Has anyone tried this for lighting?

[SolarGuyOne]

I did a search and it was way to many threads to read, but I read a few and did not find anything on this subject.

Has anyone tried an automotive headlamp?...and reflector.

The reason I am asking is because I just had to buy one for my wifes car, and a lamp went off in my head.



After all, they are very bright, small, last quite a while...are cheap (about $12 or so) and are made to take much abuse....I never really tested how much heat they put out, but I can't imagine it being too much.

Please give your opinions

Thanks

[SolarGuyOne]

Either no one has tried it, or I am an idiot....or both.


;P

Hmmm...I may have to try it.

[SOTA]

Then we're both idiots because I was about to say the same thing until I saw you post.

The idea sounds reasonable...bright, self contained, long life and cheap.

[SolarGuyOne]

I think I will have to try it, the only thing is converting house current to run it.

Does anyone know how to go about that?

Would an automotive headlamp setup run on household current?

I may have to make a trip to the loocal junkyard.

If it's free, it's for me!

[SolarGuyOne]

Hey SOTA,

Thanks for the reply!



It just may work.


Maybe I'll dissasemble my wifes brand new Honda for testing!

Yea right.....I'd be a dead man.

[Stocker]

HID lights would probably be the ticket. Junkyards would be the source. Super bright, tight beam to begin with, BUT the parts new are $$$ from the dealerships. American cars without HID tend to have more of a broad swath of illumination vs. a tight beam straight ahead.

[corryn00]

the only problem with car headlights is that normal halogens look yellow and the HID ones look blue... not a good color temp for either i'm afraid
Gordon

[Stocker]

blue is in the eyes of the beholder. also the oncoming driver but that's another topic...


I have seen some HIDs coming at me that were almost not blue at all. I guess that would be for the projectionist to experiment with.

[corryn00]

i would love to see someone come up with a more cost effective bulb that doesn't require a huge ballast!

Gordon

[stick]

The standard automotive headlighting (not the High Intensity Discharge) is usually halogen, which I have read gives off a more yellowish light as compared to MH lighting. Also, these lights are usually only 65 watts or so, therefore relatively dim. From what I have read, even 100 watts of halogen lighting is far dimmer than 100 watts of MH lighting, so I would expect there would be insufficient light for decent projection.

If you were to try it, however, you would need a power supply capable of about 6 to 8 amps at 12 volts. If it were me, I would stick with whatever you already have, but experimentation is how we all learn, so give it a whirl and let us know.

On the other hand, if you find a wrecked Lexus and beat everybody else to the HID, I think that would make for an interesting experiment - although I wonder how balanced the color spectrum is....