Help me ID this canister light...

[ams511]

If this is a 10 watt HID light, then it is most likely a Proteus 6. You can find the manuals and trouble shooting guide on Halcyon's website. While tbone is correct that newer lights are brighter, the burn time on this light even with the lead-acid batteries is over 3 hours. The lights were also available with metal-halide batteries under a different name. The main problem with these lights are that the bulbs are expensive and fragile.

You may want to checkout candlepower forums to see how to convert the light to LED.

 

[Graveyarddiver]

For what it’s worth, I have 2x CZS “Land and Sea” lights that are 1000 Lumens, run for 3 hours full strength, and at lesser capacity for 10 hours, on 3AA batteries. I use these as my secondary and tertiary lights, backing up my canister light. They have a max depth of 200m. They are incredibly affordable, reliable, and easy to stow.

 

[gulfwiskey]

For what it’s worth, I have 2x CZS “Land and Sea” lights that are 1000 Lumens, run for 3 hours full strength, and at lesser capacity for 10 hours, on 3AA batteries. I use these as my secondary and tertiary lights, backing up my canister light. They have a max depth of 200m. They are incredibly affordable, reliable, and easy to stow.

Definitely like the AA batteries but do not like the rotary switch. Would be all over this one if it weren't for the switch.

 

[gulfwiskey]

If this is a 10 watt HID light, then it is most likely a Proteus 6. You can find the manuals and trouble shooting guide on Halcyon's website. While tbone is correct that newer lights are brighter, the burn time on this light even with the lead-acid batteries is over 3 hours. The lights were also available with metal-halide batteries under a different name. The main problem with these lights are that the bulbs are expensive and fragile.

You may want to checkout candlepower forums to see how to convert the light to LED.

Holy crap! Just saw your link for the bulb.... YIKES!!! Is there any salvage value to the Halcyon I have if I decide not to repair it? Anything cool/useful I can use canister itself for?

 

[gulfwiskey]

With further research, I believe this is an 18 watt model. Regardless, I am not finding a reason to refurb this light (unless someone can tell me otherwise). Halcyon will evaluate it if I send it in, but given the vintage and the current technology/alternatives, i'm not really seeing a reason to do so.

 

[tbone1004]

I wouldn't personally bother. There are other uses for the canister in technical diving, but that's about it.

New bulb/ballast-$100 ish probably?
Replace Batteries-$80 ish
New Charger-you definitely want a new smart charger... $60

Total $300 ish and you get a 1300 ish lumen if it's an 18w HID and will burn for 4 hours and weighs whatever horrific amount that does, probably 8lbs total.

New LD13 head from UWLD-~$500? Can't remember
New SLA battery/charger-$150
Similar amount of light, 6 hours of burn time, don't have to worry about bulb/ballast anymore, still weighs 8lbs. Spend an extra $100 for a big lithium battery and it'll burn for days.

$1100 for a new LD-15 with baby canister and you get multiple brightness settings, switch on the head, don't have to remove lid for charging etc and it only weighs 3lbs

@gulfwiskey one thing that will certainly help this discussion is knowing what you are needing a light that bright with that much burn time for.

 

[gulfwiskey]

I wouldn't personally bother. There are other uses for the canister in technical diving, but that's about it.

New bulb/ballast-$100 ish probably?
Replace Batteries-$80 ish
New Charger-you definitely want a new smart charger... $60

Total $300 ish and you get a 1300 ish lumen if it's an 18w HID and will burn for 4 hours and weighs whatever horrific amount that does, probably 8lbs total.

New LD13 head from UWLD-~$500? Can't remember
New SLA battery/charger-$150
Similar amount of light, 6 hours of burn time, don't have to worry about bulb/ballast anymore, still weighs 8lbs. Spend an extra $100 for a big lithium battery and it'll burn for days.

$1100 for a new LD-15 with baby canister and you get multiple brightness settings, switch on the head, don't have to remove lid for charging etc and it only weighs 3lbs

@gulfwiskey one thing that will certainly help this discussion is knowing what you are needing a light that bright with that much burn time for.

tbone - thanks for all the info! Definitely helping me out. Not sure I need this light in any case as all I do is poke holes in fish but thought it might be useful given it's brightness. But given the alternatives that you and others have suggested, not sure it would be worth it for my application.

Curious, what would one do with the canister these days?

 

[tbone1004]

@gulfwiskey if you're spearfishing, then I definitely recommend going with a handheld on the Oxycheq light sock. I was diving what is essentially the light that @bamafan linked except under the name "securitying" that I bought several years ago on Saturday with the Raider light sock.

If you're poking holes in fish, the tiny handheld is going to be a lot better for you. Don't need/want the weight of the canister *especially that one...*, and the cable is going to be more nuisance than you are going to want to deal with. If you need the long burn time, then buy a pair of them and you can swap out in the water and/or have some batteries on the boat deck and you can swap them when you change tanks over.

In terms of what to do with it. If I were using it, I would probably use it as a spare canister for a heated vest with it strapped to my O2 bottle. You could also plug it with a vent hole for carrying stuff down to a habitat, radio locator beacon, etc etc. but that's all expedition grade cave diving. Not much use for them in "normal" diving

 

[ams511]

@gulfwiskey, personally I would check out the light with a meter to see where the problem is. If it is just the batteries then it is a less expensive fix. If it comes to the bulb and ballast then it is more expensive. Then you would need to decide what to do.

There are cheaper handheld and canister lights out there. There are threads on SB discussing them. People may disagree, but unless you are in an overhead environment I do not see the need for an expensive can light.

Given the popularity of MR12 bulbs in a dive light you would think someone would have a drop in replacement.

 

[gulfwiskey]

@gulfwiskey, personally I would check out the light with a meter to see where the problem is. If it is just the batteries then it is a less expensive fix. If it comes to the bulb and ballast then it is more expensive. Then you would need to decide what to do.

There are cheaper handheld and canister lights out there. There are threads on SB discussing them. People may disagree, but unless you are in an overhead environment I do not see the need for an expensive can light.

Given the popularity of MR12 bulbs in a dive light you would think someone would have a drop in replacement.

Yeah, was thinking I could at least throw a meter on it, but honestly, given what I've learned here, other than it being a minor and cheap fix, I don't see me doing much of anything with this thing.