OMS Phantom Halogen

[Rydive]

I've just bought one of these on ebay. Just wanted to get some opinions and advice, if you'd be kind enough. This is my first torch.

I very recently bought a D4R off a friend but saw the OMS up for £100 buy it now on fleabay and jumped at the chance of an umbilical for that price... did I make a mistake? I didn't think it over too hard!

I thought that being as it was a halogen torch it might have lead acid batteries and be cheap to run. Also does anybody know what the chances are of upgrading the bulb to HID might be in the future if I wanted to? Is there an overheating issue, or is it simply down to the fitting for the bulb and the battery voltage.

I can't seem to find much info on anything other than the current HID model.

Thanks in advance folks.

[Woz]

I doubt you would be able to upgrade to HID as it's not just the bulb but the ballast and wiring that needs doing too. Unless you fancy 20kV up your whotsit.

[Rydive]

Originally Posted by Woz

I doubt you would be able to upgrade to HID as it's not just the bulb but the ballast and wiring that needs doing too. Unless you fancy 20kV up your whotsit.

Never mind, I'm sure the halogen will be good enough for me. As for the 20 kv, it's tempting, but from your tone Woz I get the impression it might not be that comfortable!

Is ballast another word for battery, or is it something completely different? Excuse my ignorance! Thanks for the help, Woz.

[Woz]

A ballast is a thingy that converts your low battery pack voltage to many volts. Typically they need a number of kV (that's 1000 V) to strike an arc then they throttle that back to run the lamp once it's lit.

Have a look on Mr Knacker's site and you'll see heads with ballasts and battery packs with ballasts. You can't have the cable too long from the ballast to the bulb as if it's too long the voltage drop is too high, IIRC. Generally the bulbs plug straight into the ballasts which is why you can't simply swap a halogen bulb for an HID bulb.

Here you go. You can clearly see the bulb with ballast slug right behind it on KnackWhack's site. He'll be knocking on your door in a minute with a Visa swipe machine with which he will beat you repeatedly until you buy something off him. Don't succumb. Resist. Be strong.

Salvo HID Light heads and ballasts at divingniknaks

[Rydive]

Ah, said the village idiot. I will leave that well alone and be happy with my lot then! That makes things much clearer. Cheers.

Edit; I can see what you mean from the link! Don't worry, the force is with me... I'm skint!

[Woz]

I've got an older version of this one:
Salvo Rebel 9 Amp NiMH 21 Watt HID, 21 Watt NiMH lights at divingniknaks 0121 707 5783. Frog, Dirzone, Agir Brokk Scuba Diving Gear
as I imported a load before Phil set up his market stall.

It's blimming brilliant.

[Rydive]

For gods sake man .... have mercy!