HiD Vs LED - Where are we today?

[Martin Owen]

From what i have read on here the Salvo's are not without their problems (Anderson connectors, chargers etc).
Having a supplier offering a great service at getting them repaired is reassuring, but if i am spending £800+ for a light i would expect it not to fail to begin with.

[Rob Dobson]

Originally Posted by Martin Owen

From what i have read on here the Salvo's are not without their problems (Anderson connectors, chargers etc).
Having a supplier offering a great service at getting them repaired is reassuring, but if i am spending £800+ for a light i would expect it not to fail to begin with.

I have had 5 Salvo's. The 1st was an old school 21W (1st generation, yellow light, square ballast). It wasn't very good - there was a strange issue with the ballast and the Nickel Minder Charger was pants. Without hesitation Barry swapped it out for the then brand new 18W HiD with the new blue/white light and the next generation of chargers (the blue ones) which was much better.

Since then I have had (and still have) a 21W 9ah nimh, a 21W 15.2ah Li-ion Rebel and the new 50W 21ah Havoc - all with the current black chargers. Never had an issue with connectors or chargers since those very early days. Never had a bulb blow, a light flood or any issue whatsoever.

I often loan the lights to people doing scooter try dives if their own light isn't up to the job and nearly everyone I do normal dives with has a Salvo - so that's a lot of in water time with and around Salvo's and I have never seen one break or fail despite being treated very badly. The only 'issues' I have ever seen is people (inc. me) not connecting the battery or running the battery flat - both hardly the lights fault.

A friend did once have a faulty bulb which blew the very 1st time he switched the light on (at home). Replaced under warranty. No big deal.

The Anderson connectors aren't fragile as such they are just the weakest point of something which is very robust in every other respect. The chargers are very reliable these days - never had an issue with one.

[divingniknaks]

Originally Posted by Martin Owen

From what i have read on here the Salvo's are not without their problems (Anderson connectors, chargers etc).
Having a supplier offering a great service at getting them repaired is reassuring, but if i am spending £800+ for a light i would expect it not to fail to begin with.

Hi,

Most "charger" problems are people not using the charger properly, as they are smart chargers they need to be operated in a particular way. Although as with anything electrical, yes they do fail occasionally.

Andersons, again most problems I'm aware of are when people are mounting lights in a "non-standard" way. Also people who insist on dragging a heavy battery out of the canister by the wires, instead of tipping it up and sliding the battery out.

However, again it's a piece of electrical equipment and not totally indestructible. Problems will happen, we try to mitigate any inconvenience where possible.

Overall, I'd say that Salvo's do pretty well in the robustness stakes, especially considering what some people do to them

.