Metal Halide lighting 12v dc help!

You do not mention the lamp position and that is important for longer life.

Might be time to consider halogen instead of MH

Hi! I was looking to make something that was similar to the new bike lights which seem to run on reasonably low wattage discharge lamps, have a quick look at the BLT bicycle lights and tell me what you think!

Lamp position would be head mounted!

The reason for the discharge lamp is a longer burn time for limited batteries or brighter light for less power consumption as I can't carry too much weight whilst on a long journey!

What about the new car headlamps, do they run at 12v?

miniman

Most cars in the US are 12v, the HUMMER is an exception I know they are either 36 or 48 volt systems. Not sure if their lighting is 12 v or not.

HID lighting is not a good choice for something that is moving and/or orientation changes.

Anything that puts out any light at all will have a lot of heat as well. Unless you head into the LED arena

Go LED if weight is an issue. You've forgotten about the ballast/starter. Don't also forget about the startup time, glass envelope and heat sheilding. MR dicroic lamps are FAR lighter weight than anything HID.

LED's are not as effiecient as HID but they are far more directional and smaller!

What is your application?

The application will be for a Mountain bike light which is helmet mounted, currently I have a 50w 12v dichroic (closed glass) running from a 12v 4ah nicad battery.

Although battery life is passable, I would like to increase the running time by reducing the load, although I still want to keep the high light output due to the terrain I ride.

There are brands on the market such as LUMICYCLE and BLT which seem to manage with HID

Many thanks your input would be much appreciated!

miniman

And LED is still not quite bright or directional enough for my usage although the lamp life is very good!

get a candle boy

I think a candle bulb would be a bit dim, sonneschien. :-)