DIY HID-upgrade of an old canister light for video and still

[tamas970]

I am amazed by the energy efficiency and nice, underwater-friendly color (4000-5000K) of HID-lights.
OTOH, I am shocked by - not the electricity from the fuse - but by the PRICE of the new units.
For decent wide-angle video one may need 2x50W, which easily cost 1.5k$.

Anyway, I haven't seen many 50+W HID-s available for diving.

I am planning to buy an old (but functional) canister light, test it, "feel it" a bit, then upgrade it with
- new batteries (candidates: 6x King Kong 26650s around 20$ each + protection circuits for each cells, ~6x5$)

- and a 75W HID-kit (designed for cars, ~90$)

For me, doesn't seem too complicated/expensive. I might abandon my UW flash housing and go directly to HID...

My concerns are:

#1: Safety: What is happening in the ballast? Is it going to fry everything around - including me, dive buddy &
Great White lurking around - if it is flooded with sea water? (does it make high voltage AC from the 12V source?)
This doesn't look bad though.

#2: Heat exchange: Probably have to look for a metal (aluminium) lamp-head.

#3: Possibility to reduce output -> I am afraid, not possible with the car ballasts. Anyway, I can live with this,
worst case I put an ND filter in front of the light

#4: Availability of canisters and lamp heads in the necessary dimensions. (Canister inside has to be ~60mm ID &
~250mm length and the balalst has to fit into the lamp head.)

 

[mtrhead03]

I'm also in the process of designing/building a battery canister/HID light. Much of my ideas so far have come from Airspeed press Dive light companion. I think I'm going to buy a Trailtec 30 watt HID helmet light and hack it up for the stuff I need. I don't believe the ballast and igniter are separate though so I'm hestitant. I think 75 watt is a lot but I'm not a camera guy. Regarding canisters, I'm going to to make a try at using 3" sch80 PVC for the can. Addhelium sells the Lightmonkey canisters and covers, I guess they'd ship over the ocean. I wanted to build a single canister supplying power for both a HID light and heated vest, in my case my primary need is just a battery for a heated vest, so i may pass on the light part on my first build. That 75 watt peice you linked to appears to show a separate igniter so the real high voltages can be kept in the head, if I've even learned HID technology correctly. Even if your project fails on the first try you'll have a second set of components to work with for the second try. I did find the ballasts used in commerical dive lights on a German company's site but I don't think they sell to the public, the lights I like have the ballast in the can and the igniter on the back of the bulb, I can't find the link just now, they max at 35w anyway. For batteries I like batteryspace, again US, I went with a 23.5AH Lithium Ion unit, almost $300 US, that can fit in the LM 3510 can, I'll bet that stands for 3.5 diameter and 10" long, it should do 4 hours at 60 watts for the vest. I run a 21 watt commercial LM HID and I can't imagine needing more light but want to avoid bring 2 cans down. Please update the forum on your project. If you buy the book read the late additions in the back too, the book offers specifics on options, although I still find myself digging for sources, since it was written a few years back.

 

[tamas970]

I'll definitely report back on my progress. Stills need a LOT of light, however, 2x55W might be a good compromise - I don't know how the fish will react on such a bright light...

This test shows that 2x4'000 lumens (achievable with 2x55W HID) is about fine.

55W also consumes less power, generates less heat - maybe I can fit the ballast in the light head without frying it.
Other advantages: high power ballasts (75, 100W) don't like to be driven at 12V, they need higher voltages. (=more cells needed) Just did a quick recalc, in order to feed a 55W ballast for ~2h at 12V, I need ~9Ah, which is quite a beast. If I take the 4Ah King-kongs, I need 8 piece per light at least.

I don't know, how deep the trailtec lights can dive, I was also thinking on "waterproofing" an existing flood-light, but I want something really waterproof until 100m. Thus, the other direction (upgrading an existing, 100m-proof halogen set) seems to be easyer.

 

[lucca brassi]

DIY Flooder 10000LM+

 

[tamas970]

That's probably a bit too much from one single light. (blinds the fish & fellow divers around, produces a hell of a backscatter) Most likely I'll stay with 2x55, at most 2x75w (around 4500 or 6500 lumens).

I have also yet to see a battery pack, that can feed a beast like that for a reasonable time...

DIY Flooder 10000LM+

One issue on the ballast-side: I haven't seen many variable-power setup. A 30-80W dual-power would be great on battery and on the buddy's eyes...

 

[mtrhead03]

The trailtech light would just be a source for matched electronic parts and MR16 reflector, I think the bathtub would kill it.

 

[JamesK]

DIY Flooder 10000LM+

I want that!!!! That would be perfect for my needs. Well aside from the fact it's not waterproof.

 

[lucca brassi]

Forget HIDS , all what you need is two lights with

- 3 powerful leds inside like SST-90 ( together needs nice 12V@10 Amps simple construction with Cu heatsink) but needs decent driver with Cu heatsink)

- litle overdriven driver

- no lens at all

just in litle different way Video Light Relfectors

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
- other option is powerful led

- powerful driver

- and wide set aspheric lens ( have very even lumination but at edge have coloured ring (aberation )

something like viel viel licht

 

[tamas970]

Not happening, until really high power LEDs become available at 4300K.

Clear, you can get 10+k Lumens out of an 80W powered LED setup, the only
problem is, that it's blue, you have to cut half the intensity with an orange filter....

Forget HIDS , all what you need is two lights with

- 3 powerful leds inside like SST-90 ( together needs nice 12V@10 Amps simple construction with Cu heatsink) but needs decent driver with Cu heatsink)

- litle overdriven driver

- no lens at all

...

A quick update: variable power (85, 55, 45W) HID-kits are available for flashlights for ~30$. Fits nicely in a light head but hit-or-miss quality . I'd be happier with a bulb-replaceable (e.g. H1 socket) version.

 

[lucca brassi]

Not happening, until really high power LEDs become available at 4300K.

Clear, you can get 10+k Lumens out of an 80W powered LED setup, the only
problem is, that it's blue, you have to cut half the intensity with an orange filter....

Be serious man , where you live ! all powerful leds are specificly made lighting inside buildings and in need of ''warm'' light!

for instance SST-90 have

3000K
4000K
4500K
5700K
6500K

lamp from the land of chocolate promote 4000K-6000K

KELDAN GmbH - Advanced Lighting Technology