Halcyon Proteus 10w Head

[guerosd]

So I've had my Halcyon for about 2 months and most of that time its been at halcyon getting fixed. Issues:

1) Light shipped but bulb broken in shipping, returned to Halcyon and fixed
2) Light flooded on maiden dive, returned to Halcyon and fixed with a modification to the design.
3) Bulb breaks on dive (or on boat), returned Halcyon and fixed.

Other than my frustration that Halcyon sees my light more than I do, and my joy that Halcyon treats me good and keeps repairing my light for free..... Anyone else having issues with the Proteus head and the bulb getting broken easily?

For example I tend to keep the light in a very tight "mag-lite" type beam. Could transporting the head in this position cause the reflector to rest on the bulb and the slightest bump snap it? Keep in mind that I baby this light cause I love it and hate seeing it shipped to Halcyon.

Just wondering if anybody else has the same experience.

 

[Scubaroo]

Is this the old test tube design, or new enclosed design?

Old:
http://www.fifthd.com/h2oadventuregear/productinfo/images/hid10_detail01.jpg

New:
http://www.halcyon.net/images/helios/proteus_frontview02.jpg

There's been one or two reports on this board of the new light design being more fragile.

 

[guerosd]

Its the new one.

Where did you see these comments? I did a search but missed em.

 

[Scubaroo]

...but Uncle Pug who is a regulator on this board had one break on him for no apparent reason, and I recall another report of a breakage as well - both the new style heads. I have the old style head, and have not had a problem (I did break a test tube covering the lamp, but that was user error putting it back together!).

Seems the Halcyon 10W lightheads are a bit jinxed - some of the old ones experience stiking problems and won't light up, and there may be a trend developing here of the new ones being more fragile. When the Underwater Kinetics Light Cannon 10W HID handheld first came out, they were very susceptible to bulb breakages, which has been put down to a bad batch of bulbs in the initial run - maybe something similar has happened with the new Halcyon heads.

 

[jdh]

I took mine to the pool the day I got it... it flooded.
I paid to ship it back, I assume they checked the head, but the only thing visible was that they added a diode to the lid and that the bulb was cracked... I was diving in High Springs that weekend so I just stopped by Halcyon and they replaced it. Did six lovely dives with it and it was great.

Got home, took it to the pool again and the light would go out whenever I focused it to a tight beam.
I paid to ship it back again... it's been 1.5 weeks and I haven't heard anything from them.

I think I understand the flooding issue and it is avoidable. If they actually had a users manual that covered this head, I *might* have read it before jumping in the pool. You would expect a light that costs this much to be ready to go in the water out of the box, without having to screw around to see if it was assembled properly.

The bad part is that I got rid of my perfectly reliable, although huge, AUL Spectrum14 when I ordered this one.

I'm hoping I'll get mine back and it will stay 'fixed'. At this point, I'd rather have my money and my Spec14 back.

John

 

[Scubaroo]

Dan from DJS Technical will be bringing out a 10W lighthead soon for all disillusioned Halcyon head owners

 

[O-ring]

...and his wouldn't strike in Bonaire. He didn't get to use his light for the first 2 night dives..

 

[WreckWriter]

No problems at all with mine.

WW

 

[Dryglove]

So far my new halcyon 10w has worked flawless....knock on wood.I hope it stays that way

 

[sillygrendel]

Mine wouldn't strike for one of the night dives in Bonaire. It was two days before I decided to take apart the lighthead and have a look. Like O-ring said, I used scouts for two night dives because of it.

The bezel was a little bit loose which might have caused the striking problems. I took it apart. Let everything sit out for 12hrs, made sure it was clean and put it back together. Worked fine for the rest of the trip.

It could have been worse. It could have completely flooded and the bulb could have broken.

I'm still not quite sure how the bezel became loose. I should really blame myself for not checking before the dive - I just didn't think of it as I'd used it 7-8 time before without problems, including on that trip.