Old DiveRite Canister Light repair

[DivingRhino]

I have two old DiveRite dive lights. I purchased a new battery (PS-1229) and moved the wiring from the old battery to the new one. Testing both lights, one works, one does not. They are probably 20 years old, canister, halogen (I believe).

For the one that is not working, anyone have any suggestions on troubleshooting to see if it's wiring or bulb (is that replaceable?)

The light is attached to a canister top with switch... I tried both on the same battery, so it's somewhere between the switch mechanism and the light. See the attached image...

Further... is there any way to convert to LED, or utilize any component of these in any useful way?

They were great lights and I'm planning on using the working one this Thursday!

 

[runsongas]

double check with multimeter that you don't have a wiring or switch issue, but you likely need a new hid bulb or ballast. those aren't that readily available anymore, so it isn't straightforward just replacing them. led conversion is possible if you get a driver, emitter, and optics.

 

[tbone1004]

I think that's HID by looking at the head, not halogen. In that case it's not cost effective to bother with the ballast/bulb since it's 10w and the light output and burn time with that battery is going to be comparable to the nicer backup lights on the market...

You can get them upgraded to LED, but it's pricey. I'd contact @Bobby at Underwater Light Dude as his conversions are really nice and will be much better than anything from Dive Rite.

 

[SandyRobinson]

...You can get them upgraded to LED, but it's pricey. I'd contact @Bobby at Underwater Light Dude as his conversions are really nice and will be much better than anything from Dive Rite.

I do not think that DR does the conversion any more.

I have an old MR11 with an WA HID that I would like to sell. Let me know if you are interested and I'll sent you some pics and try to see how many time \s the bulb has been fired up. The bulb has a limited life based on the number of times turned on - either 150 or 300 - someone please correct me.

Ditto what tbone said about current backups.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I have that exact same light. It was a 10w hid. Bulb probably went out. I originally had Dive Rite convert it to LED as that was way cheaper than a new bulb. Later I had Bobby at UWLD upgrade it with a much brighter LD13 module. I think that was the largest that fit at the time.

I dont know if he still does the upgrades. Mine cost about $300 when I had it done maybe 7-8 years ago. Still works great, I keep it now as a backup and just started using it again as I broke the cord on my primary light.

 

[DivingRhino]

Comparing a $300+ conversion to just getting a new LED light available on the market now, are there benefits to upgrading this?

Will an LED with this same battery have much longer burn time? I don't remember for sure but I think I was getting one or two dives off this HID (maybe being extremely careful with not completely draining it.)

Thanks for all your input!

 

[tbone1004]

this light had a 10w HID in it. It consumed roughly 10w of power and produced around 600 lumens of light. The LD13 conversion will consume somewhere around 13-14w of power, but will produce 1300 lumens. In terms of burn time, you will get roughly 30% less burn time from the LED conversion, but it will produce twice the light. The Dive Rite older conversions will have similar light output, but will burn for almost twice as long.

 

[billbb]

That isnt old
I expected to see the old blue square alum DR light

 

[DivingRhino]

this light had a 10w HID in it. It consumed roughly 10w of power and produced around 600 lumens of light. The LD13 conversion will consume somewhere around 13-14w of power, but will produce 1300 lumens. In terms of burn time, you will get roughly 30% less burn time from the LED conversion, but it will produce twice the light. The Dive Rite older conversions will have similar light output, but will burn for almost twice as long.

So, that's what I'm wondering, a Light and Motion Sola 1200 is 1200 Lumen... and giving 70 minutes (to 440 minutes) for around $200 and is much smaller... so is a conversion worth it? What other benefits is the converted Dive Rite going to have?

 

[runsongas]

if you upgrade the battery at the same time and get a bigger emitter, it should be possible to run a xhp50/70 in it for a couple hours. but you would be looking at replacing everything except the switch and canister