# Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin' bright!!)



## **DONOTDELETE** (Apr 9, 2002)

*Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Man, this thing kicks the crapola out of my M3 with the 225lu HOLA. I am VERY impressed with this light, and I cant wait for a more affordable higher wattage version to be released. Just sharing my joy.

Eric


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## LEDagent (Apr 10, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

I know the feeling lightspeed. I got mine a few months ago and it has been serving me well. I've used it on a recent camping trip, and have gone through the woods and tails at night with it. I used the beam shapers that come with it and it TOTALLY floods the path with light up to about 100 yards! If you take off the filters it will reach farther....but i have no need for a narrrow beam when i've got my E2 at my side. 

Anyway...for hiking or any general purpose activity, this light really shines with it's beam shapers in place. Too bad you have to remove the bezel to put it in place, but i'll be trying to make an external one as soon as i can figure out what material the lens is made of.

Does anyone know what material the beamshaper lens is made of? I'd like to know where i can get this material already "dippled" to smooth the beam.


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## **DONOTDELETE** (Apr 11, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Here is a pic of the Light Cannon (left) VS. my M3 with 225lu HOLA.







Eric


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## The_LED_Museum (Apr 12, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

It's a great light for the price, though it is a bit power-hungry for alkalines to deal with. If you use it a lot, you'll definitely feel it in the back pocket. Mine is only used on an occasional basis, as I have it mounted to my wheelchair to use as its primary headlamp.

How does this light fare on NiCd or NiMH cells? 
Do they even make NiMH in "C" size?
Runtime on this type of battery?

I could simply drill it out and hard-wire it into my chair's auxillary battery, but I'd lose water resistance and I'd be hosed if I ever wanted (or had) to take it off, pop the handle on, and use it normally. So I'd rather power it with something renewable and *not* have to hack it up and solder to it.


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## **DONOTDELETE** (Apr 12, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Craig, the NiMh batteries that I have seen available on ebay are 4500mah. I am not sure what an alks. are rated at though. I have only run one set of alks. through it and I was happy with the runtime. The only complaint that I have about the light is that it doesn't always strike an arc when you flip the switch. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it to light. The Light Cannon definately kicks butt. I dont plan using this light more than once a week or so for approx. one hour at a time. So it should work out fine for my application.

Eric


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## **DONOTDELETE** (Apr 12, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

BTW, Craig. I think that you could drill a small hole and pass short leads through the outer body of the case and attach a two prong charging style harness (water resistant of course). Seal the hole you made with GOOP (plumbing sealant) which is stiffer than RTV Silicone sealant. The mod will be under $20 easy. And whenever you wanted to pull it from your chair, just unplug the harness, unscrew the bezel, and throw some batteries in it.

Eric


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## recercare (Apr 12, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

There's a problem with C and D sized rechargeables.....they have a lousy capacity.

*******Rech : Alkalines
AAA 700 : 1375
AA 1700 : 3135
C 2200 : 8350
D 2200 : 18000

It's no mistake: the c and d NIMH has the same capacity





Another thought. Look at the differences between the NiMHs and alkalines. AAA and AA NiMHs have about half the capacity compared with alkalines, which is fair enough. However, with C and D NiMHs the difference in capacity is gigantic! 

So buying C and D NiMH is a bad idea.


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## JollyRoger (Apr 12, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

recercare, you can find much better capacity C and D cell nimh than the capacities you mentioned above....don't count out C and D cell nimh just yet!

btw, so where is the cheapest place for the Nighht Cannon these days?


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## Chris M. (Apr 12, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

_I could simply drill it out and hard-wire it into my chair's auxillary battery_

Be careful if you did that. I was fiddling with mine over the weekend (the batts need changing and I don`t have 8 new ones for it yet), and hooked it to a 12 volt 7Ah lead acid cell- and not even a freshly charged one. It blew the fuse



Thankfully that`s all that blew. I don`t think it`s meant to run from 12 volts, but rather 10-11 at most. Off the variable PSU it ran on 11v happily, but I didn`t dare turn it up any more as I`d already used up my only spare fuse for it....

BTW are those stubby little fuses a standard part over there? I`ve never seen them this size before, but then I`d never seen those tiny little ones you get in xmas light sat plugs before either, so maybe they`re not too uncommon?


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## hotfoot (Apr 13, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The LED Museum:
*Do they even make NiMH in "C" size?
*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Craig, yes. You can get them from GP, Eveready and many of the usual vendors too. Like here:
http://thomas-distributing.com/gp-220ch-oc2.htm 

Hope this helps...


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## LEDagent (Apr 13, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

If any of you figure out a way to rig a rechargeable pack of some sort for the Light Cannon...let us know. Batteries in my area aren't too bad but every penny counts. I'd like to use NiMH batteries but i'd have to buy the Maha-777 to charge them with. And i just don't have that kind of money. 

If somehow we can rig a rechgeable battery inside, and have a lead, or prong of some sort, stick out of the housing then i wouldn't have to open the damn thing so often. Check out the charging mechanism on some of those big rechargeable spotlights, it might give you some ideas.


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## Sean (Apr 14, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

That's funny, mine look like this:











Sorry, couldn't resist!


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## LEDagent (Apr 14, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

I'd be TOTALLY freaked out if that happened during some of my comparisons!


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## Sean (Apr 15, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

"Take me to your leader"


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## hotfoot (May 20, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

At last! I am now the lucky owner of a UKW LC100 HID too! This light is simply awesome, but mine is from a new batch and seems to have revised specs when compared to all of yours. 

For example, the manual states:

- Max Luminous flux: 450 lumens (vs 500 lumens)
- Bulb life: 500 hours (vs 1000 hours)

What does your manual say? (you *did* read your manual, right?)





Some things haven't changed yet though - this light REALLY kicks serious butt! Scary thing now is that with this monster in hand, the next (final?) conquest for portable candlepower is the X990



The SF beast is simply out of the question for me - the battery consumption alone is a giant turn-off. Maxabeam is an incandescent - so no go either, 7mcp or not.

Would I be right to say that at 7mcp, the X990 is as bright as about 8 Light Cannons going on at the same time? Whoa.. that almost sounds like its bordering on an illegal amount of light to wield





Beyond the X990, what's next? Backpacking a car battery and a pair of those Xenarc HID auxillaries by SUVlight? Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll have to be a mod....





Who will be first to pack 6400 lumens on his person?


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## The_LED_Museum (May 20, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hotfoot:
*
- Max Luminous flux: 450 lumens (vs 500 lumens)
- Bulb life: 500 hours (vs 1000 hours)

What does your manual say? (you *did* read your manual, right?)



*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Same as yours. 450lm and 500h lamp life. On the back page of the manual (as properly refolded) check the lower right corner. Mine says "rev 3-22-01".


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## Chris M. (May 20, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

I always thought the LC100 gave 450 lumens, don`t ever remember seeing reference to 500 lumens anywhere. Regardless, it`s still mighty bright!

_Maxabeam is an incandescent..._
No it isn`t! It`s a 70 watt short arc Xenon lamp- the same kind of bulb used in theater followspots, movie projectors and those big lights they used to make the Twin Towers "Tribute in Light" (but of course, much smaller than those!). That`s the reason it costs 2 grand- short arc Xenons and the associated control gear are very expensive.


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## Chris M. (May 20, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Yep. 

Except yours probably has a fuse in the spare-fuse holder. Mine doesn`t cos I blew the original one while fiddling with the lamp and a 12 volt SLA battery (hint: don`t hook it to a 12 volt SLA battery



).
Anyone know where to get those oddball squat fuses from?


And now an excuse to show my macro-foto of the teensy tiny arc tube inside the lamp itsself....






Less than 1.5mm between those electrodes, yet all that light comes from that teeny region. Remarkable!


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## hotfoot (May 20, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Niiiiiicee pic, Chris - how do yo take those ultra-macro shots anyway? My digital cam goes all cross-eyed whenever I get closer than 30cm 

Anyway, those fuses are supposed to be available at auto shops. Have ya tried repair garages or the local auto accessory shoppe? 

If you still can't find any, let me know - I'm pretty sure I can find a replacement or 2 and mail it to you





cheers...


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## Chris M. (May 20, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

_Niiiiiicee pic, Chris - how do yo take those ultra-macro shots anyway? _

With a slightly mangled one of these:






Covert CCTV cameras. All my pics come through live video cameras as I don`t have a digicam. I modified a lens to fit on one of them so it can focus down to only a few mm, and with a lot of light and a lot of fiddling, it can occasionally produce a decent macro shot. That`s one of the better ones up there.


_those fuses are supposed to be available at auto shops. Have ya tried repair garages or the local auto accessory shoppe? _
I`ll have a look the next time I get a chance to visit the town centre. UK car fuses are probably different to US ones but if these short fuses are common in audio equipment or other accessories, hopefully I`ll find one.


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## **DONOTDELETE** (May 20, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

This thread is still alive??? Wow....


Eric


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## hotfoot (May 21, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
*Niiiiiicee pic, Chris - how do yo take those ultra-macro shots anyway? 

With a slightly mangled one of these:







Covert CCTV cameras. All my pics come through live video cameras as I don`t have a digicam. I modified a lens to fit on one of them so it can focus down to only a few mm, and with a lot of light and a lot of fiddling, it can occasionally produce a decent macro shot. That`s one of the better ones up there.


those fuses are supposed to be available at auto shops. Have ya tried repair garages or the local auto accessory shoppe? 
I`ll have a look the next time I get a chance to visit the town centre. UK car fuses are probably different to US ones but if these short fuses are common in audio equipment or other accessories, hopefully I`ll find one.





*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Clever how you do those pix! Say... that looks like the console of some sort of multitrack tape recorder (Tascam? Fostex?)under those cams - you wouldn't happen also to be a MIDI or studio junkie, would you? I'm still lamenting the death of my Yamaha W7 and 6-operator FM synthesis


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## hotfoot (May 21, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Craig, my version info reads the same as yours.

The conflicting lamp specs for brightness came from this post by SUVlights.com:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=000011 

Seems to be very credible though.

As for the lamp life - oops - guess what: I got the 1000hours from your site Craig, as well as Quickbeam's TheLightSite. Both of you state the bulb's life to be 1000hours





Chris M - thanks! I stand corrected about the Maxabeam - I only read the "Xenon" portion assuming that its merely another big gas-filled spotlight. Missed that all-important "short-arc" bit!











I assume both your LC100s lamp assemblies look like mine here, right?


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## Brock (May 21, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

I was going to ask what the console was. I noticed it before the camera actually, I have work on the brain I guess.


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## The_LED_Museum (May 21, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
*



*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>






Hey, your picture is better than mine. And your bulb has more of that orange sh*t in it than mine does!


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## The_LED_Museum (May 21, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hotfoot:
*
As for the lamp life - oops - guess what: I got the 1000hours from your site Craig, as well as Quickbeam's TheLightSite. Both of you state the bulb's life to be 1000hours




*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I can no longer remember where i got that lamp info from - possibly the UK website itself, Welch-Allyn's website, or some other equally reliable source.





Screw the book. The website's always right.


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## Chris M. (May 21, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

The console is a crappy 9 channel disco mixer. 






Once upon a time when I was still at highschool I used to do all the lighting for the music shows they did- the school had no lighting of its own in the main hall so I brought along a whole bunch of homebrew stuff made of car fog lamps, garden floods and a handful of "proper" lights, all run from a simple 12 volt switch panel controlling local relays to switch the mains power. Admittedly it was only a few times a year but it was fun! I have videos of the two best shows here, if I can find them I`ll grab a still or two. The effects were pretty good, the last one I did especially. 

Right towards the end I did a couple of discos with a friend- but all I had was two CD players, a homebrew crossfader (100k stereo pot in a box!) and my Marantz amp. Then I saw that mixer on half price sale so thought I`d get it to use at future shows/discos/etc. I also got more, better lighting and a pair of cheap PA speakers too.

I then left highschool and have not been involved in any sound/light shows since! The mixer lives on as the front end to my hifi setup, although only 3 stereo channels work properly (there`s a 4 channel switcher to handle cd/video sound/portable minidisc/pc (except the new one doesn`t have a sound card!), 2 other channels are RIAA compensated for record players (I believe the kids call them "decks" now?) but I don`t have any of those. The other 3 are mic channels and are seldom used, but do come into play now and then. My Brother plays guitar/drums/sings badly and we have done some demo recording now and then, but not for ages. He`s away at Uni and does it all himself now on his PC. Made 3 "demo LPs" and one EP so far (the last 2 on CDR, previously on tape 4-track/old hifi!), though it`s still just a bit of fun for now, he`s not signed or anything.


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## hotfoot (May 21, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The LED Museum:
*Screw the book. The website's always right.






*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I prefer to think so too





*Chris:* So you were a mobile-DJ once, eh? Cool - I always envied the guys who played the dance halls for those one-nite functions with their road-ready set-ups. Hmmm... dim lighting, tricky working conditions, unreliable power supply - no wonder you took to flashlights! Ever wish you had an Arc-LS/Lambda Illuminator/LegendLX/E2 back then? Great for crawling around under the console when that annoying hum rears its head. And the LC100 would be KILLER for the mirror ball !!!


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## hotfoot (May 22, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

*Chris:* 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Came in handy now and then. Once had some nails sticking out of a bit of staging that kept snagging cables on, I soon took care of those <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ah yes - perfect use for that term again - "percussive maintenance" -





Say - my UWK dealer told me that the price of the LC100 is going up. Apparently, he's been selling them like hotcakes and this phenomenon is occuring worldwide. UWK has caught onto this and is reported to be raising prices and capitalising on the LC100's popularity. Seems like a US$25-50 increase is slated.

How are the LC100 prices doing in your respective areas, everyone? I hope that with the planned hike that they'll somehow squeeze in more goodies. I really wouldn't mind a 8xAA-powered 1-hour burn-time 450 lumen HID like the LC100 (maybe the dubbed the "LC50"?)


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## Chris M. (May 23, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

_So you were a mobile-DJ once, eh? _

Not really, I was mainly involved in lights so you could have called me an "Amateur Lighting Engineer"



. The couple of discos were done with a friend for the local Marine Cadets unit he was involved with. I have hardly any records and know nothing of what music kids like anyway- he provided the tunes and I did the tech stuff.


I didn`t have a mirrorball but did have a "laser crab" small red laser effect that looked good in smoke. I wish we`d had green lasers back then. I still have the unit but fried the laser trying to hotrod it, maybe I`ll do a retrofit to it one day.....

Funnily enough I never really needed a torch, setting up was always done in the day. It was a very amateurish operation mostly done by just me and took ages so I always started early. I did have my (sadly now dead) 4D Maglite slung through a beltloop holder though. Came in handy now and then. Once had some nails sticking out of a bit of staging that kept snagging cables on, I soon took care of those


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## brightnorm (May 25, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
*...Maxabeam is an incandescent...
No it isn`t! It`s a 70 watt short arc Xenon lamp- the same kind of bulb used in theater followspots, movie projectors..... .
*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

ChrisM,

Congratulations on your homepage win!

Is the "short arc Xenon lamp" considered to be a type of HID? I always assumed that any lamp that produced light via an arc between two electrodes in a xenon atmosphere was a HID. 

Brightnorm


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## Alan (May 26, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

According to KumKang who makes lights like Maxabeam, 35W HID could be brighter than 75W Xenon Short Arc. Their 35W HID rated higher Candle Power than 50 to 80W Xenon Short Arc light.

Alan


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## Chris M. (May 26, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Thanks Norm.





I`ve always got a bit muddled by the definition of "HID". Metal Halide, Low and High pressure Sodium, Low, Medium and High pressure Mercury- these are all HID. A short arc Xenon lamp is not technically a HID lamp, but the reason currently evades me I`m afraid. 

BTW if anyone is interested in discharge lamps in general, there is a great new site featuring all kinds, right back to the very first two piece low pressure sodium lamps - http://www.hooker1.fsnet.co.uk . Still under construction and with some formatting problems that are slowly being resolved, but the photos and information presented there are excellent.


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## Mr Ted Bear (May 26, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Chris

PK explained to me that "short arc" references the distance between the eletrodes as being less than 3mm. The Light Canon is less than 3mm, where as the McCulloch, The Beast and others that use the Phillips D2S is more like 6mm, and there for not a short arc HID.


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## **DONOTDELETE** (May 29, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

For those interested about the rechargeable batteries. Many "cheap" rechargeable C and D cells actually are just AA cells (sometimes high capacity) inside a C or D package.


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## **DONOTDELETE** (Jun 10, 2002)

*Re: Just got my UK Light Cannon today! (freggin\' bright!!)*

Hi Ted, you are on the right lines with your statement! The D2S/D2R automotive types have a 4.2mm arc gap and are not technically short arc lamps as you correctly point out. But if you are interested in the technical definition, rather than just specifying 3mm as the cutoff point, the usual way is to take the lamp watts into account. So a smaller lamp needs a smaller arc gap to still be called short arc.

The standard definition is that the lamp must be loaded at greater than 100 watts per centimetre of arc length to be classified as short arc. So the 35W lamps are only true short arc types if the arc gap is less than 3.5mm. Similarly, a 5000W Xenon lamp used for cinema movie projection has a longish 6.5mm arc gap but it is still called short arc because in this case it is loaded at some 7500 watts per centimetre.

The 35W and 10W metal halide lamps used in flashlights might initially seem like short arc types, but do not forget that almost every LCD video projector makes use of a 100W pure mercury lamp having a tiny 1.0mm arc gap, and the short arc term is usually reserved for those types!

The term is of course rather loosely used though. In general I think for high power lamps this rule is applicable but the industry does tend to refer to anything below 35W as being short arc, regardless of its actual length!

Regarding a definition of HID, all metal halide and xenon arc lamps can be classified as such. HID lamps have a high pressure discharge operating above 10 watts per centimetre of arc length. The only discharge lamps not termed HID are things like fluorescent tubes, low pressure sodium, neon signs etc. where they make use of very long, low intensity tubes.

Best regards!

James


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