# Has anyone seen the spotlight at costco lately? Its Huge!



## TheRealDoodle (Dec 20, 2011)

I was walking through costco looking for flashlights like every time i go there, saw some p60 style 3 for's and then I saw this HUGE spotlight. Maybe the pictures don't do them justice, but this thing had to be almost a foot tall. The reflector was big too. It only said 880 lumens though, and had no candlepower rating. Has anyone bought one of these lately? It was pretty cheap. I cant find it on their website though.


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## BVH (Dec 20, 2011)

I can't see the back end of the light but from the front, the host looks to be the same as Costco's original "Costco HID". Does it have a horizontally hinged back door for access to the 12V aux power source and 120V recharging cords? The original Costco came out somewhere in late 2004 or sometime in 2005, IIRC. If it's the same light, those who want an original Costco HID should snap them up for conversion to HID. The reflectors, while a little ringy, throw forever. What was the price? May have to check out my local store.


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## PhillyRube (Dec 20, 2011)

I have something similar called "THOR!"


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## BVH (Dec 20, 2011)

I still have my original Costco HID's and I've had the 10 and 15 mcd Thors. The thors, while made by the same China MFG, did not have the built-in 120V charging cord nor the 12V cigarette lighter power source cord. Also, they were a completely different shape and from a different mold. The Costco later showed up and exists today as the Titanium Mega Illuminator.


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## Locoboy5150 (Dec 20, 2011)

It has been a long time since I posted here on CPF, but I saw this spotlight at Costco today during my lunch break and I decided to pick it up. I knew that the good people here at CPF would have some comments about it. 

I can answer some of the questions asked but keep in mind that I haven't opened my box yet and fired up my spotlight. I did closely inspect the one on display at my local Costco though before I bought mine.



BVH said:


> Does it have a horizontally hinged back door for access to the 12V aux power source and 120V recharging cords?



No, it's a vertical hinge on the left side of the door. (With left being from the perspective of looking at the rear of the light like when you're opening the rear door.) The hinge's vertical steel pin can just barely be seen in TheRealDoodle's photo right above the rear leg of the stand.

The 12 V DC and 120 V AC cords are hard wired inside the light's body. They are not separate cords that plug into a socket on the outside of the light's body like my other two 12 V spotlights have.

The battery is a 12 V, 7 Ah SLA cell.



BVH said:


> What was the price?



$47.99 at my local Costco. It's not too expensive considering that the body is pretty sturdy compared to other made in China 12 V SLA powered spotlights. It is a halogen H4 bulb though, not HID. What did the Costco HID spotlights cost when they were available? This new halogen one appears to have an identical body to that one. The only difference is that it lacks the ballast and other things necessary for the HID bulb. It looks like an ideal host for an HID mod, one of the reasons why I bought it.

The reflector on this light is huge. It's much larger in diameter and depth than my other halogen spolight, a Peak model. I suspect that it will throw much further, but I'll find out later this weekend when I take it out at night to try to spot Santa flying overhead.

BVH, what sort of charging system is in your Costco HID? Does it automatically stop charging when the SLA battery is fully charged or does it overcharge the battery if left plugged in to either 12 V DC or 120 V AC? I'm asking because I already have a peak detecting SLA charger that I use for my other two spotlights, but it would be a pain to connect it to the battery terminals on my new Costco one. To get the battery out of the Costco one to reach the terminals, you have to remove some screws that secure the battery inside and then slide it out. It's not a huge pain, but I've gotten spoiled by my other two lights that have a charge terminal on the outside of their bodies.

That is...assuming that the Costco HID spotlight has the same internal charging system as this new halogen one.


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## BVH (Dec 20, 2011)

By horizontally hinged door, I meant that the door opens horizontally so I see that it does and it has the attached charging and alt power source cords. So Costco has re-introduced the original Costco HID in the Halogen flavor. IIRC, the HID's might have been around $36.00 - 49.00? Can't really remember but they were definitely a bargain. Both of mine have been modded with high output ballasts and use RC type Lipo packs so I balance charge them with special connectors right inside the back door. I do not remember if the on board charger terminates completely. The reflector should be in the neighborhood of 9" IIRC.


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## 2100 (Dec 21, 2011)

Well i could get the SM5200 55W HID for usd88 shipped. So not too bad...  You can see me in the reflectors. The one on the left is the Ti Innovations illuminator/Power On Board/Amondotech 3152 6".


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## Samy (Dec 21, 2011)

I have one of those but the battery only lasts for 10 mins. My fenix TK-41 has easily replaced it.

cheers


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## Locoboy5150 (Dec 21, 2011)

BVH said:


> The reflector should be in the neighborhood of 9" IIRC.



That's correct, the reflector is just under 9 inches in diameter.

I got the chance to charge up my new Costco halogen spotlight last night and I immediately lit up the sky above my backyard. I don’t know about how accurate the 880 lumen rating on the box is but it’s definitely not a super bright spotlight. It doesn’t appear to be as bright as my Peak PKCOTH spotlight, which is also halogen, but it has a 100 W H4 bulb, while the Costco one is only a 60 W H4 bulb.
 
The beam pattern has a much tighter hot spot compared to the one of my Peak. It’s not as tight as the hot spot of my Sunforce HID though, which has the tightest hot spot of any spotlight I’ve ever seen. (That is the best throw beast for the price of any light I’ve used so far.) I’ll probably be upgrading the bulb rather than go for a full out HID conversion right now because the HIDs are bit more than I want to spend at this time. I can always put the higher wattage bulb in my Peak spotlight when I upgrade the Costco one to HID.
 
I did not get a chance to take the light to my spotlight proving grounds so I don’t know what its throw distance is.
 
I did use the built-in charge cord. The two LEDs on the side of the light’s body did indicate a full charge but I don’t know if the charger cut off and completely stopped charging the battery. The next time I’ll try and verify that with a multimeter. Interestingly, the light would not work while the charger was plugged into a wall socket. After unplugging the charger, then the light fired up normally. I don’t know if that’s the case with the 12 V DC cord because I didn’t get the chance to use it.
 
The light itself is massive. It’s by far the largest spotlight that I’ve ever used. It’s also the heaviest. Its large diameter head would be kind of a pain to live with if I had to carry the big fella around a lot but it is rubberized like the handle so it won’t do too much damage to anything that it bumps into. The included shoulder strap is very nice. It has a very wide nylon strap and heavy metal clips at both ends. The pad on the strap is made from sticky black rubber. The clips attach to sturdy loops molded into the top of the plastic light body. Unlike with the attachment points on my Sunforce HID spotlight, the ones on the Costco halogen spotlight allow the clips to sit up high when the shoulder strap is in use so that both the strap and the clips stay well above the light’s body and out of the way.
 
The on/off switch is not very conveniently located. It’s just far enough away from the handle so it is a bit of a stretch to press it with my thumb and thus one handed operation is a bit tricky. Like my Peak halogen spotlight, the Costco one requires two handed operation. Note that I have very small hands and short fingers so you might have better luck with operating it with just one hand. When it comes to one handed operation though, it’s tough to beat the Sunforce HID with its thumb switch right on top of the handle.
 
I haven’t had the chance to open up the body of the light, but based on its large exterior dimensions it appears to have lots of room inside for an HID upgrade. If there isn’t enough room inside for a ballast, it can be mounted on the large flat bottom of the body. I’ll leave my HID upgrades for later on though. The interior space is taken up a little bit by the 12 V DC and 110 V AC charge cords which conveniently store inside right above the 12 V, 7 Ah Sealed Lead Acid battery, but they could easily be cut off and removed if more space is needed.
 
Overall it’s a nice light if you don’t have to carry it around for a long time. Its large size has its benefits though as it probably is one of the easiest lights to modify. It is also a very impressive looking light with its huge diameter reflector and head assembly. It certainly makes a statement without even being turned on. For $47.99 it’s a pretty good deal.


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## TheRealDoodle (Dec 21, 2011)

2100 said:


> Well i could get the SM5200 55W HID for usd88 shipped. So not too bad...  You can see me in the reflectors. The one on the left is the Ti Innovations illuminator/Power On Board/Amondotech 3152 6".



Put your clothes on... Lol


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## 2100 (Dec 22, 2011)

TheRealDoodle said:


> Put your clothes on... Lol


I would, if the temperature's like Vancouver over here. But it's hot like crazy usually, it rained for the past 2 weeks so it's pretty ok (26-28 deg C at night, that's already considered pretty cool)

Most caucasians come here and by the 3rd day, their white pinkish skin looks roasted. (really!)


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## TheRealDoodle (Dec 22, 2011)

2100 said:


> I would, if the temperature's like Vancouver over here. But it's hot like crazy usually, it rained for the past 2 weeks so it's pretty ok (26-28 deg C at night, that's already considered pretty cool)
> 
> Most caucasians come here and by the 3rd day, their white pinkish skin looks roasted. (really!)



Wow, I didn't realize. Are you guys going through summer right now? upper 80's would be nice over here in december.


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## 2100 (Dec 23, 2011)

TheRealDoodle said:


> Wow, I didn't realize. Are you guys going through summer right now? upper 80's would be nice over here in december.



We are just at 1 deg north of the equator, so yeah it's always summer here.


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## Locoboy5150 (Dec 29, 2011)

BVH,

I was just wondering, did you ever get the chance to stop by a local Costco to take a look at this new halogen spotlight? I'm very curious about the similarities and differences between it and your Costco HID spotlight, particularly in the reflector shape/design. I'm hoping that I can make a replica of the Costco HID with this halogen version just by installing an HID kit and getting the same performance in the end.

That's in the future though as I'm first going to do a halogen bulb upgrade on it to see if the performance improves over the stock configuration with the 60 W bulb.


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## BVH (Dec 29, 2011)

Yes, I forgot to report. Unfortunately, I saw no lights on display after traversing the entire store.


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## IgNITEor (Dec 29, 2011)

I got the BIG Costco light for Christmas. It was not on my wish list, but the fam knows I've got issues with "toys".
It will be modded, I'm certain of this! In the meantime, I'll pop in a Sylvania SilverStar Ultra and check for voltage-drop
at the usual places.
Interesting low-beam, for sure.


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## IgNITEor (Dec 29, 2011)

Bezel has a positioning slot.
And it's a real metal reflector. It'll take some heat!

This rig.....has some growth potential.


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## Locoboy5150 (Dec 30, 2011)

Thanks for the update BVH. I have three Costcos in my area that I visit all the time. I found the big halogen spotlight at two of them but the third one never had it in stock.

I installed the Hella 130 W H4 bulb in mine tonight. It finally arrived via UPS today. It dropped right in and I didn't have to shim the bulb to make the beam tighter. It was as tight as it could be in the original position without any shims.

The new bulb is definitely much brighter than the original 60 W one and even brighter than the 100 W H4 bulb in my Peak halogen PKCOTH spotlight. It's not as bright as the 35 W HID in my Sunforce spotlight though. The hot spot size is the same as before with the stock bulb.

Unfortunately it is a foggy night here so I didn't get the chance to do any distance testing tonight. Wouldn't you know it that all week long we've had perfectly clear nights but the *one* night that my new halogen bulb arrived, then the fog rolls in.  I'll test it some more this weekend.

I'm going to check the charging system to see if it turns off after the battery is fully charged. It's still charging right now as I type this.

So far though I'm very happy with my Costco spotlight. It's not as good as my Sunforce HID, but then again it didn't cost as much either.


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## Locoboy5150 (Dec 30, 2011)

I forgot to mention that if you remove the reflector, bezel, and lens assembly, you can easily see where the ballast for the HID version of this spotlight was mounted. The bosses for the screws can easily be seen in there on the front wall of the battery compartment. I'm not too up on HID ballast sizes as I've only seen a few of them in person, but I think that one could easily be mounted right there without too much hassle.


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## Hondakilla98 (Dec 30, 2011)

I was looking at this light the other day, I was wondering if it would be a good hid host. Ill follow his thread and maybe I'll have my answer.

Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk


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## Locoboy5150 (Dec 31, 2011)

I tested the charging system on my Costco spotlight last night and this morning. When I went to bed, the LED charge status indicator went to green, indicating a full charge. I left it plugged into the 120 V AC wall outlet and checked the voltage at the battery terminals with my digital multimeter. It read 13.2 V. I risked overcharging my brand new 12 V SLA cell by leaving the charger plugged into the wall outlet all night.

The very first thing I did the next morning (today) was check up on my spotlight. As before, the green LED was still lit. I left the charger plugged in and checked the battery voltage again. It was exactly the same as the night before, 13.2 V. I then left the meter connected to the battery terminals as I unplugged the charger from the wall outlet. The battery voltage remained rock steady at 13.2 V.

I just checked the battery voltage a few minutes ago, which would be about 12 hours after my reading this morning. It was 13.1 V.

So, the moral to the story is that this new spotlight does indeed have a charging circuit that terminates so the battery will not be overcharged if it is left plugged in for a very long time. That is a very good thing in my book because now I can charge more than one of my spotlights at the same time. I only have one peak detecting charger for 12 V SLA batteries so it can become very time consuming to use that one charger to recharge all of my spotlights individually. Now I can charge up the big fella while using my other charger on another spotlight without worrying about overcharging anything.

This is, in my opinion, an *excellent* spotlight. It is well made with very good components. I've never had a spotlight with a built-in peak detecting charger so that is a major plus. The only disadvantages are that it's quite large, which is not too much of a negative when you look at the size of the reflector that results in very good throw, and that it's not HID. Being a halogen spotlight isn't too much of a minus factor either because it opens up some opportunities for fun modifications.

I give it two big thumbs up. If anyone is out there looking for an affordable HID host, I'd suggest getting one of these big lights before they're gone from Costco's shelves. Remember how long it took after the HID versions disappeared before these finally showed up. I never thought that I'd get my hands on one.

I'll be leaving mine halogen powered for the time being as I don't have the extra funds at the moment to buy an HID kit. I still haven't gotten the chance to really test out my Hella 130 W bulb upgrade yet as it's still too foggy to get a good judge of its performance.


If anyone does convert theirs to HID, please post the details right here so others like myself can get some ideas.


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## Locoboy5150 (Dec 31, 2011)

IgNITEor said:


> I Interesting low-beam, for sure.




Are you referring to the semi-circular beam pattern? My Peak halogen light has the same pattern when on low-beam.


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## Parker VH (Dec 31, 2011)

Is there any kind of SKU # or Costco part # on the box? That way I could have my local Costco's do a search on their in store computer.
Thanks.


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## Chrisdm (Dec 31, 2011)

I saw that the other day while walking around with my wife. When i pointed it out to her, her reaction was, "NO!!!!"...


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## Chrisdm (Dec 31, 2011)

I saw that the other day while walking around with my wife. When i pointed it out to her, her reaction was, "NO!!!!"...


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## Locoboy5150 (Jan 1, 2012)

Chrisdm said:


> I saw that the other day while walking around with my wife. When i pointed it out to her, her reaction was, "NO!!!!"...



Hehe, that's why you have to buy it when she's not with you.


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## Locoboy5150 (Jan 1, 2012)

Parker VH said:


> Is there any kind of SKU # or Costco part # on the box? That way I could have my local Costco's do a search on their in store computer.
> Thanks.



The box has absolutely no indication who actually made the light. It just says "Imported by Costco Wholesale Corporation" on the side. The front of the box says the following:

ITM./ART. 548284

The SKU number is 9364501515.


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## Parker VH (Jan 1, 2012)

Locoboy5150 said:


> The box has absolutely no indication who actually made the light. It just says "Imported by Costco Wholesale Corporation" on the side. The front of the box says the following:
> 
> ITM./ART. 548284
> 
> The SKU number is 9364501515.



Thanks I'll call my local store and see if they can find anything.


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## IgNITEor (Jan 5, 2012)

A simple setup like this light could sure use a poor man's voltage regulator, aka boost converter.
If there is such an animal?
I'm waiting for one of the other soldering brothers to step up and try such a build. Best application for halogen lamps.


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## BVH (Jan 5, 2012)

The only talk of such a device was years ago when now absent member Newbie was going to make one for all the Thors that were around at the time. Never happened unfortunately. IIRC, it was going to drive the bulb at a little over 14 V.


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## IgNITEor (Jan 7, 2012)

I think Ademco alarm products has a line of lower current DC to DC regulators that are available in open chassis design.
I wonder..... could they be paralleled for higher current?
I'm gonna check into this. Most of the their OTS field installed components looked pretty rugged.
There's just nothing else like running the 12 volt stuff at 14 Volts!


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## IgNITEor (Jan 7, 2012)

And just like that, a boost converter magically appears!l
Pretty sure I can persuade one of these into the Costco light :thumbsup:


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## BVH (Jan 7, 2012)

Thanks for finding those! I picked up a couple even though I have no immediate need. A nice gadget to have around.


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## IgNITEor (Jan 7, 2012)

BVH, you're welcome! I like how the seller is very clear about adding "enhanced" cooling when operating at the max output.
I checked voltages on the Costco Monster after installing the SilverStar lamp. Only .4 Volt drop at the terminals. Not bad for factory wiring. Waaayyy better beam pattern. Rocker switch is already getting sloppy.


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## Locoboy5150 (Jan 7, 2012)

Thanks Igniteor for finding that voltage regulator on eBay. Please report how it works out in your spotlight.

Did you shim the Silverstar bulb in your reflector?


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## IgNITEor (Jan 7, 2012)

At first it needed shimming with the OEM lamp. After I popped in the Silverstar it seemed to center up nicely. I'm surprised with that.
Once I can get a little range with the beam I'll check it again. It's needs at least a few hundred feet!
And that's with only 11.8 Volts at the lamp terminals. Crazy.
Sadly, it's gonna take a couple of weeks for the power supply to get here, dang it! Worth the wait. Maybe.
BOOST*!*


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## amraspalantir (Jan 31, 2012)

hi guys have some questions hope you could answer.

1. saw that the costco's wiring to the bulb is 18 AWG wires. i suppose it can handle a 170watt bulb just as long as its used for short bursts only(2 mins max). i was advised to use 14 AWG if to be used for longer periods.is this correct?

2. to get maximum output from the 170w halogen bulb the flashlight is best powered by a DC power supply plugged to a 
wall outlet (to avoid voltage sag compared to when using the 12v 7ah SLA). can i just plug in the built in wall charger whenever i have the light on so it seems like to be getting its power from the AC outlet? 

i plan to have the costco on a fixed position near a DC power supply connected to a wall outlet to maximize output from the 170w bulb.

any thoughts welcome.|


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## BVH (Jan 31, 2012)

My recollection is that when the 120V cord is plugged in, power to the switch and lamp is interrupted. I'll check later today and report back. You could make a female DC power cigarette lighter adapter for your power supply output and plug the lights' DC lighter adapter into that.


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## amraspalantir (Feb 1, 2012)

thanks BVH. i read you have some of your lights are using lipo packs. was thinking of using a 5000mah 4 cell 25-50c
lipo batt to power the light. using a 170w halogen bulb it would draw around 11.5amps but im not sure of the runtime.
hope you could help me out how to best power the light. the stock SLA is kinda heavy and not sure if it has enough
juice for the job.

hoping for a lighter weight, improved runtime and minimize voltage sag.

want to push the light safely to the limits with the 170 bulb but im open to using a 130w bulb if the 170 is just pushing 
the envelope too far.


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## BVH (Feb 1, 2012)

IIRC, I think I paralleled 2 ea., 4S/5000 Lipo's in my Costco 80 Watt to increase run time. It's probably pulling about 100 Watts given ballast overhead. I've never run it out to check run time. Here's what I do to calc an estimated run time. 1. Obtain total Watt Hours of the pack(s). (Nominal pack Voltage x's total pack(s) AH rating) 2. Calc your load in Watts (Volts ((nominal)) x's Amps or if you already know it in Watts, fine. 3. Divide your load Watts into the battery(s) Watt Hours then knock off 20-25% of that number for run time. My Costco example: 14.8 V (nominal 4S pack Voltage) x 10 AH (2 paralleled 5AH packs) = 148 Watt Hours. 148 Watt Hours / 100 Watt load = 1.48 Hrs calc'd run time. 1.48 Hrs x's .75 = 1.1 Hrs estimated run time. That's probably conservative so I might get a little more run time, and maybe not - see below on per cell minimums I use.

Don't forget, you should have a Lipo pack charger that balance charges. And I never run the packs below 3.3V per cell, usually about 3.6V per cell. In my tests, there really isn't much left below 3.6V. You can buy $5.00 - $10.00 digital, tiny self powered Voltmeters on Ebay and mount into the light's body to alert you when to shut it off. Example:

.ebay.com/itm/4-5V-30V-Green-Mini-Digital-Volt-Meter-No-need-Power-/170772333420?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c2d3036c

Just be sure it's the self-powered ("needs no power") versions otherwise you'll have to power it with a separate power supply.

11.5 Amps is nothing even for one of your 4S/5000 packs. 25(C) x's 5(AH) = 125 Amps max load on a 25C rated pack. So 11.5 Amps is only 2.3C - a drop in the bucket. You'd probably get less than 25 minutes run time I'd guess. I've been using the Blue Lipo brand, they are fairly cheap. And of course, always triple check your final battery re-connections after charging. I use sticky Velcro to hold the batteries in-place. I also parallel balance charge the packs so they always start at exactly the same Voltage.

If you're not going to use the light/battery packs for a while, store them at 3.85 Volts per cell.


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## amraspalantir (Aug 19, 2012)

ok. managed to snag one of these here and modded it for hid using a 50w chinese hid kit. went well until i overdrived the 50w bulb with a 100w ballast
for a minute or two. light wouldnt turn on anymore. after some investigation it seems i busted the 8050d transistor ( 1.5A ) in the pcb inside.
will be buying a replacement transistor soon and hopefully this light would be brought back to life.

once i managed to get this thing online next would a 8400mah 4s2p lifepo pack.


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## bimbamboom (Mar 5, 2014)

Newbie to forum-hope someone can help. I have a Jeep giant light that looks just like the giant light at Costco. I really like it but it needs a new bulb. I have not had luck finding one but it says CTU 16W 64000K 12VDC w/ #050401. It has the look of a fluorescent style bulb. Can anyone help this newbie?:thinking:


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