Lightforce HID equivalent?

[North Stalker]

Looking at getting an HID lamp, Lightforce are obviously leading the market and using their brand to charge the price they do.
Does anyone have first hand experience of using a Lightforce with another Make of identical "stated performance"?

I'm looking at a 170, 70w/5000 Luminum

North Stalker

 

[mealiejimmy]

The difference between a normal halogen lamp and an HID lamp is not just the bulb.
An HID lamp requires a separate electronic ballast with high voltage starter which puts out over 20,000 volts to get the HID bulb going.
I have a 70Watt HID lightforce Blitz 240, and you should know that it takes about 10-15 seconds for it to come up to full power after switching on - and this for me is a PITA when lamping.
HID kits are available by the hundred on E Bay, but whether or not you could make one work with the fittings in a Halogen lightforce is a different matter.
Most of the Chinese HID kits simply lie about their output, but I think there is an Australian company which sells HID kits specifically for Lightforce lights

Cheers

Bruce

 

[North Stalker]

Thanks for your reply.

I'm aware of what an HID is and how it works, I've looked on EBay and other web pages. I was just wondering if I need to pay the £300 for a Blitz 170 70w/5000 or if there is another make and model of similar size (170/70/5000) that is equally as good.

NS

 

[jason shave]

try clullite
there new LED is as good as Lightforce just bought 2 & 1/2 the money .

regards Jason .

 

[simonl]

I've got Lightforce 170 HID. It is pretty spectacular. I've also got a couple of Fenix TK75 (2800 Lum from memory) The next version of the TK75 is 4000 Lumens. I believe we're now at the brink of top end LEDs genuinely overtaking HID and this new model will be on a par with the 170.
To answer your question specifically though, I don't believe you'll find other makes of HID offering a serious challenge to Lightforce.

 

[sikastag270]

used lightforce for 25 years now just use t67better and more portable light in my opinion

 

[Eric the Red]

If you're looking to really punch out on the distance, then go for a Surefire Hellfighter. As has been said, the LEDs are not far behind -but it's all to do with the reach. No point skimping on a few quid if the lamp then doesn't do the job you're seeking it to do.

 

[simonl]

If you're looking to really punch out on the distance, then go for a Surefire Hellfighter. As has been said, the LEDs are not far behind -but it's all to do with the reach. No point skimping on a few quid if the lamp then doesn't do the job you're seeking it to do.

If you've got $6200 to spend a torch that is....!

 

[fizzbangwhallop]

I converted a couple of halogen Lightforce 170's to HID by getting a nylon bushing turned up to fit a car HID kit I bought from fleabay....the basic aim of the design was to put the HID 'filament' at the same position as the original.

To save the weight of the ballast etc at the lamp whilst retaining the handle's on/off switch I fitted the ballast and starter in a small Wilkinson sandwich snap lid sandwich container, 12v feed into that, into multicore to the handle switch, back to the starter/ballast then back up the multicore to the bulb.

The biggest pita was finding a suitable 4 core cable......got an end of reel offcut from a Company near St Albans for a fiver in the biscuit tin. Result. (It has got the details on the casing)

Pic...

Works well....the start up delay is there........ but that may not be a bad thing in that the warm up might mean your quarry isn't quite as alarmed as it might be with an immediate full strength beam?

They don't handle a filter very well.....certainly not a red one. I felt it was about the same as halogen.

Advantages........less heat! Halogens get to over a 100 degrees, economical on the battery, bloody bright! A mate in Scotland using a L/F 170 noticed the foxes don't get as spooked as they do with halogens...that may be a learning process but perhaps they're insensitive to elements in the HIDs spectrum...bit like the red filter. It would be the same with LEDs as they don't filter well.

Cheers

Fizz