It would seem HID is dead.

Ok,

All mentioned above have sense and it stands weather we talk about our classic handheld flashlights(90% of market) or about specialized vehicle or huge HID lights(10% of market?) but also because of everything said and mentioned in previous posts flashlight manufacturers will tend to work with more cheap and reliable parts in a future so yes I agree with DBSAR… HID is not dead yet but it will probably be in a future, and all that because HID technology probably reached its maximum potential while LED has still more room for developing (although currently in LED technology I don’t see any progress especially when it comes to super throwy emitters we had 2 years ago).

Are you referring to the adjustable 360* Remote searchlights that are magnetized and remotely operated? If so, yes I occasionally stick one atop my car or truck when I want to have fun… The beam is un godly bright!I believe mine is a “Go Light Wanna-be” made by a company called Afterpartz but it has to come close to a real Go Light’s output. Anywhere you aim it, you can see as far as your eyes can go :+1:
I personally own a Xenonics Nighthunter 1 short arc ,a 12W HID dive light Darkbuster brand good for 550 lumen, two different Jobsmart HID lights, one being handheld and the other an actual big spot light both modded with 4300K bulbs and 55W ballasts, and as of lastnight I am the new owner of a Peak Beam Maxa Beam 450. Go big or go home right?

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It sounds like you enjoy scaring the dark into hiding from you! If you have a means of powering large HID’s, they are by far the highest light intensity/most powerful single light source/portable light sources available to the consumer. By their very nature, I doubt LED technology will ever be able to compete in that realm… not even close.

I was asking if anyone else had mounted a 1000 watt (1kW or larger) short arc on a moving vehicle. Id be interested in which alternator(s) and controllers they chose for power. Check my sig for my 1kW short arc, pan/tilt and power system mods. Before that, I had a 450 watt ORC searcher (for aircraft mounted search and rescue) but it didnt have the massive swath of light provided by the 1kW when the beam was adjusted for maximum flood. I got a demo of the older (and comparatively much larger) 2.5kW version, but the optics weren’t nearly as efficient as the 1kW illuminator, and it lacked many of the design features of the newer unit. Because I sometimes run in salt water, I also opted for the waterproof military version for its sealed active heat exchanger and internal shock absorption system. It lived on top of a main battle tank barrel, so I figured it would be tough enough to survive the G shock loads incurred on a boat. Hitting waves at speed, the entire boat often leaves the water and lands with a good amount of impact.

I had a HID Go Light Stryker (with remote) on my play pickup for a while, but replaced it with 3 x 100 watt HID conversions using the huge Hella Rallye 4000 housings to maximize lumen efficiencies and provide nice beam patterns.

Congrats on your 450. How do you like it so far?

A beat-up old maxabeam appeared on craigslist, but it was an early version with less wattage, and the guy was asking far too much for it.

How about “ultraportable”, “affordable”, “HID”…“headlamp” ?


No.

Just… no.

WOW bro! There is really something crazy behind that picture.

That’s a beamshot of the Maxabeam from DM51 over on CPF. It’s one of the nicest beamshots I have ever seen.
Because of the pictures age (~2008) it’s probably a Gen2 Maxabem with 3-6Mcp depending on the used bulb. The current Gen3 Maxabeam does 12Mcp. It also seems like the bulb isn’t positioned perfectly in the reflector (beam and spot are a bit fuzzy).

Hey Driver!

Yes this is surely a monster thrower. Like your LED version of Maxabeam here

But I have to admit that I would like to see some monster emitter in your edition and sacrifice throw a bit :slight_smile:

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that the BLF Giga Thrower really should be using HID instead of LED?

Only, when the luminance is the same or higher ;).
I am getting a BLF GT for bigger emitters (it has more batteries).

Not possible at this price point. Also only a standard car HID would be possible (35-80W). A short-arc would probably require 10x the cost.

I think LED is taking over HID in term of throw.

It will only get better in the long run when LED technology improve further :slight_smile:

HID bulbs are still faaaar ahead of LED.

I think I will be able to pass the maxabeam with my next LED flashlight build, but it’s gonna cost a lot of money and be pretty large.

Kudos to you for even attempting it!

I would still recommend saving up for a (used) Maxabeam. It’s such a great toy with motorized focus :D. The current models have no Step-Down and all Xenon bulbs have 100cri, so the light quality is much higher compared to LEDs.

Enderman will build another Zooka :laughing:

Thanks :slight_smile:
It’s expensive though, like $500+ usually, which I could put towards my next flashlight project.
On top of that, it is like 1.5x more expensive for me thanks to the canadian dollar xD

Certainly, I will not stop until I have a non-bulb flashlight that can beat all of those short arc lights on that graph :wink:

Well I guess you’re gonna need some serious XXXL aspherics for that… Good luck :+1:

Not this time, it will be reflector only :smiley: and thank you

I made an ‘invention’ for a reflector LED light:

“Wavien dome”

The dome will have to be attached to the glass lens

Pretty similar to the design often used for short arc lamps:

Compared to a lens+wavien collar of the same diameter it will have less lux though, since the lens won’t have the dead spot in the middle.
The lens will also give a tighter beam since all of the points on the surface will be at a longer distance from the LED.