LED light question?

[jhspb]

Hi

I'm looking for a solid performing day light.

UK SL4 and SL6 have been suggested as have the Ikelite PCs. The Ikelite PCs don't seem to have a real long battery life and, as a result, I'm leaning against an Ikelite choice.

But now the most recent edition of ScubaDiving has reviews on Tektite LEDs. Are LEDs a good alt to the UK SLs? What are the pros and cons?

Thanks

Joe

 

[dlarbale]

Joe,

I've got an SL4 and it performs OK. The only issues with it are:

Switch = failure point.
4 C cells override the bulb.

The importance of these points will depend on what you are using the light for (backup inside a cave, basic night diving light etc). As a rule I tend to turn the light on at the start of a night dive and only switch it off when I'm safely back on the boat or at the shore.

You may want to look at the following:

www.latalco.be/English/index.html
(Tristar LED light head).
www.deeperblue.net/newsfull.php/721

Not sure what the retail will be for the Princton tec and I'd like to compare it against an SL4, Scout or other but the burn time is a big plus along with the bulb life.

Quite a few UK divers use the Greenforce lights and they seem OK. I personally like the fact that you can mix and match the components - not sure if this is a weakness though?

Hope this helps. If you find out anymore information then please post it here - I'm in the market for a primary light and LED's are almost there.

 

[ScubaRon]

The advantage of LED lamps are:
- low power consumption
- long bulb life (forever?)
- nice white light

The disadvantages is that the light output is still very low compared to halogen bulbs. By bundling many LEDs together you get a better intensity, but the penetrating power is still very low and your light won't shine very far.

IMO LEDs are good for backup purposes, but for a daytime light I would recommend a Xenon bulb.
ScubaRon

 

[detroit diver]

I'll echo what Scubaron just said, but from personal experience.

I bought an LED light for a backup light. I'm sorry that I did.

Mine has 7 LED's so it is VERY bright. The problems is the spread of the beam and the distance that the light is thrown.

The spread is very wide and not focusable. For signalling, that makes it just about worthless.

The distance of the light throw from the lighthead is very short. After that, the intensity drops off dramatically.

It is pretty much worthless as a dive light.

I use mine for camping now. It a really expensive camp light!

 

[kobus]

A friend of mine just last week bought a Greenforce tristar.
In one word: Disappointing!

For the money he paid he could have bought himself a lot more light!

the tristar:
- does not give nearly enough light to considder it a divinglight
- has a very wide beam not making it able to point to anything
- Greenforce sais: "about 30W output" however, my backuplight (Gilan Pocket) costed less than a third but performes much better!

- long burntime: oke that's a fact but what's the purpose?

In short: it is not worth the money at all!

 

[Haisu]

@ ScubaRon & detroit diver

I'm planing to get the new MAL HLD light. This is also a LED light but they use a new technologie. Have a look at their website. In my opinion in a couple of years nobody will use halogen or HID anymore because LED technology will get more and more advantages.

That's what I found on www.mal-lighting.com

- The luminous efficiency of the HLD© is up to 10 times higher
opposite conventional halogen bulbs.
- A further benefit is the color temperature, which is with
maximally 10000 Kelvin. This is an increase of 30% opposite the
HID light.
- Differently than with Halogen or HID lights HLD© does not use a
vibration-susceptibly coil but with the semiconductor principle.
- The HLD© light head was conceived in such a way that 3
and/or. 6 of each other independent HLD© burners are
integrated. This represents an equivalent backup in the own
lamp. Thereby a loss of the lamp is almost not possibly.
- Contrary to Halogen the HLD© has up to twenty times higher
nominal life span.
- Another advantage is the Input voltage section. The light head
works owing to its intelligent electronics in a voltage range
between 10 V - 20 V. Because of the high efficiency the power
input amounts to only 1/3 of a comparable halogen bulb.

As I know Audi uses the same LED's for the headlights of their new Audi Le mans (http://www.audi.com/satellite/iaaspecial/en/index_lmq_en.html)
Hai-Su

 

[jhspb]

Got a Princeton Tec 40....it seems bright enough for daylight stuff.... and it's small and lightweight.

Still thinking about an SL4 as well....and/or the smaller UK light. Three of us dive once my son completes his jr cert ow dives in Nov.

 

[detroit diver]

Haisu once bubbled...
@ ScubaRon & detroit diver

I'm planing to get the new MAL HLD light. This is also a LED light but they use a new technologie. Have a look at their website. In my opinion in a couple of years nobody will use halogen or HID anymore because LED technology will get more and more advantages.

That's what I found on www.mal-lighting.com

- The luminous efficiency of the HLD© is up to 10 times higher
opposite conventional halogen bulbs.
- A further benefit is the color temperature, which is with
maximally 10000 Kelvin. This is an increase of 30% opposite the
HID light.
- Differently than with Halogen or HID lights HLD© does not use a
vibration-susceptibly coil but with the semiconductor principle.
- The HLD© light head was conceived in such a way that 3
and/or. 6 of each other independent HLD© burners are
integrated. This represents an equivalent backup in the own
lamp. Thereby a loss of the lamp is almost not possibly.
- Contrary to Halogen the HLD© has up to twenty times higher
nominal life span.
- Another advantage is the Input voltage section. The light head
works owing to its intelligent electronics in a voltage range
between 10 V - 20 V. Because of the high efficiency the power
input amounts to only 1/3 of a comparable halogen bulb.

As I know Audi uses the same LED's for the headlights of their new Audi Le mans (http://www.audi.com/satellite/iaaspecial/en/index_lmq_en.html)
Hai-Su

It looks interesting, but I am concerned about a couple of things.


1. Doesn't look like it can be focused.

2. Burn times are MUCH shorter than a HID.

3. The price is quite high compared to an HID light.

I'd want to see one (and maybe dive with one) before I seriously considered it. I will be a DEMA this week. Hopefully one of those is on display there.

 

[ScubaRon]

Haisu,
That MAL light sounds very interesting. Let us know what your experiences are.
ScubaRon

 

[jonnythan]

Here's something I wrote about LED lights a few days ago:I use a lot of LED lights in my various pursuits, but think they would suck
ass for diving. First of all, they're not nearly bright enough to be used
as anything but a backup light. Even a 24 LED array doesn't shine as bright
or as far as a lowly 5.5 watt backup focused Halogen bulb. Second, the very
bluish hue of the white LED's means they scatter on *anything*. I run into
this problem caving... in cold, damp caves, warm sweaty bodies produce a lot
of mist.. and the LED's can't come close to even penetrating that thin mist
the way a halogen can. It would be terrible in water. The color rendering
also sucks. The color temperature of an LED is way too high to make
anything look good.. the warmer HID and even Halogen lights make things a
lot prettier than the washed out color an LED gives off.

I love LED's, I use them all the time. They'd suck underwater, though.