Wattage and LEDs and the Greenforce light

"Irene" wrote

> Do you think that the Princeton Tec Shockwave LED would do the trick? I
> guess my confusion comes in deciding what light is best: Halogen, Xenon,
> or eLed. I like the idea of a white high temp light, but I also want
> something that will let me dive at night if the viz is between 30 feet--as
> well as being useful in gin clear water.

> Am I asking for too much in one light? I need some recommendations I
> think. I will be using the light for mostly night diving in the Caribbean
> and Hawaii--clear warm water. But I also want to use it for the wreck
> dives at 120 feet. Not tech penetration, just light zone stuff.

> I really can't decide.

It's really a very personal choice. One diver favors a strong, relatively
focused beam, another wants to light up the world. I'm partial to my UK 400
that gives me a broader, relatively soft beam. My backup lights are Halcyon
Scout lights. Frankly, they are too penetrating and narrow a beam for my
taste, but at around $80 each, I'm not going to leave them in the dive bag.

Lights are like just about everything else in diving, they need to fit your
use and your preferences. Find a shop that will rent you the light you are
considering and see how you like it.

"Irene" wrote

> Do you think that the Princeton Tec Shockwave LED would do the trick? I
> guess my confusion comes in deciding what light is best: Halogen, Xenon,
> or eLed. I like the idea of a white high temp light, but I also want
> something that will let me dive at night if the viz is between 30 feet--as
> well as being useful in gin clear water.

> Am I asking for too much in one light? I need some recommendations I
> think. I will be using the light for mostly night diving in the Caribbean
> and Hawaii--clear warm water. But I also want to use it for the wreck
> dives at 120 feet. Not tech penetration, just light zone stuff.

> I really can't decide.

It's really a very personal choice. One diver favors a strong, relatively
focused beam, another wants to light up the world. I'm partial to my UK 400
that gives me a broader, relatively soft beam. My backup lights are Halcyon
Scout lights. Frankly, they are too penetrating and narrow a beam for my
taste, but at around $80 each, I'm not going to leave them in the dive bag.

Lights are like just about everything else in diving, they need to fit your
use and your preferences. Find a shop that will rent you the light you are
considering and see how you like it.

Does anyone know how the Greenforce Flexi Funstar LED light compares with
the Princeton Tec LED in brightness? They don't have a lumen listed on their
page so I can't get any idea how bright it is. Greenforce states that it's
equivalent to 25 watts.

A better question might be--How bright is a 3 watt LED? If a company claims
equivalent brightness to a 25 or 30 watt Halogen, would that be believable?

I'm trying to decide on a light and this "equivalent" stuff has me confused.
I know how bright a 20 watt Halogen or a 10 watt HID is but I can't
reconcile that with a 3 watt LED.

Thanks

I do not know this particular product. I do have a Gerber LED with a 3
watt bulb and it is VERY bright. compared with my 60 lumen surefire
lights, it's almost as bright. The batteries last a lot longer too, but
remember it is 3 watts at full power and that is a hi drain rate. Ken

Irene wrote:
> Does anyone know how the Greenforce Flexi Funstar LED light compares with
> the Princeton Tec LED in brightness? They don't have a lumen listed on their
> page so I can't get any idea how bright it is. Greenforce states that it's
> equivalent to 25 watts.
>
> A better question might be--How bright is a 3 watt LED? If a company claims
> equivalent brightness to a 25 or 30 watt Halogen, would that be believable?
>
> I'm trying to decide on a light and this "equivalent" stuff has me confused.
> I know how bright a 20 watt Halogen or a 10 watt HID is but I can't
> reconcile that with a 3 watt LED.
>
> Thanks
>
>

This Greenforce has a burn time of over 10 hours, that's why I like it so
much.
This is sold as a primary light. Is this enough light for clear water
tropical night dives?



"Ken C" <usakex@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:_R1Kf.49241$dW3.49199@newssvr21.news.prodigy. com...
>I do not know this particular product. I do have a Gerber LED with a 3
>watt bulb and it is VERY bright. compared with my 60 lumen surefire
>lights, it's almost as bright. The batteries last a lot longer too, but
>remember it is 3 watts at full power and that is a hi drain rate. Ken
>
> Irene wrote:
>> Does anyone know how the Greenforce Flexi Funstar LED light compares with
>> the Princeton Tec LED in brightness? They don't have a lumen listed on
>> their
>> page so I can't get any idea how bright it is. Greenforce states that
>> it's
>> equivalent to 25 watts.
>>
>> A better question might be--How bright is a 3 watt LED? If a company
>> claims
>> equivalent brightness to a 25 or 30 watt Halogen, would that be
>> believable?
>>
>> I'm trying to decide on a light and this "equivalent" stuff has me
>> confused.
>> I know how bright a 20 watt Halogen or a 10 watt HID is but I can't
>> reconcile that with a 3 watt LED.
>>
>> Thanks

Irene, Just my observation, though as I stated before, I am comparing
with a gerber land 3 watt LED. A 3 watt LED is very bright,
Illuminating land targets at night 100 feet away with no problem. I use
this light for SAR (search & Rescue), and it is perfectly adequate on
the march. Underwater, I think I would want something with a lot more
power. The only night dive I ever did was in Australia and we were
using big dive lights. Also, beware of battery life claims on LED
lights. No doubt, the batteries last significantly longer than with
conventional lights. Some of the more expensive LED lights have some
tricky circuitry that squeeze the last drop of power out of the
batteries. That said, a 3 watt LED bulb will drain down the batteries
as fast as a halogen or tungsten of the same wattage. The benefit of
LED lies in the end of drain cycle on the batteries. An LED will
continue to burn with a much lower brightness well after a conventional
halogen or tungsten is long out. The reason for this is that the H & T
bulbs need a fairly constant voltage to light up. As the voltage in the
batteries drops from peak output, say 6 volts drops to 5.5 volts the H &
T bulbs will go off. The LED bulb will continue to burn at a reduced
light output until the voltage reaches 2.5 volts. My experience is that
with LED, you get about 3 to 4 times as much burn time (at max light
output) for the same LIGHT OUTPUT as you would with conventional bulbs
of the same light output. In other words, a 3 watt LED puts out the
same light as a 12 watt Halogen. Now to night diving of which I am not
very experienced. At night, your light source reflects off all the
little particles in the water, creating billions of tiny dull mirrors to
reflect your light back. In this situation, I would think that you
would want considerably more power than a 3 watt LED could provide.
Please consult other night divers on this. Regards, Ken
Irene wrote:
> This Greenforce has a burn time of over 10 hours, that's why I like it so
> much.
> This is sold as a primary light. Is this enough light for clear water
> tropical night dives?
>
>
>
> "Ken C" <usakex@pacbell.net> wrote in message
> news:_R1Kf.49241$dW3.49199@newssvr21.news.prodigy. com...
>
>>I do not know this particular product. I do have a Gerber LED with a 3
>>watt bulb and it is VERY bright. compared with my 60 lumen surefire
>>lights, it's almost as bright. The batteries last a lot longer too, but
>>remember it is 3 watts at full power and that is a hi drain rate. Ken
>>
>>Irene wrote:
>>
>>>Does anyone know how the Greenforce Flexi Funstar LED light compares with
>>>the Princeton Tec LED in brightness? They don't have a lumen listed on
>>>their
>>>page so I can't get any idea how bright it is. Greenforce states that
>>>it's
>>>equivalent to 25 watts.
>>>
>>>A better question might be--How bright is a 3 watt LED? If a company
>>>claims
>>>equivalent brightness to a 25 or 30 watt Halogen, would that be
>>>believable?
>>>
>>>I'm trying to decide on a light and this "equivalent" stuff has me
>>>confused.
>>>I know how bright a 20 watt Halogen or a 10 watt HID is but I can't
>>>reconcile that with a 3 watt LED.
>>>
>>>Thanks
>
>
>

I prefer a strong light that can be focused on a narrow area when night
diving. As you stated the light will reflect off all the suspended particles
in the water. It is a similar condition to driving with the high beams on in
the fog or rain, a large white cloud of reflected light with out much gain.
A night dive is supposed to enable you to see the nocturnal aspect of where
you are diving, If you light it up like day light what have you gained? I
have often moved about in the dark to sneak up on a critter then turned on a
small light just to see it better. A night dive with Hollywood lighting
would be a day dive. Keep your lights low and focused and have that bright
light as your back-up and you will enjoy the dark much more.
John

"Ken C" <usakex@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:kRlKf.10605$rL5.1703@newssvr27.news.prodigy.n et...
> Irene, Just my observation, though as I stated before, I am comparing with
> a gerber land 3 watt LED. A 3 watt LED is very bright, Illuminating land
> targets at night 100 feet away with no problem. I use this light for SAR
> (search & Rescue), and it is perfectly adequate on the march. Underwater,
> I think I would want something with a lot more power. The only night dive
> I ever did was in Australia and we were using big dive lights. Also,
> beware of battery life claims on LED lights. No doubt, the batteries last
> significantly longer than with conventional lights. Some of the more
> expensive LED lights have some tricky circuitry that squeeze the last drop
> of power out of the batteries. That said, a 3 watt LED bulb will drain
> down the batteries as fast as a halogen or tungsten of the same wattage.
> The benefit of LED lies in the end of drain cycle on the batteries. An
> LED will continue to burn with a much lower brightness well after a
> conventional
> halogen or tungsten is long out. The reason for this is that the H & T
> bulbs need a fairly constant voltage to light up. As the voltage in the
> batteries drops from peak output, say 6 volts drops to 5.5 volts the H & T
> bulbs will go off. The LED bulb will continue to burn at a reduced light
> output until the voltage reaches 2.5 volts. My experience is that with
> LED, you get about 3 to 4 times as much burn time (at max light output)
> for the same LIGHT OUTPUT as you would with conventional bulbs of the same
> light output. In other words, a 3 watt LED puts out the same light as a
> 12 watt Halogen. Now to night diving of which I am not very experienced.
> At night, your light source reflects off all the little particles in the
> water, creating billions of tiny dull mirrors to reflect your light back.
> In this situation, I would think that you would want considerably more
> power than a 3 watt LED could provide. Please consult other night divers
> on this. Regards, Ken
> Irene wrote:
>> This Greenforce has a burn time of over 10 hours, that's why I like it so
>> much.
>> This is sold as a primary light. Is this enough light for clear water
>> tropical night dives?
>>
>>
>>
>> "Ken C" <usakex@pacbell.net> wrote in message
>> news:_R1Kf.49241$dW3.49199@newssvr21.news.prodigy. com...
>>
>>>I do not know this particular product. I do have a Gerber LED with a 3
>>>watt bulb and it is VERY bright. compared with my 60 lumen surefire
>>>lights, it's almost as bright. The batteries last a lot longer too, but
>>>remember it is 3 watts at full power and that is a hi drain rate. Ken
>>>
>>>Irene wrote:
>>>
>>>>Does anyone know how the Greenforce Flexi Funstar LED light compares
>>>>with
>>>>the Princeton Tec LED in brightness? They don't have a lumen listed on
>>>>their
>>>>page so I can't get any idea how bright it is. Greenforce states that
>>>>it's
>>>>equivalent to 25 watts.
>>>>
>>>>A better question might be--How bright is a 3 watt LED? If a company
>>>>claims
>>>>equivalent brightness to a 25 or 30 watt Halogen, would that be
>>>>believable?
>>>>
>>>>I'm trying to decide on a light and this "equivalent" stuff has me
>>>>confused.
>>>>I know how bright a 20 watt Halogen or a 10 watt HID is but I can't
>>>>reconcile that with a 3 watt LED.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks
>>
>>

"John Cassara" <jcassara@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:V7_Kf.5$qX4.1@fe10.lga...
>I prefer a strong light that can be focused on a narrow area when night
>diving. As you stated the light will reflect off all the suspended
>particles in the water. It is a similar condition to driving with the high
>beams on in the fog or rain, a large white cloud of reflected light with
>out much gain. A night dive is supposed to enable you to see the nocturnal
>aspect of where you are diving, If you light it up like day light what have
>you gained? I have often moved about in the dark to sneak up on a critter
>then turned on a small light just to see it better. A night dive with
>Hollywood lighting would be a day dive. Keep your lights low and focused
>and have that bright light as your back-up and you will enjoy the dark much
>more.
> John
>

Do you think that the Princeton Tec Shockwave LED would do the trick? I
guess my confusion comes in deciding what light is best: Halogen, Xenon, or
eLed. I like the idea of a white high temp light, but I also want something
that will let me dive at night if the viz is between 30 feet--as well as
being useful in gin clear water.

Am I asking for too much in one light? I need some recommendations I think.
I will be using the light for mostly night diving in the Caribbean and
Hawaii--clear warm water. But I also want to use it for the wreck dives at
120 feet. Not tech penetration, just light zone stuff.

I really can't decide.

"Irene" wrote

> Do you think that the Princeton Tec Shockwave LED would do the trick? I
> guess my confusion comes in deciding what light is best: Halogen, Xenon,
> or eLed. I like the idea of a white high temp light, but I also want
> something that will let me dive at night if the viz is between 30 feet--as
> well as being useful in gin clear water.

> Am I asking for too much in one light? I need some recommendations I
> think. I will be using the light for mostly night diving in the Caribbean
> and Hawaii--clear warm water. But I also want to use it for the wreck
> dives at 120 feet. Not tech penetration, just light zone stuff.

> I really can't decide.

It's really a very personal choice. One diver favors a strong, relatively
focused beam, another wants to light up the world. I'm partial to my UK 400
that gives me a broader, relatively soft beam. My backup lights are Halcyon
Scout lights. Frankly, they are too penetrating and narrow a beam for my
taste, but at around $80 each, I'm not going to leave them in the dive bag.

Lights are like just about everything else in diving, they need to fit your
use and your preferences. Find a shop that will rent you the light you are
considering and see how you like it.