Just finished building this last week. It took me a few weeks and a couple burned-up voltage boosters to figure it out. The light works like a champ.
Here’s a short video on it.
It is bright, where do you get 22,000 lumens though? Generally those LED’s are closer to ~50-60 lumens/watt
Also have you measured the current and voltage going through the LED?
I ask because a lot of builds like this just assume that with X voltage input it is outputting X wattage.
I think he just went on ebay or something and searched up 200W LED and then just stated the number of lumens that was advertised on the page.
There are expensive COB with >150 L/W
A good one is easily over 100L/W
Regarding 22,000 lumens comment……I am going off the marketing information. I grant you the marketing output is most likely overstated, but I do not have the equipment to measure the actual output.
The LED Emitter I used in this light is an:
Epistar 200W, 32-34V, 7A, 20-22,000 Lumen, Color Temp: 4000-4500K
This company is known for its LED products. They have a legit website.
My emitter is a similar to this one on Amazon, just a little more powerful.
https://www.amazon.com/Epistar-Power-Light-20000LM-DC30-36V/dp/B00CHWI2DQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479522685&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=epistar+200w+emitter
It is very similar to this LED, which has a 6A rating.
https://www.kiwilighting.com/200w-high-power-led-227
Bridgelux also makes similar LED Emitters
Also, I am driving 33V @ 7A to the LED using a Power Booster. I did use a multi-meter to measure the output.
It’s a very nice project Stollman. I must admit I like the HID better though.
And idea on the cost of this LED build?
I liked your HID comparison video.
I have the ebay 85w light like you used in your review and I really wonder if something is wrong with yours or if the ballast quality and rating has gone down. Mine is roughly the same brighness as the FF4.
LED
Here’s the link for the LED Build:
It costs a touch over $200, the biggest cost being the batteries.
The 200w LED is a little heavy since it needs 4 batteries to run it. Also, the fact that it needs a large heatsink to cool the LED is another disadvantage. You have to have holes in the case for airflow, which makes it a fair weather light. LED’s will eventually replace HID’s, just as HID’s replaced Halogens. It’s just a matter of time.
HID
The 100W HID is cheaper to build. Probably around $150. Here’s my link:
The hardest part of the HID build is trying to find a host. They aren’t making Halogen spotlights anymore. You can only buy them on Ebay or Craig’s list. The 100W HID kits on Ebay are pretty cheap nowadays. A disadvantage of a DIY HID Light is that you have to disassemble the light to get to the batteries. I have not been able to find a host that has a removable back panel. That would be sweet if they made one. I would mention any HID Kit that boasts 150W or 200W is false. All my research shows that a 100W HID Kit is the max available at this time. That being the said, some sellers package 75W Kits as 100W. Ebay is tricky to buy off of.
I recently acquired a Henlin SL-3570. It is the next version of the Barn Burner, if you ever heard of that light on CPF. It’s a commercial HID Light that is well made. I have owned it’s predecessor for over five years and it has held up very well on all my caving trips. This light also has a nice price point compared to Lemax LX70, Polarion PH50D and other commercial HID spotlights. Here’s my beam comparison for the Henlin:
