# metal halide lamp?



## mattevt (Aug 2, 2011)

Maybe a silly question...

Would a metal halide 500-1000w plant lamp work when assembling a spot light. Any reason it wouldn't work?


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## StarHalo (Aug 2, 2011)

Would work just fine, assuming you want to carry a couple car batteries to power it. Aside from that, large metal halide bulbs have a huge emission surface, so even with a massive reflector, there'd be very little throw.


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## mattevt (Aug 2, 2011)

StarHalo said:


> Would work just fine, assuming you want to carry a couple car batteries to power it. Aside from that, large metal halide bulbs have a huge emission surface, so even with a massive reflector, there'd be very little throw.


 
It was a suggestion from my friend when I mentioned trying to build a spotlight. We were actually just going to "plug it in". But your comment about the throw gives me the answer I was looking for. Thanks.


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## siamese (Aug 6, 2011)

The best choice for very powerful and efficient Spotlights are the Osram HTI sharxs lamps. I built a bike light with a 100mm reflector and a 1500 W type (7mm arc length, 165000lm), for more spot I used the 700W type (4mm arc length, 59000lm) in a similar reflector. It works very well, a 2 kg 29,6V LiPo-battery works about 5 minutes at 1,5kW output.

But the usual plant lamps and standard MH-ceramic-lamps are in fact not really good for spotlights...

regards
Thomas


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## 2100 (Aug 6, 2011)

siamese said:


> The best choice for very powerful and efficient Spotlights are the Osram HTI sharxs lamps. I built a bike light with a 100mm reflector and a 1500 W type (7mm arc length, 165000lm), for more spot I used the 700W type (4mm arc length, 59000lm) in a similar reflector. It works very well, a 2 kg 29,6V LiPo-battery works about 5 minutes at 1,5kW output.
> 
> But the usual plant lamps and standard MH-ceramic-lamps are in fact not really good for spotlights...
> 
> ...


 
Bro, you ARE THE GUY. Mind telling me your built story, youtube vids, etc etc? Main that I am missing is the reflector and base housing etc.

These are the stuff : 






575W MSR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxFiLtXUlho


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## siamese (Aug 6, 2011)

Well, the youtube video you posted is from me, the 575W was my previous project. You'll find the videos from the 1500W there, too. The 700W is newer (well, the whole electronic and battery is the same) I still did not come to a nightride with this lamp, there are only pics:


















In the past I tried standard MH-Lamps (70W and 150W types), too. All the Philips CDM and Osram HCI-T are only for flood lights not for spotlights (one very old type was my my 150W HID bikelight video at youtube). A 150W HQI-T from Osram works very well and is really my standard bike-light for forest rides in the darkness. the horizontal arc gives a very good spot in a 90mm-reflector. The battery is the same I use for the big types but gives 2 hours runtime at 150W. The ballast is a little big oversized and works from 100W to 400W output.













Another 150W-try was a osram hsd 150. Also a good spotlight, but not a cheap standard lamp like the HQI-T:





here the size comparison to the DX P7 bikelight:





And the spot:




So there are some very good standard HID lamps for spotlights you can use. Also the HTI 150W, I used it a few years ago, too. 

I also build some LED-Lamps (7xP7, 4xMC-e, 7xXP-G, SST90 etc.) but it is absolutely no comparison to the HID lamps. For really bright, compact and spotty lights you can forget LEDs.

regards
Thomas


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## 2100 (Aug 6, 2011)

Yep, I guess it must have been you... haha. 

Really like the relative comparison to your SSC P7.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um7oRyHt_1s

Wow, you really did try out a lot of MH. 

Your reflector and bulb base/holder, you machined it yourself? There really is nothing in the market like it, cheap PAR56/64 MH does not exist (cheapest I have seen is like 500 bucks for a 1200W 9 deg divergence VNSP one if i remember correctly)

Can you recommend anything from 3" to 9" reflector sizes, anything....from 150W to 1kW. I can operate on mains. I have been doing my homework but really found nothing. Well there ARE 575W - 1200W mini followspot stuff on aliexpress but they are not exactly very "spotty", 20 deg divergence and nothing better. If you need < 10 deg you'd need a humongous thin cannon of 1.5m long, or a thick 60cm diameter one and about 80cm long at least.
But i'd be very happy and make-do if i can have a 1.2kW like yours.  

I can DIY a bit, but not very good with lower-level component DIY. Pls hit me with your ideas!


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## siamese (Aug 6, 2011)

The reflectors are all aluminum reflectors fron a german shop for diving equipment (http://shop.dev-pein.de/Selbstbau/Reflektoren/). The mounting of the lamp in the reflector is machined from me or the staff in the workshop of the university where I work, fixed with high temperature silicon for the small lamps, 0,7k and 1k5 are completely fixed by screws because of the extreme heat. With very powerful lamps the reflector coating gets a little bit "crispy".

Here some more pics of the 1500W: http://fotos.mtb-news.de/s/36420

regards 
Thomas


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## 2100 (Aug 6, 2011)

Nice work. I think its a bit out of my budget. The search continues....


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## siamese (Aug 7, 2011)

The lamp was not really expensive. For all my powerful lamps (I have 3 MSR 575W left, one Philips MSR1200, and the HTI1500/HTI700) I didn't pay more than 30 Euro per bulb at ebay (for new lamps in unopen original packing). The reflector about 15 Euro, and for the self made adapter should be possible to get it in a workshop for some small money in the thank-you box. There are only two problems you'll have for any powerful HID-Flashlight: The ballast (there does not exist any battery-powrered ballast with this power) and the battery (is very expensive)...

regards
Thomas


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## 2100 (Aug 7, 2011)

I intend to use inverters, should be ok with usd 180 shipped on aliexpress. 2000W continuous and 4000W peak for 30 mins. (of course we discount the figures a bit for these china products). 
1.2kW is doable. I'd do Pb SLA, as i don't need a lot of mobility or weight savings. 

In fact i'd do AC first....i don't even bring my 100W HIDs out very often, just once to do a cloud bounce.


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## Anika22 (Aug 8, 2011)

Metal-halide lamps, a member of the high-intensity discharge (HID) family of lamps, produce high light output for their size, making them a compact, powerful, and efficient light source. By adding rare earth metal salts to the mercury vapor lamp, improved luminous efficacy and light color is obtained. Originally created in the late 1960s for industrial use, metal-halide lamps are now available in numerous sizes and configurations for commercial and residential applications.
Like most HID lamps, metal halide lamps operate under high pressure and temperature, and require special fixtures to operate safely.
Since the lamp is small compared to a fluorescent or incandescent lamp of the same light level, relatively small reflective luminaires can be used to direct the light for different applications (flood lighting outdoors, or lighting for warehouses or industrial buildings).


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## LightSward (Aug 11, 2011)

Here is a homemade 36 inch diameter GORILLA reflector with various light sources...: First a 700 watt HMI bulb. Further down is the same reflector with a 1200 watt HMI, Then a STANDARD HID of 600 watts and 100 watts further on down. fun and yes youy can get some through if you make a *50 Inch* *Monster *reflector...see thread....




*700 watt HMI*




*Beam Shot 700 watt HMI short arc HID Gorilla over CPF gathering*


*1200 watt HMI* 36 inch *Gorilla
*




*Gorilla*

Here is a view showing the focused beam from the Gorilla.




Day shot of *1200 watt HMI* test on South Mummy Mountain, just outside Las Vegas, NV.







*Night shot of same mountain. 1200 watt Gorilla lit up all the mountains visible from this location!*




*Mummy Mountain mile long beam shot*

Here you can see the top of Mummy Mountain a mile from this parking lot, lit by the Gorilla searchlight.





*600 watt HID big arc*, competes with 2,400 watt Xenon short arc, precision reflector!
The Tank Light is to the Left and is showing the Gorilla how it must shine in the future.



Gorilla to the right, (of course), with it's 600 watt parking light bulb and the Spectacular Tank Light with it's (I may be wrong..?) 2.4K watt Xenon short arc Imax type bulb, frame the sky.




*Mummy Mountain couple days before Beam Shots* with only a *100 watt regular HID*





























Mummy Mountain, 11,460 foot tall, as seen a couple days before the Beam Shots were taken. This mountain can be seen over a hundred miles away from an airplane. 


Night shot with *100 watt HID*




Here I am checking on the 100 watt HID, 36 inch Gorilla's focus at Mummy Mountain and Ridge, over a mile away. :naughty: The light is competing with a nearly Full Moon, which helps light up the surrounding landscape. It was very cold...!!! The light could be focused a little better...


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## siamese (Oct 10, 2011)

For a better comparison of my HID bike lights I made a video with my 575W (MSR575) 700W(HTI 700W/D4) and 1500w (HTI 1500W/D7) compared to my xenon car lights at high beam:


well, at last the 1500W would be much better to drive with 250km/h than the car lights...

regards
Thomas


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## LightSward (Oct 10, 2011)

:thumbsup: Nice and bright! How long of run time on a mountable battery?


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## siamese (Oct 10, 2011)

Thanks for the commendation.
Well the power consumption is about 1,1 times the output. With high C-rate LiPo batteries you get about 150 Wh/kg, so the runtime ist not really long. With my battery about 5 minutes for 1,5kW...


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## LightSward (Oct 11, 2011)

siamese said:


> Thanks for the commendation.
> Well the power consumption is about 1,1 times the output. With high C-rate LiPo batteries you get about 150 Wh/kg, so the runtime ist not really long. With my battery about 5 minutes for 1,5kW...



I get about 8 minutes with a less portable contraption. Nice work on your small system!


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