North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Hello all,
I am looking for a quality hand held spot light.
I would prefer an LED one because of the less power consumption. I am guessing / hopeing one exists.
My initial thoughts were just go out and buy a lightforce SL 170, I have owned, and still do a couple of these.
But they are getting old and are not as bright as I remember.
The reason for wanting an LED light, is last time I used an SL 140, We were in the boat it was raining, it took a couple of hours to get back to the boat ramp because we were travelling slow, and all this added up to a flat battery in the morning. The flat battery wasnt a problem, because We have 2 spare batterys on the boat, but I wasnt expecting the flat battery, and would prefer the spotlight to not make that amount of difference in the first place.
If it costs $ 200 for a good light, fine if it costs a bit more, it would want to be good, but thats ok.
Also I would like to install head lights / or spotlights on the boat for night time travel on the boat, any reccomendations.
Thank you
Jeff

you wont get a decent spot light for under 200 dollars check out a few of the hunting sites they have HID spotlights now and conversions
to convert the normal lightforce spotties to HID
type into google LED LIGHTBARS and go to snake racing and check them out if ya wont a serious led spotlight for the front of a ya boat thinking about one for my big boat or just 2 rallye 4000 witha HID conversion in them
i have the compact mini rally 4000 on my barra boat for cruising down rivers of a night the whiteness of the HID lights up any little glimmer on the water so goo for looking for logs and the likes
you can pick up rallye 4000 on ebay pretty cheap every now and then and get good HID conversion kits for about 70 bucks a pair now
i have found the HID 55 WATT 6000K the best not LED but you wont get a bright led spotty for under 500 i reckon

HID all the way mate wasting your time with anything else! but make sure you get something that is properly sealed.. hella predators turn into expensive fish bowls when they get to much water on them.. but yeah POWA-BEAM make a good hand held HID Light they draw bugger all power about 4-5 amps instead of 10-15amps! http://www.powabeam.com.au/products/HID ... light.html

I have had a good look around for a reasonable LED and you can't beat HID. On my boat I have 2 170striker lightforce and it kills the battery and the charging system can't keep up. On a side note, the lightforce HID's on my 4by cost more than the ARB bull bar but I love them.

Jeff

The guys are right on the money.

Your main concern is battery so u need low current drain.

Standard HID lights are 35 watts. But they put out light 2 x times that of a 100 watt halogen (filament) source.

Being 35 watts they only draw 3 amps off yr battery. a 100 watt halogen will draw 8 amps.

The boys are also right about the colour. 6000k is bright white. Halogen (normal car headlights) tend to be towards the yellow side.

The big numbers (6000k) refer to the temperature at which the arc chamber burns and consequently the colour. Lower numbers (4000k) are more tyellow while 6000K is white with just blue tinge and 10000k are more towards violet. K refers to degrees Kelvin. Something similar to Farenheit or Celius temperature systems.

HIDs have no filament. But they do have a ballast (like a fluro).

HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. There is a burner chamber doped with halide salts. The bulb is hit with a 25,000 volt ac burst from the striker so don't put yr busy little fingers inside anywhere.

The chamber arc strikes and flares up. High amps run in until the ballast limits them to steady state of about 3 amps. The inrush current as its called can be about 8 amps for a 35watt hid until the ballast (fancy name for limiter) takes over and reduces it.

So u need to ensure that any fuse u use can handle the initial inrush current. Say a 10 amp fuse would be ideal.

The AC running volts then drop to about 85 volts ac fed from the ballast system.

A 35 watt hid system requires smaller ballasts and can easily be fitted inside the spotlight housing.

Being the latest and greatest, retailers charge for them.

If u'r a handy person u can convert a normal hand held spottie. Its not rocket science. Just need to make sure the ballast will fit inside ok and the bulb type is the same as the light fitting.

U can buy a conversion kit for $80 or so which gives 2 x bulbs, 2 x ballasts and strikers and wiring leads. Go halves with a mate to make up 2 lights. Recommend 6000k.

Happy h.i.ding.

regards
Ronj

Sorry Jeff

I missed your headlight question.

Go for waterproof/ish spreadbeams with safety eyeglasses for crew. Insects will swarm at them so u need eye protection.
At the early starts for the barra nationals on the Daly u'd see guys with ski-masks and goggles. We used to wear balaclavas and industrial safety glasses. Looked like a whole bunch of bank robbers heading down the river looking for a bank!

On a more serious note go for spreadbeam/s.

The broader the beam, the higher the power.

1 x 55 watt hid would do it. Only 4 amps off the battery. 2 would be better.

But stick to 35 watt for a handheld.

regards
Ron

Thanks Guys,
I will check out the conversions,
I recon I can find at least 2 Lightforce Spotlights.
Jeff

Hello Ronje
Can you tell me where you can buy these conversions, 2 for $ 80, I was quoted one for $ 220 today.
What brand are you talking about, or is it a generic type part.
Thanks for your help, I am very interested.
Thanks
Jeff

Jeff

Put up a google search on "hid conversion kits". The first few u'll see are Aus firms selling Philips eqpt etc will will cost an arm and leg ($200 plus).

Look for e-bay stores selling the kits.

Plenty from China but they are difficult to deal with.

USA has plenty but watch the postage costs.

If you only want 1 bulb and ballast buy a motorcycle hid upgrade kit.

Website Delonix Radar (in Aus) has a pretty good write-up on hid xenon. I see that he also sells pretty good motorcycle conversion kits for $100. Most of his stuff is more expensive than other sellers.

Do u know the bulb details that u are looking for? Some of the smaller Lightforce spots can't take a ballast due to the lack of space behind the reflector. So knowing the ballast size is important.

Look up Arco Imports to get ballast sizes. The modern digital ones are about the same size as a mobile phone. Little less length and just a bit thicker. A digital one will fit almost any light.

Don't buy anything immediately. Learn a little bit about hid xenon lights first for a day or two.

If it gets confusing pm me and I'll help u through it.

regards
Ronj

i have got all mine from www.VVME.com they have been good to deal with im gettging them landed here in darwin for $63 which is cheap for the 55 watt conversions

G'day Doug

What do u do with them in Darwin? Resell as part of a business or as a hooby or something with friends?

That website u gave is as good as any and has good info on HIDs.

regards
Ronj

nah mate just get them for my self have them on every light i have rallye 4000s on my cruiser hilux and boat even put a HID in my
roof mount spotty in my cruiser anyone that knows what a "nighteater search light" is would no how bright they are normally i put a HID kit in that and im almost certain you will
not find a brighter spotlight than that
the spotlight is a hand made polished stainless reflector and are worth about $850 new but there is a year long wait to get one made
an old fella in victoria make them i bought mine second hand and payed 500 for it

Thanks for your help Ron and Doug,
I will take your advice and read up a bit more, so that I know what I am getting.
Jeff

Jeff

Have a look at www.soarercentral.com/forum

There's a good article in there about hid.

regards
Ronj

jbp15

How'd ya end up stuffing yr head with all this hid stuff?

ready to move on something yet?

regards
Ronj