BULB OR BALLAST, whats dying?

[frozenwarp]

Hi all,
I have a a Halcyon 18watt HID that cuts out after 45min.
Now the light has flooded but the battery has been replaced and to all accounts seems to function proporly, when the light goes out last time the battery measures 12.6 V.
I'm not sure if the water made it through the cord to the ballest when it flooded but i do know it prob need a new cord but that shouldnt be the course of the above in my mind....but i could be wrong.
The blulb does have some slight discoloration, so im thinking it may just need a new bulb.
to clarify after it turns on i can turn it off then on but it will only go on briefly then die again. after it did on a dive last night i recgarged over night and burn test it today and once again it died at about 40min.
any help would be great,
Cheers,
Bradley

 

[gcbryan]

It doesn't sound like the bulb to me and if you are checking the battery after this happens and that's OK that pretty much leaves the ballast it sounds like.

I don't suppose you have a buddy with the same light? If so you can just switch out parts until you find the problem....use your battery in his light...use your bulb in his light, etc.

 

[frozenwarp]

A mate has a spare slug with out a globe im gonna borrow it tomorrow night and pop my globe in it and see how a burn test goes

thanks

 

[gcbryan]

Post here when you figure it out. Trouble shooting is always fun!

 

[frozenwarp]

will do

 

[CarlS]

It's the battery! If you watch the voltage of your battery while the light is on, you will see the voltage drop quickly before the light goes out. Find a good 11 to 13.2 V battery and do a burn test.
regards,
Carl

 

[ianr33]

i recgarged over night and burn test it today and once again it died at about 40min.
any help would be great,
Cheers,
Bradley

Are you measuring the voltage during the burn test?

I'm also guessing its the battery.

 

[frozenwarp]

I am constantly measuring the voltage during the test and recording it every 5 min. During the test the voltage first drops stedily then as it approaches around 12.5 volts drops very slowly. There was no big drop prior to it going out.

Oh and the battery is appertly new (just bought the light second hand) it was built by battery world (kinda like batteryspace) to match the halyon one

The only thing i am wondering about is the charger, its the halcyon one but doesnt matter what i do the red and green light are on. After a 40min burn test on, left on overnight ON.....you get the idea

thanks for the help and please keep it coming, ill try and borrow a battery tomorrow to test it

 

[frozenwarp]

Well. i borrowed a mates ballast and had some success, worked fine...for a while i got 115minutes before it reached 10V.... I'm going to recharge the battery overnight and give it another go tomorrow. I'm happy that its burning but i really need atleast 3 hour burn time and from my understanding should get around 4.5hours from a 9 amo pack on an 18W correct?

Thank you all for your ideas.

 

[gcbryan]

Well. i borrowed a mates ballast and had some success, worked fine...for a while i got 115minutes before it reached 10V.... I'm going to recharge the battery overnight and give it another go tomorrow. I'm happy that its burning but i really need atleast 3 hour burn time and from my understanding should get around 4.5hours from a 9 amo pack on an 18W correct?

Thank you all for your ideas.

If you are saying that your battery pack is in the range of 12V 9ah yes you should get that.

It does sound like a battery problem since you've swapped ballast and still only got less than 2 hours.