For those in The US

If you live near a Big Lots, ive got great news on a budget HID spotlight.

i successfully completed in 10 mins a quick swap on a $20 12V 55W Halogen Spot light.

it dissassembles from the rear and front. i used a DDM slim kit (seems the new kits are no longer available, but $35 for two ballasts with 2 H3 bulbs at 35W, you can also get it in 50W. NOTE: the version i used had external ignitor, the new version has an internal one saving even more room)

if your there, look for a big box, thats $20 on the sticker.

so you can build two and sell em on ebay:

2x $20 = $40

H3 kit = $35 (good for two swaps)

total for 2x 35 Watt 4300k (your choice) HID spot lights, less than 80 bux!

Sounds very interesting. Can you post some pics of your new creation?

The Big Lots closed near my mothers house last year. Will go to the next closest one tomorrow and seek this out

sure thing

The box to look for:

with HID bulb installed

sad 55 Watt halogen that was in there

YOU WILL HAVE TO DO SLIGHT GRINDING TO GET HID BULB TO FIT IN LENS

Cool Side leds if you dont need HIDS (came on it stock)

charging leds on other side

just how much light is 3200 lumens?

that ceiling fan is not the only light on, its 4pm, broad daylight on this side of the house, 4x 60W equivelant lightbulbs in the fan (825 lumens each) and a flourescent double circline light above me

business end

the backside unscrews to find the AC charger (i thought at first it didnt come with one lol)

i removed the AC charger and box its in, and left it out, instead you can see below the ballast (used ballast from car) and wiring jammed in there, plenty of room!

THERE IS NO REAL CUTTING OR MODDING, just a slight grind on opening for bulb to get it to slide in with ease!

Thank you for sharing your fantastic mod with us. It does look like fun and simple to make... something that most of us could attempt without burning our fingers or the house down. LOL.

I assume this contains a lead acid battery. What kind of run time do you get with it? Have you had a chance to play with it outdoors yet? What are your impressions?

well i just went outdoors with it. holy crap!

amazing! brightest flashlight by far. obv the annoying warm up (due to digital ballast and 6.5 amp MAX startup amperage)

no guess on runtime yet, but theres a LARGE solid 4.5AH 12V lead acid battery. I dont plan on replacing it til it dies. plenty of room in the back to fit either kind of ballast tho!

i dont have run times yet, i want to spend some time charging and discharging it. it seemed to charge in only 2 hours (at 15V 600ma) that kinda worries me.

anybody know if this is still there? also what is the name of this spotlight?

i have HID search light too ( well any light that size is called search light)
it came with 12V 7Amp battery… it last around 45 mins.
but the problem is… once the bulb get too hot… it automatically will shut itself down for protection after 15 mins or so
you can get HID kit for H3 short bulb from ebay for around $33 ( pair of ballasts and H3s bulbs)
the battery (SLA) is about $16 from AZbatterystore.com ( go for 12V 9Amp… same size for less than $10 more)
very bright… but for short time use only :slight_smile:

Got a link to the hid bulbs? I’ll try to find the light at biglots tonight.

I doubt that they will still have that exact light, there are many others that would do.

The original poster has not been seen for 39 weeks

Yikes! I blame this guy… :smiley: