# New CPF Member



## BlueBeam22 (Apr 18, 2008)

Hello everyone! I just joined CPF and I have been collecting spotlights for a long time.

Here is my whole collection: Sam's Club (Power On Board) 35 watt HID, Professional's Favorite 17.5mcp, Thor 15mcp, Sharper Image 10mcp (which is just a 10mcp Thor with some extra features) Dorcy 5mcp, Vector 3mcp, Johnlight Space Searcheye 2.5mcp, Brinkmann Max Millions II rechargeable 2mcp, vector 2mcp, Black&Decker 2mcp, Radio Shack Power Up Spotlight 1mcp, Work Force 1mcp from Home Depot, and a Task Force 1mcp from Lowes. I also have a very nice 3.5 watt LED Lenser flashlight.

I would really like to answer any questions about how my lights compare to each other or anything you want to know about them:thumbsup:


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## Norm (Apr 18, 2008)

:welcome: Great to see you here 
Norm


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 18, 2008)

Norm said:


> :welcome: Great to see you here
> Norm


 
Thanks Norm!


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## Mark620 (Apr 18, 2008)

Greetings


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## kavvika (Apr 19, 2008)

Welcome! Nice list, but I see one problem....no Sam's Club 35W HID!:thumbsup:


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 19, 2008)

kavvika said:


> Welcome! Nice list, but I see one problem....no Sam's Club 35W HID!:thumbsup:


 
Thanks kavvika! I edited the list in my post so now everyone will understand that a Power On Board HID and a Sam's Club 35w HID are the same exact light.


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## kavvika (Apr 19, 2008)

Gotcha. I read your post 3 times and somehow still missed it. I have to ask: now that you have some of the brightest lights ever made, _what's_ next? You're already a "flashaholic" even though you just joined!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 19, 2008)

kavvika said:


> Gotcha. I read your post 3 times and somehow still missed it. I have to ask: now that you have some of the brightest lights ever made, _what's_ next? You're already a "flashaholic" even though you just joined!


 
LOL, you are right kavvika, I really am a flashaholic! Next I would like to get an Amondotech Mega Illumintator (Costco Hid with 42000K bulb). I have always wanted a short arc xenon searchlight like the Maxabeam or the Megaray. By the way, what is your favorite light in your collection?


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## Haz (Apr 19, 2008)

Hi there, welcome to CPF :wave:


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## BVH (Apr 19, 2008)

Welcome to CPF! It's a great place to share your "disease". After all, we all know its symptoms and can help you with moral support as you try to adjust to them.


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## kavvika (Apr 19, 2008)

It's definitely my first-run FM700L followed closely by my FlashCrazy-modded Coast (LED Lenser) with a V0-tinted Seoul. It would be the Sam's Club HID except for that it's a *little* too large to take for a walk, and it's at home while I'm at college. If datiLED manages to swap the emitter on the Fenix P1D I sent him to a Seoul USV0H, that could give the Coast a run for its money for second place.

What 3.5w Coast do you have? Any plans to get into hotwires or LED lights?

Oh, and you just missed BVH's VSS-1 tank light which sold a few weeks ago.


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## MattK (Apr 19, 2008)

WOW - that's one heck of a collection for someone who just joined. What took you so long? 

:welcome:


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 19, 2008)

:welcome: nice collection of spotlights you've got there!


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## RichS (Apr 19, 2008)

Hi BlueBeam22 - welcome to CPF!

I just bought a Power On Board from Sam's and it blew my socks off! I have a decent collection of lights, and some of them pretty powerful. The highest output lights up to this point were a Boxer 24W, Mag85, Mag61, and a SureFire M6. Here's a quick post I put up with a comparison of these: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/192682

However, when I took my newly acquired Power On Board spotlight out, it left every one of them in the dust!! It is my first true spotlight, and I guess the flashlights can't really compete with a 10" wide smooth reflector and a 10 pound battery...

So, I've often been tempted to buy one of the 15 MCP Thor's when I've seen it in the stores. Which is your brightest/throwiest overall spotlight? How doest the 15 MCP and 17 MCP compare with the Power On Board 35W HID?



BlueBeam22 said:


> Hello everyone! I just joined CPF and I have been collecting spotlights for a long time.
> 
> Here is my whole collection: Sam's Club (Power On Board) 35 watt HID, Professional's Favorite 17.5mcp, Thor 15mcp, Sharper Image 10mcp (which is just a 10mcp Thor with some extra features) Dorcy 5mcp, Vector 3mcp, Johnlight Space Searcheye 2.5mcp, Brinkmann Max Millions II rechargeable 2mcp, vector 2mcp, Black&Decker 2mcp, Work Force 1mcp from Home Depot, and a Task Force 1mcp from Lowes. I also have a very nice 3.5 watt LED Lenser flashlight.
> 
> I would really like to answer any questions about how my lights compare to each other or anything you want to know about them:thumbsup:


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## Stereodude (Apr 19, 2008)

Welcome to CPF. :wave:

It looks like you've got a lot of lumens there. :naughty:


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## Patriot (Apr 19, 2008)

:welcome: BlueBeam!

We're glad that you joined us.








> *RichS,
> *ow doest the 15 MCP and 17 MCP compare with the Power On Board 35W HID?



Rich, my POB's are brighter and surprisingly throw further than the 130W H4 Cyclops.


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## lasercrazy (Apr 19, 2008)

:welcome: I think you'll enjoy it here.  Now you need something brighter than that wimpy POB.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 19, 2008)

BVH said:


> Welcome to CPF! It's a great place to share your "disease". After all, we all know its symptoms and can help you with moral support as you try to adjust to them.


 
Thanks BVH! We all share this "disease" you mentioned, but it sure is a fun disease!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 19, 2008)

kavvika said:


> It's definitely my first-run FM700L followed closely by my FlashCrazy-modded Coast (LED Lenser) with a V0-tinted Seoul. It would be the Sam's Club HID except for that it's a *little* too large to take for a walk, and it's at home while I'm at college. If datiLED manages to swap the emitter on the Fenix P1D I sent him to a Seoul USV0H, that could give the Coast a run for its money for second place.
> 
> What 3.5w Coast do you have? Any plans to get into hotwires or LED lights?
> 
> Oh, and you just missed BVH's VSS-1 tank light which sold a few weeks ago.


 
Hello kavvika! Your FM700L sure is a beautiful light! How many lumens does it output? My vector I believe puts out 4000 lumens, followed closely by my POB HID that outputs 3500 lumens. My vector 3mcp puts out more lumens than any of my other lights because of its dual 100 watt 12 volt h3 halogens, so it seems to be the best in a ceiling bounce test, although my brightest lights are all pretty close.

My Coast Led Lenser is a Professional Use 3.44 watt focusable led that puts out 60 lumens. I am mostly interested in high power spotlights, so I don't have many LED lights, but I do plan to get an INOVA X Series flashlight some time soon. Please enlighten me about Hotwires.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 19, 2008)

MattK said:


> WOW - that's one heck of a collection for someone who just joined. What took you so long?
> 
> :welcome:


 
I have been reading CPF for the past few months, and I have found it very interesting. Only recently did I become an extreme flashaholic so I had to join! Good to hear from you


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 19, 2008)

TallNHairyDave said:


> :welcome: nice collection of spotlights you've got there!


 
Thanks so much!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 20, 2008)

RichS said:


> Hi BlueBeam22 - welcome to CPF!
> 
> I just bought a Power On Board from Sam's and it blew my socks off! I have a decent collection of lights, and some of them pretty powerful. The highest output lights up to this point were a Boxer 24W, Mag85, Mag61, and a SureFire M6. Here's a quick post I put up with a comparison of these: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/192682
> 
> ...


 

Thanks Richs for the great beamshots! I really like your Boxer 24w Hid!
To answer your question, in my opinion, my Motor Trend labeled Thor 15mcp from Pep Boys Auto Parts has a larger, brighter hotspot than either my Power On Board HID or my Professional's Favorite 17mcp spotlight, and seems to throw farther than either of them. The beam from the Thor 15mcp is like a laser beam. My Power On Board HID out-throws my 17mcp spotlight, but by very little. The 17MCP spotlight is almost as bright as the Power On Board HID. None of my other lights come close to the throw of the 3 lights I have just mentioned, not even my 10mcp. I might be wrong but I believe my Vector 3mcp puts out more lumens than any of my other lights, but does not throw very far.

I have shined my Thor 15mcp, my Professional's favorite 17mcp spotlight, and my POB HID on the ceiling all at once, and the Thor 15mcp LOOKS the brightest.

Take care


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 20, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> :welcome: BlueBeam!
> 
> We're glad that you joined us.
> 
> ...


 

Patriot36, I find it interesting your POB HID is brighter and throws farther than your Thor 15mcp, because in my humble opinion, my Thor 15mcp throws farther and has a brighter hotspot than my POB HID.
I got my 15mcp Thor from Pep Boys Auto Parts and it is labeled Moter Trend brand. I noticed that the reflector in my 15mcp is A LOT more smooth, mirror-like, and shiny than the reflector in my POB HID.
Is it possible that the Motor Trend Thors have extremely high quality reflectors compared to the original Cyclops ones?

Best Regards!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 20, 2008)

Thanks everyone for all the warm welcomes and the compliments about my lights! I really appreciate it!
Please keep asking me as many questions as you want fellow flashaholics


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 20, 2008)

lasercrazy said:


> :welcome: I think you'll enjoy it here.  Now you need something brighter than that wimpy POB.


 

You are absolutely right:twothumbs My next light is going to be an Amondotech Mega Illuminator! I plan to get it by next year.
My Motor Trend labeled Thor 15mcp from Pep Boys looks a bit brighter to me than the POB HID, but I'm sure the Mega Illuminator will make all my lights look wimpy


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## LuxLuthor (Apr 20, 2008)

Whatever you do, don't read about the XeVision "Barn Burner" or Polarion PH-50, or the MaxaBeam, oh and stay away from this thread also. 

Welcome to CPF!


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## DM51 (Apr 20, 2008)

Welcome, BlueBeam22 - with that list of lights, you've certainly hit the ground running!

Just be a little careful of Mr. Luthor there, lol. What he says will be a very bad influence on your wallet!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 20, 2008)

LuxLuthor,
Thank you for the great links! The Maxabeam has always been one of my favorites. The BB really puts out an unbelievable amount of light!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 20, 2008)

Hello DM51, glad you like my list of lights!


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## Knifekulture (Apr 20, 2008)

:welcome:


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## kavvika (Apr 21, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> Hello kavvika! Your FM700L sure is a beautiful light! How many lumens does it output?


 I was surprised at how the pictures really did it no justice. It's in really good shape, and the red color is much more deeper and darker than in the picture. I managed to talk him down to just over $100 plus shipping for the entire turn-key package, which is a steal. It's a 2D Maglite cut-down 40mm and powered by 3x 17670 cells for 11.1v, overdriving the original 1166 bulb to 700 lumens. The potted 1166 bulb was replaced with a WA1331 bi-pin in FM adapter for over 800 lumens. At ~8" long, it's nearly the same size as a Surefire M6, while surpassing it in both runtime and output. Think of it as a pocket-size Mag85. In fact, many can't even tell the difference between the two bulbs. Lumen per size, dollar, and runtime, this light beats nearly every other light I own, and is damn near perfect.


BlueBeam22 said:


> Please enlighten me about Hotwires.


A "hotwire" is an overdriven incandescent flashlight. The ROP, Mag11, and Mag85 are just some examples of a hotwire. Typically, popular hotwires put out in excess of 500 lumens, and some, such as Mac's "Torch", are rated at nearly 4,200 at the bulb. Of course, some of the brighter hotwires are more toys than useful lights, as runtime can be as short as 10 minutes, and some are capable of setting fire to paper and other flammables. I'm hesitant to use the word "toy" to describe them, though, since they are quite dangerous in that regard.

If you're interested in building a hotwire, post what size Maglite you'd like to use, what batteries you're comfortable using (AA Eneloops or Li-Ion's) and how many lumens you're looking for, and we'll do our best to help you out.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 21, 2008)

Thanks for enlightening me Kavika!
That's amazing your light outputs 800 lumens for being so small! Non flashaholics must be surprised to see so much light coming out of it!
I can see how these lights are a fire hazard, because the lenses of both my Vector 3mcp and my 35W HID spotlight get hot enough to burn skin and create a fire hazard. I understand some of these hotwires are so powerful that they can set paper on fire by holding them a few inches away. Wow, Mac's Torch sounds really amazing at 4,200 lumens! Is it an overdriven 12 volt 100 watt h3 halogen?
I noticed that Wicked Lasers is selling something very similar called "The Torch" and it puts out 4100 lumens.
What would be the simplest hotwire I could do using batteries and bulbs available at my local Lows or Walmart? I have a 4D Mag and a 2D Mag. My Lowes sells lower voltage bulbs I could overdrive in my 4D Mag. please enlighten me more about bulbs and batteries I could get.

Best Regards!


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## kavvika (Apr 21, 2008)

The Maglite 2D and 4D are popular hosts for NiMh powered ROP or Mag11's. The 4D was the original ROP, but the 2D is more popular due to its smaller size. Depending on how many lumens you want, you have a choice of three bulbs:

ROP Low: 2.2 amp draw, 650 bulb lumens
WA1111: 3.5 amp draw, (can't find exact numbers, somewhere between the two)
ROP High: 4.15 amp draw, 1150 bulb lumens

To convert to torch (out the front) lumens, multiply each number by .65.

For the 4D, you can take a stick of 6 Sub-C NiMh cells, which R/Cer's use in their cars, roll them in paper, and stuff them into the tube.

For the 2D, you can use one of FiveMega's (the best) premium 6AA to 2D adapters, or one of mdocod's (half the price, nearly as good) adapters. Load them up with 6 Sanyo Eneloops or the rebranded Japanese Duracell Pre-charged LSD cells, which are the only consumer AA's that can handle the current draw.

Since the Maglite reflector and lens can only handle ~10 watts of heat, both will need to be replaced with aluminum and glass, respectively. I use one of Fivemega's aluminum cammed reflectors, and for the window, I purchased the 5-pack of glass windows from Kaidomain.com for less than $3.

Both the ROP Low and High bulbs are potted, so they're a direct replacement for the original Maglite bulb, but IIRC, the WA1111 is only available as a bi-pin, so you'll need to purchase a G4 bi-pin adapter.

If I were to make my own 7.2v hotwire, I would stick with a WA111, as the ROP low isn't bright enough for me, but the ROP high draws way to much current, giving runtimes of less than 25 minutes. You should get ~40 minutes with the WA1111.

Those mods can cost anywhere from $60 to $90, but the result is soo worth it. I figure if you're going to lug around a light as as big as a Mag, it better spit out at least 500 lumens.

If you're looking for something a little more budget oriented, you can use a 3-cell Maglite bulb in the 4D, which will over drive it quite nicely. For the 2D, I'm not sure I know any good incandescent mods other than the ROP/Mag11. You won't get over 100 lumens from those two lights with a simple bulb swap and alkaline batteries, sorry. But the 3-cell bulb in a 4D is a great first step, and it'll be quite the improvement over the stock bulb.

The Wicked Lasers "Torch" is licensed from Mac. If I were in the market for one, I'd buy one from cmacclel himself. It is powered by 12 (1500mAh?) 2/3A NiMh cells, which overdrive the heck out of a 6v Osram halogen bulb. Originally rated at 4000 hours at 6v, it's now only good for less than 10 at 14.4v. Add another cell, and it's nearly in instaflash territory. The beamshots of the light are just insane.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 21, 2008)

Thanks so much for all the info kavvika!
I am going to go to Lowes this Saturday and get a 3 cell D bulb for my 4D Mag. I'm so excited about my first hotwire mod!
I will let you know what it's like when I put that new bulb in
I had no idea a halogen bulb could be overdriven so much without just burning out, is the Osram kind different? Could I overdrive a 6 volt h3 halogen bulb in a spotlight with a 12 volt 7ah battery?
I saw a website selling Osram h3 halogen bulbs, and they look exactly the same as the ones in my spotlights.

I saw the beamshots of The Torch on the Wicked Lasers website, it looked about as bright as my Vector 3mcp
I really like The Torch

Thanks again and best regards!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 23, 2008)

kavvika,

I just stopped at my Lowe's Hardware and got my 3-cell D bulb for my 4D Maglite. I put the new bulb in and it is at least 2 times brighter than it was before! My 4D Maglite is black, and my 2D Maglite is silver, so I swapped heads and tailcaps of them, so now I have a really neat looking hotwire Mag with a black body and silver ends

I can't wait to try it outside tonight:naughty:


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## XPLRN (Apr 23, 2008)

RichS said:


> Hi BlueBeam22 - welcome to CPF!
> 
> I just bought a Power On Board from Sam's and it blew my socks off! I have a decent collection of lights, and some of them pretty powerful.
> 
> However, when *I took my newly acquired Power On Board spotlight out*, it left every one of them in the dust!! *It* is my first true spotlight, and I* guess the flashlights can't really compete with a 10" wide smooth reflector *and a 10 pound battery...



X2 on the "Welcome to CPF" extended to 'BlueBeam22' !!

I'm curious as to whether your referencing your Sam's Club POB light in the above *bolded* sentence?? I actually went and found a tape measure to check out My Power On Board spotlight reflector diameter as I did not recall it being that large in diameter. After measurement My POB reflector is only 6 inches wide and even My Harbor Freight HID's reflector is only 9" in diameter. Just wondering ..............


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 23, 2008)

XPLRN said:


> X2 on the "Welcome to CPF" extended to 'BlueBeam22' !!
> 
> I'm curious as to whether your referencing your Sam's Club POB light in the above *bolded* sentence?? I actually went and found a tape measure to check out My Power On Board spotlight reflector diameter as I did not recall it being that large in diameter. After measurement My POB reflector is only 6 inches wide and even My Harbor Freight HID's reflector is only 9" in diameter. Just wondering ..............


 
I beleive RichS was just mistaken in the exact measurements of the Sam's Club POB HID.

By the way, how bright is the hotspot of your Harbor Freight Hid's beam vs. your POB HID? My Thor 15mcp has a noticeably brighter hotspot than my POB HID, so I was wondering how my Thor 15mcp compares to your Harbor Freight HID.


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## XPLRN (Apr 23, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> By the way, how bright is the hotspot of your Harbor Freight Hid's beam vs. your POB HID? My Thor 15mcp has a noticeably brighter hotspot than my POB HID, so I was wondering how my Thor 15mcp compares to your Harbor Freight HID.



To properly quantify your question we'd have to shine both lights at the same distance on the same surface with the same atmospheric conditions. Sorry to not be of more help.........hotspot brightness comparison is not my interest.........throw is!!

I do know that the HF HID throws noticably further than the POB HID when both beams are pointed straight up in the sky at night......however the Maxabeam just keeps going and going...........


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## RichS (Apr 23, 2008)

XPLRN said:


> X2 on the "Welcome to CPF" extended to 'BlueBeam22' !!
> 
> I'm curious as to whether your referencing your Sam's Club POB light in the above *bolded* sentence?? I actually went and found a tape measure to check out My Power On Board spotlight reflector diameter as I did not recall it being that large in diameter. After measurement My POB reflector is only 6 inches wide and even My Harbor Freight HID's reflector is only 9" in diameter. Just wondering ..............



Whooops...I should have known I can't throw around off the cuff estimates about a light here on CPF! 

It was merely a rough guess at the size while typing my post - my point was that it is way bigger than my other flashlights which makes it hard for them to compete. Looks like I was way off! I guess it just seemed that big next to all my other lights.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 24, 2008)

XPLRN said:


> To properly quantify your question we'd have to shine both lights at the same distance on the same surface with the same atmospheric conditions. Sorry to not be of more help.........hotspot brightness comparison is not my interest.........throw is!!
> 
> I do know that the HF HID throws noticably further than the POB HID when both beams are pointed straight up in the sky at night......however the Maxabeam just keeps going and going...........


 
What does it look like if you shine your Maxabeam at tight focus on your ceiling on high power? Does it hurt your eyes any more than your POB or your HF HID? Also, how much farther does the Maxabeam on tight focus throw than the POB HID when you are actually shining them at a far away target like 1000-2000 yards?
Thanks very much!


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## XPLRN (Apr 24, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> What does it look like if you shine your Maxabeam at tight focus on your ceiling on high power? Does it hurt your eyes any more than your POB or your HF HID? Also, how much farther does the Maxabeam on tight focus throw than the POB HID when you are actually shining them at a far away target like 1000-2000 yards?
> Thanks very much!



To be honest with you I don't do the ceiling bounce/try to hurt My eyes with the HID's........I already have enough eye "challenged"-ness without wiping out more rods and cones!! 

There is a plan formulating with My friend Paul/Patriot36 to go out on one of the darkest upcoming weekends and get some definitive beamshots with markers to provide distance reference numbers in the pictures. Hopefully that will answer some of ours and your questions. We'll have some "big dogs"....all the previously mentioned HID's, the Maxabeam and some Polarions. The goal is to get some quantitative distance numbers with pictures to support the findings.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 24, 2008)

XPLRN said:


> To be honest with you I don't do the ceiling bounce/try to hurt My eyes with the HID's........I already have enough eye "challenged"-ness without wiping out more rods and cones!!
> 
> There is a plan formulating with My friend Paul/Patriot36 to go out on one of the darkest upcoming weekends and get some definitive beamshots with markers to provide distance reference numbers in the pictures. Hopefully that will answer some of ours and your questions. We'll have some "big dogs"....all the previously mentioned HID's, the Maxabeam and some Polarions. The goal is to get some quantitative distance numbers with pictures to support the findings.


 

Thanks for your quick reply!:thumbsup:
Great plan to go and do a shoot-out with the HIDs! I will be interested to know how the POB HID does against the Maxabeam and Polarions

Does your HF HID feel much heavier than your POB HID when you pick them up? Which is your favorite out of all your lights and why?


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## XPLRN (Apr 24, 2008)

The HF does feel notably heavier and much bulkier than the POB. It's a fun/inexpensive throw toy and that's about it. It's not a first response tool when I hear the barking dogs in the middle of the night that are fighting outside My neighbors fence. Dang incompetent people that do not keep their animals restrained!!! Anyways the POB has broken up numerous fights in the middle of the night and I've "chased" them with the light out into the field at least a 1/4 mile away. With the exception of the on-off switch the ergos on the POB are quite good........nice balance and easy to carry(as easy as that big of a light can be) and A LOT of light output/throw !!

Also you can NOT beat the price.......if you were able to score them for under $20!! I did and gifted the neighbors with POB's to use against the roaming dogs. We have a hill about a mile and 1/4 away that I hike and take My dogs on walks to. I've carried my POB up there and we were shining the lights back and forth from the hill to the neighbors houses. Up on the hill where it is truly dark there was enough light from the POB a mile and 1/4 away that I could have continued hiking up to the top of the hill from the trail where I was standing. It was truly amazing.........also when I was down at My place and the neighbors 4x4'ed up to the top of the hill and shined their light(s) down where I was standing at the neighbors the POB's were casting a shadow behind me and lighting up the field behind us. 

Since you ask about My light preferences.......around the house or in a vehicle the POB is the best bang for the buck. For ease of carry, runtime, throw/fill and not having to worry about trashing an expensive light if you fall while out hiking a rocky trail at night My [email protected] with a Malkoff LED drop-in is probably My favorite light. For a general purpose easy to carry light with a lot of features at an inexpensive price I like the Olight T20-Q5. It carries real easy and is more than adaquate for lower light needs.........plus the strobe is really a nice feature.....IMHO. 



BlueBeam22 said:


> Thanks for your quick reply!:thumbsup:
> Great plan to go and do a shoot-out with the HIDs! I will be interested to know how the POB HID does against the Maxabeam and Polarions
> 
> Does your HF HID feel much heavier than your POB HID when you pick them up? Which is your favorite out of all your lights and why?


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 24, 2008)

XPLRN said:


> The HF does feel notably heavier and much bulkier than the POB. It's a fun/inexpensive throw toy and that's about it. It's not a first response tool when I hear the barking dogs in the middle of the night that are fighting outside My neighbors fence. Dang incompetent people that do not keep their animals restrained!!! Anyways the POB has broken up numerous fights in the middle of the night and I've "chased" them with the light out into the field at least a 1/4 mile away. With the exception of the on-off switch the ergos on the POB are quite good........nice balance and easy to carry(as easy as that big of a light can be) and A LOT of light output/throw !!
> 
> Also you can NOT beat the price.......if you were able to score them for under $20!! I did and gifted the neighbors with POB's to use against the roaming dogs. We have a hill about a mile and 1/4 away that I hike and take My dogs on walks to. I've carried my POB up there and we were shining the lights back and forth from the hill to the neighbors houses. Up on the hill where it is truly dark there was enough light from the POB a mile and 1/4 away that I could have continued hiking up to the top of the hill from the trail where I was standing. It was truly amazing.........also when I was down at My place and the neighbors 4x4'ed up to the top of the hill and shined their light(s) down where I was standing at the neighbors the POB's were casting a shadow behind me and lighting up the field behind us.
> 
> Since you ask about My light preferences.......around the house or in a vehicle the POB is the best bang for the buck. For ease of carry, runtime, throw/fill and not having to worry about trashing an expensive light if you fall while out hiking a rocky trail at night My [email protected] with a Malkoff LED drop-in is probably My favorite light. For a general purpose easy to carry light with a lot of features at an inexpensive price I like the Olight T20-Q5. It carries real easy and is more than adaquate for lower light needs.........plus the strobe is really a nice feature.....IMHO.


 
The POB HID really is a useful light, I put mine on my driveway and had it ON pointing up into the sky, and when I walked out into the street I could see the giant bright blue beam going all the way up into the clouds and illuminating them! My Thor 15mcp is to me what your HF HID is to you; IMO it is brighter and throws farther than my POB HID, but because of its enormous size (the same size as your HF HID) it's impractical for most situations. I just play with it when I want an absurdly powerful spotlight to throw for a mile or light up a whole 1/3 mile field at night


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## Patriot (Apr 25, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> What does it look like if you shine your Maxabeam at tight focus on your ceiling on high power? Does it hurt your eyes any more than your POB or your HF HID? Also, how much farther does the Maxabeam on tight focus throw than the POB HID when you are actually shining them at a far away target like 1000-2000 yards?
> Thanks very much!




Blue, there are many questions in this thread but I'll try to zero in on a couple. As you probably already know, the Maxabeam is a short-arc light and isn't a good comparison to HID's. They produce fewer overall lumens than HIDs but throw further. You were wondering about the POB and MB at 1000-2000 yards.....realistically the MB is the only light of the two that will be seen at that distance. The POB isn't even in the same ball park. To give a general answer though, the POB throws about 25% if the distance of the MB. 

With regards to the ceiling bounce test the POB might appear brighter because of overall output.


My "15 million cp" Cyclops barely out throws my tightest POB. They're really close actually. The problem with the 15 million cp incans is that they start dimming immediately when turned on. After 5 minutes the POB probably does out throw the Cyclops. The Costco HID beats the Cyclops fairly easily in the throw department too but that's based upon my example lights.


As XPLRN mentioned, we will soon get to compare a few odd ball lights and I'd also like to compare some different POB lights. They don't all throw the same, some are better than others. Maybe I can take a few pics for you tonight.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 25, 2008)

Thanks Patriot36!

That would be great if you could take a few pictures for me. Since the Maxabeam only outputs 1000 lumens vs. my POB HID at 3500 lumens, how useful is it to to actually identify a far away target being illuminated compared to the the POB HID? My 5mw green laser might out-throw the Maxabeam but in no way is it a better or more useful light.

Thank you!


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## Patriot (Apr 25, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> Thanks Patriot36!
> 
> That would be great if you could take a few pictures for me. Since the Maxabeam only outputs 1000 lumens vs. my POB HID at 3500 lumens, how useful is it to to actually identify a far away target being illuminated compared to the the POB HID? My 5mw green laser might out-throw the Maxabeam but in no way is it a better or more useful light.
> 
> Thank you!




You're welcome Blue22 

XPLRN is the one with the maxabeam so maybe he can take a couple of pics for you. I was going to compare the Cyclops with my best of 3 POBs.

The MB is very useful for id'ing far away targets though! I understand where you are going with the laser example but the difference is that the MB focuses to 1 degree, the POB focuses to maybe 8-10 degrees. So the MB is about 9 times more focused than the POB. When comparing the laser at say.....one minute of angle, it's about 60 times more focused than the MB. The the difference is far greater. At about a 100 yards the MB will focus it's light within about a 60 inch circle...theoretically Compare that to your POB at 100 yards an it gives meaning to the MB's nickname, the light saber!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 26, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> You're welcome Blue22
> 
> XPLRN is the one with the maxabeam so maybe he can take a couple of pics for you. I was going to compare the Cyclops with my best of 3 POBs.
> 
> The MB is very useful for id'ing far away targets though! I understand where you are going with the laser example but the difference is that the MB focuses to 1 degree, the POB focuses to maybe 8-10 degrees. So the MB is about 9 times more focused than the POB. When comparing the laser at say.....one minute of angle, it's about 60 times more focused than the MB. The the difference is far greater. At about a 100 yards the MB will focus it's light within about a 60 inch circle...theoretically Compare that to your POB at 100 yards an it gives meaning to the MB's nickname, the light saber!


 

Thanks for enlightening me about the Maxabeam Patriot36:twothumbs
I have seen some beamshots of the maxabeam, it is like a laser! But I had no context about how far it really throws since it was not being compared to the POB HID. If you shine your Cyclops Thor 15mcp and your Costco HID on the same surface like a ceiling or a wall at the same time, which one has a brighter hotspot? I am wondering because my Thor 15mcp looks brighter than my POB HID.


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## Patriot (Apr 26, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> Thanks for enlightening me about the Maxabeam Patriot36:twothumbs
> I have seen some beamshots of the maxabeam, it is like a laser! But I had no context about how far it really throws since it was not being compared to the POB HID. If you shine your Cyclops Thor 15mcp and your Costco HID on the same surface like a ceiling or a wall at the same time, which one has a brighter hotspot? I am wondering because my Thor 15mcp looks brighter than my POB HID.



The Costco is brighter by an easily noticeable amount. It's much more difficult to look at than the 15mcp.


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## Patriot (Apr 26, 2008)

Here is a very brief and unscientific comparison from about 20 feet. The cyclops battery tests well above 13V. Both light's have been collimated to give the best throw. 

The Lights:







The beams F4 at 1/40th






F5.6 at 1/500th






F5.6 at 1/1000th






They're not very close to my eye. 


*P.S. Please let me know if these are displaying larger that 800 x 600. Although they are not oversized in Photobucket, they are on my CPF page, which I haven't run into before.

Thanks.*


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## kavvika (Apr 26, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> kavvika,
> 
> I just stopped at my Lowe's Hardware and got my 3-cell D bulb for my 4D Maglite. I put the new bulb in and it is at least 2 times brighter than it was before! My 4D Maglite is black, and my 2D Maglite is silver, so I swapped heads and tailcaps of them, so now I have a really neat looking hotwire Mag with a black body and silver ends
> 
> I can't wait to try it outside tonight:naughty:


Glad to hear! That mod is a great first step. How'd it perform in the real world? Swap the window retaining bezels and it'll look even better. I bet your next step will be stuffing 3x CR123A's in a 2C Mag running a 5-cell bulb. It's even more impressive, at least until you step up to the 20w or greater hotwire mods.:naughty: All I can say is, the FM 700L ruined my lumen perception for good. Good luck!


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 26, 2008)

Thank you so much for the great pictures Patriot36!
That was so nice of you to do this for me, I really appreciate it!:twothumbs

I could tell the Thor 15mcp and the Costco HID are equally bright:kewlpics:

Your Costco HID is very similar to my Professional's Favorite 17.5 mcp spotlight in size and shape. The 17.5mcp Also has a very similar if not the same beam pattern as the Costco HID. 

Your pictures did not look over 800 x 600, they fit well within the page and are wonderful quality.

Thanks again!:wave:


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 26, 2008)

kavvika said:


> Glad to hear! That mod is a great first step. How'd it perform in the real world? Swap the window retaining bezels and it'll look even better. I bet your next step will be stuffing 3x CR123A's in a 2C Mag running a 5-cell bulb. It's even more impressive, at least until you step up to the 20w or greater hotwire mods.:naughty: All I can say is, the FM 700L ruined my lumen perception for good. Good luck!


 
Hi kavvika

I was able to light up my whole backyard with my hotwire Maglite when I would twist the head to flood mode:naughty: It throws for about 200 yards, which is quite amazing for a Maglite!

I am going to swap the lens retaining bezel like you said, so it will have a silver head and a black bezel


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## Patriot (Apr 26, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> Thank you so much for the great pictures Patriot36!
> I could tell the Thor 15mcp and the Costco HID are equally bright:kewlpics:




You're welcome BB22,

And just to clarify, the Cyclops/Thor 15mcp (Incandescent) is on the left, Costco (HID) on the right.

Do you really think they look equal in brightness though?  

To me the Costo is producing quite a bit more overall light and the hotspot is far more intense.


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## Stereodude (Apr 26, 2008)

FWIW, my POB (Sam's) HID is quite a bit brighter and a better thrower than my 10MCP Thor-X.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 26, 2008)

Patriot36 said:


> You're welcome BB22,
> 
> And just to clarify, the Cyclops/Thor 15mcp (Incandescent) is on the left, Costco (HID) on the right.
> 
> ...


 
I see what you mean now, the Thor 15mcp has a tighter beam, but the Costco HID has a brighter hotspot with a larger spill for a broader area illumination. I plan on getting a Costco HID soon

How does your Costco HID do vs. the Thor 15mcp and the POB HID in a ceiling bounce? My Vector 3mcp beats the POB HID, the 17.5mcp, and the Thor 15mcp in a ceiling bounce test.


Congratulations on your new Polarion PH50! It would easily beat my Vector 3mcp:candle:
If your Polarion PH40 is a 40 watt HID and it puts out 4000 lumens, the same as the Vector, then they would do about the same in a ceiling bounce or lighting up a field except for the Vector being a lower yellowish white color temp around 3800k and your Polarion being more blue white at 4300k.
Thanks!:wave:


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## LuxLuthor (Apr 27, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> What does it look like if you shine your Maxabeam at tight focus on your ceiling on high power? Does it hurt your eyes any more than your POB or your HF HID? Also, how much farther does the Maxabeam on tight focus throw than the POB HID when you are actually shining them at a far away target like 1000-2000 yards?
> Thanks very much!



It is the only light I have that has beam spot clearly visible shining at back fence at high noon on sunny day.


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## Patriot (Apr 27, 2008)

BlueBeam22 said:


> I see what you mean now, the Thor 15mcp has a tighter beam, but the Costco HID has a brighter hotspot with a larger spill for a broader area illumination. I plan on getting a Costco HID soon
> 
> How does your Costco HID do vs. the Thor 15mcp and the POB HID in a ceiling bounce? My Vector 3mcp beats the POB HID, the 17.5mcp, and the Thor 15mcp in a ceiling bounce test.
> 
> ...




Right Blue! When you look at the brightest point for each light, that's what's producing the throw. As you can see the Costco is still slightly over exposed in the image whereas the 15mcp beam is not over exposed at all.

The Costco and POB are very close in a ceiling bounce, then the 15mcp, then my 3mcp Target Vector.

The 3mcp Vector isn't 4000 lumens though Blue. With battery sag and resistance in that light, it's more like 1600 on a perfect battery and then goes down very quickly from there. For example a run of the mill mag85 (1050 bulb lumens) is a little brighter than the single beam on the Vector. When you fire both bulbs there is even more sag from the SLA battery. You can see how my 1300 bulb lumen mag85 performs in the Polarion PH50 thread. The PH-40 is about 250% brighter than a freshly charged vector in a ceiling bounce test. 

I hope that makes some sense. The Beamshots of course show the true story though...


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 27, 2008)

Hello Patriot36,
I just did a ceiling bounce test and a focused candlepower test of my most powerful lights and the results are very interesting. After this test my opinion on how they compare has changed!

NOTE: I shined the lights on my white ceiling to get the results for both of these tests.

From the top down are how the lights performed in the ceiling bounce test:

1st Professional's Favorite 17.mcp
2nd Power On Board HID/Thor 15mcp same brightness
3rd Vector 3mcp
4th Sharper Image 10mcp (10mcp Thor with extra features)

It was quite surprising that the 17.5mcp put out more light than the POB HID and the 15mcp Thor.

What is also interesting is that the 10mcp did the worst in this test because it only has one 100 H4 watt halogen bulb, as all the others have over 100 watts.

Now for the results of the focused candlepower test:

The Thor 15mcp looks the brightest because it has the most focused candlepower in the hotspot. The POB HID and the 17.5mcp appear to have the same intensity hotspots, the 10mcp has a noticeably less intense hotspot than the top 3, and the Vector 3mcp has a very dim hotspot because of its small reflector so it appears very dim when shined at the same time on the same surface as any of the other lights.

Hope you found this interesting!

PS. thanks for enlightening me about the Vector 3mcp, I was mistaken about the output, and now I can tell it's not as bright as I thought it was. I noticed it had the most yellow beam of all, is this because the bulbs are being under driven by the twin 6 volt SLA batteries? The bulbs are sopposed to be "ultra white hiper halogen".


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## Patriot (Apr 28, 2008)

Sure, that's about how mine line up also.

Costco
POB
15mcp Cyclops (very close but a little less light in the room)
Vector 3mcp

(don't have a 10mcp Thor anymore)



I guess I'm not surprised that the "Pro's Favorite put out more light than the POB or 15mcp Thor. If not not mistaken, the Professionals Favorite 17.mcp is a version of the Costco/HarborFreight. Is that correct? I think I've only heard it by "Pro's Favorite" once before a long time ago. 

I'd be curious to see some under exposed images of your "Pro's Favorite" vs. your 15mcp light. If the Pro Favorite is what I think it is, I'm surprised that the 15mcp Thor has a brighter hot spot. I would expect it to appear like my pictures above. But yeah, you're there looking at it and I'm not. 

Those 3mcp vector bulbs will take a lot more voltage than what two two little SLA's are feeding them. You've probably witness how lighting both bulbs on that light isn't much brighter that only lighting one side. Like you said, they're under driven. When hooked up to a larger capacity battery they do a little bit better but even then they're still underdriven by about a volt. Nickel Metal batteries would change the character of that light a lot.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 28, 2008)

Hello Patriot36,

The Professional's Favorite 17.5mcp is like a halogen version of the Costco/Harbor Freight. It is strikingly similar in appearance, size, shape, 9'' reflector, and beam pattern to the Costco HID. Its reflector is about 1/2 an inch larger in diameter than my Thor 15mcp. It has black and yellow stripes so it kind of looks like a giant bee.

The strange thing is that the manual that came with the Professional's Favorite says it uses a 120 watt H4 quartz halogen bulb, while the Thor 15mcp uses a 130 watt H4 and the POB uses the 35 watt H7 metal halide bulb, but the Professional's Favorite still puts out so much more light than either of them.

The other nice thing about the Professional's Favorite is that the LOW setting gives a very bright half circle because only one filament in the H4 bulb burns, it doesn't suffer with the problem my two Thors do where LOW gives a yellowish dim half circle with the dim hotspot in the middle because both filaments are lit at once.

I just shined the POB, Thor 15mcp, and the Professional's Favorite on my ceiling all at the same time and studied the hotspots very closely.
The Professional's Favorite DOES have a slightly brighter hotspot than the POB HID, and it was about the same as the Thor 15mcp. The difference is that the Thor 15mcp has a much larger (but as bright) hotspot than the Professional's Favorite, so when they are shined on the same surface at the same time the Thor 15mcp still LOOKS brighter.

The Professional's Favorite has a very white beam, much more white than any of my other halogens, which leads me to beleive the bulb is being slightly over driven. If you do a Google search on "17.5 million candlepower", you will find a link a few rows down leading to the Professional's Favorite website and it will have a big picture of the 17.5mcp, and a video about it. I got it at Advance Auto Parts for 40$.

I beleive the Professional's Favorite would beat the Costco HID in a ceiling bounce because IMHO it puts out 125% as much light as the POB HID in the ceiling bounce. How much more light does your Costco HID put out than your POB HID in a ceiling bounce?


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## BVH (Apr 28, 2008)

I'm going to guess the 17.5 mcp is made by a company other than the Costco HID manufacturer. The detailing on all parts of the light look too different to me. Just my guess.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 29, 2008)

Sorry BVH!
I should have said "The Professional's Favorite is LIKE a halogen version of the Costco HID" The manufacturer IS different. I edited my previous post


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## BVH (Apr 29, 2008)

There's never a need to be sorry here. We just post our thoughts and opinions, some right, some wrong and some neither!


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## Patriot (Apr 29, 2008)

Ok, I saw the Pro's Favorite 17.5. Like BVH mentioned it a completely different housing and not really like the Costco at all. I didn't know about that light after I saw it and I've never seen it before. I looks like a nice halogen spot though which possibly shares the same reflector as the Costo since you're saying it has a star shaped beam. I'd enjoy some beamshots if you ever get the chance.


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## BlueBeam22 (Apr 30, 2008)

Patriot36,

I am going to take some pictures of the Professional's Favorite for you soon. I am very curious about just how much brighter the Costco HID is than the POB HID in the ceiling bounce test. I just did one in a small room and the Professional's Favorite lit the room up a LOT more, it looked 150% the output of the POB.


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## Patriot (Apr 30, 2008)

*Blue22,* That sounds great. I'd like to see those. Also, if you could. Take some duplicates in black and white. That way we can also compare them without beam color skewing the overall output results.


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