DR MR11 light question

[scblade27]

I recently purchased a used MR11 with the slimline canister. I saw on the DR website it says the light is the same color as the sun and it should get about 4 hours of burn time. I tested it out today and it is only getting about 45 min of burn time and the light has a bluish tint to it almost the same color as an led. It will flicker when the light is turning on or when the battery is dieing to the orangish color.

For those of you who have or used this light, what is the color it is supposed to burn? I am currently cycling the battery in hopes it will regain some of its life. I would rather not drop $160 on a new battery. I may try to find someone that can custom make those batteries for cheaper if it comes down to it.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Batteries for it seem to run about 130 in cave country.

Don't worry - you need to cycle the batteries a few times to get a full burn out of them. It's a good idea however not to run them all the way down.

Start out with a 30 min burn then charge then repeat then go to 60 minutes for a couple cycles. At that point I just went diving, but you could step up to a 90 minute burn or two as well. The instructions mention a burn schedule to break in the battery, but oddly did not include one.

Some flickering on start up is normal and it takes a minute or two for the light to warm up to its full color. The color is very similar to an HID as neither of them are as yellow looking as a tungsten filament light, which is actually much yellower than sunlight. So its not a case of being bluish, just bluish looking compared to a tungsten/halogen light.

You should not turn the light off until it is fully warmed up, and you should not turn it back on until it is cool, so leave it on at least 5 minutes and leave it off at least 5 minutes before turning it back on. If you need to make it dark in a cave, etc, hold the light against your chest or cover it with the can cooler cover.

When you do the burn test, leave the head in a bucket of water to prevent any overheating. Also, HID lights put out loads of UV radiation - just like sunlight, so use it in water only as the water acts as a UV filter. The morons who allow HID lights on cars and motorcycles should be shot as UV exposure is a leading cause of cataracts. Obviously even in the water shining it in your buddies eyes is not a great idea.

One other thing...the bulb is very impact sensitive, so you do not want to drop the light, keep it in the case and clip the head to a D-ring or tuck it in a pocket when not in use. Bulbs are in the $90.00 range so you do not want to break it.

 

[scblade27]

Thanks for your response. I have been cycling it in a bucket of water. The first two times it was dieing after about 45 minutes and was only taking about an hour charge. I dont know how old the battery is, how long its been sitting, etc. so i figured it might be bad. After the last cycle I have had it on charge for a little over a 2 hours and its still charging, so that seems to be a good sign.

Good info about the keeping in the case and not using out of the water. I knew not to use it out of the water but I thought it was more of a heat issue, even though it didnt seem to get too hot. The guy I bought it from did not have the case, so I guess I should look into getting one of those. I have searched the usual online stores but dont see where they sell just the case for the light, I may make my own out of a dry box depending on how much they run.

Thanks for all the advice and info, I am optimistic the burn times will improve. Hopefully if I can get it cycling to a couple of hours I can go out and test it in the water next weekend.