Can a car HID be modded into a flashlight?

[mikeeey]

I just wanted to know if such a mod was possible.
It would look extremely bad ass, lol.

 

[Mohrenberg]

i was thinking the same thing......i've been wanting to build a nice flashlight...
it's gotta be possible....try throwing one onto one or two 18650 batteries and see...

 

[jeffd]

You would probably have to fit into a larger "spotlight" type flashlight if you were to do it. Check out cpf they have lots of kits to put p7 emitters in maglights which should be as bright as a car headlight.

 

[HIMNL9]

Considering the current eated from the power supply of a common HID car lamp ..... yes, you can ..... if you can fit in the torch body also the car battery

Seriously, usually these elevators eats 3 to 4 A, for a 35W halide HID lamp, so a pack of GOOD 12V batteries can last a bit ..... but the problem is another, imho.

They are HIGH PRESSURE lamps, opposite to the low pressure argon-xenon ones, so both the lamp and the ballast are very dangerous to work with them, if you don't know how to handle high voltages and safety holders for high pressure tubes ..... let me just give you a pair of data.

First, halide HID lamps contains xenon at 3 or 4 atmospheres, depend from the model and manufacturer, and this is the initial pressure when the lamp is cold ..... but they also contains mercury, sodium and some other metal salts (the exact proportions depends from the color temperature you want), and these elements, vaporizing in the first 15 / 30 seconds of work, turn the pressure of the lamp tube (the small inside one), to 30 / 40 atmospheres (and this in an incandescent quartz tube ) ..... this turn the tube in a potential frag bomb (true, the accidents with those lamps are not too much frequents, but sometimes happens, and if the thing that explode is the one that you have in your hand, i suppose that, one time, is already one time too much, right ?)

Also, opposite to the usual ballasts for low pressure lamps, the car type ones put out an initial pulse train of 18 / 20 KV, this for made possible to turn on again a lamp that you have just turned off, and is still hot (where instead, the usual lamps need from 2 to 5 minutes of rest and cooling, between off and on operations) and this needs some precautions also in wiring and construction of the host.

Last, these lamps are made for resist to the vibrations that you usually have in a car lamp, but if you left fall it with the lamp turned on (also if the lamp is turned off, if you turned it off just in the last minute or two), ot just hit too hard something, you can bet 99% that the effect is a "kaboom", with all the related consequences.

So, yes, can be done, but the real question, imho, is "worth the risk ?"

 

[mikeeey]

Considering the current eated from the power supply of a common HID car lamp ..... yes, you can ..... if you can fit in the torch body also the car battery

Seriously, usually these elevators eats 3 to 4 A, for a 35W halide HID lamp, so a pack of GOOD 12V batteries can last a bit ..... but the problem is another, imho.

They are HIGH PRESSURE lamps, opposite to the low pressure argon-xenon ones, so both the lamp and the ballast are very dangerous to work with them, if you don't know how to handle high voltages and safety holders for high pressure tubes ..... let me just give you a pair of data.

First, halide HID lamps contains xenon at 3 or 4 atmospheres, depend from the model and manufacturer, and this is the initial pressure when the lamp is cold ..... but they also contains mercury, sodium and some other metal salts (the exact proportions depends from the color temperature you want), and these elements, vaporizing in the first 15 / 30 seconds of work, turn the pressure of the lamp tube (the small inside one), to 30 / 40 atmospheres (and this in an incandescent quartz tube ) ..... this turn the tube in a potential frag bomb (true, the accidents with those lamps are not too much frequents, but sometimes happens, and if the thing that explode is the one that you have in your hand, i suppose that, one time, is already one time too much, right ?)

Also, opposite to the usual ballasts for low pressure lamps, the car type ones put out an initial pulse train of 18 / 20 KV, this for made possible to turn on again a lamp that you have just turned off, and is still hot (where instead, the usual lamps need from 2 to 5 minutes of rest and cooling, between off and on operations) and this needs some precautions also in wiring and construction of the host.

Last, these lamps are made for resist to the vibrations that you usually have in a car lamp, but if you left fall it with the lamp turned on (also if the lamp is turned off, if you turned it off just in the last minute or two), ot just hit too hard something, you can bet 99% that the effect is a "kaboom", with all the related consequences.

So, yes, can be done, but the real question, imho, is "worth the risk ?"

o wow, yeah, I'm not expert with building things, or high voltages. I suppose I won't make one then lol. Thanks for all the valuable information. I've already dropped my current flashlight twice, once was on the hard cement ground, and once was nicely on my carpet floor and that killed one of my batteries.
Seriously, why do batteries always die when you drop them on the carpet? I can think of 4 people off the top of my head, 2 of their zunes died after dropping them on the carpet, and 2 of their ipods died after being dropped on the carpet.


So what's the closest thing to a car light that isn't a car light? a 200W halogen lightbulb?

 

[Cyparagon]

uh, that depends on what you characterize as a car light.

it's gotta be possible....try throwing one onto one or two 18650 batteries and see...

You'd need at least 3 or four. The ballast requires at least 12V. And at 4A, you have less than 30m of operating time. I don't know if 18650s can handle that current. But really, they run a good hundred dollars, don't they? Why not just buy a flashlight?

 

[rangedunits]

Bluefusion is in the proccess of building a 4500 lumens, flashlight in an Maglight host MCE-BIN-E ? or something like that... under 200$

That be a nice thing to mount on my bike

 

[jeffd]

o wow, yeah, I'm not expert with building things, or high voltages. I suppose I won't make one then lol. Thanks for all the valuable information. I've already dropped my current flashlight twice, once was on the hard cement ground, and once was nicely on my carpet floor and that killed one of my batteries.
Seriously, why do batteries always die when you drop them on the carpet? I can think of 4 people off the top of my head, 2 of their zunes died after dropping them on the carpet, and 2 of their ipods died after being dropped on the carpet.


So what's the closest thing to a car light that isn't a car light? a 200W halogen lightbulb?

A p7 emitter will be about as bright as a car light. You can find them on deal extreme for $15.

 

[jeffd]

Bluefusion is in the proccess of building a 4500 lumens, flashlight in an Maglight host MCE-BIN-E ? or something like that... under 200$

That be a nice thing to mount on my bike

Its probably something that uses multiple emitters, there are lots of diy kits you can find on cpf like that.

 

[mikeeey]

A p7 emitter will be about as bright as a car light. You can find them on deal extreme for $15.

ah yes as I've mentioned a few times in the other thread, I own a nice p7 Auora flashlight, it's VERY bright, about as bright as a carlight.

Bluefusion is in the proccess of building a 4500 lumens, flashlight in an Maglight host MCE-BIN-E ? or something like that... under 200$

That be a nice thing to mount on my bike

O DEAR GOD!! 4500 lumens?? what LED/bulb does it use??

 

[HIMNL9]

Uhm, there are already on the market "monster type" HID flashlights, but "cheap" is not one of their attributes, LOL

like, as example, these ones:

HID Flashlights - high intensity discharge flashlight - www.MagnaLight.com Spotlights and Flashlights

and for some uses, also with explosion-proof case

Explosion Proof Flashlight - 20W HID Rechargeable Flashlight -Class 1, Div 1 - www.MagnaLight.com Spotlights and Flashlights

Chinese companies also seen the business, and jumped in the HID flashlights field, but they don't say the prices in the site i found

HID Flashlight, China HID Flashlight, HID Flashlight Manufacturers, China HID Flashlight Suppliers

Edit: i've also seen that on sites like instructables, they have DIY instructions about how to make a flashlight with a car unit ..... but, i've seen also that they suggest to use an old 6V H3-type flashlight, made in plastic ..... i've seen the result of a diving unit with a 24W lamp that is exploded underwater (luckily ), from a friend, and the anticorodal body (5mm thick) was deformed and with some creeks, and the front glass (tempered crystal 12mm thick) was completely in fragments ..... and they are built with the purpose to make the less possible damage to the user, if the lamp explode ..... now, just wondering how far can fly chips of plastic and incandescent quartz, if someone left drop one of these "plastic-body" DIY ones, and it explodes ..... LOL

 

[mikeeey]

I really like the flashlights you've linked on that website, especially this one that comes with the UV lens!:
Explosion Proof Black Light - 365nm UV cut off lens - Class 1 Division 1 Groups A,B,C,D - www.MagnaLight.com Spotlights and Flashlights

Seems like a great light, then you can attach the UV filter. There was also other fliters of every color you could screw on, but they're pretty expensive:
scroll down - Powerlight Flashlight - www.MagnaLight.com Spotlights and Flashlights

everything on that site is expensive.. the flashlight I want with the UV filter is about $400... more than I would pay for a light.

 

[Doofus]

You could always go like I do and buy a 17million cp spotlight and just lug it around

In all seriousness, it's a good idea, but way too risky as far as I'm concerned. I've tried taking the Silverstar Ultra incandescents outta my headlights and putting into an old lantern I had. that turned out... interesting (let's not go there) But I'm pretty much noob when it comes to electronics and I probably screwed something up.

 

[Things]

The thing BlueFusion is building is indeed using multiple emitters, and I believe would be in a maglite host.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

I have a 24 watt and a 35 watt HID flashlight(s). They are powered by 3 - 18650 cells.
The little lamp has very little volume and toxic gas in a pop would be minimal. My 24 watt light is rated for 45 minute run time. I used it some at the recent pyro convention and it does light up the area!! An auto balast may not make a good fit in a normal flashlight.

Mike

 

[Cyparagon]

Why not?