Salvo Cans

[Adobo]

I have personally not decided whether I get 10W or more. Gotta wait for few more months to fit this purchase into my budget anyway…

However, this light seemed popular, and I was wondering what the benefits/downsides of each battery (and size of can) were. Is the run time and recharge time the main concerns? Different batteries do not have any known issues, for example wearing down quicker or so?

I would have thought 2 batteries would give me an option to have other recharging while I do a dive on multi-dive days. Or does everyone anyway end up getting extra batteries for their cans?

I thought the light head on this remote one was same size as on Salvo’s 10W ones. That is one thing that I would look into. I’d hate to have any bigger brick on my wrist than I have to. I am pretty set on Salvo - whichever model it will be

Personally, I dive with some guys that use that use 10 watt halcyons can lights. I would say that if you are going to use the light primarily for open water diving, going with the 21 watt would be better. While 10 watt lights seem to work well in night dives (and presumably cave dives), they really kind of suck when it comes to open water use.

What I've gotten from this thread is that if you plan on doing cave diving, the longer burn time that you get with the 9amp battery is definitely a bonus. It makes the light well suited for both open water and cave diving. If you don't do much cave diving (or in my case, none), the 4.5amp battery gives you some redundancy and also allows flexibility (dive with one battery while the other is charging).

 

[Kevrumbo]

I have personally not decided whether I get 10W or more. Gotta wait for few more months to fit this purchase into my budget anyway…

However, this light seemed popular, and I was wondering what the benefits/downsides of each battery (and size of can) were. Is the run time and recharge time the main concerns? Different batteries do not have any known issues, for example wearing down quicker or so?

I would have thought 2 batteries would give me an option to have other recharging while I do a dive on multi-dive days. Or does everyone anyway end up getting extra batteries for their cans?

I thought the light head on this remote one was same size as on Salvo’s 10W ones. That is one thing that I would look into. I’d hate to have any bigger brick on my wrist than I have to. I am pretty set on Salvo - whichever model it will be

I just ended up buying an extra battery for my can. . .

For me, since I'm always laying line for wreck diving, the enclosed head design of both the Halcyon and Dive Rite (MR11) 10W HID is much more rugged IMO, than any of the test tube designs of the Salvo HID Lights and can take a lot of abuse (i.g. inadvertently banging into ship's ladders, stanchions and pipes etc. while laying/reeling-in penetration line). I also thrashed a test tube head type once before as well, when I got rolled by a rogue wave in the Surf Zone of a Beach Dive. . .

 

[TSandM]

I bought the 4.5 amp/dual battery Salvo, and my thought process was as has been described above: Two batteries, if one floods, I still have one that works; I can change out batteries between dives if need be. One can always be on the charger.

I have been disappointed by the burn time, though. I can't get two reasonable (1 hr) dives out of a battery. And running them until they quit is supposed to be bad for them. Of course, I also didn't know until recently that one is supposed to connect battery to charger and THEN charger to outlet, as the lights come with no user manual at all. So I may have caused my own problems.

I'm a small woman, with tiny hands, and the size of the lighthead on the remote ballast 21W Salvo is no problem at all, even when running a reel. And the light heads are sturdy. I don't take any special care of mine, and it has survived quite well.

 

[dlegros]

Of course, I also didn't know until recently that one is supposed to connect battery to charger and THEN charger to outlet, as the lights come with no user manual at all.

Where did you get this from?

Any ideas if it applies to the Li-Ion systems?

Many thanks

Dom

 

[*Floater*]

In Mexico we often did one long dive on sixths or thirds, debriefing on the surface and then another sixths or thirds dive on the remaining gas. So that can easily mean several hours in the water (not including debriefing) before you get a chance to change batteries. (Then lunch and repeat). And if there was a problem (say you got lost) that resulted in the use of all gas then you could easily spend over 3 hours in the water on twin AL80's.

I bought the li-ion light with 4.5h burn time (which got upgraded to 6h free of charge because salvo was out of 4.5h cans) and my thinking was it would last a whole day of heavy diving without having to worry about switching batteries, and I could always buy a spare battery if I felt I needed two of them (not that it would be cheap).

 

[Ben_ca]

Where did you get this from?

Any ideas if it applies to the Li-Ion systems?

Many thanks

Dom

I thought there was a big difference with Li-Ion and Nimh.... The Li-Ion likes to be stored more empty than full doesn't it? and it likes the cold?

 

[TSandM]

I got it from the Dive-Rite HID light owner's manual. I don't know if it applies to Li-ion systems or not.

 

[rjack321]

Li-ion do like to be stored about 40-60% charged.

Batteries like moderate temps - I got crappy charges on my NiMH in MX. Had to unplug and let the battery cool and charge again.

 

[lamont]

Li-ion do like to be stored about 40-60% charged.

Batteries like moderate temps - I got crappy charges on my NiMH in MX. Had to unplug and let the battery cool and charge again.

I had a crappy charge my first day in MX due to PEBKAC charging issues before I left and it died in Taj Mahal.

I've got a 9Ah Salvo Li-on 24W and with a single shot the charger pushed about 8.5Ah into the battery as measured by a watt meter without having to unplug and cool.

I've also read that the Nexcell chargers (which Halcyon has switched to for NiMH -- its just rebranded as Halcyon) are better for MX.

 

[piikki]

both the Halcyon and Dive Rite (MR11) 10W HID is much more rugged IMO, than any of the test tube designs of the Salvo HID Lights and can take a lot of abuse (i.g. inadvertently banging into ship's ladders, stanchions and pipes etc. while laying/reeling-in penetration line). I also thrashed a test tube head type once before as well, when I got rolled by a rogue wave in the Surf Zone of a Beach Dive. . .

well, I want rugged, I am a banger... is the above statement correct nowadays? I don't want no test tube babies