# 800 million candlepower (are you ready?



## inspiron (Oct 26, 2008)

Here is your gasoline generator that puts out in the area of 11,000 watts









The 60 inch Sperry search light, it uses a carbon arc. Built about the early 1940's used to seek air craft and blind the pilots. ( notice the ventilation blower mounted on the light)






Being in the path of the beam was very warm, there had to be spotter to look or aircraft and make sure that the beam stayed out of there way, we were less than 20 miles from new york city and several major international airports. Also we had to have the coast guards permission before turning the spotlight on.










notice the mechanism that advances and rotates the carbon rod as it is consumed, a carbon rod about 1 inch thick and 1 foot long is consumed every hour. Also notice that there was a small flame as the rod is "burned"





The rod was glowing for a good 5 minutes after being turned off and the light was hot as a pistol.


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## Flashanator (Oct 27, 2008)

Careful not to burn the sky away...

I will be ready when its handheld...:thumbsup:


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## toby_pra (Oct 27, 2008)

WOW WTH :huh: 

Very very nice pictures.


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## Sgt. LED (Oct 27, 2008)

I wish!


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## Illum (Oct 27, 2008)

Apparently BVH is no longer the only one with a search light of this magnitude
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/170556


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## Team Member (Oct 27, 2008)

I have to get me one like that..


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## TITAN1833 (Oct 27, 2008)

WOW!!! awesome, we have a new throw king at last :laughing:


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## FlashCrazy (Oct 27, 2008)

TITAN1833 said:


> WOW!!! awesome, we have a new throw king at last :laughing:


 
If you look closely on the lower right, you can see the Dereelight emblem on it. I'll have to see if I can stock those. :lolsign:


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## TITAN1833 (Oct 27, 2008)

FlashCrazy said:


> If you look closely on the lower right, you can see the Dereelight emblem on it. I'll have to see if I can stock those. :lolsign:


 big jump from V2 to V800 million, I must have been snoozing


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## inspiron (Oct 27, 2008)

Team Member said:


> I have to get me one like that..




I hear the going rate for a spotlight and generator is about $38,000


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## Patriot (Oct 27, 2008)

Wow...neat! It looks like there are three of them in the club now including BVH's friend.


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## 300winmag (Oct 27, 2008)

Whats the search light weigh in at?


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## inspiron (Oct 27, 2008)

300winmag said:


> Whats the search light weigh in at?



Not sure, If I had to guess I'd say the light alone is about 800 pounds and that generator is in the area of 1500 pounds


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## 1996alnl (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for sharing inspiron!
I've never seen one of those before.Truly amazing.

Take care.


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## sims2k (Oct 28, 2008)

Wow...and...wow...that is what I call powerlight or the-mother-of-all-flashlights...:twothumbs


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## ChrisDallas (Oct 28, 2008)

Just awesome!

I wonder how it compares to the light at the top of the Luxor hotel in Vegas?


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## karlthev (Oct 28, 2008)

inspiron said:


> Not sure, If I had to guess I'd say the light alone is about 800 pounds and that generator is in the area of 1500 pounds




Oh, so not a viable candidate as an EDC I guess....:thinking:


Karl


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## 1996alnl (Oct 28, 2008)

ChrisDallas said:


> Just awesome!
> 
> I wonder how it compares to the light at the top of the Luxor hotel in Vegas?


 
Good question. I wonder what kind of light it is,there's some amazing throw there.

P.S assuming yours is the only Enzo in the GTA i think my wife saw you on Mcglauglin rd. awhile back.She knows nothing nor cares about cars and she told me the sound alone made the hairs on the back of her neck stand out.:twothumbsThat's an amazing ride you have there.

Take care


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## Hogokansatsukan (Oct 28, 2008)

Where's the pocket clip? Lanyard ring?

What an incredible light!


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## TITAN1833 (Oct 28, 2008)

Hogokansatsukan said:


> Where's the pocket clip? Lanyard ring!


Here you go,but you will need a strong belt :naughty:


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## Hogokansatsukan (Oct 28, 2008)

Now if only the government would let one buy a gun worthy of having this mounted to it!oo:


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## inspiron (Oct 28, 2008)

ChrisDallas said:


> Just awesome!
> 
> I wonder how it compares to the light at the top of the Luxor hotel in Vegas?



It doesn't compare



> The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly upward – it is the brightest beam in the world, and is visible from anywhere in the Las Vegas valley at night, and can be seen at flight level from above Los Angeles, California, over 275 miles (440 km) away. At ground level, on clear nights, the beam could also be seen as far south as Laughlin and even as far north as Mesquite or Beatty. It is directly straight ahead on US-93 in Arizona, north of Kingman, before reaching the Hoover Dam. In the spring, the bright light attracts huge numbers of moths into the light beam, creating a phenomenon that has been likened to snow. Light is generated using 39 Xenon lamps of 7 kilowatts each. The hourly cost, including lamps, electricity, and repairs, is US$51. The total light output is rated at *41.5 gigacandela, or 30.2 billion lumens.*[5]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Hotel


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## ChrisDallas (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks for the reply Inspiron, that Luxor light is serious then.


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## 1996alnl (Oct 28, 2008)

30 billion lumens:devil: Wow,that beam should reach Mars

Take care


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## ChrisDallas (Oct 28, 2008)

1996alnl said:


> That's an amazing ride you have there.



Yeah thanks, she is gorgeous isn't she...and to this day which is more than 5 years later she still impresses me as she did the very 1st day I drove her.


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## BVH (Oct 29, 2008)

Congrats Inspiron!! These lights are still the brightest, single-source light ever produced. The Luxor lights are not a fair comparison - unless you divide the lumens/CP by 37.

The weight of the light (my G.E., anyway) is about 2,700 lbs and the genset is about 3,300 lbs. Add that to my trailer weight and I'm pulling an 8,000+ load. These are heavy suckers!

How would you rate your mirror, Inspiron? Be absolutely sure not to use any type of abrasive polish. Any abrasive will remove more of the Rhodium and there is no way to re-plate them - at least with Rhodium. I use a liquid called Blue Magic. I think there might also be another similar polish in a paste form but it is an abrasive. Do not use it. Clean your mirror at least after 6 to 9 hours (usually 2-3 jobs) of use. It becomes more difficult to get the stuff off after that.

Just some other tips that the other "Bob" gave me. Be sure to take the light rotation mechanism out of gear before transporting to avoid damage to the gears. Be sure to point the light as far down as possible and then strap it tight to avoid damage to the elevation gears. Check your voltage after the ballast resistor (actual Voltage to the rods). You should be running at 78 EDIT: it might be 73 Volts, not sure now) Volts under load. You want to be running 98 Volts under full load to the resistor. If over or under, slowly and carefully adjust with the control panel knob. You don't want to use that knob any more than you have to. It's hard to find new ones  Amperage at these Voltages should be 150. Also, don't rely on the control panel Voltmeter. Use a good digital VOM.

I use a copper-coat paste as a lubricant for the positive rotational gears and a spray graphite for the positive feed, negative feed and negative rotational gears. The graphite works best when you've been running for a while. The heat helps to adhere the lube.

That's all for now. Got to keep unpacking boxes and moving into the house!


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## FredM (Oct 29, 2008)

BVH said:


> Any abrasive will remove more of the Rhodium and there is no way to re-plate them - at least with Rhodium.



oh my god they use rhodium?

how much do these suckers cost!!!???!!!


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## FredM (Oct 29, 2008)

BVH said:


> Congrats Inspiron!!



hey I just checked out the blue magic stuff and it says it leaves a protective coating. Why would rhodium need that? What kinda "stuff" gets on there? Would alcohol or some other organic solvent not take it off?


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## Illum (Oct 29, 2008)

1996alnl said:


> 30 billion lumens:devil: Wow,that beam should reach Mars
> 
> Take care



without atmospheric losses, I would say YES if this was mounted on the ISS:nana:


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## BVH (Oct 29, 2008)

The burning carbon rods produce smoke which is extracted by the fan but it still, none the less, deposits black carbon residue on the mirror. Now that I have my brain engaged...The blue magic is used maybe twice per year to polish the mirror and I use Windex to clean after every 2nd or 3rd job - 3-6 hours.

Typically, if you can find one, the units go from less than 5K to 25K - not too many go for the upper limit. That typically includes the trailer.


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## Cuso (Oct 30, 2008)

Somebody call Gotham police, the stole another Bat-signal!! :thumbsup:


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## FredM (Oct 30, 2008)

BVH said:


> The burning carbon rods produce smoke which is extracted by the fan but it still, none the less, deposits black carbon residue on the mirror. Now that I have my brain engaged...The blue magic is used maybe twice per year to polish the mirror and I use Windex to clean after every 2nd or 3rd job - 3-6 hours.
> 
> Typically, if you can find one, the units go from less than 5K to 25K - not too many go for the upper limit. That typically includes the trailer.



Hmm, it seems blue magic is made for "lesser" metals if it has a residue to protect the metal. I would try a more agressive solvent for the big cleanings and see if you can get good results this way. Rhodium will handle anything so long as like you said it is non-abrasive but it seems like anything that stays on there cannot be good for it. This is just from my experience cleaning platinum crucibles so take it for its worth.

Amazing that they used such a metal for a reflector. Does anyone know how it compares to other metals for reflection? I know they use aluminum in telescopes but I think thats just for cost purposes.


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## BVH (Oct 30, 2008)

I once bookmarked a site giving that info. What I remember is that silver was tops, aluminum was less reflective and Rhodium was one or two after that.


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## FredM (Oct 30, 2008)

My guess is that rhodium is used because it will not oxidize even at high heat.


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## qwertyydude (Oct 31, 2008)

The Luxor can't possibly be 30.2 billion lumens, that equals an efficiency of 110,623 lumens/watt, a physically impossible energy efficiency. Assuming an optimistic 80 lumens/watt x 7000 watts x 39 lamps = at most 2,184,000 lumens.


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## Helmut.G (Oct 31, 2008)

qwertyydude said:


> The Luxor can't possibly be 30.2 billion lumens, that equals an efficiency of 110,623 lumens/watt, a physically impossible energy efficiency. Assuming an optimistic 80 lumens/watt x 7000 watts x 39 lamps = at most 2,184,000 lumens.


actually, it's 21,840,000, but if you assume 110lm/W it'd be 30,000,000 (30 *millions*). of course that would be bulb lumens


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## kaimaikid (Nov 9, 2008)

Man I think I need a cold shower now after seeing those pics - wow !!! :tinfoil:


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