# Maxa Beam enhanced reflector option. Anyone have one?



## Parker VH (Apr 8, 2011)

Well I bit the bullet and sent my Gen.2 Maxa Beam in to Peak Beam to get the enhanced reflector installed. I have a new old stock ARC round arc chamber bulb installed in it. They tested the CP output and with the original reflector it achieved 10.5M CP. After the reflector upgrade it was 17M CP. I'm very happy with that improvement. I haven't received the light back yet but I'm sure I'll be very happy with it.
They take the CP reading at 87'. I can post portions of the original emails I received from the tech who did the mod if any one is interested.
Has anyone else had this upgrade done? 
The enhanced reflector is now standard on all lights.


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## Walterk (Apr 8, 2011)

Wow, thats a heck of an improvement...!
Guess the difference is visible to the eye.
Any chance of beamshots compared with a G2 or non-enhanced reflector? 

(87' is 26,5 metres I think)


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## Parker VH (Apr 8, 2011)

Hopefully I can do that Walter as I have another light with the standard reflector. What I did was I sent both lights in to PeakBeam and had them see which light was the better candidate for a reflector change. The second light had a CP reading of 10.2M but he said it seemed like the reflector had a little warpage or ? as it seemed to have a somewhat triangular pattern in spot mode. I had them put the other good 10.5M reflector on that light and took off the imperfect reflector which they also returned to me.
I'll let you know after I get them back.


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## Patriot (Apr 8, 2011)

Exciting! I'll look forward to your first impressions.


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## Litbobber (Apr 8, 2011)

This is great news guys. i will have a new maxa within two weeks with all the whiistles and bells.
It took some savings, well an arm and a leg and my still good appendix but it will be worth it.


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## sledhead (Apr 8, 2011)

Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds. Sold my Polarion ( still can't figure out why) but thinking of a Maxabeam.


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 8, 2011)

Parker VH said:


> They tested the CP output and with the original reflector it achieved 10.5M CP. After the reflector upgrade it was 17M CP. I'm very happy with that improvement.


 
Do you have a lux meter that you can measure it your self?

The original reflector is Rhodium which is 75-80% reflection, assume new reflector is 95% reflection, 
that's only room for 20% improvement. How would the reflector upgrade gets 70% increase? 

Their 12 Million model has the new reflector & also drive to 85W instead of gen 2, 75W, did they upgrade the electronics?


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## Ra (Apr 9, 2011)

ma_sha1 said:


> The original reflector is Rhodium which is 75-80% reflection, assume new reflector is 95% reflection,
> that's only room for 20% improvement. How would the reflector upgrade gets 70% increase?
> 
> Their 12 Million model has the new reflector & also drive to 85W instead of gen 2, 75W, did they upgrade the electronics?




....And then there are always those few that don't just accept a few numbers, and begin to think.. You're absolutely right ma_sha !!


I too would be very interested in the answer to ma_sha's question !!!!!!!!

The only things that can influence the output in this case, is shape accuracy of the reflector, and indeed power to bulb, and reflectivity of the reflector, I think that with the 
10.5 Mcp on the old reflector, which already is quite high, shape is perfect, so not an issue.. The gen-3 power increase can give a gain of a mere 8-10% or so..
So, where does this 70% increase come from, especially when the electronics are not upgraded to gen-3? Cryptonite ??

Regards,

Ra.


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## Parker VH (Apr 9, 2011)

I did not do the Gen. 3 board upgrade. I'll post some replies from Matt at Peak Beam and you guys can decide for yourselves what you want to believe. I'm only going by what he told me.
Your light before the upgrade was able to get a reading of 10.5 M CP. The other light got a reading of 10.2 M CP. The 10.5 M reading on the distorted reflector might have been a little artificially high for reasons that I talked about yesterday (focusable over relatively short ranges, but likely would not provide a well-focused, collimated beam over long ranges). I think these two higher readings also speak towards the quality of the lamp you have. In my opinion, an ushio lamp might increase the output slightly, maybe 1 or 2 million CP more, but you probably wouldn’t really be able to notice that increase just looking at it.


It was nice talking to you earlier today and I am happy to be able to tell you that your light with a brand new reflector recorded an output of 17 Million CandlePower. While this is high, it is not that unusual for lights coming through production to reach this level or even higher.

Our range that we test all of our lights on is 83’ from light to meter. I’d expect that you could quite possibly get a higher CP value if you measured over a slightly longer range. Attempting to measure CP at shorter ranges will definitely result in lower values. We set the spot limit (what limits forward travel) to reach the tightest spot at our range distance. There is really no reason to ever need to use spot at a closer distance other than testing. All of these limits can easily be over-ridden and reset using the controls on the searchlight.

You are correct that you cannot set spot limits on G2 boards, I forgot that you did not have a G3 light (but you do now have G3 output J). I have done studies on how CP readings of the maxabeam will be effected by taking measurements at shorter ranges for some of our customers that wish to test the output of their lights but only have, say 30’ to work with. These readings would be much less because the searchlight is programmed not to be able to focus down that far on G3 lights.

At longer ranges you really should get a very similar reading. There are two things that would affect the longer range readings: 1) Atmospheric conditions (i.e. dust or moisture in the air that could diffract light) and 2) The physical difficulty of focusing the light to that distance and hitting the meter exactly. You will have to make sure the x and y focus is correct at a shorter range, which it should be already, although depending on how rough shipping was you might need to slightly adjust this. And you will have to make sure it is zoomed correctly so that you have a perfectly collimated beam (important that you are not actually alightly past spot since there is no spot limit on your G2 board). 

So hypothetically your measurements should be exactly the same with the few caveats I noted above. There is no calculation for how CP changes over distance because it shouldn’t change (CP accounts for distance) assuming you could hold everything else constant.

There is no scientific rationale to see a major drop-off in CP between measurements at 30m of 100m unless there is a lot of particulates/moisture in the air or the measurements are being taken incorrectly. The correct level of z-focus (spot to flood adjustment) will change for 30m vs. 100m. If this is not adjusted between the two measurements, one or the other will be inaccurate because the beam will either be over-focussed or under-focused depending on which measurement is performed first.

X and Y focus should remain the same for all distances once it is set correctly, but every distance will have its own perfect degree of z-focus that will maximize the amount of collimated light at that point. I suspect that anyone who sees a large drop-off between relatively close distances doesn’t have the correct z-focus on their maxabeam or the inability to fully adjust the z-focus on a different type of light.


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## karlosk98 (Apr 9, 2011)

ma_sha1 said:


> Do you have a lux meter that you can measure it your self?
> 
> The original reflector is Rhodium which is 75-80% reflection, assume new reflector is 95% reflection,
> that's only room for 20% improvement. How would the reflector upgrade gets 70% increase?
> ...


 
They use grade A bulbs handpicked. As for the electronics I thought both models were driven at 90 watts in high mode.


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## Parker VH (Apr 9, 2011)

He told me that only Gen. 3 models ramped up to 85 watts in high mode.


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## Walterk (Apr 9, 2011)

karlosk98 said:


> They use grade A bulbs handpicked.



What would they do with the other bulbs,.. sell as replacement-kits probably...


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 9, 2011)

karlosk98 said:


> They use grade A bulbs handpicked. As for the electronics I thought both models were driven at 90 watts in high mode.


 
I have two gen II models on hand right now, both are 75W max. 50W normal.


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## Walterk (Apr 9, 2011)

Another question: Anyone owning of witnessed a MB that is capable of 'constant high' ?


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## Francois1 (Apr 10, 2011)

Hi Walterk,

I have a MB with enhanced reflector, and I asked for the constant high mode. It's a great spotlight. If you have any question, please ask.

François.


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## Walterk (Apr 10, 2011)

How does it work; you switch to high as usual, but with your version it stays on high untill you change mode?


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## PeakBeamSystems (Apr 11, 2011)

Walterk said:


> How does it work; you switch to high as usual, but with your version it stays on high untill you change mode?


 
Hello! I might be able to help with the "latching" high beam details. Please keep in mind that Peak Beam could add this mod to any light with a Gen. 3 board (for free on a new light) but we strongly recommend that lights with latching high be used with the new LiFePO4 batteries for the best run time and performance. (As Deb @ Peak Beam explained, you will not get as good of a run time with the 1307 Li-Ions or 1207 NiCads because the draw of the constant high can trip the internal thermal breaker as the battery charge gets low.)

The latching high lights will turn on at high beam and then stay on high beam. (Standard lights will turn on at high and drop to regular beam after a 3 second stabilization/warm up period.) On a latching high light you can drop down to regular beam level by rocking the black 4-way switch to the right once. To return to the latching high beam level rock the switch right again. You still will have the normal strobe/low beam functionality when you rock the 4-way switch to the left. 

Annie
annie[email protected]


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 11, 2011)

PeakBeamSystems said:


> you will not get as good of a run time with the 1307 Li-Ions or 1207 NiCads because the draw of the constant high can trip the internal thermal breaker as the battery charge gets low.)
> 
> Annie
> [email protected]


 
OK, now I know what that little diode thing is in the OEM battery. When I modified the Maxa Beam OEM battery by DIY, I wired the diode looking thing into a new 6.6Ah Lifepo4 pack without knowing what it is, I figure it can't hurt. Good to know it's a thermo breaker .


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## Walterk (Apr 11, 2011)

Thanks Annie for the info. I have a 2nd hand G2 on my way.

What is the advisable time limit to repeat after one other the 'limited time high mode' cycle?


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## PeakBeamSystems (Apr 11, 2011)

Walterk said:


> I have a 2nd hand G2 on my way.
> 
> What is the advisable time limit to repeat after one other the 'limited time high mode' cycle?


 
Unlike the Gen 3 boards, Gen 2 boards may overheat if continuously turned to high mode. Each G2 board is a little different (they were all calibrated before originally shipping out but that would have been at least 7 years ago at this point) so unfortunately we don't have a recommended time between high modes because we can't predict how that individual board is currently running. The components in the G2 board are rated for a max temperature of around 85C so the best I can tell you is if your light starts to get hot, stop repeating timed high!  If the board runs hot it could damage board components and, more importantly, the lamp.

For a Gen. 3 board, you can repeat the timed high beam mode as many times as you want. The board will adjust itself accordingly if it gets hot and worst case is you'll trip the breaker in your battery after running it down and you'll either have to wait a few minutes for it to reset or just recharge it.


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## Walterk (Apr 11, 2011)

Great to have an expert on board . 

But I thought the reflectorhead/reflector/bulb was the same for G2 and G3 (except reflector) and suitable for continuous use? 
Maybe the older straight bulb is more sensitive to heat and more prone to shattering when real hot...


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 11, 2011)

No reason to dig any deeper, once you get the G2 light in hand, you'll realize that it won't allow you repeat the "burst" mode . It'll sit at normal for a good 10 sec or so before you can "burst" again, at least my G2 does that.


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## Walterk (Apr 11, 2011)

Thats a pity for me as you can imagine.... . (Finally found me a Europe based light.)

I havent experienced yet, guess the user interface is a big part of its charm. 
G3 solved some of its shortcomings, but don't understand why continous mode is not a standard feature.
The user is responsabe for its own battery consumption I would think.


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## Walterk (Apr 12, 2011)

How many seconds are needed to go from flood to throw?
And is it gentle when you want to focus a bit more or less?

As I have read the donut kicks in beyond 5 degrees. How easy is it to change focus half a degree between 1-5 ?


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## Patriot (Apr 13, 2011)

Walterk said:


> How many seconds are needed to go from flood to throw?
> And is it gentle when you want to focus a bit more or less?
> 
> As I have read the donut kicks in beyond 5 degrees. How easy is it to change focus half a degree between 1-5 ?




It's really fairly easy to adjust between 1-5 degrees with short "bumps" to the switch. Duration of spot to flood travel is about 3 seconds or so for the Gen2.


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## Walterk (Apr 16, 2011)

Patriot said:


> It's really fairly easy to adjust between 1-5 degrees with short "bumps" to the switch. Duration of spot to flood travel is about 3 seconds or so for the Gen2.



Just received mine, a G2-15. What I experienced is different.

It is not at all easy to adjust between 1-5 degrees, its mere luck when it stops where you want to.
For short distances; yes, there is proper control. 
For long distances: there is little control, forth and back untill the beam is at preferred width.
Makes sense, as 1-5 is really a tiny part of the full travel to focus for 40 degrees wide.



ma_sha1 said:


> It'll sit at normal for a good 10 sec or so before you can "burst" again, at least my G2 does that.


If I keep the toggle to the right , programmed for 'momentary on' it keeps on High untill I let go. A faint very short flicker once half a minute or so.


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## BVH (Apr 16, 2011)

Maybe the manual focus knob used on the clones is the better way to go. The one I have on the clone makes it fairly easy to make fine adjustments.


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 16, 2011)

Walterk said:


> If I keep the toggle to the right , programmed for 'momentary on' it keeps on High untill I let go. A faint very short flicker once half a minute or so.


 

I think every Maxa Beam does that if you hold the burst won't let go. 

As for fine tuning at sharp focus, my does very fine tuning. Maybe you have a loose motor?

Can you do a lux @ 30 meter or longer? Like to see the OEM lux before you upgrade the bulb.


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## Walterk (Apr 17, 2011)

Sure wil do Lux reading before and after. Have to fix battery and connector on the light first.


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## Ra (Apr 19, 2011)

Hi Walter,

Congrats on your new toy!! 

I forgot to tell you about the power connector pinning: There are two pinns for '+', and two for '-'..
So with your damaged connector you could easily short things..
But I see you already have it up and running...

I hope you like your new super light...

Oh... And the weather is beautifull here in france..

Laterrr,

Ra.


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## magicmanchris (Apr 19, 2011)

I purchased a brand new Maxabeam setup at the end of February which included the enhanced reflector & hand selected bulb and I choose the LiFePO4 battery offering. I believe that all new purchases will have this reflector as the standard and will not be an option. My purchase came just before the official release of the 2011 model. I do not have any expierience with the 1st & 2nd Gen units, so I don't think I will be of any help.


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## ledpwr (Apr 24, 2011)

Out of interest, how do the new aluminium coated reflectors hold up over time to the high levels of uv that the bulb produces? I have heard that aluminium reflectors degrade faster than rhodium coated reflectors, but I don't know if the difference is that significant.

Thanks


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 24, 2011)

I could be wrong but I remember a post by RA estimated 2000hrs with short arc, which is about 4 maxa beam lamps.


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## Patriot (Apr 24, 2011)

Not that I'll ever be wearing one out but I wonder what kind of reflectivity remains at 2000hrs. Does that mean we've lost 10% or 50%?


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 24, 2011)

I don't know I think he was talking about his Maxa Blaster reflector choices & went with Rhidium which is good in the long run but alu. is good for quite some time & reflects 10% more.


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## Patriot (Apr 24, 2011)

Makes sense that PB would use aluminum coating to increase the performance if degradation is indeed relatively slow. I suppose that most of us here might not ever use even a single bulb long enough for it to expire, never mind 4 or 5. If I remember correctly, the expense of aluminum coatings were another "downside?"


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## ledpwr (Apr 24, 2011)

Patriot said:


> Makes sense that PB would use aluminum coating to increase the performance if degradation is indeed relatively slow. I suppose that most of us here might not ever use even a single bulb long enough for it to expire, never mind 4 or 5. If I remember correctly, the expense of aluminum coatings were another "downside?"


 
The new aluminium coated reflectors should actually be significantly cheaper than the old rhodium reflectors, as rhodium is a very rare precious metal, apparently worth between 5 and 25 times more than gold! 
So the change is probably to make more money while increasing the proformance for a limited (or long) time.


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## Patriot (Apr 24, 2011)

Interesting. Thanks!


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## Litbobber (Apr 25, 2011)

ledpwr said:


> Out of interest, how do the new aluminium coated reflectors hold up over time to the high levels of uv that the bulb produces? I have heard that aluminium reflectors degrade faster than rhodium coated reflectors, but I don't know if the difference is that significant.
> 
> Thanks


 

Maybe someone from peak beam systems could chime in on this great question.

Thanks


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## Walterk (Apr 25, 2011)

ma_sha1 said:


> OK, now I know what that little diode thing is in the OEM battery. When I modified the Maxa Beam OEM battery by DIY, I wired the diode looking thing into a new 6.6Ah Lifepo4 pack without knowing what it is, I figure it can't hurt. Good to know it's a thermo breaker .


 
Ive hcksawed my battery. 
There is thermal protection. And the other is probably to protect against short circuit when you please the bottom contacts in water.


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## PeakBeamSystems (Apr 26, 2011)

Litbobber said:


> Maybe someone from peak beam systems could chime in on this great question.
> 
> Thanks


 
All of our production lights use an Enhanced Rhodium coating. We switched away from the aluminum coating a few years ago because of the risk of degradation of the aluminum (mostly due to potential salt water corrosion because the lights are often used in maritime environments). The enhanced rhodium is more durable and actually has better reflectivity than the aluminum.

Annie
[email protected]


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## Patriot (Apr 27, 2011)

Annie, your visits here are always very much appreciated! It's great that you and other representatives stay involved with the enthusiast community and I want to thank you very much for your knowledge and input. :thumbsup:


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## Litbobber (Apr 27, 2011)

Patriot said:


> Annie, your visits here are always very much appreciated! It's great that you and other representatives stay involved with the enthusiast community and I want to thank you very much for your knowledge and input. :thumbsup:


 
A big plus 1 to that!!


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## ledpwr (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks for that Annie, much appreciated. Sorry for assuming it was aluminium.
Sounds like that coating has both the advantages of aluminium and rhodium! 

Does anyone else have an estimate as to how long an aluminium coated reflector would last under a Xenon short arc lamp or similar.
Thanks


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## Ra (Apr 28, 2011)

PeakBeamSystems said:


> The enhanced rhodium is more durable and actually has better reflectivity than the aluminum.
> 
> Annie
> [email protected]



Then I wonder why the deposited aluminium I use for optical purposes (dutch navy) has 90% reflection in visible light, and enhanced rhodium only 77%... :thinking: Maybe I'm doing something wrong during the deposition process..(I don't think so!!!)
And when you hold an enhanced rhodium reflector close to an aluminium coated reflector, you can clearly see the difference in reflection, even with the naked eye..


Ra.


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 28, 2011)

77% sounds like standard Rhodium, the enhanced Rhodium does go up to 90%, 
But not widely available.







Quote" This chart shows the gain in the reflectivity of an Enhanced Rhodium and that of standard rhodium. The coating offers 15% higher light output in the visible over that of plated rhodium while maintaining the same durability as rhodium. This is an excellent choice for marine and outdoor environments".

link:
http://niprooptics.thomasnet-navigator.com/item/all-categories/optical-thin-film-coating/item-1003


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## Ra (Apr 29, 2011)

So 'enhaced' could only mean the addition of a few optical thin layers to pump up the reflection.
I'm doing the same to my aluminium layers (98,5% reflection) for astronomical purposes.

The reflector of Maxabeam was said to be 'enhanced rhodium'.. But shows lower reflection compared to aluminium.
The reflector of the EzNite 10watt HID-torch was said to be 'enhanced' (IIRC) and also showed lower reflection when compared to aluminium..


Ra.


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## ledpwr (Apr 29, 2011)

Here is a graph that compares many different coating reflectances. Some of you may find it interesting/usefull, it includes enhanced rhodium and aluminium. I found it on optiforms website, these are coatings that can be applied to their electroformed reflectors.
http://www.optiforms.com/METAL_Chart.swf

I also noticed they have one reflector with very similar dimentions to the maxabeam reflector (5" diameter and 0.4" focal length). Maby this company makes reflectors for peakbeam as they also offer enhanced rhodium?


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 29, 2011)

I've seen that site before. I wonder how much for a 9" with enhanced Rh


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## LuxLuthor (Apr 29, 2011)

Was there ever an answer from Annie, or a recheck with Matt about how they explained the 70% jump of 10.5 to 17 MCP just based on reflector change?


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## Patriot (Apr 30, 2011)

ledpwr said:


> Here is a graph that compares many different coating reflectances. Some of you may find it interesting/usefull, it includes enhanced rhodium and aluminium. I found it on optiforms website, these are coatings that can be applied to their electroformed reflectors.
> http://www.optiforms.com/METAL_Chart.swf


 
Excellent graph! Thanks for sharing that link as it's the first time I've seen it. Well, it seems that Peakbeam's claims aren't simply being pulled from thin air with regards to reflectance, according to what I've read about enhanced RH. Obviously there are some technical points that I'm not up to speed on but in Peakbeam's case the new reflector does seem to offer an advantage to the type of AL reflector that was at some point used.


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## Parker VH (May 2, 2011)

Here's a little input from Matt @ PeakBeam who performed the reflector upgrade on my light.
Thanks for the e-mail. Based on all of the coating analysis going on in the thread I can see why there may be some confusion as to how your light could have gone from 10M to 17M CP simply with the change of a reflector’s coating. Although the increase in coating reflectance is definitely playing a role in the increased output, I think one very important variable that is being overlooked is reflector shape. As you know, when your light was upgraded we did not just take your old reflector and apply an enhanced coating. Instead, you received a new enhanced rhodium reflector that has a more precise shape than your old reflector had (much closer to perfectly parabolic, void of any artifacts, etc.).



It is critical not to overlook the impact of reflector shape on total output. A reflector can have 90% or 95% reflectance, but if the shape of the reflector is not perfectly parabolic a lot of that light will not be directed on target. These differences in shape can far outweigh the relatively small increases you would see from a reflector that has 90% reflectance versus 95% reflectance, or even a larger increase in reflectance like from a standard reflector to one with enhanced coating. I think reflector shape is often neglected as an important contributor to overall output because it is hard to measure its significance without a large sample size or a very carefully controlled experiment replicated multiple times. 



A reflector’s shape can be affected by several variables including manufacturing and coating/polishing processes, handling, mounting, and cleaning. At Peak Beam, we are continuously evaluating the quality of our products and processes as well as working with our suppliers to improve the quality and performance of components. By actually measuring the output and checking other performance characteristics of every searchlight that is built in production, we have been able to modify our manufacturing processes in order to improve the overall shape of the Maxa Beam’s reflector (with the goal being as close to perfectly parabolic as possible).



Coming back to your specific case, a large part of the increase can be attributed to the superior shape of your new reflector. What you hopefully should be able to notice is that your beam at spot is not only brighter, but also tighter than it was before (should have about a 2” hotspot at 30m). This tightness is due to the shape of the reflector and will lead to better throw.



Hope this helps and feel free to post the above text.



Sincerely,



Matt Thorne-FitzGerald

_Production Manager_




_
*Peak Beam Systems, Inc.
*3938 Miller Road | Edgemont, PA 19028
Office: 610-353-8505 x125 | Fax: 610-353-8411 

[email protected] | www.peakbeam.com


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## LuxLuthor (May 3, 2011)

Parker (& Matt), thanks for posting that information. I asked in part because I have a Gen 3 model, and wondered what sort of "tricks" they had up their sleeve to produce the enhancement. I meant "tricks" in an honest enhancements way....but it's always good to question claims that seem beyond reasonable. Now we know. :thumbsup:


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## ma_sha1 (May 3, 2011)

I would love to see some independent lux measurements from members on this light or other Gen III,

I have measured two Gen II lights now using Ex tech EA30 meter and they are consistent with each other, both are in the 2-2.5 million cp range. I even went to the trouble of measure it at 100 meters out. The Mfg. claim on both of my gen II lights are 6 Million cps.

I am about to install a Gen III lamp soon.


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