# SunForce 25 Million Candlepower HID Rechargeable Spotlight



## BlueBeam22

I just bought the SunForce 25 Million Candlepower rechargeable HID spotlight, and I am totally shocked by it, as it out throws my AmondoTech Titanium Mega Illuminator/Costco HID! I would have never expected there to be a metal halide HID light that could possibly even equal the Mega Illuminator in throw; I only bought this SunForce because I wanted to have a light with a blue beam that could out throw the POB (which it does easily), so I am very surprised that it can out throw the Mega Illuminator, even though it is by an extremely small amount. 

Its beam is as narrow as it gets with a very bright little pinpoint hotspot, and tight small corona around it. It throws unbelievably far, and easily lights up objects in the 1000 yard range. It out throws every other large spotlight I have ever owned. The beam it makes in the sky is remarkable; it is like a blue laser like parallel ray of light that extends up forever, and kind of reminds me of an advertising searchlight just because it is so tightly collimated. It puts a perfect round spot on distant objects, and its beam pattern kind of reminds me of how the beams from short arc xenon lights look, based on the pictures I have seen (of course the 25MCP will not realistically compare to a short arc xenon).

The beam color is very deep blue and appears in the 6500K-8000K range. I believe it is a 35W HID. It has two switches; the top one toggles the light on and off for standard use, and the lower switch operates the light directly from a 12V source when you have its 12V DC car charger plugged into the DC port. Otherwise, the lower switch does not operate the light. Use only the lower switch to operate the light from its 12V DC cigarette lighter adaptor cord, and make sure the DC cord is plugged into the lower port.

This light has a runtime around 40 minutes, and it uses twin 6V SLA batteries. It has a charge status indicator that lights red when it is charging and green when it is full. It can be both charged and run directly from its 12V DC car cigarette lighter adaptor cord, however the charging indicator will not light with this method.

It feels featherweight to me compared to some of my other large lights, and is even lighter weight than the Vector Power On Board HID even though its physical dimensions are larger. It has an 8’’ reflector, and is not as large as the Mega Illuminator, which is why I am so amazed that the 25MCP appears to out throw it. It also out throws the Professional's Favorite 20 Million Plus candlepower spotlight.


Pictures:















Beamshots:


Control:







Shining at a house down the street:






Shining at nearby tree to show beam pattern:






I highly recommend this SunForce HID spotlight to anyone looking for the longest thrower possible, and I think it is the new budget king of throw in spotlights. The SunForce 40 Million Candlepower HID spotlight got a review as being “more of a flood than spot light” which is the reason I never bought that one as I am only interested in extreme throw if I am going to carry around a large and heavy light, and I have been very satisfied with the Mega Illuminator in that regard. I think this SunForce 25 Million Candlepower HID could possibly be the longest throwing 35 watt HID ever available. 

The difference in throw between the Mega Illuminator and SunForce is very small and not easy to notice, but no matter what I shine the two lights at it appears to me that the SunForce is putting a slightly brighter spot on the object (such as a distant tree). I tested them against each other extensively tonight, and the result was always the same, in favor of the SunForce. That being said, I would still recommend the Mega Illuminator over it from a practicality standpoint, as the Mega Illuminator has a much longer runtime and its 4200K bulb gives much better rendition which can make it more useful. The Mega Illuminator also has a much larger and brighter corona around the hotspot. The only instance that I would recommend the SunForce over the Ti Mega in would be if you need something lightweight and easy to carry, but otherwise I think the Mega Illuminator is still a better, more reliable, more useful light, and I think it is still a better choice than this SunForce. 

Overall I think the SunForce 25 Million Candlepower HID spotlight is an excellent light and a great buy. I love the way its super tight blue beam looks. It is great for cloud bouncing, and I think this light is a perfect choice if you are just looking for an HID to have fun with. Otherwise, the Mega Illuminator is a more useful light IMHO.


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## Showolf

Another amazing light, and fantastic review as always! The fact that it throws more than the MEGA Illuminator is incredible, even if it is indeed by a small amount... Good luck with your new CANDLEPOWER CANNON!!!!


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## Flashanator

Nice Pics BB!!! Great light.

Hmmm I find it hard to believe it could out throw your Ti-mega with a smaller reflector, what looks like a shallower reflector, & less light with that higher colour temp.

But if you say so... :thumbsup:


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## Roberts30

Where did you purchase this light and how much? I want one! :twothumbs
(I bet your neighbors wondered what in the world was going on when you beamed their house)


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## Showolf

I am a good friend of BB, and his word is gold when it comes to light quality & performance... I have found his input and comments to be "SPOT ON" > No pun intended...LOL! I don't know how he does it, but I am glad he finds such great performing lights. I also will be purchasing one of these as my super thrower in the very near future... Thanks again BB, and have great fun with yet another sweet spotlight!


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## BlueBeam22

Showolf said:


> Another amazing light, and fantastic review as always! The fact that it throws more than the MEGA Illuminator is incredible, even if it is indeed by a small amount... Good luck with your new CANDLEPOWER CANNON!!!!


 
+1 on what makes it such an incredible light. It is very nice to have something smaller and lighter weight than the Mega Illuminator that can out throw it, as it is very convenient to carry on walks. The SunForce 25MCP absolutely blows away the POB HID, IMO.



Flashanator said:


> Nice Pics BB!!! Great light.
> 
> Hmmm I find it hard to believe it could out throw your Ti-mega with a smaller reflector, what looks like a shallower reflector, & less light with that higher colour temp.
> 
> But if you say so... :thumbsup:


 
Those are exactly my thoughts on this too, Flashanator. :thumbsup: The reflector is smaller and shallower than the one in the Mega Illuminator, and it has to be putting out a few hundred lumens less at such a high color temperature. I have done some more testing on it, and it for sure out throws the Ti Mega.



Roberts30 said:


> Where did you purchase this light and how much? I want one! :twothumbs
> (I bet your neighbors wondered what in the world was going on when you beamed their house)


 
I bought it at NorthernTool.com for $89.99. 



Showolf said:


> I am a good friend of BB, and his word is gold when it comes to light quality & performance... I have found his input and comments to be "SPOT ON" > No pun intended...LOL! I don't know how he does it, but I am glad he finds such great performing lights. I also will be purchasing one of these as my super thrower in the very near future... Thanks again BB, and have great fun with yet another sweet spotlight!


 
Thank you Showolf, and I do hope you get one of these for yourself, as I have yet to find a light more enjoyable than this one if you just want something that can put light on targets at the greatest distance possible.


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## Patriot

It looks like a nice light Houston. Impressive that it could out throw the Ti-Mega with an inch smaller reflector. It's a little hard to tell in the pictures without a representative beam to compare with but it looks quite nice. I thought the idea of 2 x 6V SLA's was a little odd though and wanted to ask if it could be 2 x 12V SLA's instead wired in parallel?

If you ever get the chance you'll have to do some side by side comparisons with a tripod mounted camera. 

Thanks for showing it to us.


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## CUL8R

BB22,

OK you talked me into it! I just ordered one to try out.

Jim


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## BlueBeam22

Patriot said:


> It looks like a nice light Houston. Impressive that it could out throw the Ti-Mega with an inch smaller reflector. It's a little hard to tell in the pictures without a representative beam to compare with but it looks quite nice. I thought the idea of 2 x 6V SLA's was a little odd though and wanted to ask if it could be 2 x 12V SLA's instead wired in parallel?
> 
> If you ever get the chance you'll have to do some side by side comparisons with a tripod mounted camera.
> 
> Thanks for showing it to us.


 
Thank you for your reply, Patriot. 

I just looked at the instruction manual, and it states that the light uses two 6V, 4Ah SLA batteries, and a 12V 35W HID bulb. It also states that the lower switch can be used to run the light directly from its 12V cigarette lighter adaptor.

It is very impressive indeed how it out throws the Mega Illuminator. I took it back to the fields across the street from my neighborhood last night, and it was able to light up trees over 800 yards away more brightly than the Mega Illuminator was able to, which I was very impressed by.



CUL8R said:


> BB22,
> 
> OK you talked me into it! I just ordered one to try out.
> 
> Jim


 
Congratulations, CUL8R. I hope you enjoy it, and please post how you find its performance.

It is such an amazing spotlight, and I hope it becomes more popular here on CPF.


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## Patriot

Thant's amazing performace Bluebeam. Thanks for the verifying the battery arrangement too. You've become quite the big spot light guru.


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## BlueBeam22

Patriot said:


> Thant's amazing performace Bluebeam. Thanks for the verifying the battery arrangement too. You've become quite the big spot light guru.


 
Thank you very much for your post and kind words, Patriot! I really enjoy collecting and testing the large reflectored SLA battery powered spotlights. :thumbsup:

I weighed the SunForce on my scale, and it only weighs about 7 pounds - just over 1/2 the weight of the Costco HID/Ti Mega, and quite noticeably less than the POB HID! I am so impressed by its light weight and throw surpassing that of the Ti Mega.

The SunForce 25MCP truly seems small and featherweight to me compared to the larger Costco/Ti Mega and Professional's Favorite 20 Million Plus Candlepower spotlights.

I just took this picture for you to see, Patriot, as I thought you would like to see a direct size comparison between it and the Costco/Ti Mega, since you have that light.  Sorry if it is a little dark, the only light source was a camera flash.


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## SunFire900

CUL8R said:


> BB22,
> 
> OK you talked me into it! I just ordered one to try out.
> 
> Jim




What the heck happened here? Sudden thread death? 

Jim, did you get your SunForce? What are your feelings about it? The price is definitely right for an HID thrower like this, or so it seems. 

I just hate to see threads die like this. Please let us know your thoughts.


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## BlueBeam22

Here is a side-by-side beamshot of the SunForce 25MCP and Mega Illuminator shining at some trees down the street around 100 yards away. Notice the SunForce's tighter beam, and how the two are extremely close. The SunForce has always out thrown the Mega Illuminator by a small amount in all of my tests.






Please let me know if this photo is displaying over 800x800 pixels. It should be 800x600 as that is how large it is displaying for me, but I will resize it immediately if it is displaying larger than that.


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## ScottFHall

I bought one of these Sunforce 25 milion candlepower HIDs--it's great!

It has been changed a little compared to your yellow one. Now, it's just got one on-off slide switch on top of the handle and there are two recharge inputs in the side sort of close to where the rocker switches on your's are--one for ac (wall wart included) and one for automative dc (cigarette lighter charge cord also included). A nylon strap in included--I added two chrome rings so that it would hang correctly. Sunforce ought to include rings or swivels.

Sunforce has eliminated one of the pair of stand legs (leaving just one which is sufficient to prop it to various angles). To get into the lens area, you have to take out one little little philips head screw and then make a slight _clockwise_ turn on the black ring and lift upward--not the usual "unscrew the ring counterclockwise" approach that is what one expects intuitively. Once inside, the design is simple and pretty spacious--you could definitely fit a keyswitch into the housing if you want to add keyed battery cut-off and make it look almost as ominous as Ralf Ottow's Maxablaster 

The reflector is spun aluminum, acts like a heatsink therefore, and vents have been stamped into the housing for airflow/cooling. I used a small exacto knife to clear just a couple of polyethylene fins that were still slightly blocking some of those vents. This and the chrome rings are the only quality improvement measure I had to undertake to make this light perfect.

Access to the batteries is very good--a screw-locked slide door is at the back.

The whole light _has_ changed color, too, which is an improvement and prevents the housing itself from glowing--it's grey now with black trim. In all, this Sunforce light looks cool and it is one heck of a long throwing spotlight!


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## ScottFHall

And here's my unretouched beamshot and several other pics of the Sunforce 25...


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## BlueBeam22

Amazing photos and beamshots, ScottFHall! Thank you very much for posting them and posting your impressions on it. Looking at how tight its beam is in your sky shot tells me that the new style should be at least as good a thrower as the original yellow one. I love my SunForce and hope you get a lot of enjoyment and use out of yours.


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## ScottFHall

Thanks BlueBeam22, I expect it will last. It seems built well. Today, I gave this light its first mod to help _ensure_ it can last down here in the Florida winter heat 

As you can see in these pics, I got a few parts and a project box and built a little outboard muffin fan cooler with green running light, on-off switch, and a separate supply of rechargeable batteries inside. I then a made a slight hole in the bottom of the flashlight case and added some velcro. Voila--the temperature inside must be down and I didn't even have to hack into the internal circuitry. Why do this? Well, who knows who in China engineered this thing? Maybe it runs hot and this makes sense to do? It certainly looks good and adds just a little weight.
















Besides more possible tweaks on this light, I've got a project coming up based on a 100 watt high pressure sodium lamp and ballast I have sitting here. It's rated at 6,000 lumens. I'm thinking--even though it throws that sickening pink-orange color--I want to put a parabolic reflector around the lamp to see if it will throw a beam to any great distance with strength and visibility. If so, I guess I'll build it a casing and give it a name--_The Pink Menace_ or something like that.


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## DM51

Welcome to CPF, ScottFHall. Your photos are excellent, and you have picked the right place to post, as Bluebeam22 is very knowledgeable about these lights.

*(@ Bluebeam22 & other Spotlights & HID regulars - I think ScottFHall is going to fit in very well indeed here!)*


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## BlueBeam22

Thank you for the update ScottFHall, your photos are very nice and so is your additional fan. Please do post updates if you decide to modify it with your 100W sodium HID lamp. I would be interested to see whether that makes a thrower or more of a flood light.

DM51, I truly appreciate your kind comments. Thank you very much!


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## uknewbie

This looks rather good to me. Particularly the ability to run it directly from your car's 12V DC supply :thumbsup:

Anywhere ship to the UK for less than £1 million I wonder?

Or anyone in the UK sell them?


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## ScottFHall

Thanks, DM51--it's fun to be here. I guess I should take some pics and show _another _fairly non-invasive/non-destructive mod I did a while back. A simple one: I installed an extra spst on-off switch on one of those little yellow Stanley Ultrabright LED spotlights. Now, instead of starting up to 50% brightness, it's runs straight on up to %100 with just a single trigger pull and hold. It's a complaint I saw here once so I worked it out. I'll post that when I get pics.

BlueBeam22, regarding my 100 watt high pressure sodium lamp and ballast, I think what I'll do is get (or build) a fairly large parabolic reflector and scratch-build the casing. In all, it will be yet _another_ spotlight--nothing to do with my Sunforce 25,000,000 which I like too much to dissect much more.

uknewbie, the Sunforce 25... doesn't exactly run _straight_ from the 12 volt car battery--what I meant was that it comes supplied with a cable that connects from the cigarette lighter socket to the flashlight and that slowly trickle charges the internal flashlight batteries. So, while you're driving along, you can be charging it up. I think when either charge port on the flashlight is plugged in, you _cannot_ get the light to operate--you have to disconnect first and be back to running on internal batteries.

Regarding buying, what do you mean? The dealer that comes up in a search engine for the Sunforce 25... _won't_ ship to UK? Or are you having trouble finding a 100 watt high pressure sodium lamp and ballast over there?


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## ScottFHall

By the way, here's a pic of my 100 watt 6,000 lumen high pressure sodium lamp and ballast just starting to warm up and also a pic of it contained in the first (intentionally distressed) casing I built for it. That was not an entirely satisfying result because I didn't have much of a reflector in there--certainly not parabolic. It worked as a sort of mega-flood for lighting up the whole countryside.

More on this later sodium lamp later when I have some progress. In another thread if that's more appropriate (?) Word of warning if you fiddle with these: put that bulb behind some ultraviolet blocking glass (or wear UV goggles) if you try these sodium bulbs out. If you have one on in the same room as your unprotected eyes for just a few minutes, your eyeballs get sunburned. Feels like you've been swimming open-eyed for half a day in a heavily chlorined pool!


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## uknewbie

The only place I can find it for sale is Northern Tool, and they don't seem to list international shipping. I am just assuming due to the size and weight that shipping would be very high.

Incidentally, the two reviews on there are not so complementary of it. 

http://reviews.northerntool.com/0394/160455/reviews.htm

Thanks for the clear up about the 12v supply. It did seem too good to be able to power it directly from your car, rather than just charge it from it.

Craig.


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## ScottFHall

Craig, I think your power concerns are easily overcome thereby making this light accessible to you in one sense.

The house mains power supply (AC-DC "wall wart") that recharges this flashlight is rated...

Input: 120 volts AC ~ 60Hz 7 watts

...and it outputs...

12 volts DC at 300mA

The center pin is positive on the tip that plugs into the flashlight recharge port.

All you have to do is find yourself a UK-made wall wart that can be plugged into your 240 mains with that huge three pronged plug you guys use and yet outputs just as mine does to...

12 volts DC at 300mA

I guarantee you that rating device _does_ exist there.

Once you have that, your only concern is the tip. The simplest solution is to use the tip that comes with the flashlight--cut the wires and the wires on your UK wall wart and solder the two together. And then you can recharge this light by simply connecting to UK mains.

And what about those electric shaver sockets that you guys have in bathrooms over there? Aren't they rated at 115v? You might be able to simply use that with the stock _120 volts AC ~ 60Hz 7 watts to 12 volts DC at 300mA _wall wart if you have the correct plug in tip converter.

Another option so you can start using all sorts of appliances intended for the US market is: get a 240 to 120 volt step down transformer. Those look like they cost about $15.

Regarding the US seller of this flashlight, write them email and ask if they'll ship to you.

Regarding those two sort of lame reviews:

Pilot msr is reviewing the older yellow version of this light. That's not the same version I have. I have the newer grey and black one. And his review isn't so bad anyway. Neither is BlueBeam22's who gone so far here to do a comparison with a light known to be quite good.

These complaints about short run time--I haven't experienced that yet. I'm not one to sit and watch a flashlight burn for an hour, after all.

The second reviewer is clearly comparing a 3 million cp halogen (yellowish) spotlight to this new 25 million cp blue xenon--that's a questionable comparison from the get-go. Also, he assumes that 25 million cp literally means that it will appear to be 8 times brighter. I doubt that is the way it works in any case. I know more about sound waves myself--I know the math is _not _linear in terms of trying to multiply loudness. I bet it's the same for light.

And again, he's reviewing the older yellow one with two switches. It's clearly been through a redesign. It's new design is quite similar in ways to that of the Sunforce 40,000,000 cp monster floodlight.

As for labeling and lack thereof, this is the typical modus operandi here in 2009, right?. Just about everything is made in China and then gets labeled elsewhere in order to pitch the brand that's retailing it. Take a look sometime at legendary high dollar German Leica cameras and Panasonics. Several of their digitals are exactly the same, different labels.

As far as I'm concerned this 25,000,000 cp spotlight is a great one. The construction quality is high, the beam visibility and throw is astounding, it's got room inside for access and custom modification, the reflector is very well made and perfectly polished, the lamp is dead-centered to throw an absolutely perfect round spot. When I set this thing up vertically on my car and bring anyone outside to see the beam, they all immediately yell out "Wow!!!" and then voice concern about this infinite tree trunk of white-blue light upsetting air traffic! For some reason when aiming straight up, the beam looks just enormous.


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## uknewbie

ScottFhall, thanks for the reply. I agree that this light, based on this thread in particular, looks very good. It is also very cheap for what you get.

I know I could charge it here in the UK without any problems, that was not a concern. 
I had just thought that initially the review was saying it could be operated, and actually used by means of a direct power supply from your car’s 12v power outlet, rather than just being re-charged from it.

The only thing I have close to this is a Thor and by all accounts it does not appear to be in the same league. It is the type of monster light I would love to have in my car just for the sake of it.

Something similar might actually hit the shops in the UK at some point, like the Thor did, cash and carry type of purchase.

Now that I think of it, does anyone have a beam shot comparison to a Thor?


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## BlueBeam22

ScottFHall said:


> As far as I'm concerned this 25,000,000 cp spotlight is a great one. The construction quality is high, the beam visibility and throw is astounding, it's got room inside for access and custom modification, the reflector is very well made and perfectly polished, the lamp is dead-centered to throw an absolutely perfect round spot. When I set this thing up vertically on my car and bring anyone outside to see the beam, they all immediately yell out "Wow!!!" and then voice concern about this infinite tree trunk of white-blue light upsetting air traffic! For some reason when aiming straight up, the beam looks just enormous.


 
I know exactly what you mean about how its beam looks in the night sky. It is like a blue laser of light that goes up forever and looks kind of like an advertising searchlight when viewed from close up. I am very glad to hear you are so impressed with yours.



uknewbie said:


> Now that I think of it, does anyone have a beam shot comparison to a Thor?


 
I don't have a beamshot at this time but I do have both the SunForce 25 million candlepower light and a 15MCP "Thor". The SunForce 25 million candlepower blows away the Thor in both brightness and throw. The SunForce is an outstanding performer and to my knowledge the new lux/throw-per-dollar champion of all spotlights and HID lights.


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## ScottFHall

Yeah, BlueBeam22, I got pretty lucky picking up this SF 25 million cp light as my _first_ HID. It's got power, it's affordable, _and_ looks big, dark, and dangerous. Naturally, I can't resist putting a key lock switch on it to prevent the unauthorised from powering it up--I'll post a pic of that later, of course :thumbsup:


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## ScottFHall

I finally got a couple of shots of my Sunforce 25 million cp spotlight across the street at the riverside--*this is my one mile beamshot test*. I'm at the Georgiana edge of Merritt Island (southern half of Cape Canaveral) and it's one mile across the Indian River to a town called Rockledge.

What we have here is my spotlight perched on a 5 gallon paint bucket--just a foot and a half above the ground. Note the light spill away from the beam--not bad at all.

The beam streaks fiercely across the whole river, very tight, nice and blue-white.

At the opposite shore, you see two low pressure sodium streetlights glowing--I've marked these with the purple arrows.

In between, marked by my red arrow, you see the spot cast on a house by this amazing spotlight: one mile away! I _think_ it's a house. House? billboard? It's something big and light colored.

The first pic is the standard view of my camera--entirely unenhanced and unretouched except for my insertion of arrows and cropping down the overall picture size to focus on the action.

The second pic is a 3 times max zoom produced on site by my digital camera itself (12 megapixel Olympus FE-26). Again, this picture is likewise unaltered except for the arrows I inserted and some cropping of excess.

Note that last night was a full moon--so tonight it is _still_ 99% full and the sky is clear here and it's cold--about 50 degrees F. It's a bright night out and yet the beam emitted from this spotlight remains just spectacular.

As stock light goes, this thing is just awesome!


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## kramer5150

ONE mile!!! holy moly!!

Judging the brightness of the beam it looks like it will go on MUCH farther than that. I'd love to see some cloud bounce shots.


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## ScottFHall

Yeah, I'll certainly pursue that next, Kramer5150 (getting a photo or two of this beam putting a tight circle of light on a cloud). I see that Ralf Ottow's Maxablaster does that very well at 4 miles--I guess my Sunforce 25m cp should be able to equal that effect at 1 mile, maybe 2 miles, possibly 3. We will see... 

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/125819&page=3


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## ScottFHall

Today, I've added a keyed switch to the Sunforce 25 m cp spotlight. This provides me a way of locking out use of the spotlight--from kids, for example--by just taking away the key. Adding it in makes no change to the slide switch at the right of my photo--it continues to operate but I think it is a post-circuit board switch. My key switch has been added pre-circuit board.

It fit in there very easily along the right side and nothing is cramped inside. The rotation of the leg/foot to any position is _not _hindered by the added switch either.

The black wire coming directly from the battery was long enough so that all I had to do to add this switch in between the battery and the circuit board was cut the wire at midpoint, strip it, and solder the two tips to the two lugs on the keyed switch. The action of the rotary switch is very smooth and when you pull the key, a shield covers the keyhole just as an automotive keyhole does.

This is likely all I will do to this spotlight for some time now--I'll wait to mod it more until I can't resist trying to amplify the candlepower which is, of course, a much more serious and risky project. I think I've proven with these slight mods, though, that this rather inexpensive and yet powerful HID is a very good platform for those of you out there who might be want to create a real monster.


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## strinq

Omg, 1 mile...


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## ScottFHall

Yep, one mile!

And to allay any confusion in regard to your quote (which, no doubt, will set some readers wondering): yes, freight trains _do_ run over on that side of the river, but they run _north to south_. My beamshot here is traveling _east to west_. So that big white ball there is indeed the hotspot of this HID light appearing a mile away, not the headlight of a freight train. In fact, the lower edge of the that circle of hotspot illumination has a dimmed, dark area in it that cuts into the circle. That is caused by the insulated wire that runs along the 6 o'clock area of the bulb (a wire you can see clearly in my close up picture of the lamp itself up above in this thread).

I'm still amazed with this light. I tried to get a cloudbounce picture or two last night but there just weren't any out there to hit. I guess this was due to the serious cold. Somebody please tell all the delegates up in Copenhagen--it got down to the freezing point of water in Cape Canaveral, _Florida_ last night  What's up with that???


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## ScottFHall

Okay: serious cloudbouncing with a cast shadow has been achieved with the Sunforce 25 m cp spotlight. 4 good pics to see here...

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3230683&postcount=37


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## Nanomiser

I've had my SunForce HID now for about a week now and finally got a chance to go out and play alittle and put together a review.

First some pics of my new *SunForce 25MCF 35W HID Spotlight. oo:*



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



It's definitely a thrower! Although I'm only showing a max of 300ft here this light will easily do twice that in the right conditions. The last two pics were done using "night shot" mode as to enhance the beam. Unfortunately my camera is not a true SLR and I didn't bring a tripod so I had some problems rendering beam shots in regular mode. However, the actual beam is very visible cutting through the night sky and the spill is enormous! You can't see it here but the hot spot is on the ugly side with a very uniform geometry looking a bit more like a distorted star than a spot. I'm most impressed with the collimated beam produced enabling the tremendous throw. The huge spill is also nice for lighting up the surround area eliminating any risk of mishaps when walking around.

The weight to size ratio is very ergonomically comfortable when walking around even without the carrying strap. Basic dimensions are ~11.70"OAL X 7.25"H (Base to Handle Top) X 8.625" Bezel Dia. with a 6.875" Lens Dia which I believe is glass. The reflector is aluminum with a smooth texture; maybe an MOP finish here would have helped with the spot quality. The HID Bulb is a 12Vdc 35W Quartz Xenon. The body, bezel and bracket are all made of a durable plastic. No accessories, the weight comes in at 6.01 Lbs. User functions are straight forward with single mode on-off slider switch, AC & DC charging jacks with LED indicator, an adjustable locking position bracket, two strap loops and a handle. Upon initial fire up it does have that signature 20 or 30 second HID bulb warm up before the full power stabilizes. The majority of the slots you see on the back side of the head are in fact vents probably facilitating cooling for the reflector.

Aside from my option of the spot, this appears to be a really nice HID light with a very good build quality; I'm happy with it. :twothumbs

Thanks BlueBeam22 for the recommendation! :thumbsup:

It's a little sickening to say, but I'm already thinking about I can push this thing to 55W and higher!


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## Roberts30

Thanks for Sharing!


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## ScottFHall

Cool light, eh, Nanomiser? I trashed that sticker on mine immediately (lame little bit of garbage graphics that was just not up to the same standard aesthetically as the 3D design of the housing itself).


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## Nanomiser

Very cool light! 

As for the sticker I would agree it's pretty cheesy, but I'm going to keep it for now. I would like to buy another as a host for a 55W mod and get rid of the sticker on that one. 

Tried to do some cloud bouncing last night and got these instead. Image quality is not very good due to exposure setting and no tripod.


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## cccpull

Nanomiser said:


> As for the sticker I would agree it's pretty cheesy, but I'm going to keep it for now. I would like to buy another as a host for a 55W mod and get rid of the sticker on that one.



Why don't you just get the 10Million CP model as a host, which is a lot cheaper (on sale 24.99) and the case is exactly alike. Unless you're thinking you might be able to just swap the ballasts.:thinking:


----------



## kramer5150

cccpull said:


> Why don't you just get the 10Million CP model as a host, which is a lot cheaper (on sale 24.99) and the case is exactly alike. Unless you're thinking you might be able to just swap the ballasts.:thinking:



Are the reflectors the same between the incan and HID?


----------



## cccpull

kramer5150 said:


> Are the reflectors the same between the incan and HID?



They look the same except the incandescent has an H4 bulb mount, but if he's buying a kit (unless he has parts laying around) he would just order an h4 hid kit. Otherwise it would be $89.99 for the Sunforce HID plus the HID kit.
This guy has a thread on it. Here.


----------



## Nanomiser

cccpull said:


> Why don't you just get the 10Million CP model as a host, which is a lot cheaper (on sale 24.99) and the case is exactly alike. Unless you're thinking you might be able to just swap the ballasts.:thinking:


 
If dimensionally the basic feature are equal than using the 10MCP version is definitely the way go; good tip! 

It appears to be a bit more involved than ballast swapping so I need to make sure that the host I use will accommodate all of the new parts.

Thank you for the link to *spc's* HID modthread it was very informative. :thumbsup:


----------



## Locoboy5150

If anyone is interested in one of these monsters, here it is:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200342907_200342907?cm_sp=RVC-_-Product%20Page-_-Products

Hmmmm...looks promising! Should I get one guys?


----------



## pinebluffbill

BlueBeam22 said:


> I just bought the SunForce 25 Million Candlepower rechargeable HID spotlight, and I am totally shocked by it, as it out throws my AmondoTech Titanium Mega Illuminator/Costco HID! I would have never expected there to be a metal halide HID light that could possibly even equal the Mega Illuminator in throw; I only bought this SunForce because I wanted to have a light with a blue beam that could out throw the POB (which it does easily), so I am very surprised that it can out throw the Mega Illuminator, even though it is by an extremely small amount.
> 
> Its beam is as narrow as it gets with a very bright little pinpoint hotspot, and tight small corona around it. It throws unbelievably far, and easily lights up objects in the 1000 yard range. It out throws every other large spotlight I have ever owned. The beam it makes in the sky is remarkable; it is like a blue laser like parallel ray of light that extends up forever, and kind of reminds me of an advertising searchlight just because it is so tightly collimated. It puts a perfect round spot on distant objects, and its beam pattern kind of reminds me of how the beams from short arc xenon lights look, based on the pictures I have seen (of course the 25MCP will not realistically compare to a short arc xenon).
> 
> The beam color is very deep blue and appears in the 6500K-8000K range. I believe it is a 35W HID. It has two switches; the top one toggles the light on and off for standard use, and the lower switch operates the light directly from a 12V source when you have its 12V DC car charger plugged into the DC port. Otherwise, the lower switch does not operate the light. Use only the lower switch to operate the light from its 12V DC cigarette lighter adaptor cord, and make sure the DC cord is plugged into the lower port.
> 
> This light has a runtime around 40 minutes, and it uses twin 6V SLA batteries. It has a charge status indicator that lights red when it is charging and green when it is full. It can be both charged and run directly from its 12V DC car cigarette lighter adaptor cord, however the charging indicator will not light with this method.
> 
> It feels featherweight to me compared to some of my other large lights, and is even lighter weight than the Vector Power On Board HID even though its physical dimensions are larger. It has an 8’’ reflector, and is not as large as the Mega Illuminator, which is why I am so amazed that the 25MCP appears to out throw it. It also out throws the Professional's Favorite 20 Million Plus candlepower spotlight.
> 
> 
> Pictures:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beamshots:
> 
> 
> Control:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shining at a house down the street:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Shining at nearby tree to show beam pattern:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I highly recommend this SunForce HID spotlight to anyone looking for the longest thrower possible, and I think it is the new budget king of throw in spotlights. The SunForce 40 Million Candlepower HID spotlight got a review as being “more of a flood than spot light” which is the reason I never bought that one as I am only interested in extreme throw if I am going to carry around a large and heavy light, and I have been very satisfied with the Mega Illuminator in that regard. I think this SunForce 25 Million Candlepower HID could possibly be the longest throwing 35 watt HID ever available.
> 
> The difference in throw between the Mega Illuminator and SunForce is very small and not easy to notice, but no matter what I shine the two lights at it appears to me that the SunForce is putting a slightly brighter spot on the object (such as a distant tree). I tested them against each other extensively tonight, and the result was always the same, in favor of the SunForce. That being said, I would still recommend the Mega Illuminator over it from a practicality standpoint, as the Mega Illuminator has a much longer runtime and its 4200K bulb gives much better rendition which can make it more useful. The Mega Illuminator also has a much larger and brighter corona around the hotspot. The only instance that I would recommend the SunForce over the Ti Mega in would be if you need something lightweight and easy to carry, but otherwise I think the Mega Illuminator is still a better, more reliable, more useful light, and I think it is still a better choice than this SunForce.
> 
> Overall I think the SunForce 25 Million Candlepower HID spotlight is an excellent light and a great buy. I love the way its super tight blue beam looks. It is great for cloud bouncing, and I think this light is a perfect choice if you are just looking for an HID to have fun with. Otherwise, the Mega Illuminator is a more useful light IMHO.



i just received mine in also. i like the new features and is one heck of a thrower. i like the switch on top of the handle and it is unbelieably lightweight for its size. one doesn't need the carry strap.


----------



## Locoboy5150

For those that have this Sunforce HID spotlight, do the included 12 V-DC and 110 V-AC charging systems stop charging when the two 6 V batteries are fully charged or do they just keep overcharging them?


----------



## andromeda.73

truly impressive, and the price is even more!


----------



## kramer5150

Locoboy5150 said:


> For those that have this Sunforce HID spotlight, do the included 12 V-DC and 110 V-AC charging systems stop charging when the two 6 V batteries are fully charged or do they just keep overcharging them?




No replies?
I don't own one, but I would be completely surprised if the charging system is nothing more than a 12V ~.35A wall wart, that direct charges the SLA cells. The only _budget _spotlight(s) I am aware of that actually do have legit charging circuits are the POB-HID and stanley models. But even then I think they are just voltage monitoring devices... no CC/CV. So its just a time based charging circuit in the sunforce. Whether or not it damages the cells, depends on the charge rate (amps) and just how long you leave it plugged in.

The instructions should give you some rough guidelines for charging times.

A simple mod you can do is wire up a deans plug and charge it with your BC112C. Just make sure to terminate the charge at~14.5V.

**edit**
12V and 6V SLA cells are used in all kinds of applications. From childrens riding toys to millitary to medical. Google search "12V charging circuit"... there are several DIY links, complete with schematics and follow up commentaries.

re-terminate one of these with the right plug and youre all set.
http://www.batteryspace.com/leadacidsmartcharger10afor12vleadacidbatteryworldwideuse-1.aspx

Word of caution... I dont know how well a higher current 12V charger works with 2x6V in series, without a cell balancing circuit. That topic is probably worth a whole new discussion thread in itself.


----------



## ScottFHall

Charging: nope, mine has never reached a state where it arrives at full charge and turns itself off.

What you have is a red led next to the ac charge port--there is not one on the dc charge port. When you attached the wall wart male tip to it, the red led glows. That simply indicates that juice is flowing.

On the wall wart itself, there is a green led and a red led. The green lights to full strength when you plug the wall wart into the wall. The red is a "load indicator": if you have a low or no charge on the internal batteries, the red led glows not at all. When charge is up, the red glows very bright like the green next to it. What you have in this, I think, is simply an analog device. I don't think this is a smart digital device that will detect 12 volts reached and truly do a cut off.


----------



## [email protected]

kramer5150 said:


> I would be completely surprised if the charging system is nothing more than a 12V ~.35A wall wart, that direct charges the SLA cells.




Somebody had their "weetbix" this morning, you're on the money 100% both my rechargeable spotlights (now HID) came with said "wall wart" transformer/charger... considering the price point I wouldn't expect anything else :thumbsup:


----------



## Nanomiser

ScottFHall said:


> Charging: nope, mine has never reached a state where it arrives at full charge and turns itself off.
> 
> What you have is a red led next to the ac charge port--there is not one on the dc charge port. When you attached the wall wart male tip to it, the red led glows. That simply indicates that juice is flowing.
> 
> On the wall wart itself, there is a green led and a red led. The green lights to full strength when you plug the wall wart into the wall. The red is a "load indicator": if you have a low or no charge on the internal batteries, the red led glows not at all. When charge is up, the red glows very bright like the green next to it. What you have in this, I think, is simply an analog device. I don't think this is a smart digital device that will detect 12 volts reached and truly do a cut off.


 
+1

The manual says to charge it for 20 hours at which point the red light should be fully lit indicating "no load" or fully charged.


----------



## Locoboy5150

OK, thanks guys for the information. It sounds like the included charger has to be watched from time to time. I have a peak detecting 12 V SLA battery charger that I'll use for my Sunforce HID spotlight when it arrives. I'll just make an adapter plug for it.

Do the batteries come precharged or did you have to charge them up before your first blast of light?


----------



## ScottFHall

Mine arrived pretty close to fully charged. I think it's best to not turn it on at first: put it on the charger overnight and light it up the next night. Or test how many volts those batteries show out of the box before you turn it on.

I've heard it said that rechargeable batteries hold the most and last the longest IF they initially get really juiced up hard before you use them.


----------



## Locoboy5150

Thank you everyone for all your opinions, answers, and tips about this Sunforce HID spotlight. Thanks to all your posts here in CPF, I'm also a *very* happy owner of one of these spotlights and I absolutely love it. Thanks guys for helping me make one of my best ever light purchases.

lovecpf

I had a question about something. This is my first ever HID light so this may be a common thing, but I'm not sure. When my bulb is going through the usual warm up time, the hot spot of my beam sometimes quickly twitches or wiggles back and forth a teeny tiny bit. As soon as the bulb warms up fully after about 30 seconds and the bulb is at full brightness, then the movement completely stops.

Is this normal? It doesn't bother me at all since it doesn't affect the light in any way, but I was just curious.

Also, how do you get the batteries out of the light body? They're really tight in mine even after I remove the battery access door from the rear of the body.


----------



## Locoboy5150

By the way, this is the battery charger that I use for all my SLA battery charging needs:

http://www.batteryspace.com/leadaci...adacidbatterywith3stagesfloating.aspx#reviews

I've been using it for about 2 years now and it works just fine for me.


----------



## Locoboy5150

Today I was wondering if I could shim the bulb in my Sunforce 2996HID spotlight to get a tighter hot spot. I didn't even bother with making the shims just yet. I loosened the bulb and moved it back in the reflector while observing the change in beam pattern on a white wall.

The simple answer is don't bother with trying to make the beam any tighter if you have one of thse Sunforce HID spotlights because with the bulb mounted flush in the reflector without any shims, that's as tight as it will go. Adding any shims will only widen the beam pattern. If you want a flood type beam, then adding shims will help out though.

So, mine will remain stock as far as the beam pattern goes. I absolutely *love* the throw that this thing has! :twothumbs


----------



## Locoboy5150

Oh, one other thing that was mentioned earlier. The reflector in the Sunforce 2996HID does not look the same as the reflector in the Sunforce 10 mcp halogen spotlight. That question was brought up before in this thread.

When I zoom in on the photo of the halogen spotlight here:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...30674_200230674?cm_sp=RVC-_-Footer-_-Products

...and I look at the reflector where the bulb is, that area looks flatter and larger in diameter than the same area on my HID spotlight. That probably explains why the HID version has such a tight beam pattern and it throws and throws like crazy even though it only has a 35 W HID system in it. My Peak PKCOTH has a reflector that is shaped like the Sunforce halogen light in that same area and it produces a very floody beam pattern, especially compared to my Sunforce 2996HID.

The outer plastic case and bezel look the same on the two, but the reflectors sure look different to me. Keep in mind though that I only have seen the HID light in person and I'm only comparing that to the online photo of the halogen light.

Anyway, that's just something to keep in mind if anyone is looking to build their own HID spotlight from the reflector and body of the Sunforce halogen spotlight.


----------



## ScottFHall

Yeah, I find those batteries are in there very tight on mine, too. I feel best taking them out by opening up both ends and kind of pushing and pulling them with the intention of eventually getting them to come out of the back. Each time they have eventually and there doesn't seem to be anything obviously binding.


----------



## SemiMan

Looking at how dim those street lights are at one mile compared to your "reflection" of your HID makes me think something is up with your beamshot.

I expect that possibly you are hitting a road-sign or similar that is painted or coated with retroreflector material. Otherwise the streetlights would be much brighter in comparison.

I still think it is a great thrower, but I am just thinking about reality. 

Semiman


----------



## Locoboy5150

I spent this past weekend in Monterey, CA. My girlfriend got a great deal on a super fancy hotel that faced the Monterey Bay on one side and Cannery Row on the other. Our room (which we got for free) faced the bay. There were no lights on the bay at all. I brought my Sunforce 2996HID spotlight along and opened it up over the pitch black Monterey Bay.

The weather conditions weren't wonderful because the fog and drizzle were rolling in. Still the light threw way out there over the dark water.  It was especially fun shining it on the water's surface and seeing it reflect off of the eyes of surfacing sea otters. They would pop their heads out of the water, peek around, and then dive back down. The Sunforce spotlight lit up some of their little heads when they were waaaaaaay out there.

Unfortunately, the amount of moisture in the air prevented me from testing out my spotlight's full throw potential, but still it went really far out there. It also attracted the attention of a few other hotel guests that were strolling by down below and asking me about what light I was using.

...just some more night burning fun with this new Sunforce HID. Given the $90 price, it just cannot beat in terms of throw distance. :twothumbs


----------



## ScottFHall

SemiMan said:


> Looking at how dim those street lights are at one mile compared to your "reflection" of your HID makes me think something is up with your beamshot.
> 
> I expect that possibly you are hitting a road-sign or similar that is painted or coated with retroreflector material. Otherwise the streetlights would be much brighter in comparison.
> 
> I still think it is a great thrower, but I am just thinking about reality.
> 
> Semiman


 
Hmm. That's interesting. I'll have to get out the telescope and look over there in the daytime. I assumed I was hitting a big white wall but not a gigantic reflector.


----------



## Nanomiser

Locoboy5150 said:


> Oh, one other thing that was mentioned earlier. The reflector in the Sunforce 2996HID does not look the same as the reflector in the Sunforce 10 mcp halogen spotlight. That question was brought up before in this thread.
> 
> When I zoom in on the photo of the halogen spotlight here:
> 
> http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...30674_200230674?cm_sp=RVC-_-Footer-_-Products
> 
> ...and I look at the reflector where the bulb is, that area looks flatter and larger in diameter than the same area on my HID spotlight. That probably explains why the HID version has such a tight beam pattern and it throws and throws like crazy even though it only has a 35 W HID system in it. My Peak PKCOTH has a reflector that is shaped like the Sunforce halogen light in that same area and it produces a very floody beam pattern, especially compared to my Sunforce 2996HID.
> 
> The outer plastic case and bezel look the same on the two, but the reflectors sure look different to me. Keep in mind though that I only have seen the HID light in person and I'm only comparing that to the online photo of the halogen light.
> 
> Anyway, that's just something to keep in mind if anyone is looking to build their own HID spotlight from the reflector and body of the Sunforce halogen spotlight.


 

So much for using the Sunforce 10 MCP halogen spotlight as a 50W or 75W HID host. :sigh: 

It sounds like there will be too many differences to make it work properly. Hopefully the 25 MCP HID $90 tag holds for quite some time because it will be a while before I can start that project.


----------



## Nanomiser

Locoboy5150 said:


> I spent this past weekend in Monterey, CA. My girlfriend got a great deal on a super fancy hotel that faced the Monterey Bay on one side and Cannery Row on the other. Our room (which we got for free) faced the bay. There were no lights on the bay at all. I brought my Sunforce 2996HID spotlight along and opened it up over the pitch black Monterey Bay.
> 
> The weather conditions weren't wonderful because the fog and drizzle were rolling in. Still the light threw way out there over the dark water.  It was especially fun shining it on the water's surface and seeing it reflect off of the eyes of surfacing sea otters. They would pop their heads out of the water, peek around, and then dive back down. The Sunforce spotlight lit up some of their little heads when they were waaaaaaay out there.
> 
> Unfortunately, the amount of moisture in the air prevented me from testing out my spotlight's full throw potential, but still it went really far out there. It also attracted the attention of a few other hotel guests that were strolling by down below and asking me about what light I was using.
> 
> ...just some more night burning fun with this new Sunforce HID. Given the $90 price, it just cannot beat in terms of throw distance. :twothumbs


 

My Wife and I are planning to stay at the Highlands Inn, Carmel in a few weeks so I may have to lug along my SunForce 25 MCP for a similar challenge. However, my shots will be from the opposite of peninsular across the open pacific.


----------



## BVH

What happened to BlueBeam22? He hasn't been here since end of Dec.


----------



## kramer5150

BVH said:


> What happened to BlueBeam22? He hasn't been here since end of Dec.



He is an active member on FNF, user ID: Blue.
He and I have had a couple PM communications on FNF since December.


----------



## Locoboy5150

Nanomiser said:


> My Wife and I are planning to stay at the Highlands Inn, Carmel in a few weeks so I may have to lug along my SunForce 25 MCP for a similar challenge. However, my shots will be from the opposite of peninsular across the open pacific.



If you do pack your Sunforce HID spotlight on your trip, please post your findings here when you get back. 

By the way, my girlfriend didn't think that it was strange at all when I brought mine on our trip and played with it for a little while that first night. She's used to that sort of thing by now. 

I'm still amazed by the tight throw of the Sunforce HID spotlight. Every time I turn it on it totally blows me away how far it throws. I don't know why people spend countless amounts of cash and/or time modifying or buying lights to throw a light beam a far distance when for less than $100 you can get a spotlight that *completely* blows away any flashlight out there.

Just last week I went to a CPF mini-get together and other members were amazed by how far the Sunforce HID could throw its beam of light. It threw much farther than the flashlights there, some of which cost more than twice as much. There might have been some HID converts born that night. 

One thing though is that this Sunforce light has kind of made me more jaded. LED lights that are advertised as "throw lights" look pretty tame by my new standards after buying my Sunforce HID. I'd love to compare them at my light proving grounds to get a real head to head showdown though.


----------



## kramer5150

ScottFHall said:


> _In between, marked by my red arrow, you see the spot cast on a house by this amazing spotlight: one mile away! I think it's a house. House? billboard? It's something big and light colored._
> 
> .
> 
> As stock light goes, this thing is just awesome!



After seeing one of these lights in person, the pics above do not correctly depict the beam pattern of this light. At the end of its throw, the beam is not as tight focused as the images depict. IMHO the pics above are showing the reflection off a roadsign, or billboard, many of which use highly reflective metallic safety paint and can reflect even the dimmest LEDs over far distances. 

Its a great HID... but its beam is not what the above images depict.


----------



## Pfaulk54271

Is the reflector on this made of spun aluminium? Also what is the lens made of?


----------



## cccpull

Nanomiser said:


> So much for using the Sunforce 10 MCP halogen spotlight as a 50W or 75W HID host. :sigh:
> 
> It sounds like there will be too many differences to make it work properly. Hopefully the 25 MCP HID $90 tag holds for quite some time because it will be a while before I can start that project.



The only way to see if there is a difference in reflector size/depth is to remove them from the spotlights and place them side by side or measure them.
What other differences, if any, are you referring to?

In this thread is what my Sunforce 10 million cp looked like physically (this one is not mine) : 
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/247652


----------



## kramer5150

Pfaulk54271 said:


> Is the reflector on this made of spun aluminium? Also what is the lens made of?



-spun Al sheet with vapor deposited coating
-Glass, plain & non-coated.


----------



## Locoboy5150

Whoops, wrong thread!  Please ignore this.


----------



## Pfaulk54271

So it can probably handle pretty decent heat, being aluminium and glass, right?


----------



## Pfaulk54271

What bulb size does this come with? I just bought one and want to know what size 4300K I need for it, I got it off northerntool and cant wait to get it.

Thanks


----------



## Nanomiser

kramer5150 said:


> -spun Al sheet with vapor deposited coating
> -Glass, plain & non-coated.


 
+1 :thumbsup:


----------



## Nanomiser

cccpull said:


> The only way to see if there is a difference in reflector size/depth is to remove them from the spotlights and place them side by side or measure them.
> What other differences, if any, are you referring to?
> 
> In this thread is what my Sunforce 10 million cp looked like physically (this one is not mine) :
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/247652


 

You're right; there are too many assumptions in my statement to give up so easily. A side by side empirical test of parts would be the most definitive, but then I would have to buy the 10MCP first before knowing for sure. Besides the purchase on faith, I'm not to keen on cracking my open my 25MCP just to take measurements for yet another mod I won't have time to get to for quite a while.  This one will have to go on the back burner until I get my other mods breathing fire.


----------



## Pfaulk54271

So no one knows the bulb size of this 25mcp? Any help would be great, thanks.


----------



## ScottFHall

Up higher here this is stated in regard to the bulb of the 25...

The HID Bulb is a 12Vdc 35W Quartz Xenon


----------



## Pfaulk54271

I meant bulb size like H4, H7, H9, 9007, 9005. I got it today, its a H7 and this thing is awesome bright, killer throw! Thanks for the advice everyone.


----------



## Locoboy5150

Pfaulk54271 said:


> I meant bulb size like H4, H7, H9, 9007, 9005. I got it today, its a H7 and this thing is awesome bright, killer throw! Thanks for the advice everyone.



Congratulations and have fun this weekend burning up the clouds overhead.

I'm not that familiar with the different types of HID bulbs, hence I had no idea what was in my Sunforce HID spotlight and I didn't respond.


----------



## Pfaulk54271

Oh its cool, I work with HID's so I got like green, gold, deep blue and purple for it. I use the 6000K it comes with or 4300K for max light output, sure does work nice. Im taking my 35W 2800 Lumen HID flashlight out tonight with it to see how much itll out-throw it.


----------



## Nanomiser

Time permitting, please post a review of your compairison run complete with pics. 


Enjoy!


----------



## Stirdy

Anyone know of a direct use (plug in) type 25mcp spotlight? I don't need the rechargeable feature....If not, would I have any problems modifying the sunforce 25mcp to run directly from a plug?


----------



## Alfonso

Out of interest, has anyone had problems with the batteries in their units?

I purchased one of these a couple years back. Excellent for checking out activity in the 1/4 section. But one season later, difficulties in holding charge, progressively worse performance for several months, then no charge at all being held.

Given the performance, considering purchasing another. But I'm wondering if just a doubtful unit, rather than a problem with the model itself.

On a sideline query, has anyone tried out the Pelican 9410 lantern? Obviously not the same intensity - not even close - but the NiMH recharging and suspect better quality in a useful, small spot is appealing. As you can tell, looking for a rechargeable unit for that 300 m or so distance I need to check out into the field about my place. Appreciate any info or suggestions on this. thanks


----------



## Locoboy5150

I haven't had any problems with the SLA batteries in my Sunforce HID light so far. What charger are you using? To make SLA batteries last as long as possible, never ever run them down to the point of the light not working. They don't like deep cycling. Also, if possible, get a peak detecting charger so the batteries won't be over charged. Over charging can be a problem if you use the charger that came with the light as it is not a peak detecting charger.

I've been using this charger for all my SLA batteries and it has worked perfectly for the past 2+ years.

http://www.batteryspace.com/leadacidsmartcharger08afor12vleadacidbatterywith3stagesfloating.aspx

It never over charges batteries and it definitely helped my batteries last longer compared to some SLA cells that I used before I bought it. For only $13, it's a great deal too.


----------



## Alfonso

Would have to be honest in stating that several times I did overcharge, forgetting to unplug. May have been the cause of it.

I will track down this alternate charger (or similar).

thanks


----------



## was.lost.but.now.found

Alfonso said:


> Would have to be honest in stating that several times I did overcharge, forgetting to unplug. May have been the cause of it.
> 
> I will track down this alternate charger (or similar).
> 
> thanks


 
It was my belief that SLA was much more susceptible to damage from overdischarge than from overcharge, but someone please correct me if I'm off.


----------



## MannyDLights

Amazing Lights ! Love the tests ...... I'm a new member ..

I just got my first Mega Cannon light on ebay $67.01, but I have no details on it ..... No User Manuals

I has 2 switches one has 3,500 on it and second 5,000 ..... Button turns on the 2 levels power of light ..... On the scale it weighs 4.1 Lbs and on the Bottom it says PSL-A1 4,300K made in Korea it runs about 1.5 hours until it's yellow beam shows.

Any Idea of quality ? Anyone has seen this light ? Did I get ripped off ? comments..... 

Thanks

*[link removed - DM51]*http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=290466293829


----------



## jagster936

So I have a question. I recently bought this light. There is a lot of Corona I guess you call it, sure with a tight center spot I guess this is normal? The center spot is not that much light though due to most of it being spilled. Someone can't take a decent picture up close on the wall for a comparison? Maybe on a dark surface so it will show up good.

Also the little red LED on the charging part of the spotlight is always solid red, and it glows dimly at all times even when not charging! Is this normal? It also gets bright red when you charge it, but is always bright red. There is no dimming/bright LED on the charging transformer either, what are yall talking about? Or was this with the older one? 

Thanks


----------



## jagster936

And what about some schematics for the circuitry inside? I may disable said light and install a direct charging port so I can use a peak charger not that joke trash they call charging (guessing when its charged)


----------



## signs1919

Locoboy5150 said:


> I haven't had any problems with the SLA batteries in my Sunforce HID light so far. What charger are you using? To make SLA batteries last as long as possible, never ever run them down to the point of the light not working. They don't like deep cycling. Also, if possible, get a peak detecting charger so the batteries won't be over charged. Over charging can be a problem if you use the charger that came with the light as it is not a peak detecting charger.
> 
> I've been using this charger for all my SLA batteries and it has worked perfectly for the past 2+ years.
> 
> http://www.batteryspace.com/leadacidsmartcharger08afor12vleadacidbatterywith3stagesfloating.aspx
> 
> It never over charges batteries and it definitely helped my batteries last longer compared to some SLA cells that I used before I bought it. For only $13, it's a great deal too.


 i have just received this charger, how would you hook it up? use the plug for outside charging?


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