Occasionally venture out in the boat before daylight and would like to have a nice bright toy to plug into the 12v outlet on my dash for temporary use. Recently took out a olight warrior 3s and fenix pd36r and they really do nothing for me on the water.
Any good quality spot lights made these days?
I dont think the power source would be an indication of lumens or candle power. I have seen many 12 volt lights that plug into a cigarette lighter and put out 100 lumens.
I cant imagine a good Osram based light would not put a smile on your face.
Just get an Sofirn SP36, available in many configurations. I agree that supply doesn’t matter (modern batteries are more than capable of overdriving/blowing up any light source) but coincidentally this is a 12V light (three 18650’s in series…). USB C rechargeable, plenty of output, available in multiple CCT options, cheap.
Haven’t really given enough info for anyone to make a proper rec imo. The SP36 is my general rec for anyone looking for a good all around light. It’s too big to pocket carry but not unwieldy for working use - about as big as you’d want a working light imo. Has a hybrid beam that’s good at throwing and flooding (but doesn’t excel at either). Pretty good emitters. And to top it off, it’s very price competitive so if you don’t like it you’re really not out much (but I’ve never met someone who didn’t like them).
If you want better lumen quality (recommended), get the LH351D version. If you want max lumens, get the SST40 version. Imo fewer better lumens is more useful than more crap lumens.
If you’re set on 12V, I’ve not owned one or read reviews, but the Lightforce HID lamps look good on paper (but are expensive).
If you’re willing to make it a project, and have money to burn, then you could track down a used maxabeam and 12v cord.
The only "quality"12v plug-in LED hand lamp I’ve seen is the now discontinued EagTac SPORTAC ZP10L9.
If you’re willing to drop the 12v requirement, cordless will be superior… Something with a big reflector and a SBT90 LED.
I don’t have one but you could look at something like Convoy 3X21D, specs indicate it would be pretty impressive.
Could be picturing a bigger size boat but maybe a MT90P / MF05, it has a tripod screw hole so you can mount it, will run at 2.5 - 3 mcd the whole runtime.
Maxa Beam would be cool but 1000 hours on the bulb, 500 hours realistic, I just replaced mine since it was at 6mcd to get the 12.1mcd back, a bulb is $477…
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Warrior 3s uses an sst70 led with a head diameter < 26mm (source: Olight Warrior 3S Review – Phenomenal EDC/Tactical Hybrid – Grizzly's Reviews) and the ps36r seems use sft40 with a small diameter as well. Since you asked for a spot light, my understanding is that either a reflector-based light with a bigger head diameter or a more focused TIR-based light might serve you well.
Putting aside the 12v requirement for the moment, this thread has lots of recommendations for “thrower” lights (I’m treating this as a synonym of “spot” light). For a “toy” Wurkkos TS30s ($77) uses a very powerful LED but can’t sustain for long because it doesn’t have as good a driver as the lights you own. It also has a much bigger head to concentrate the light in the center.
Another unregulated option is Sofirn IF22 ($35) which may produce more of the “spot” you’re looking for due to the TIR optic which produces a different style of beam that’s even more concentrated, using the same LED as your Fenix.
If you DO like a better driver (EDIT: maybe not, see response!), then the Thrunite Catapult Pro ($89) might be worth checking tool.
Just get a 12v HID spotlight that plugs into a 12v aux port. We had a halogen version of one years and years ago for our boat. The HID ones sre far superior. They don’t have the same limits as a LED battery powered light since they run at 100% as long as you feed it 12v. You’ll spend a lot more for one, but once you get into the realm of Sbt90.2 stuff ($100+) it’s diminishing returns for the dollar.
Thats some bulb.
Just find a decent car or 4WD spot light (i.e. the type you bolt on the front bumper bar) and make a handle for it. Then make your own wiring loom.
For a superlative 12V handheld spotlight for marine use, the 240mm (10") Lightforce models are an excellent choice. The HID models are around $300 (for 50W) but my own experience is with the 100W Osram halogen model around $160.
They are very light, easy to handle, very rugged polycarbonate frames. The beam profile is focusable easily from spot to flood. Most importantly, the beam reach (throw) is absolutely stunning by virtue of its massive reflector. I still recall the awe and giggles the first time i used it.
3300K 100CRI halogen goodness.
For a handheld flashlight, I recommend the WildTrail WT90 SBT90.2
Have fun!
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How big a battery do you have on the boat? What’s the fuse to the cigarette lighter? 10a? 15? 20? Can you go bigger?
The deciding factor is gonna be how big your battery is, what the fuse is rated for, and obviously budget.
Trash driver. Worst regulation of any boost driver out there. Like a FET driver but with tint shift. Tons of afterglow when the led is switched off.
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Thank you, I will edit to add a note since I don’t have direct experience with this light. To understand better, what is bad about the regulation? This review shows 1400 sustained lumens with cooling: Thrunite Catapult Pro Flashlight Review - ZeroAir Reviews
That’s not regulation, that’s just dropping to the thermal ceiling and staying there until the battery dies. Any flashlight can do that.
Check out the graph for the same test with a $15 convoy s2+ and linear driver.
Same thing. That’s just a runtime test. That’s not regulation.
Regulation is a flashlight that is just as bright when the battery is almost dead as it is when the battery is fully charged. And boost drivers are the best at that. Check out the regulation for Hank’s boost driver measured by tacgriz on his site
Straight across the board. Like you would expect from a boost driver.
Here’s convoy’s 12v boost driver
Again, except for the highest levels pretty straight across the board
Here’s the graph for Hank’s linear FET, which won’t be as well regulated as a boost driver.
The high levels depend on battery voltage, but the low levels are still pretty well regulated. This is expected for a linear driver.
Now here’s the graph for the boost driver catapult pro
Output is heavily affected by battery voltage on all but the lowest levels. What is even going on here? This more closely resembles the graph of the above linear driver than of the above boost drivers. And this the most expensive flashlight out of all the above examples.
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To be fair, I tested this ligh also, and it’s not bad. Yes, there’s the dropout drain from the capacitors (afterglow). Until you start putting stuff on graphs, you wouldn’t really care about the so-so regulation because at the end of the day, it sustains high output as good as my Acebeams do (with superior drivers and better regulation). Depending on which Convoy 17mm driver you get, it’s either a PWM controlled FET or 7135 based. A true boost or buck driver, even a so-so one will have better constant output and depending on the LED, better efficiency/lower temperatures on higher output.
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Thanks for the very detailed response, I’m still an entry-level enthusiast and I will keep reading.
Words are important and I’ll probably avoid using “regulation/regulated” for a bit while I increase my understanding.
I value what @Sirstinky mentioned: sustained output. So for this reason I’ve gravitated toward linear and buck Convoys, and Sofirn Sp35 rather than Sofirn/Wurkkos lights with output which is constantly decreasing.
It’s helpful to know that this model doesnt quite go the distance.
(Edit) also if anyone is planning on throwing a catapult pro or its driver in the trash please send to me instead!
The tint of the sft70 probably makes it seem worse than it really is tbh. It’s so green at low currents. Which is fine, not unusual for Luminus, it goes away at the top end. But unless you have a fresh battery you cant ever get to the top end. That’s really the part that frustrates me. I’m probably being too hard on the poor thing because of that lol
I’m not sure if THIS is what you were looking for, but opticsplanet still has some of those EagTac’s.
Yes that’s the one. Expensive but really rather unique. I’m not sure how well they sold as you don’t see much discussion about them. Shame, as I applaud Eagletac for trying the innovative design.