# another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!) POOF!



## spc (Nov 5, 2009)

Got this spotlight at Northern tool. 

It was yellow with black legs and a black bezel. It was advertised as 10mcp. Has 2x 6v SLA cells. Came with wall charger and car charger. This light has a nice metal reflector and a glass lens.

I had a 55w ballast and a couple bulbs. The bulbs were h1 and h3. The spotlight took an h4. I took the stock h4 halogen bulb apart and potted the h3 hid bulb into its base. So it fits like stock. (Before I potted it I focused it the best I could so the bulb would be plug and play).

First thing I did with the host was prep the heck out of it for a new paint job. Wash-scuff-wash-scuff-wash-paint. I used Krylon Fusion (good for plastic) ultra flat khaki on pretty much the whole thing. 

The host has a 2-mode switch on the handle. For now I will use that so I re-wired it with heavier gauge wire to work with the ballast.
On the ballast I cut flat the power in plug that sticks out. I just used a dremel and cut it flush with the ballast housing. Then I soldered the power wires directly to the ballast. (doing this saved a little more than a 1/2 inch of space)

The ballast fit behind the reflector so all I did was make a little bracket and screwed it into the side of the host. The bracket holds the ballast with double sided tape

For some reason the glass and reflector wouldn't stay flush with the bezel so I mad a couple extra brackets to hold it tight (you can see the SS machine screws on the front)

It all went back together great and works very well. I still have some focusing to do. As it sits, it can light up trees over 300yds easy.

What do ya think? :tinfoil:








































*changed the title to 55+w watts. After ballast modification 71w with approx 80% efficiency


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## BVH (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

Looks really good in Khaki! Nice work!


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## Patriot (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

Totally cool. I love the color, it reminds me of the same color in Duracoat. That light has a really nice looking reflector on it. 

Nice work!


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## spc (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

Thanks!

I love this color too, I painted a bunch of things with coyote brown duracoat (similar). Its kinda like desert military:tinfoil:


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## mvyrmnd (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

Love it!

I think we have the same host here in Oz as the Arlec RT10000

Now that I've seen the results, I'll probably have to do it!


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## spc (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

go for it, I was surprised to see that the ballast (with a little mod) fit like a glove



I just ordered a mini yellow led 3 digit voltage read out im going to mount.

I'll try to get a beamshot tonight, but I have to finish the focus first. I cant keep it on too long im sure the nieghbors will complain :shakehead


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## BlueBeam22 (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

Nice work! The reflector appears very high quality.


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## Litbobber (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

Looks very nice,that reflector looks flawless.


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## spc (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

Thats why I went for it, the reflector is perfect. It is very thin though and im sure it will dent easy


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## liteitup (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

really nice work!! id love to hear the details on how you potted that bulb.

On a side note that ballast isnt a 55w ballast. I have the same ballast from xtremehids and it is barely pulling 32 watts at the input, only around 25 watts at the bulb (theyre around 80% efficient). Heres the thread where i modifed mine  https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/245894

After i modified it it is now pulling close to 55 watts and making 42 watts at the bulb. I had it as high as 70 watts input (55 watts output!), but since im not going to be running it at that level i didnt want to risk possible damage. 

The 55 watt ballasts from xtremehids have the same shape, but have molded tabs on the ends to screw it down to something.


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## spc (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

liteitup, thanks for the info- theres no telling what the ballast really is. They advertised it as a 55w and the package said 55w I figured it would be less than advertised. Im now excited to see if I can get more out of it!
thought my light was done, nope more work to do  
tomorrow I will open the ballast and see about that pot

I may have some more pics of the bulb potting, i'll take a look


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## liteitup (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

it sure looks like xtremehids 35 watt ballast. if they shipped you that and said it was 55 watt they probably made a mistake. For what its worth the 55 watt is also rated at the input, but is tons brighter then the 35 watt ballast. Almost 20 more watts to the bulb.

Also the 35 watt xtreme ballast doesnt seem to have a pot that i could find, you have to add to the current sense resistors like i did in my post.

Heres a pic showing the differences... take notice of the power ratings on the labels. Also notice how the 55w ballast has the molded tab to screw the ballast down, and the power cord to the bulb has a different connector at the case. The 55w connector looks crimped while the 35watt looks like its screwed on..


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## spc (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

ahh could be easy to confuse the two, mine doesn't have a label on it at all


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## fareast (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> What do ya think? :tinfoil:



The colour is what makes this mod look very pleasing to the eye! I like it!:thumbsup:

Totally OT but is that a Stingray under that cover in the background?


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## spc (Nov 6, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

its from the krylon fusion camo series, you can get it at advance auto parts. There is a dark green ultra flat too that I may try on the next one.

oh yea, you are good! 67 stingray convertable


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## spc (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*



liteitup said:


> it sure looks like xtremehids 35 watt ballast. if they shipped you that and said it was 55 watt they probably made a mistake. For what its worth the 55 watt is also rated at the input, but is tons brighter then the 35 watt ballast. Almost 20 more watts to the bulb.
> 
> Also the 35 watt xtreme ballast doesnt seem to have a pot that i could find, you have to add to the current sense resistors like i did in my post.
> 
> Heres a pic showing the differences... take notice of the power ratings on the labels. Also notice how the 55w ballast has the molded tab to screw the ballast down, and the power cord to the bulb has a different connector at the case. The 55w connector looks crimped while the 35watt looks like its screwed on..


You are right the internals of this ballast are identical to yours. Im not sure if I will swap it with a 55w ballast, I may want to keep the longer runtime of the 35 :thinking:


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## liteitup (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> You are right the internals of this ballast are identical to yours. Im not sure if I will swap it with a 55w ballast, I may want to keep the longer runtime of the 35 :thinking:



well one thing to keep in mind here... with 5k bulbs (which are supposed to be pure white) the output with the "35w" ballast is rather blue (id say as high as an 8000k color). It just isnt pushing the bulb enough. Im assuming the color ratings for these bulbs are with the 55 watt ballast. The 5000k with the 55 watt ballast is definately pure white color, and im gonna say atleast 2 but probably 3 times brighter then the 35w. The extra 20 watts is worth it!!!!!


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## spc (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight mod- (My 55w spotlight mod!)*

well you got me thinking. I have the ballast out and I just wrote a nice letter to extreme hids. 

I almost got to thinking of scrapping the hid parts, making a hockey puck size heatsink for an sst-90 and... But thats just thinking, Lets see what extreme hid says :duh2:..


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## Patriot (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

This reminds me, I'd need to pick up some Krylon fusion in ultra flat khaki. I've got several small projects going that would look great in that color. 

Thanks for finding it!


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## spc (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

I got a reply back from xtreme hid. I questioned the wattage and this is thier response:
"The 35w has a dancing bulb guy label on the surface, and puts out 23,000V, while the 55w is either black centered or just solid silver that puts out 27,000V."
maybe mine is a new version? Or maybe they're blowin smoke......
I'll get some beamshots


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## BVH (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

Those KV figures he's giving happen for only micro or Nano seconds. Just enough to initiate the strike. No one rates a ballast by its strike Voltage. They obviously haven't got a clue or are playing dumb.


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## spc (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

Yeah I don't know about these guys...


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## Mjolnir (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

That looks like a nice mod, no matter what ballast is in it.

Couldn't you measure the current that the ballast is drawing to figure out its wattage?


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## BVH (Nov 7, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

That would be easy to do and then multiple it by 77.5% to get a good idea.


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## spc (Nov 9, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

It is indeed a 35w ballast. Operating voltage (after 2 min) is 12.3v. The ballast draws 2.87 amps (after 2 min). 35.3 watts at 77.5% efficiency= 27.5 watts approx.


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## liteitup (Nov 9, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> It is indeed a 35w ballast. Operating voltage (after 2 min) is 12.3v. The ballast draws 2.87 amps (after 2 min). 35.3 watts at 77.5% efficiency= 27.5 watts approx.



replace the 3 r050 resistors with 3 of the following parts from digikey (excellent company very fast shipping when i bought mine) and the ballast will draw ~55 watts. I couldnt source the small resistors that came with the ballast, so i found these as an alternative.

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=CRA2512-FZ-R050ELFCT-ND. 

I removed the 3 small r050 resistors and soldered on 3 of these in their place and got 54 watts input. These resistors are .05 ohms like the originals but their size is much larger. Must let more current through and therefore increase the brightness through the current sense..


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## spc (Nov 10, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

thanks, i'll give it a try
*just ordered


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## liteitup (Nov 12, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> thanks, i'll give it a try
> *just ordered



i just got my new order in from xtremehids. this one also has no stickers and no tabs like yours and is in a 55w box. Different then all my old ones... interesting. However it is printed on the side that it is 55w and in my testing it is drawing 12.7 volts at 4.8 amps, which would be 61 watts input. About 6-7 watts more then the old style.


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## spc (Nov 12, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

here is something even more interesting!
got the resistors today from digikey.. Before taking the 3 original ones out, I decidied to tack on 2 of the new r050 along with the 3 originals (now 5x 050 resistors). I did a quick test and= holy cow! insanely brighter, I can still see spots. Some measurements and I got 6.5 amps draw at 11volts. Thats 71 watts. At 75% efficiency, thats about 54 watts. And like you were saying before this 5000k bulb looks alot nicer. *Think it is safe to keep it this way?


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## spc (Nov 12, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

here are some shots from the other night, I tried to set up the camera so it would look like it did in person (got it pretty close) The top pic is with the cars headlights on, the second they are off.









I'll get shot of the new "modded" ballast tomorrow after the batts are charged.


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## liteitup (Nov 12, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> here are some shots from the other night, I tried to set up the camera so it would look like it did in person (got it pretty close) The top pic is with the cars headlights on, the second they are off.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



lol yep i had 6 of the smaller resistors on at one point to see what she would do (insanely bright!). it was pulling 70 watts, but i didnt want to chance blowing it up. I think in a spot light application it should be fine as long as you dont use it for long periods of time so that it heats up too much... Dont know how much these cheap bulbs can take either... but id say at over 50 watts to the bulb your probably pushing the limit!

is it safe???? dont know lol! fun though huh?

BTW when i tested my ballasts input vs the output at the bulb i came out with 82% efficient. So you may be getting slightly more then the 75% your assuming 

Could you get me some more details on how you potted that bulb? You got me itching to turn up the heat on one of these ballasts and mod a light like yours. now i just gotta find a host like that and go have some fun!


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## liteitup (Nov 12, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

btw did you say those pics were unmodded?? that light throws very nicely!


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## Patriot (Nov 12, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

Every time I see the pics of your light I think it's one of the coolest looking large spots I've ever seen. Probably the coolest. Judging from your beamshots is performs great too. It makes me want to pick one up, paint it just like yours and drop a 10,000mAh li-po in it.


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## spc (Nov 13, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

*liteitup* Yup those are unmodded beamshots. I cant wait to try it out now! About the bulb= 



(where it says crush here- the high heat plastic they use is brittle so it can easily be crushed and then it falls apart)
JB weld the hid bulb into the cylindrical sleeve. Then assemble it back together with the bulb in place. It will slide a little so you can focus, then jb weld that into place.



This was with an h3 style bulb. 

*Patriot*
Thanks! This was my first real hid mod and now im hooked. All my led mods are on hold because I want to do another one!
These 2x 6v cells could sure use an upgrade. They lasted 30 min with the stock 35w ballast. It has only been charged twice so maybe it will get a little better after more charges.
Now with over 50 watts im sure it wont last that long. A couple big lipos would do the trick :naughty:


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## liteitup (Nov 13, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> *liteitup* Yup those are unmodded beamshots. I cant wait to try it out now! About the bulb=
> 
> 
> 
> ...



nice, thanks.


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## spc (Nov 13, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*

Just got back from trying it out. Just as I figured, 2x as bright. *Liteitup* you were right its worth it! This time out I put it down, aimed it straight up and walked away from it and found that it was hitting the clouds. 

Heres a pic from tonight (after ballast modification) in the same spot that I was the other day


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## liteitup (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> Just got back from trying it out. Just as I figured, 2x as bright. *Liteitup* you were right its worth it! This time out I put it down, aimed it straight up and walked away from it and found that it was hitting the clouds.
> 
> Heres a pic from tonight (after ballast modification) in the same spot that I was the other day



careful now... it looks like those trees might burst into flames! lol...


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## liteitup (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

ok well i was bored tonight... i dismantled an old 6v h3 spot light. Im converting this baby to HID! Theres no room for a battery and ballast so its going to be hard wired, maybe have an optional battery in a back pack or something? good news is that it is extremely light in the hand, maybe half a pound.

Here are a couple indoor beamshots comparing to my stanley hid. Modified light is the BRIGHTER one on the left  This thing has an extremely tight hot spot... makes want want to focus my stanley now.

~50 watts input power in this picture (6k bulb). stanley on the right (8k bulb)





~65 watts input power in this picture





here is a picture of the franken light until i can take the dremel to it tommorow... (dont want to wake up the wifey) and ill also go get some outdoor beam shots


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## spc (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

Nice, for a power supply you could find a small tool box or maybe even a pelican case, fill it with SLA batteries and mount a quick connect in the side of it. Then you just need to find a coiled line and run it to the light. I was thinking of doeing this with an old brinkman maxmillion corded light but the reflector was too far gone from sittin for so many years.


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## liteitup (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

well who needs a pelican case when i can just lug around 35 pounds of jumpstarter fun! lol.







got to thinking, this would make a great light to keep in the boat in the summer time just need to wire in a 12v socket into the boat battery and light up the lake  Ill just keep it a hard wire light, i do have the stanley for portable daylight


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## spc (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

I didn't even think of that, good idea. It would look more oem with something like this wired on (maybe a little longer though) :devil:


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## liteitup (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> I didn't even think of that, good idea. It would look more oem with something like this wired on (maybe a little longer though) :devil:



lol man are we on the same page or what... the dc cord im acutally using right now is the cord fom the stanley hid (kinda rigged right now)... similar to the one you have pictured.

i love this little light... i still gotta get some beam shots.

any thing more from your light? hows the run time at 70 watts?


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## spc (Nov 14, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

Im making sure to have the cells fully charged for the runtime. I'll do that tomorrow. And then i'll install a digital voltmeter :devil:


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## liteitup (Nov 15, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

well got er all buttoned up today. While i was at it i decided to go ahead and install a switch to control low and high. Low power is the stock 35w. high power is around 55w.

Here are some pics all assembled. I forgot to take pics as i put it back together  aw well tomorrow... The low high function is awesome 
The switch for the low high... right at the thumb




...




low power




high power





thought this was going to be a thrower but when i changed the bulb the focus must have shifted... now it still throws almost as well as the stanley, but the hot spot is large and very useful...

i should probably do my own thread and stop cluttering up your mod with mine, but hey you inspired me... lol... i was only modding hids for use in my 4 ATV head lights... now its spot lights.. uh oh...


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## spc (Nov 15, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

No prob! My light is pretty much done and im happy with it. :thumbsup:


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## spc (Nov 16, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

Just did a run time test... 12 minutes! 
well at least it was full brightness until the end.:tinfoil:


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## liteitup (Nov 16, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> Just did a run time test... 12 minutes!
> well at least it was full brightness until the end.:tinfoil:



i was gonna guess 12-14 minutes at the amps its drawing @ 70 watts so im not shocked! need to install a high low switch  12 minutes is plenty of time to light up the moon on a lunar eclipse though


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## spc (Nov 16, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

I'm thinking about the high/low switch, maybe when I open it up to put the voltmeter in i'll do it.

about 12min is plently of 30 sec spotting sessions

But hey, no smoke, no strange smell and the ballast didn't overheat- id say it was a successful mod


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## amraspalantir (Nov 16, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

great mod there spc....inspired me to experiment on a similar flashlight here
i would like to ask what gauge / type of wire did you use when you rewired
it? what wire did you replace?ballast to switch?

thanks


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## spc (Nov 16, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

I ended up replacing all the stock wire. From taking it apart and moving things around so much the wires to the little circuit board and switch pretty much fell off. I have a mile of misc auto wire, I'm not sure exactly what gauge but alot thicker than what was in there.


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## [email protected] (Nov 17, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My ?w spotlight mod!)*



spc said:


> These 2x 6v cells could sure use an upgrade. They lasted 30 min with the stock 35w ballast. It has only been charged twice so maybe it will get a little better after more charges.



I run 2 x 6v SLA's with my smaller Arlec RT3500 host and the 55w (supposedly) HID gets "that flicker" (discharged) at about 30 minutes also, how long did you charge the SLA's before use? :thinking:


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## spc (Nov 18, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

i charged them over a day.. How many amps is your drawing? my runtime was with 2.9amp draw.


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## [email protected] (Nov 19, 2009)

*Re: another hid spotlight- (My 55+w spotlight mod!)*

I've only recently picked up a decent DMM so I'll try it out later and post the result, the same kit in a larger 12v 7Ah SLA host lasts almost 50+ minutes IIRC (I have 2 HID modded spotlights) 


EDIT: okay as promised I checked the amperage draw on the 55w (rated) ballast powered off two 6v 4.2A SLAs, the result once stable was 4.40~4.44A which isn't to far off specification (4.2A) :thumbsup:


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## spc (Dec 1, 2009)

I killed it! The ballast could not handle the extra power. 

I took it off the charger and brought it outside. I turned it and after a couple seconds it flickered like the batteries were dying. I thought- crap the cells are dead. Upon further inspection I smelled something strange. After opening the light up I found the main power wire was a little melted. I guess somewhere inside the ballast it shorted out. At least the bulb didnt blow up or anything like that- just a silent stinky death :tinfoil:. It was a crummy ballast anyway, was supposed to be 55w, ended up being less than 30. You can hotwire them but not too much!!


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## liteitup (Dec 1, 2009)

yea these ballasts arnt very good... they dont seem to be stable, and the light is constantly flickering with them. The actual 55w ballasts are much better and even xtreme hids says they last 3 times longer.


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## tearlessj (Dec 3, 2009)

What color were the bulbs that you had in there? I plan to pretty much do what you did, instead i'm going to run a slightly modded 55watt ballast and hope it last. lol


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## spc (Dec 3, 2009)

yea a better ballast is the way to go. I had a 5000k bulb in there. I tried a 6000k bulb also but it didn't look as bright


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## dwminer (Dec 3, 2009)

You let the magic smoke escape. You’re going to have to be more careful next time.


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