# Overdriven 35W bulb question



## Parker VH (Sep 27, 2009)

I played around with my POB this weekend and compared it to a stock POB. Mine has been converted to 55W with, supposedly a 4300K bulb. When I had it side by side with a stock POB mine was noticeably yellower in output color. I know the stock ones are supposed to be 6000K color so I was not happy to see how his looked as bright or brighter as mine even with my 55W conversion.
I know these Chinese auto HID ballasts are probably not putting out a true 55W so do you think I could possibly get away with putting my old 4300K 35W bulb, which I initially bought as an upgrade to the stock 6000K, in my unit and overdrive it or would that be too much? What would happen in such a case as this if the ballast were too strong? Would the 35W bulb simply burn out or might it actually get too hot and explode etc.? I've never tried doing this with any HID before. I suppose I could try and buy another 55W 4300K bulb from a different vendor but I'd like to see if this would work. I don't imagine there are any bulbs available between a 35W and a 50W in H7 HID?
I will try and post some pics of the side by side comparison if they turn out as my buddy took the pics and I'm waiting for him to email them to me.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.


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## BVH (Sep 27, 2009)

In my opinion, The 6000K bulb is going to look "brighter" to the human eye than your 4300K. But I'd guess that your light is putting out significantly more Lumens and if measured with some type of meter or calibrated method, would in fact be doing so. My suggestion would be to pick up a true 50 Watt capable 5000K bulb from Ebay and install it. 5000K is Diamond white and to me, appears the brightest of all colors. I don't particularly care for 4300 K but it does put out the most Lumens all things being equal. I have 5000K, 50 Watt ("Ebay Rated!") lamps in my truck and I would not trade them for anything.

I got them from an Ebay vendor called Retro-Solutions. He has all wattages and base styles. I think I picked up two for $70.


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## Parker VH (Sep 27, 2009)

BVH,
I was under the assumption that people were swapping out the stock 6000K's for 4300K's because the 4300K was supposed to appear brighter? What's your opinion on trying the 35W bulb again? Would it be overdriven too much?
Are any of the replacement H7 bulbs actually marked with the kelvin color temp other than the little stickers placed on them which could be put on any bulb?
Thanks.


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## BVH (Sep 27, 2009)

My take on it is that they're swapping for more Lumens/real brightness. I do the same thing for my mods. I use 4300K. But I've always said that if someone made a 4750K, I'd be all over it!

As for over driving your bulb, it's really taking a chance. I don't hear of many, if any explosions but one never knows. If you were going to do it, I'd do it out of the light, on the bench so you don't risk damaging your reflector. Put it in some type of container with some temp connectors and fire it up.

I would certainly feel very comfortable doing it to a 35 Watt G.E. bulb because it been done a lot, most noticeably by Xeray in his Xeray 50 with the G.E. option. (IIRC) And, as you know, the BB is overdriving the Fatboy 50 Watt lamp to 75 - 80 watts.

I've not seen any HID bulbs physically marked with their color temp. Just the packaging as you say.


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## Patriot (Sep 27, 2009)

Great thoughts from BVH. I also wouldn't push a generic 35W bulb to 50+W. My understanding is that they usually won't explode but they can start melting until the arc gap is too large and an arc can no longer sustained. 




With regards to his light being "as bright or brighter" I have to suspect something else is going on besides just color temperature. Even if your ballast is only outputting 45-50W you're still going to be producing 1000+ lumens more than the stock POB, which should be easy to see when they're side by side. My guess is that either the ballast is no where near the claimed output or that you've got a bulb that isn't performing up to par. Although I wouldn't be able to explain why 1000+ lumens would be easily seen (side by side) before doing anything involving money or a lot of time, I'd first verify the output. The actual lumen output can be confirmed with a bounce test and a light meter or even with a digital camera by watching the changing shutter speed in manual exposure mode, also during a ceiling bounce. If you don't have a meter or a camera any camera shop would probably let you play with one of their light meters if you were to bring the two lights into the store.


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## Parker VH (Sep 27, 2009)

Here is a pic. It's not the greatest. Mine is on the left. While the pic makes mine appear brighter or maybe it has a brighter hotspot, it really seemed too yellow to my eyes.


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## BVH (Sep 27, 2009)

Yours is definitely brighter. Look and the brightness of your hot spot and how much larger your hot spot is too. Look at the brightness of the corona at its fringe. Your light illuminates so much brighter at the fringe. No question to me, your is putting out much more light.

Look at the tree trunks that yours illuminates all the way to the ground and look at the ground just in front of where the lights sit. How many wires can you count in your beam vrs the other beam? In both cases, yours is definitely brighter.


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## Parker VH (Sep 27, 2009)

Bob, I think your right about the actual brightness. I guess I should have leaned more toward my disapointment with the yellowish color than actual brightness in my initial post. I think I'll try and find another bulb in 4300-5000K and see if it's whiter than my current one.
Thanks.


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## BVH (Sep 27, 2009)

Go to Retro-Solutions on Ebay. I can tell you that his 5000K is gorgeous from first-hand experience and they should be fairly cheap at $35 or so. Find the pics of my Locator 300 Watt in the Shootout IV thread and look at the color. It closely matches RS 5000K's

EDIT: I just looked at them. There is more blue in the photo than I remember. There's no blue when you see it in-person and there is definitely no blue in the RS 5000K's.


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## Parker VH (Sep 27, 2009)

Bob,
I emailed Retro-solutions but he said he only sells the bulbs in pairs for $60.00. I might have to check other places as I don't want to buy two unless I can find someone who wants the other one.
Thanks for the info.


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## BVH (Sep 27, 2009)

Dang! Maybe someone else will see this thread and want one.


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## Patriot (Sep 27, 2009)

BVH said:


> Yours is definitely brighter. Look and the brightness of your hot spot and how much larger your hot spot is too. Look at the brightness of the corona at its fringe. Your light illuminates so much brighter at the fringe. No question to me, your is putting out much more light.





100% Ditto! It's not even close.


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## Patriot (Sep 27, 2009)

Can one of you guys please pass me a link for Retro-Solutions? I searched ebay for "Retro-Solutions" and didn't even get one hit.

Thanks...


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## BadHobbit (Sep 28, 2009)

Patriot said:


> Can one of you guys please pass me a link for Retro-Solutions? I searched ebay for "Retro-Solutions" and didn't even get one hit.
> 
> Thanks...



http://www.retro-solutions.com/

My tiny contribution ...


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## BVH (Sep 28, 2009)

I emailed Todd and asked him if he would sell one bulb as a favor to me. No reply yet.


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## Patriot (Sep 28, 2009)

BadHobbit said:


> http://www.retro-solutions.com/
> 
> My tiny contribution ...





Thank you!


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## Sway (Sep 28, 2009)

Over drive that puppy, I’ve been pushing the 4100K Osram D2S in my 35/50 watt Blitz at 50W for over 5 years now with no problems. 

During battery testing it pulled 5 or 6 runs close to an hour or more at 50W and one for 2 hours running from a power supply, no over heating problems were experienced. 

You may notice a slight drop in the color temperature with a higher drive level but I like that with the 4100K lamp, it looks like a very over driven halogen bulb that just keeps on going 

Cheers 
Kelly


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## Parker VH (Sep 28, 2009)

Sway,
I just wonder if your bulb is a higher quality than mine. I assume it is which might make it more suitable to be overdriven. I might try it later on mine if I can't find a replacement 50W.
Thanks.


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## Patriot (Sep 28, 2009)

Sway said:


> I’ve been pushing the 4100K *Osram D2S* in my 35/50 watt Blitz at 50W for over 5 years now with no problems.



You're over-driving one of the highest quality 35W bulbs to have ever existed. Parker is using a generic Asian. 






*Parker*, looking at this from a practical perspective, if I could inexpensively replace the bulb if I ruined it, I might give it a try, especially if you're only talking about tens or hundreds of hours of planned use and not thousands.

One member over-drove some HID bulbs to destruction a long time ago so I'm trying to find the thread. I can't remember the set wattage of the bulb or the peak level at which it was over driven but it didn't exploded. It gradually melted the electrode until the arc could no longer cross the gap. That's not to say that an exploding bulb isn't possible, just saying that his didn't explode at 70 or 80 watts iirc.

Still looking for the thread............................


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## Databyter (Sep 28, 2009)

To me it appears to be a more realistic color rendition on yours in the pic you posted. 
Of course any light is going to look more yellow when compared to a more bluish one. 

Look at the actual color of the trees without comparing it to the other light and in my opinion it looks more like a tree should look. And it also appears to illuminate very well.

Your eyes use comparitive color rendition in some conditions, especially at night.


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## BVH (Sep 28, 2009)

Retro responded that he would look thru his inventory for a single H7, 5000K bulb and if he finds one, he would sell it to you.


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## Parker VH (Jan 11, 2010)

Bump for Nanomiser, I have since put in a 5000K bulb but haven't taken any beamshots yet.


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## kramer5150 (Jan 11, 2010)

Not sure about your bulb overdrive questions, fortunately others have addressed this. Based on your pics, I think your 55W light blows away your friends 35W. Of my two HID lights, the 55W unit is _considerably _brighter than the 35W, regardless of color tint. 

Building at 450 feet
Stanley HID, 35W-8000k






DIY-HID, 55W-5000k


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## Nanomiser (Jan 12, 2010)

BVH said:


> Yours is definitely brighter. Look and the brightness of your hot spot and how much larger your hot spot is too. Look at the brightness of the corona at its fringe. Your light illuminates so much brighter at the fringe. No question to me, your is putting out much more light.
> 
> Look at the tree trunks that yours illuminates all the way to the ground and look at the ground just in front of where the lights sit. How many wires can you count in your beam vrs the other beam? In both cases, yours is definitely brighter.


 





Ditto Ditto; that 55W rocks!! oo:

It's definitely more yellow, but much brighter. Color temp can sometimes be a deceiving attribute. I know it has taken me a while to be able to make clear distinctions between color temp and brightness. Personally I lean more towards the 5K to 7K range simply based on color preference. If anything I would just find a higher color temp 55W bulb rather than overdrive a lower watt bulb. I beleive overdriving will end producing less lumens at the risk of causing damage. 
 
This definitively answers my question as to whether or not this mod is a worth while project. My response is absolutely! 

Great comparison beam shots Parker; thank you.:thumbsup:


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