their charge very well over a long period of time.

It uses a 12 volt 9AH Sealed lead acid battery which is easily replaced and can be bought online for a little over $20.


----------



## RBH (Dec 22, 2008)

BlueBeam

I appreciate the info.

Bruce


----------



## Showolf (Jan 1, 2009)

You surely have a serious THROW MONSTER right there! :twothumbs

What a beautiful light, and I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to find many that can compete with it in distance coverage... This is one light that I would love to darken my doorstep one day... Simply awesome!!!!


----------



## BlueBeam22 (Jan 1, 2009)

Showolf said:


> You surely have a serious THROW MONSTER right there! :twothumbs
> 
> What a beautiful light, and I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to find many that can compete with it in distance coverage... This is one light that I would love to darken my doorstep one day... Simply awesome!!!!


 
Thank you! I am amazed by the Mega Illuminator's throw. It is my only light that can _brightly_ illuminate trees 1000 yards away (what I consider to be brightly at that distance). The POB HID illuminates objects at that distance rather dimly by comparison. I was also in awe of it the other night when it was able to put a bright spot on clouds that were quite a bit higher than the low level ones I am used to lighting up. :thumbsup:


----------



## jagster936 (Apr 9, 2012)

Ahhhhhh I cannot find this light anywhere are they ever going to sell it again this is crazy been waiting months!!


----------



## BVH (Apr 10, 2012)

Have you called and talked to Matt at BJ?


----------



## jagster936 (Apr 10, 2012)

What is bj? I have emailed battery junction several times over last year lol. Need to call maybe.


----------



## jagster936 (Apr 10, 2012)

They are always very clueless and say don't know when supplier will have


----------



## jagster936 (Apr 10, 2012)

They claim late June now


----------

