Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Total Geekiness

OR use a hose clamp around the whole unit

Great idea, i don't know why i haven't thought of it, i see it all over this geek thread.
Thanks for the heads up... ill try caulk for water proofing...

I'm confused... Now I've seen that both the radioshack strobes and the all-electronics ones have failed on people because they can't handle vibration? If I buy one, I want it to last a while. What is the recommendation?

Thanks! Mine (all-electronics) has lasted more than 2 years. One tip, use the thin foam pad that comes with it between the light and the surface you mount it to.

Last month I noticed a bit on condensation on the inside after a hard rain. I drilled two small holes on the bottom of the yellow cover and it cleared right up.

As posted in a separate thread in the Commuting forum, here is my new tail light:

http://www.rebel-cycles.com/trikephotos/newtrikelight.jpg

http://www.rebel-cycles.com/trikephotos/sideview.jpg

http://www.rebel-cycles.com/trikephotos/rearview.jpg

As posted in a separate thread in the Commuting forum, here is my new tail light:


edit: never mind

I've been running my geek system (Optronics/MR16, Luxeon III MR16, NightSun strobe, LED running lights F&R, 5Ah NiMH) for almost a year now. System has worked great, except that after a couple of rides in hard rain I notice water condensation inside the MR16 bulb unit, and sometimes even a little pooling. When this happens my runtime is reduced well below an hour, presumably because the h2o inside is reducing the electrical resistance of the bulb.

Anyone else had this problem? This has happened to me with both SoLux and Phillips bulbs, by the way. I've made no attempt to seal up the Optronics housings, but I'm not sure it would help anyway. It looks like the SoLux bulbs have a little bit of a gap in the sealant between the lens and the glass housing -- basically the sealant goes about 350 degrees around instead of 360, possibly to allow for expansion and contraction of the air inside? Has anyone tried sealing up the gap? Could this cause the bulb explode when it gets hot? For the moment I'll at least try installing a bulb with the "gap" pointing down.

I've been running my geek system (Optronics/MR16, Luxeon III MR16, NightSun strobe, LED running lights F&R, 5Ah NiMH) for almost a year now.
Can you give a review/source for your Luxeon III MR16 bulb? Brightness compared to halogen, cost, etc?

About the water in your bulb, I agree about putting the gap on the bottom. When I was using the 14 watt sealed beam bulbs, water would sometime get inside the housing; I just drilled two small holes on the bottom for the water to drain out--worked fine.

If anyone is looking for good MR16 housings, there is an ebay listing for five of the optronics fog light units. Too bad he isn't listing these one at a time. But so far the bidding is low enough that it's less then the retail price of a single unit.

WHOLESALE LOT OF 5 OPTRONICS FOG LIGHTS HALOGEN RACING (330063605497)

well, my commute this am didn't happen because i ran over a chair slider (looked like a thumtack on steroids) over the weekend, and it blew all the Slime outta my tube and made a mess. didn't fix it yet. So the dirt-only Titus is on the roof of my car, in the lot, waiting for 4pm.....

You can also buy the Optronics fog lights from JCWhitney. Buy the round ones and ignore that it says it uses an H-3 bulb. I personally bought this light from them and put a Phillips energy saver 20W MR-16 spot in one and 20W flood in the other (I wish I would have put 20W spots in both). I have both mounted on my bike using the spot for the most part with the flood as a backup in case the spot burns out while I am on the road at night. I do like running both though. It makes a very nice light. My battery sources are a 6ah and 7ah SLA battery which will run the single light over 3 hours and both about half of that. I have two batteries, but only carry one. The other is a spare.

http://home.earthlink.net/~dgholmes59/images/lights.front.JPG
http://home.earthlink.net/~dgholmes59/images/lights.back.JPG
http://home.earthlink.net/~dgholmes59/images/light.back.best.JPG

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10101/s-10101/p-100000201440/mediaCode-ZX/appId-100000201440/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:100000201440

I prefer using the Optronics because it requires very little work. The only modification I made was installing a mini toggle switch from Radio Shack on each lamp housing. I then replaced the 50W fog lamps with the 20W Phillips Energy savers. I use the Phillips bulb because they put out 35W of light, but use only 20W of power. These bulbs are expensive ($10.99 ea.) but far superior to the standard 20W MR16 halogen bulb.

I now have another battery that I read about at the beginning of this thread. It is the Vector Pocket Power 6ah battery. I found one on ebay for about $22 shipped. It comes in a weather resistant case and comes with a charger. It has a cigarette lighter connection, so I installed a cigarette lighter plug on my bike wiring harness. Very easy to plug in now.

This is my second attempt at making my own bike light and my recommendation for others wanting to make their own and not wanting to put alot of effort into it. My first lamp was made using the Malibu ($15 ea.) landscaping lamp, but the bulb would vibrate out of the socket. I spent alot trying to make it work and was never happy with it. These Optronics lamps are made for cars, so they are designed for the vibration. I like the looks better as well.

Bill of Materials:
Two Optronics fog lights $22 shipped
Two mini switches $6
Two conduit clamps (light mounting brackets) $2
Two bulbs $28 shipped
Wiring harness $5
Cigarette lighter plug $5
SLA battery $22 shipped
R&D $200. Just kidding. Probably about $100. lol

Total for two bike lights, wiring harness, battery and charger $90

May be able to do this more inexpensively if you can find parts locally and not pay shipping. Another savings is using cheaper bulbs, but your light output will not be as bright. Another savings is not trying to reinvent the wheel yourself. Learn from people on this thread. If someone is having a problem with a particular type of setup, most likely you will too.

I would also like to mention that I just installed a tinted Mueller Windwrap on my Sun EZ Sport. This light setup shines through the fairing just fine and lights the road very well. It does light up the fairing as well, but even that makes it easy to read my computer. Also makes it easier for cars to see me from the side.

In case anyone is looking for a big battery for cheap, I just bought a 12VDC 7.2AH from American Science and Surplus for $10. (http://www.sciplus.com/category.cfm?subsection=13)

http://www.sciplus.com/itm_photos/36913.jpg

I also bought a foot pump for $5 (http://www.sciplus.com/singleItem.cfm?terms=12235&cartLogFrom=Search)

http://www.sciplus.com/itm_photos/15401.jpg

Total with shipping was $20.

R&D $200. Just kidding. Probably about $100. lol

I think we sometimes forget this item. I spent $62 building a single MR16 headlight with a xenon strobe (still running!) tail light. But the extra gadgets and spare parts and tools and duct tape ... I didn't tally that up, but it was easily $30.

http://www.sciplus.com/itm_photos/36913.jpg

Battery is as described, and should give me 1.8 hours to 50% charge with 12v, 20w MR-16 based on this (http://www.solarwindtec.com/batcac.shtml) calculator (note: only works in IE)



I also bought a foot pump for $5 (http://www.sciplus.com/singleItem.cfm?terms=12235&cartLogFrom=Search)

http://www.sciplus.com/itm_photos/15401.jpg



The foot pump is a total POS, but it does work and WTH for $5.

I finally wrote the instructions (http://home.earthlink.net/~dgholmes59/Light/Homemade%20Bike%20Light.htm) for my homemade light using the Optronics fog lights. I thought I would post the link here for those that need help with their own lights. I hope they are helpful.

holmes:

pretty code, but that's all I got.

been pootling around with a homebrew MR16 for a while.

Ordered a bunch of batteries and charger from batteryspace, but my 14.4v overvoltaged 35w bulb melted the pvc housing.

I was at home depot the other day and checked out their outdoor lighting section, and ta-daa! Red Dot aluminum outdoor flood light housing and silicone grommets/covers--results in a perfect fit no melting, and good heat dispersion. I just cut the screw-in bulb socket out, plugged in the ceramic MR16 connector from batteryspace, and cut one of the silicone covers to make a gasket for the bulb. The housing even has a little hole that fits a radioshack toggle real well (with a bit of filing and dremeling of the inside). Housing: $3 or something, silicone covers were 2.

It also has an articulated base that fits great in the clamp part of old bike reflector mounts (with an innertube shim).

I should add it looks pretty pro, despite my attempts to muck it up with duct tape (no soldering iron for me).

holmes:

pretty code, but that's all I got.

Me too.

holmes:

pretty code, but that's all I got.

It seems it is a Internet Explorer specific page. :(

It seems it is a Internet Explorer specific page. :(
If you use Firefox (like I do) you can get an Add-On called IE Tabs which will render a page using IE. It worked for this.

You can also buy the Optronics fog lights from JCWhitney. Buy the round ones and ignore that it says it uses an H-3 bulb. I personally bought this light from them and put a Phillips energy saver 20W MR-16 spot in one and 20W flood in the other ... Could you explain further? Does the MR16 replace both the reflector and the H3 bulb, or do the housings not really have H3's in them?

As far as the code, it was made using Microsoft Word so I guess they made it only work with IE. I wonder how I would save it so it would work with other browsers. I know nothing about making this html stuff. I make it in Word and save it in html format. If you have suggestions, I will try to make it work for all browsers.

The Optronics fog lights come with 50 watt MR16 bulbs, not H3's. Just remove the 50W MR16 bulbs and install the 20W MR16 bulbs.

Can you give a review/source for your Luxeon III MR16 bulb? Brightness compared to halogen, cost, etc?

About the water in your bulb, I agree about putting the gap on the bottom. When I was using the 14 watt sealed beam bulbs, water would sometime get inside the housing; I just drilled two small holes on the bottom for the water to drain out--worked fine.Thanks for the reply. Sorry for taking so long to get back. My Luxeon III MR16 is from http://autolumination.com/mr16.htm. At the time they only offered it in one color, which is fairly bluish so I presume it's the "cool white". It was advertised as having a 100 degree beam, though in practice the majority of light is concentrated into a 15 degree beam where you want it. There's significant overspill beyond 15 degrees, which is actually very nice and provides decent peripheral vision on dark pathways, with a very sharp edge to the beam at about 100 degrees.

Overall light output seems equivalent to a 5-6W halogen, though still less than a 10W. It puts out noticeably a bit less light than my Priceton Tec Apex headlamp, also a Luxeon III but a particularly well designed one. Still noticeably more light than the 1W Luxeon Princeton Tec Eos I use on my helmet. It's enough to light up your path in low light situations at moderate speeds, and still enough to be visible on the pavement in most lighted streets.

I measured the effective current draw at about 4 watts, so it's clearly not the most efficient LED assembly out there. But it's still more efficient than a low-wattage halogen, it's just the right amount of light for my low beam needs, and the beam shape is absolutely perfect, so I'm very happy with it.

Link will now work for you guys running firefox. I just tested it with my Unix machine running Mozilla and it worked. I had to save the Word file as html filtered. Enjoy.

I'm confused... Now I've seen that both the radioshack strobes and the all-electronics ones have failed on people because they can't handle vibration? If I buy one, I want it to last a while. What is the recommendation?

Thanks!

NeezyDeezy and others who have or are considering Zenon strobe units: I have used the same now discontinued Radio Shack strobe for close to fifteen (15) years. The first, all $15.00 of it, failed in a few weeks. When I opened it I found a large (thumb joint sized) capacitor attached to the sircuit board by only two lead wires. I simply brought another unit, carefully opened it and used gobs of simple translucent silicone caulk to brace it. Reassembled it has lasted since the early 1990s. The flash intesity is far FAR superior to any other flasher I have seen. It exceeds the flashers you see on some forklifts one sees in warehouses. One night my headlight failed and I finished the ride down the unlit moonless bike path using the forward part of the 360 degree strobe. When I rode the night rides with the Orange County Wheelmen in Southern California I was told to ride at the back of the pack, my taillight hurt their eyes. If it ever was stolen or broke I would check out the All-electronic strobe immediately, opening one to check for loose parts.

It uses a watt or two, trivial with my 144 watt-hour battery.

Link will now work for you guys running firefox. I just tested it with my Unix machine running Mozilla and it worked. I had to save the Word file as html filtered. Enjoy.

My linux box thanks you :)

I just ordered my Optronics lights from JC Whitney and was wondering if you can use an MR-16 that comes without the lens in these lights?

I just ordered my Optronics lights from JC Whitney and was wondering if you can use an MR-16 that comes without the lens in these lights?

I wouldn't, but one probably can. However, bulbs with covers are pretty cheap. No cover also means no protection for a very hot bulb from wet conditions that can shatter it. You can find the 20 watt MR-16s at just about any hardware store. I got mine at Home Depot for like $7 each. Even the local mom+pop hardware stores around here have them on their 4 foot display of "specialty lighting".

+1 on the linux thing by the way. Both my work and home pc have run linux 95% exclusively for years now.

Ken

I wouldn't, but one probably can. However, bulbs with covers are pretty cheap. No cover also means no protection for a very hot bulb from wet conditions that can shatter it. You can find the 20 watt MR-16s at just about any hardware store. I got mine at Home Depot for like $7 each. Even the local mom+pop hardware stores around here have them on their 4 foot display of "specialty lighting".

+1 on the linux thing by the way. Both my work and home pc have run linux 95% exclusively for years now.

Ken

I think I did not word my question very well. I ALREADY have a 20W MR-16 w/o a lens so I was wondering if I could use that in place of the one that comes in the Optronics light. So, I guess part of my question is does the Optronics light come with it's own lens that is not part of the bulb assembly?

P.S. I am using Ubuntu right now on my laptop (Ubuntu wireless support is awesome) and like it a lot, but the new SUSE version really rocks. I am using that on my desktop and love it.

I think I did not word my question very well. I ALREADY have a 20W MR-16 w/o a lens so I was wondering if I could use that in place of the one that comes in the Optronics light. So, I guess part of my question is does the Optronics light come with it's own lens that is not part of the bulb assembly?

P.S. I am using Ubuntu right now on my laptop (Ubuntu wireless support is awesome) and like it a lot, but the new SUSE version really rocks. I am using that on my desktop and love it.

No, it doesn't.

Ken

(Who is also running Ubuntu)

The 50W lamps that come with the Optronics lights have their own lens. The metal shells are simply shells. Check the physical dimensions of the lens-less lamp and see if it has the same dimensions as the ones that have lenses. The lens-less ones may not fit right and rattle about or something. See if it works, and if it does, fine, but don't take it out in the rain.

I am also of the opinion that you need to have a lens to protect the hot lamp from moisture. A water drop hitting the hot glass will cause it to shatter. Not good if you're out in the middle of nowhere at night, in the rain... or a stupid bug smacks into it.

O.T. A Boy Scout thing would be to see if you can use the lens-less lamps to start a fire. A little tinder in the reflector, turn on the light and poof! Instant fire. I don't know...whatever... its late... or is that a McGuyver thing.

question:

is it advisable to link up a parallel-wired set of D-batteries to a serially-wired set of AAs in order to increase the Ah without increasing voltage? My overvoltaged 35w bulb is eating up the AAs pretty fast, even though they're 2500 mAh.

also, on a lighter note, I was putzing around with the wiring and shorted 14.4v--the smell of seared finger is awesome.

question:

is it advisable to link up a parallel-wired set of D-batteries to a serially-wired set of AAs in order to increase the Ah without increasing voltage? My overvoltaged 35w bulb is eating up the AAs pretty fast, even though they're 2500 mAh.

also, on a lighter note, I was putzing around with the wiring and shorted 14.4v--the smell of seared finger is awesome.

I wouldn't advise it. There's a danger of voltage imbalance, and the resulting smell is just as bad as burnt flesh....

A 35 Watt bulb is going to eat up those small batteries pretty quick. If you are going to run that large of a bulb, I would advise a SLA battery of 7AH or use a smaller wattage bulb of less than 20 watts. 10 to 15 watt would give you 1.5 to 2.0 hours of runtime.


P (power) =I(Current) * E(voltage)

35W/12V = 2.9 amps which is what the bulb will draw at 12V.

2.5 AH /2.9 amps is approximately 52 minutes but it will be more like 35 min. or less and that will not be full brightness for the 35 minutes.

I would recommend a larger battery capacity or a smaller wattage bulb if you are worried about the weight of a SLA battery.

These are only calculated runtimes. I would experiment with the runtimes on the bench before going out with the light because you sure don't want to get out miles from the house and run out of light.

I run two 20 watt halogen lights with a 6 Ah or 7 ah SLA battery. I only run one light until it gets real dark and then I run both. But I try to ensure I am almost done with my ride because I know my battery is going to run down twice as fast with both.

Thanks y'all.

Holmes--yeah, I have a 20w bulb, but I looove the overvoltaged 35w--it is painfully bright to oncoming traffic.

with my current set up, I have about 40-50 mins runtime, more than enough enough for the commute home in the dark.

However, one of my batteries shifted in the rack a bit and looks like it had a bit of a short, so I think it might be dead, or causing an incomplete charge. My light's only been giving 30 mins lately, just barely enough to get home

Guess it's time to pony up for the NiMh pack, or go SLA.

Thanks y'all.

Holmes--yeah, I have a 20w bulb, but I looove the overvoltaged 35w--it is painfully bright to oncoming traffic.

with my current set up, I have about 40-50 mins runtime, more than enough enough for the commute home in the dark.

However, one of my batteries shifted in the rack a bit and looks like it had a bit of a short, so I think it might be dead, or causing an incomplete charge. My light's only been giving 30 mins lately, just barely enough to get home

Guess it's time to pony up for the NiMh pack, or go SLA.

Or you could really show 'em who's boss, and get a lithium battery. ;)

Well, I put the Optronics driving lights on my bike this morning and rode over to the hardware store to get some more stuff. Two blocks from my house one of the light's retaining ring fell off and went rolling down the street on its own :mad: . Fortunately there was little traffic since it was Sunday and I was able to retrieve it before it was run over. Anyway, I had been forewarned in a previous thread that the retaining ring could fall off, so it wasn't unexpected. However, these lights definitely need to have some type of small sheet metal screw put in to keep the ring in place, or perhaps some electrical tape around the perimeter. *sigh*

Here is a picture of the housing, etcetera, without the mounting bracket (still on the bike) since there happened to be an inquiry about the housing a few posts above.
33802

Well, I put the Optronics driving lights on my bike this morning and rode over to the hardware store to get some more stuff. Two blocks from my house one of the light's retaining ring fell off and went rolling down the street on its own :mad: . Fortunately there was little traffic since it was Sunday and I was able to retrieve it before it was run over. Anyway, I had been forewarned in a previous thread that the retaining ring could fall off, so it wasn't unexpected. However, these lights definitely need to have some type of small sheet metal screw put in to keep the ring in place, or perhaps some electrical tape around the perimeter. *sigh*I thought about the screw thing myself .. placed on the bottom it would also provide for drainage of water that gets inside the housing. What I've found works well instead of electrical tape is Reflectix metallic duct tape. I just take a narrow 2" strip and wrap it around part of the junction between the retaining ring and the housing. Since it's shiny silver in color it blends in with the Optronics housing, and seems to take the heat just fine.


question:

is it advisable to link up a parallel-wired set of D-batteries to a serially-wired set of AAs in order to increase the Ah without increasing voltage? My overvoltaged 35w bulb is eating up the AAs pretty fast, even though they're 2500 mAh.

also, on a lighter note, I was putzing around with the wiring and shorted 14.4v--the smell of seared finger is awesome.Wow, that's going to be very tough on batteries. I'm running my (non-overvoltaged) 35W off a 5000mAh NiMH battery pack, and that's pushing the batteries about as hard as anyone should. I think even 5000mAh would be have a hard time handling an overvoltaged 35W very well.

My system is fully drained in just over an hour (which fortunately is just long enough for me). I've gotten away with that for a year so far, but if the battery pack doesn't make it though a second year I may step up to the next level in power. I think the next level in NiMH is 8000mAh or so ... in which case I'll probably step the bulb up to 50W too! More is better!

okay, so what is the advantage of overvoltaging, really? I just did it because I could, but...

Am I basically just burning stuff out faster?

I thought there would be some sort of gain for battery life, but if I'm busting aH and heat like a 50w party, why don't I just run a 50watter in there at a marginal extra expense if the housing can take it? I could save a little weight on the batts, too.

okay, so what is the advantage of overvoltaging, really? I just did it because I could, but...

Am I basically just burning stuff out faster?

I thought there would be some sort of gain for battery life, but if I'm busting aH and heat like a 50w party, why don't I just run a 50watter in there at a marginal extra expense if the housing can take it? I could save a little weight on the batts, too.Better efficiency. A given bulb run at 10% over its rated voltage uses about 20% more power than at its rated voltage ... but delivers 35-40% more light. At 20% over rated voltage you draw about 25% more power than at rated voltage but get about 80% more light. The downside is reduced bulb life, but if you're reducing a rated life of 3000-5000 hours to a few hundred hours, a lot of cyclists consider the tradeoff to be worth it.

http://nordicgroup.us/s78/wattslumens.html

See the above link for a chart of wattage and light output at various drive states. I believe the lumen figures in this chart are actually wildly optimistic for halogens, but the relative values for rated vs. 10% over vs. 20 % over should be correct.

Connector question for those in the know ...

When I built up my homebrew system a year ago, I reused the old connectors from a couple of old TurboCat systems. That was fine at first, but those connectors were years old already and a couple of them are starting to fail. I'm planning to rewire my system with new connectors (among other changes), and I'd like to know what experiences others have had with the various types. At batteryspace.com they've got several types:

Their widest selection is of Mini Tamiya connectors. My charger came with the full size Tamiya, which seems easy to use but does feel just a little bit cheap:
http://www.batteryspace.com/ProductImages/connectors/TamiyaMa.JPG

What they label simply as their "waterproof" connector:
http://www.batteryspace.com/ProductImages/aa/20051206/P4110164.jpg

BEC connectors look nice, but are prewired with AWG 22 wire, which seems a little lightweight for this application.
http://www.batteryspace.com/ProductImages/connectors/CN-JSTSYP.jpg

Hitec. These seem a little silly since the connectors themselves are 3 conductor, and are also wired with AWG 22:
http://www.batteryspace.com/ProductImages/connectors/HTecFM.jpg

Any preferences? My inclination is towards the "waterproof" connectors since they appear a bit more durable.

Batteryspace sells another type of waterproof connector that you didn't list:

http://www.batteryspace.com/ProductImages/connectors/P5210132.jpg

It's the Powerizer 2-conductor waterproof lockable connector. (http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2898) I use this on my lights, and it works very well.

Can I swap a 6V/20W halo bulb into my cygo nitro headpiece in place of the 6V15W bulb? Would there be any kind of fire/meltdown risk, or is it just extra draw on the battery?

Here is what I've done..

I'm using a 12v , 5Ah sealed lead acid battery and a Home Depot garden flood light ..

I hacked and grinded the steak so it fit into my steerer tube and then drilled a hole in the middle and ran a zip-tie to hold it down (and straight ahead !)

I used old computer power cables and an old computer power supply socket as the quick-disconnect with a 10watt inline fuse.

The light is 20 watts. and cost $ 9.99 at home depot.
The battery cost $ 12 at zbattery.com
The charger also costs about $12 at zbattery.com

This thing is so bright that it blinds you at almost any distance !!!!! I can't wait to use it !!!!

pics - 56k dies ...

http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010080.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010081.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010082.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010083.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010084.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010085.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010086.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010087.jpg


Thanks for keeping it geeky !

(a few more pictures are included in the next post: :eek:

Here are the rest:

http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010088.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010089.jpg

Charger wires hooked to a spare PC power cable, this hooks to the battery to charge it up overnight =)

http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010090.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010091.jpg

Connector on the end of the light, it will run from the lamp to my bookbag (and into the battery).

=)



http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010092.jpg
http://velocide.com/images_old/2007_pics/20w_bike_light/p1010093.jpg

Excellent idea with the AC recepticle, I may have to borrow it :)

Connector question for those in the know ...
When I built up my homebrew system a year ago, I reused the old connectors from a couple of old TurboCat systems. That was fine at first, but those connectors were years old already and a couple of them are starting to fail. I'm planning to rewire my system with new connectors (among other changes), and I'd like to know what experiences others have had with the various types. At batteryspace.com they've got several types:

Their widest selection is of Mini Tamiya connectors. My charger came with the full size Tamiya, which seems easy to use but does feel just a little bit cheap:
http://www.batteryspace.com/ProductImages/connectors/TamiyaMa.JPG

I have a couple pairs of RC batteries with these connectors. I wired a matching connector to my helmet light 6v system. I also wired a double connectors in serial to work with my DIY 12v system.
What they label simply as their "waterproof" connector:

http://www.batteryspace.com/ProductImages/aa/20051206/P4110164.jpg

My 12v system uses these connectors on the battery, several pairs of optronics housings, and the lightbrain controller. I also have a 2 Tamiya connector <==> waterproof connector as stated above. I found them for $1.50. I like them because they're polarized and one unit provides two connections.

Excellent idea with the AC recepticle, I may have to borrow it :)

I just got to work.. I used the light the entire way in the dark -pre-dawn time..

My purpose for getting this light is two-fold, the same as everyone else I think (to light up the road, and to make me more visible to drivers and hopefully reduce / prevent left-hooks).

It works as advertised. Some have said that the standard bulb that is included with this light is more of a floodlight (which is what it says on the box) and that one can swap the bulb for a direct-fit "spotilght-type" bulb.

What is the part # for this spotlight bulb ?


I noticed that the beam is very spread out. I pointed the light a bit lower to get a good view of the road ahead, but the most I can get is 20-30 feet (very VERY bright) but I would like something that can light up the road further ahead.

I am certain that drivers can see it, because I stood in front of it from far ahead and I was still blinded from 50 feet + ... I'm certain it is performing its intended duties as advertised... I just want MORE ! :eek:

A 35 Watt bulb is going to eat up those small batteries pretty quick. If you are going to run that large of a bulb, I would advise a SLA battery of 7AH or use a smaller wattage bulb of less than 20 watts. 10 to 15 watt would give you 1.5 to 2.0 hours of runtime.


P (power) =I(Current) * E(voltage)

35W/12V = 2.9 amps which is what the bulb will draw at 12V.

2.5 AH /2.9 amps is approximately 52 minutes but it will be more like 35 min. or less and that will not be full brightness for the 35 minutes.

I would recommend a larger battery capacity or a smaller wattage bulb if you are worried about the weight of a SLA battery.

These are only calculated runtimes. I would experiment with the runtimes on the bench before going out with the light because you sure don't want to get out miles from the house and run out of light.

I run two 20 watt halogen lights with a 6 Ah or 7 ah SLA battery. I only run one light until it gets real dark and then I run both. But I try to ensure I am almost done with my ride because I know my battery is going to run down twice as fast with both.


Once you know the aH and the amp draw, how do you calculate the run-time ? ??

Nevermind, I figured it out lol =)

run-time = ((volts x amph)/watts)

teeheee

Can I swap a 6V/20W halo bulb into my cygo nitro headpiece in place of the 6V15W bulb? Would there be any kind of fire/meltdown risk, or is it just extra draw on the battery?

There shouldn't be any heat problems but your run time is going to be cut down. The 20W bulb will draw 3.3 A while the 15W bulb will draw 2.5 A. If you have a 3.3 Ah battery, you'll lose about a half an hour with the 20 W bulb. In other words, you'll lose about 25% of your capacity.

There shouldn't be any heat problems but your run time is going to be cut down. The 20W bulb will draw 3.3 A while the 15W bulb will draw 2.5 A. If you have a 3.3 Ah battery, you'll lose about a half an hour with the 20 W bulb. In other words, you'll lose about 25% of your capacity.

I think I can live with that.

Thanks!