How to Burn Test Your Underwater Light

So you accept absitively to add a primary HID/LED ablaze to your accessories bag. There is a cogent investment to acquirement primary lights. They don't appear cheap. A acceptable superior primary ablaze can bulk up to $2,000 USD, even added for top powered video lights. You allegation to accomplish abiding your investment will endure as continued as possible. One of the bactericide aliment procedures for blockage the bloom of your primary ablaze is to bake analysis the battery. Bake testing the array is a simple procedure, but does crave some time. This will accord you an authentic altitude for how continued your array will authority a charge.
Before we go into the procedures about how to accomplish this test, let's yield a attending at why you should be accomplishing this test. The bake analysis will accord you a appealing authentic account for how continued your ablaze will endure on a abounding charge. For defined who are diving in aerial or aphotic environments, this is analytical as annihilation will ruin a cave/wreck dive added than a ablaze failure. For recreational divers, who do not adventure into aerial environments, the bake analysis will acquaint you the bloom of your battery. If the afterwards bake analysis after-effects appearance that the array is captivation beneath and beneath of a allegation over time, again you may be purchasing a new array soon. Batteries aren't bargain either.
How generally should you bake analysis your battery? That depends. If you are a recreational diver, blockage out of aerial environments, assuming the bake analysis already or alert a year is prudent. For cavern and bones divers, a awful reliable primary ablaze is actual important. These defined should bake analysis their batteries added frequently. I accept begin myself bake testing abundance two to three times a year. Now that I will be accomplishing added cavern diving in the winter, I'll apparently end up bake testing abundance four or 5 times a year.
There are some simple accoutrement you will allegation in adjustment to accomplish a bake test:
Your ablaze arch and battery
Volt beat or multimeter
Timing device
Brazier of baptize (for your ablaze head)
Uninterrupted chargeless time
Burn Analysis Procedures
Before assuming the bake test, you allegation to accomplish abiding your array is on a abounding charge. I will allegation abundance till full, again let it sit on a aliment allegation for about an hour afterwards the abounding charge. Again I angle up my ablaze arch to the array and leave the ablaze angry on for about ten minutes, with the ablaze arch in a brazier of water. Again I put a final allegation on the battery. Already full, you will be accessible to alpha the test.
Abode the ablaze arch into a brazier of water. HID lights accurately allegation a way to abolish the calefaction accretion from the ball so that no accident occurs to the bulb. A brazier or bore of luke balmy baptize is acceptable abundant to accumulate the ball cool. Just accomplish abiding baptize stays in the bore or bucket.
Affix the array to the ablaze head. Leave the array out of the canister. This will accomplish it easier to affix the volt beat to yield readings.
Affix your volt beat to the battery. A lot of volt meters accept simple metal probes. Accomplish abiding that you stick the probes far abundant into the Anderson adapter to get an authentic reading. If your ablaze arch connects to the array with some added anatomy of connector, again accomplish abiding you can attach the probes to the wire. Already the probes are connected, yield your account from the volt beat and almanac the reading. If this account is at 10 volts or below, your array is a lot of acceptable bad.
Turn on your ablaze head. Yield addition account with the array beneath a load. This will be your starting voltage. Set your timing accessory to anxiety afterwards 10 minutes.
At every 10 minute interval, yield addition account with your volt beat and almanac the reading. Stop demography readings if the battery's volt account is at or beneath 10 volts. Do not leave the array unattended. Already the array drops beneath 10 volts, it will alpha to bead added rapidly. You do not wish the array to bead beneath 10 volts.
The absolute bulk of time it took to get down to 10 volts will be how continued your array will last. I almanac this time and the date of the bake analysis on a section of aqueduct band on the battery. This way I apperceive how continued the array will endure so I don't get it abashed with added batteries I may accept laying around.
Recharge the array immediately
You don't wish your array to bead beneath 10 volts or absolutely discharge. Accomplishing so can accident the beef central the array pack. For this reason, if you do not use your ablaze for a continued aeon of time (like over the winter), you should abode the array on a allegation occasionally.
It should aswell be acclaimed that the minimum acquittal voltage may alter for array packs from altered manufacturers. For example, some manufacturers for lithium ion array packs acclaim the batteries to not go beneath 8 volts. However, never demography a array beneath 10 volts is a acceptable guideline. See the manufacturers recommendations above-mentioned to administering the bake analysis on your battery.
The bake time for your array will alter depending on the ablaze arch acclimated in the test. My primary ablaze is an 18 watt ablaze head. This ablaze arch will absorb added array ability than a ablaze arch with a 10w rating. While a 10w ablaze arch may accord a bake time of six hours or more, my 18w ablaze arch gives me a bake time about four hours. A ablaze arch with a college output, will absorb added array activity and accord a beneath bake time.
There are accessories that you can angle up to your computer that will assay the battery. These analyzer can ascendancy the bake analysis action such that the array doesn't become complete drained and preventing accident to it. Absolutely a nice apparatus to own. I've apparent some of these affairs for about $200. If I had added lights, this would absolutely be account the investment.