Built a headlight.

[jetta_mike]

Here's a quicky run down of my set up. I won't go into gory detail as this has been done before.

I'm running dual 20w MR 16's, one flood and one spot beam. The housing is 50mm ABS pipe with a 50mm ABS cap on the back side with a standard 12v switch.


http://www3.telus.net/public/ccm26/headlight%20013%20scaled.JPG

[Bushman]

NICE!!! how do you retain the bulbs to the housing?

[kk4df]

Ouch. That hurts my neck to put that much on my head. I keep all my lights on my bars.

[cyccommute]

Ouch. That hurts my neck to put that much on my head. I keep all my lights on my bars.

I doubt that the lights weigh that much. And there are benefits to helmet mounts.

[cyccommute]

Here's a quicky run down of my set up. I won't go into gory detail as this has been done before.

I'm running dual 20w MR 16's, one flood and one spot beam. The housing is 50mm ABS pipe with a 50mm ABS cap on the back side with a standard 12v switch.


http://www3.telus.net/public/ccm26/headlight%20013%20scaled.JPG

Nice job I'd suggest you change the connectors to Dean's Ultra Connectors (http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/625085.asp). They're a little more rugged and have a lower resistance. They do require a soldered connection, however.

What's your battery and voltage?

[jetta_mike]

I have a 4Ah 12v SLA battery. the battery says its a 12v, but also says it cycles at 14.4v???? the lights weigh next to nothing. As for fixing the bulbs I had to bevel the inside of the pipe to allow the bulb to fit. the outer lip of the bulb sits on the outside of the pipe. I sealed it with some silicone and wrapped electrical tape around it quite tightly.

[znomit]

Id put the flood on the bars so you can see where you're going. If the battery is bike mounted this is easy. If the battery is on your back it becomes a tangle of wires.
I think the 14.4 is the charging voltage.

[cyccommute]

I have a 4Ah 12v SLA battery. the battery says its a 12v, but also says it cycles at 14.4v???? the lights weigh next to nothing. As for fixing the bulbs I had to bevel the inside of the pipe to allow the bulb to fit. the outer lip of the bulb sits on the outside of the pipe. I sealed it with some silicone and wrapped electrical tape around it quite tightly.

Unlike znomit, I'd keep the lights on my helmet and maybe make another set for the bars. I find the helmet light far more useful then the bar light.

I know you already have a battery but for the next generation, consider NiMH. It's lighter, only marginally more expensive and far more rugged than SLA. You can wire 2 7.2V RC car batteries together and get 14.4V. That's a 20% overvoltage which gives you an 80% increase in light output. For the weight of your SLA battery you could wire 2 of the above packs together in series (four RC batteries total) and get a much better run time. Your current run time is only around 1.25 hours. Four 3.3 Ah batteries would give you 6.6 Ah and a 2 hour run time.

Look at Battery Space (http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=703) or All Battery (http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=157) for RC batteries. Most of the 3.3 Ah batteries run around $18 each...more expensive than SLA but they will last longer and serve you better.

Your system looks good and there's nothing wrong with it's current configuration but there's always room for improvement;)