HID above water use

[kidspot]

Just curious - I've seen some other threads dealing with using dive-lights out of the water, but what about HID lights? It would seem like they don't generate enough heat for that to be a problem, but Halcyon says in their manuals that they need the cooling of the water for the Ballast.

Any opinions or comments?

Tim

 

[OE2X]

The info that I have is that if you turn one on, you should leave it on for four minutes. Turning if off and on does not allow the element to heat up enough thus shortening it's life. It does not seem to affect the light when with too much heat when you do if for a short interval above the surface. I have seen lights go out though when they have become to hot above water.

My advice is when you are turning light on above water to test - put the light in a bucket of water. If you are about to jump in to start your dive it shouldn't be an issue to turn it on before leaving the boat or shore. Bottom line heat will kill the bulb in short order. My guess is that it should not be a problem if your air temp is on the chilly side though.

 

[kidspot]

Thanks - just curious at this point - and a chilly night around here (dead of winter that is) might get down to 58 degrees - bitter cold them thar' Hawaiian nights.

Tim

P.S. last night got down to a bone-chilling 78 degrees . . .brrrr - lol

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Yes, it will severely shorten the life of the bulb, and if's an 18 or 21 watt HID, you could actually melt the light head. In case someone is thinking that using it in cold air is okay, it's not, because even 31 degree air doesn't have the cooling potential of flowing 60 degree water over the lighthead.

 

[CALI68]

Thanks - just curious at this point - and a chilly night around here (dead of winter that is) might get down to 58 degrees - bitter cold them thar' Hawaiian nights.

Tim

P.S. last night got down to a bone-chilling 78 degrees . . .brrrr - lol

58 degrees! Good Lord, how do you survive? The guy I bought mine from said the same thing as the last poster.

 

[jonnythan]

An 18 watt HID bulb can produce enough heat to melt the lighthead? Could an 18 watt *heating element* even do that?

 

[MechDiver]

An 18 watt HID bulb can produce enough heat to melt the lighthead? Could an 18 watt *heating element* even do that?

What difference does it make? They get hot. Dive Rite also says to not use their lights out of the water.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Maybe not turn it into liquid, but plastic doesn't have to get terribly hot for it to sag and flex.

Get a Maglite for above-water, or a Surefire.