Nocturnal lights

[ScubaFrog01]

Has anyone tried the nocturnal lights? I've been considering a canister light for some time now. Truth be told I don't know a thing about them. Why do some lights have twin light heads while other just have a single light head? Is there a true benefit either way? I'm looking at the TL50 Pro Rechargeable Dive Light, any input would be great.

 

[pants!]

You're better off spending a couple of extra dollars and getting an HID light with NiMH battery.

You will get whiter light and significantly longer burn time.

http://www.diverssupplyusa.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=17764 is a fantastic value in a 10 watt HID with 4 hour burn time.

The TL50 Pro uses a halogen bulb and only lasts 2 hours with a 35 watt bulb.

 

[phylo]

You're better off spending a couple of extra dollars and getting an HID light with NiMH battery.

You will get whiter light and significantly longer burn time.

http://www.diverssupplyusa.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=17764 is a fantastic value in a 10 watt HID with 4 hour burn time.

The TL50 Pro uses a halogen bulb and only lasts 2 hours with a 35 watt bulb.

There are actually quite a few advantages to using Halogen over HID. If you look at the Nocturnal lights they are using an overvolted system which makes the light as white if not whiter than HID so light penetration will be the same if not better than HID. One of the other advantages is the bulb life and cost to replace. A halogen bulb will usually last quite a bit longer than an HID bulb and when it comes to replacing the bulb if it does break or burnout is considerably less.. I belive its around $15 for a halogen and anywhere from $50 to $100 for HID bulbs. As to the burn time, How often do you do a dive that is longer than an hour? I would guess that unless you are running doubles your botom times arent going to be longer than the burn time of the light. Do a search on Nocturnal lights, Im pretty sure there is a link somewhere to a comparison of a 10w hid Vs. the 35w Nocturnal Halogen and the Halogen won on quality of light and penetration.

As to the twin head lights, those are geared more towards Photography or Video work.

Not to mention that "NLI Tim" is a user on this board (He works for Nocturnal)and is more than helpfull and willing to answer any questions you might have.

I dont work for or have anything to do with Nocturnal, Im just letting you know what I have heard about them. Of course if you wait a day or two, Ill have a direct comparison between the TL20 and my 10w HID.

 

[Snowbear]

How much does overvolting affect bulb life?
How fast does the battery recharge? I often do a couple of 1 1/2 hour dives (on singles) and 2 hours burn time would not be enough.
Are they focusable? It's important to me to have a narrow beam as a form of passive communication.
Can a goodman type handle be attached?

 

[Mo2vation]

How much does overvolting affect bulb life?
How fast does the battery recharge? I often do a couple of 1 1/2 hour dives (on singles) and 2 hours burn time would not be enough.
Are they focusable? It's important to me to have a narrow beam as a form of passive communication.
Can a goodman type handle be attached?

They do charge pretty quickly. However, to your point, they don't last as long as a "traditional" can light. I like the lock on and lock off, and the fact I can instantly load in a 35 or a 50 w bulb, depending on my needs.

The ones we dived were / are not focusable. Not sure if they make one. These were excellent performers in the clear water of Belize, however the beams are not the traditional light saber-type beam you and I think of when we're thinking of using the light as a communication piece.

They make a can version with a semi-goodman handle.

For the diving most people do, where you need a bright easy-to-handle light in a traditional form factor (I liked the lantern handle design) for a modest cost and low ongoing maintenance costs, it will fill the bill.

For the types of diving I do, where I take it on every dive, use it for continuous communication, need the tight beam, long burn times, etc. its not a perfect fit.

---
Ken

 

[ScubaFrog01]

well i can see that there is alot I had not thought of. Looks like I'm back at square one with no idea what type of light to get.

 

[Mo2vation]

well i can see that there is alot I had not thought of. Looks like I'm back at square one with no idea what type of light to get.

* Diving type: Night diving only? Day diving commuinication, penetration, long burn times, shorter burns (access to charger, etc.)

* Water clarity? Soup? Mud? Clear?

* How often do you dive?

* Budget - what type of investment can you make?


Spending $400 - $600 for a 10w HID can light or $800 - $1000 for an 18W can light may not make sense if you dive once 4 or 5 times a year in gin clear water during the day time and only want a light to poke into the occasional hole in the rocks.

There's a lot to consider. I thought these people were mental patients, paying a zillion dollars for a "flash light." My personal light succession was:

1) 2 C cell hand held (2 years)

2) 4 D cell handheld (6 or 7 months)

3) Two Light Cannons (wifie and I - 1 year)

4) 10W Sartek (eBay) (2 months)

5) 10W Halcyon (eBay) (2 years)

6) first 18W Halcyon (eBay - hotrodded with new batt, critter light and EKPP) ** Still have it

7) 18W Halcyon buddy light (Deco Stop member private sale - hotrodded with "new" Halcyon reflector, critter light and weightless weight belt) ** Still have it


I could have saved some cash going right to the 18w. Oh well.

---
Ken

 

[cool_hardware52]

How much does overvolting affect bulb life?

Hi Snowbear!

Incandescent lamps have "design voltage", and a "design life", or typical average life (TAL)

The TAL is defined as the time for 1/2 of a sample to fail. In other words if you powered up 100 lamps and started a timer, when the 50th lamp fails you have reached the TAL for that lamp. Typical bell shaped curve, some will fail in 10% of the TAL, and some might go 200% of the TAL, most will fail around the TAL.

Now to your question, what are the effects of voltage on lamp life.

If one reduces the voltage imposed on the filament to 80% of the design voltage, i.e. underdriven (scout anybody?) You will have a ~50% reduction in lightoutput, and a spectral shift towards red. The life of the lamps will be greatly increased, ~1000%.

If you increase the voltage imposed on the filament to 120% of the design voltage you will ~ double the light output, and the anticipated life of the lamp will fall to less than 10% of the design TAL. You will also get a spectral shift up, towards UV.

No free lunch here either with respect to power consumption, as you increase the voltage the current draw will also increase, so at ~120% of the design voltage the total power consumed, watts will also ~ double.

Can you get an incandescent lamp to produce the same color temp as an HID? Not too likely, and not for very long.

In short overdriving lamps has benefits, and as long as the bulbs are cheap, and failure is not mission critical, it's a viable option.


Tobin

 

[Nocturnal Lights]

Hi,

Phylo has directed me to this thread and I would like to jump in and give you guys some feedback. We have gone though several websites in the last year and we haven't transferred all the contents from the previous site to our existing website yet. We had a comparason image of a 21w HID versus our 50w overvolted bulbs and some can argue that our 50w halogen outshines the 21w HID.

For the tech divers that are going to spend more than 2 hours diving, I would recommend a low power HID with a durable housing. Everyone else can consider our products becuase our lights use MR16 lamps, which come in different beam angles, color temperaturs, and power output. You can find some information on this page:

http://www.nocturnallights.com/comp.../category_id,15/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,38/

Most of the MR16 lamps in the market last between 3000 to 5000 hours, so even with a overvolted battery you will still get a couple hundred hours of burn time. We have experienced 2-3 cases of lens that cracked due to impact but we have yet to encounter a case where the light burnt out on us. Those lights still functioned with a fractured reflector but we just replaced since it was fairly cheap to replace.

Every one of our lights comes with 2 or 3 spare bulbs, so bulb life is not much of a concern compared to a broken HID bulb.

Also, we just posted some video housing adapters from Ultralight and we're providing a solution to videographers that don't want to spend $1600 on a set of videolights.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask me, I'll be happy to answer them for you.

 

[ScubaFrog01]

Hi,

Phylo has directed me to this thread and I would like to jump in and give you guys some feedback. We have gone though several websites in the last year and we haven't transferred all the contents from the previous site to our existing website yet. We had a comparason image of a 21w HID versus our 50w overvolted bulbs and some can argue that our 50w halogen outshines the 21w HID.

For the tech divers that are going to spend more than 2 hours diving, I would recommend a low power HID with a durable housing. Everyone else can consider our products becuase our lights use MR16 lamps, which come in different beam angles, color temperaturs, and power output. You can find some information on this page:

http://www.nocturnallights.com/comp.../category_id,15/option,com_phpshop/Itemid,38/

Most of the MR16 lamps in the market last between 3000 to 5000 hours, so even with a overvolted battery you will still get a couple hundred hours of burn time. We have experienced 2-3 cases of lens that cracked due to impact but we have yet to encounter a case where the light burnt out on us. Those lights still functioned with a fractured reflector but we just replaced since it was fairly cheap to replace.

Every one of our lights comes with 2 or 3 spare bulbs, so bulb life is not much of a concern compared to a broken HID bulb.

Also, we just posted some video housing adapters from Ultralight and we're providing a solution to videographers that don't want to spend $1600 on a set of videolights.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask me, I'll be happy to answer them for you.

Tim thanks for the update, I'm planning on picking up a canister light here soon.