Almost a thousand dollars for a light?

[mwhities]

I started justifying - $1200.00 dollars for a piece of "life saving safety equipment" wasn't so bad, was it? Other hobbyists spend at least that much on, say, a useless set of golf clubs.

Can I use that line when my Salvo comes in and my wife gets home before I do? "Baby, it's "life saving". I know it's 1200.00 (mines 625.00) but, isn't MY life WORTH it?"

 

[Randy43068]

Can I use that line when my Salvo comes in and my wife gets home before I do? "Baby, it's "life saving". I know it's 1200.00 (mines 625.00) but, isn't MY life WORTH it?"

Tell her it's a warranty replacement for.... something...

 

[coldsmoke]

You could always make your own. If you have access to a few tools you can make a 50 watt halogen for less than $150 and a 21+watt HID for around $600. I built the halogen first and am in the process of upgrading to the HID. I am able to build mine for much less than $600 but I found some "broken" lights and cannibalized the parts. I am even subbing out the machining of the head since I don't have a lathe.

You could also buy a Salvo slug and reflector for about $700 I think and build your own cannister very easily for about $100. ($75 of that is the battery and charger) This would save you about $500.

Airspeed Press makes a great book.

Hunter

 

[Randy43068]

You could always make your own. If you have access to a few tools you can make a 50 watt halogen for less than $150 and a 21+watt HID for around $600. I built the halogen first and am in the process of upgrading to the HID. I am able to build mine for much less than $600 but I found some "broken" lights and cannibalized the parts. I am even subbing out the machining of the head since I don't have a lathe.

You could also buy a Salvo slug and reflector for about $700 I think and build your own cannister very easily for about $100. ($75 of that is the battery and charger) This would save you about $500.

Airspeed Press makes a great book.

Hunter

How did you make the battery pack? No matter how I priced the cells it was cheaper to buy the pack rather than buying the cells and making my own.

 

[coldsmoke]

12V 5000 mAh NiMH Battery Pack + Smart Fast Charger (1.8A) - CH-UN180C37

I just cut that pack apart and reconfigured it to better fit in a canister. My canister is PVC and the lid is acrylic. Batteries were $70 plus shipping and the canister was maybe $30-$40 including all hardware, switch, gland, etc. A canister and lid from Salvo is at least $200 and then you need to buy the batteries at about $180.


Now the battery pack above is 12V 5aHr. If you want a beefier pack you could get 10 of the batteries below. They come with tabs so they would be pretty easy to put together in a pack. Total for that pack would still be less than $100 and would give you 12V 10aHr.

NiMH Rechargeable Cell: D-Size 1.2 V 9000 mAh Flat Top with Tabs 50A Rate (MH-D10000TB ) - MH-D10000TB

 

[Randy43068]

Thanks for that info Coldsmoke. I've got the Salvo 9 amp can which is a little over 2" ID. I'm limited to the kind of battery I can use.

Thanks again!!

Randy

 

[coldsmoke]

Batteries are batteries. Salvo is not manufacturing them. They might be making packs, but those packs are made out of standard cells. I am not sure what cells they are using, but for a 12 v 9 aHr pack they are likely using either 10 1.2 volt 9 aHr cells in series, or two mini packs of 12 v 4.5 aHr cells in parallel.

I can pretty much guarantee that you can buy cells from batteryspace.com and clone your salvo battery pack.

FWIW - my canister is about 2.5" ID and I used the cells that I linked above. I just reconfigured the cells to make a longer thinner pack.

Hunter

 

[Otto]

If you want a budget light shop for a used can and have a late model head of your choice (Salvo)installed on it. Unles you have to have nickle metal hidride or lithium ion batteries I would purchase a can that uses sealed lead acid batteries. They are way cheaper to replace when needed, and if you have a small can you can afford a second set if needed. They can also be safely recharged off your car if you forget/lose your charger on a dive (don't ask how I know that). You can't do that with the hitech batteries. The hitech stuff isn't readily available over seas. Good luck.

 

[scubafanatic]

...if you think $ 1000 for a light is bad, don't sneak a peak at the latest SOLOS LED lights (sold in the USA by Oxycheq)......HID is obsolete, my next top of the line can light is gonna be one of these babies (presently $ 1500 - $ 2500 range) but hopefully will drop as does any new technology over time.

Karl

 

[tonka97]

Been reading this forum for a couple of day's now.

Good Lord!

Looks like if you want a reliable, bright, piercing beam with long battery life you need to spend between $750 and $1300.

DANG. I've got kids to feed!

I think I'm just going to buy the UK eLED 8....

I agree that the price is absurd....

Why doesn't someone send a good design to China for manufacture, and sell these flashlights for 100.00???? (or less)