Using high-intensity car headlight bulbs... good idea or not?

[ij]

Hi:
Searched for this, but couldn't find anything on it. Anyone ever tried using the new type of METAL WHITE 4200K HID BULBS made to retrofit, say, a Honda Civic/Accord? The light temperature should be right and they're rated at up to 150 watts, so I figure one should do it -- otherwise a pair of them should be plenty bright enough. Rigging them wouldn't be too hard with a computer power supply and a headlight assembly from a scrapyard, and the assembly has a built-in polished reflector (if it isn't too wrecked...). 😉
I figure it would run relatively cool, too, compared to some of the other high-intensity options out there, and the lights are compact. You can get 'em on ebay for a few bucks plus delivery, and they last for years...
Any thoughts from the lighting experts in the crowd?
Cheers,
IJ

 

[wylie-c]

A "true" HID setup for a car only runs 35w. There are no other higher wattage HID's out there. Unless you mean the halogen HID look alike bulbs, which are just regular bulbs with a blue tint to them and don't last very long. Halogen headlights range from 800-1500 lumens and 3000 for HID. An HID setup might be ok for a small LCD.

 

[MikePL]

I am also thinking about HID lights. I am about to build my first projector. From what I know a HID bulb with ballast cannot be wired to a computer. Your computer does give 12V but the initial power which is needed to heat up the HID bulb is considerable and a computer power supply might not handle this. After heat-up the bulb takes 35W and is bright enough in my opinion

 

[projectile]

yep i saw a xenon 150 watt something in a par reflecter in an automotive store the damn thing is very very bright but all documentation was in chinese so... dud!! the reflecter seems to give a very even beam which at around 200 mm would be enough to cover a 8" panel. also by moving the bulb in and out we shuld be able to concentrate the light for smaller lcds ... but what kept me away from it was the uv facter i decided to stick with hqi-ts just to be safe ... anyways the color temp for these xenon bulb were from 6500 to 7500 (three mmodels) that's gonna be great with psone based lcd as the orig ccl backlight is around that color temp and lcd has a tint of red in it to compensate ...

 

[ij]

Thanks for the feedback. Now I'm thinking of changing gears and going with a 400 watt MH bulb in a box with a Lilliput 7-inch LCD (and LOTS of fan cooling), a design like bfourcade's. Anyone know of any special precautions to take in case the bulb goes bang? I'm going to line the light box with light steel sheeting, but I hear the shards from a blown MH bulb can hit 1,000 degrees Celcius... sounds like that could melt thin metal...
For that matter, anyone have a rough idea how hot a 400 watt MH bulb would be during regular run-time at a distance of about a foot or two from the bulb? All the posts on DIY just say "hey man, it's a HOT light," or something to that effect, but nobody specifically gives a temperature range for the inside of a lightbox with that type of bulb...
Cheers,
IJ