hi all im looking at heading out earlier in the mornings in the dark i was wondering if any one can suggest a good type of spot light? n how powerfull it should be, i was thinking a handheld that attaches straight to the battery??? oh i will be crossing the caloundra bar,
cheers brenno
Originally Posted by brenno360
i see you say the caloundra bar , would be a bit safer to have both hands on the wheel.
check out suncoast truck spares they have just got these new led spot lights that light up 100m+ well worth the drive to nambour to have a look them(they are quiet expensive)
yer mate i head out with ether the old boy or my brother, i had a look in bcf today n they had a plug in led spotty claims it shines up to 360meters... was $100 just thought i would get a few opinions on them before i lashed out,
A mate bought one from the US a few weeks ago - not sure now of brand but was around $60 shipped. It's a rechargable LED and it is bright bright BRIGHT! He uses it for work (hes an ecologist so spends nights at a time spotlighting - and has many old spotties to compare it with) and he wes very impressed with both its battery life and lack of dimming on the LEDs. For my mind, a rechargable with no cable to get tangled or pull of a batt terminal is way in front of what you are considering.
Sorry I can;t remember a brand name, but I'll be seeing him in around a week once he comes in from the bush and I'll ask him then. I think I'm going to get one myself.
i also seen one of them at bcf, it was from the usa as well, had $99 on it i think, i do have some worries about the leds i have used them at night before n they work great if u have trees and other surrounding, but when i used it on the water i could see squat, im thinking cos of the white light, cos the standard tourch lit it up so much better, so im not sure???
In terms of spots LED's have a way to go to match the power of a big halogen. The old optronics blue eye is still a favorite of many, goes well. Much depends how much grunt you want and how much you are willing to spend. Right now the prices of HID spots are coming down steadily with competition and thats the way to go if you can stretch things a bit. A 35W HID might be equivalent to more like a 75-100W Halogen and a 55w HID is serious grunt. Less power drain (maybe 1/4 of a halogen), stronger beam, vibration doesnt effect them like a halogen coz no filament so no bulb replacement.
Four ways to go...fixed mount where the light doesnt spill around or in front of you, fixed mount way fwd on bowrail which is excellent, remote control mounted bowrail (expensive but prob the best), or handheld with a bracket to rest it (u may need to improvise and make your own mount).
If u see no need to stretch it to the expensive jobs an option could be a lightforce ML series or the optronics blue eye. Both handheld and both pretty good. Personally i;d type in "HID HANDHELD SPOTLIGHT" into google and ebay and have a look at 35 and 55W plug in HID's for a bit more $. Never been a fan of the rechargeable handhelds coz they weigh a ton and top heavy in your hand..awkward. Best to have a ciggy plug or two pin plug rated to about 15A and plug them in. If you can mount a 35W HID at the point of the bowrail on a v solid mount and shine it down a little rather than way out you will probably get the best result coz no reflected light off the boat ruining your vision. Sometimes of course they;re of no use due to weather/conditions. Hope that helps a little.
Hard to beat the Blue Eye hand held, just replace the cig plug they come with, they melt.
Cheers
"Elempi" American Bertram 33, 3208T Caterpillar power
I use a 175 lightforce that plugs into a cig socket. Its light and bright and its the old one off the ute.
There are now HID torches available that recharge . Also makes them a bit more versatile than a spotlight as not tied to the lead, with an adjustable spot as well.
Just remember that because it has 2000 lumen doesnt mean it will be very bright at distance
Lumen is the overall average light available in the spread and luc is the 1m square point in the middle.
Seems to be a lot of new age spotlights and torches hitting the shelves lately. LED and HID and all the better ones are very bright.
Cheers, Stu
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