HIDing behind watt?

["Graydon D. Stuckey" <graydon@apollo.gmi.edu>]

Lightsters,

	I spent a few minutes playing with an HID light today.  This one 
was made by Hella, and appears to be very close to a production unit.  It 
has a replacable bulb, which is very good.  Maintenance costs should be 
much reduced as a result.  The bulb was made by Phillips, and was marked 
as a 35watt bulb.  I found that it produced relatively equal light 
regardless of input voltage.  when the voltage dropped as far down as 8 
volts, then you could tell it dimmed slightly, but as long as I was above 
10v, it was as bright as at 14v.  At 14v, it drew 3.0 amps.  While it was 
still cold, the current seemed to fluctuate a little between 5 and 3 
amps, but it eventually settled at 3.0 amps.

	I removed the cover to the aluminum box, and was absolutely 
astonished at the sheer numbers of electronic components!  There were 
hundreds of resistors, microchips, transistors, capacitors, and a few 
other things that i couldn't name.  It looked like a computer in there!

	I can see why they are very expensive at this point.

Later, ---------------------------------------------------------- 
Graydon D. Stuckey 	'85 Mazda RX7 GS, no toys 
graydon@apollo.gmi.edu 	'86 Audi 5000 CS Turbo Quattro, has toys
Flint, Michigan USA	'89 Thunderbird SC, lotsa toys