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See A Little Light: The official dynamo lighting thread

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See A Little Light: The official dynamo lighting thread

Old 12-26-12, 06:16 PM
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Thanks for the bump! Always looking for ways to shed a little illumination on what's in my way.
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Old 01-16-13, 01:25 PM
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Well the rear bulb burned out on the second ride. I ordered some bulbs from Bulb Town and currently have a #1447 (18 V, .15 A) bulb in there. The headlight seems the same, the tail light doesn't glow quite as bright (a good thing I think; I suspect the other bulbs were over-stressed). So far, so good. If it burns out quickly, I got some bulbs that run on even higher voltages (but draw a little more current).
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Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
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Old 01-16-13, 02:26 PM
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What do you mean, so far, so good? Sounds pretty bad to me. Are you sure you want to put this much effort into this? Some of the new stuff is pretty darned good. I have a Sanyo hub and a B&M light set.
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Old 01-16-13, 03:40 PM
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The new stuff is pretty good, but does it look as good as the Radios/Miller/JOS offerings? No, sir. No it does not.

I'm glad somebody bumped this, I want to try one of those side-emitter LEDs in my Miller.
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Old 01-16-13, 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by noglider
What do you mean, so far, so good? Sounds pretty bad to me. Are you sure you want to put this much effort into this? Some of the new stuff is pretty darned good. I have a Sanyo hub and a B&M light set.
If I want best functional lighting, you are absolutely correct. But part of my goal is to have the original lighting that came with the bike.

There are 12V B&M lights I could buy, but I need to make sure I know how they are regulated; if they rely on the dyno for voltage limiting, I would probably blow them up because I can easily generate 24V or more if I go fast enough. I'm not ruling them out for the future, but since I can easily add auxiliary modern lights if I need to, I kind of like fiddling around with the old junk to try to make it work in its original configuration.
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Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
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Old 01-16-13, 04:05 PM
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Here's my setup on our old tandem: I tested it out with modern wiring. Now I'm waiting to get some period-correct cloth-insulated wire for the final hookup.







Brent


You can see more of this bike here: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Belgian-Tandem
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Old 01-16-13, 04:12 PM
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My dynmo setup is far from C&V but I LOVE it!
Current setup is this hub:


With this light:

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Old 01-16-13, 06:19 PM
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Mine is also far from C&V but it's wonderfully effective. Some low-end Shimano dynohub that the LBS had sitting around, coupled with the B&M Lyt N. Total outlay about $70, and the light it throws is wonderful.

If I had it to do all over, I'd spring the extra $10 for the Lyt N+. It's got a standlight.
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Old 01-16-13, 07:34 PM
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This was a good bump.

I recently wired up 2 Union head lights and a JOS tail light to a 6v3w bottom bracket generator. For bulbs, I ordered 3 LED replacements at 1watt each and a voltage regulator from Reflectalite, as mentioned earlier in this thread. It works surprisingly well. Certainly better than the small blinkies i have used for years and no comparison to the old incandescent bulbs that came witht the head/tail lights..





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Old 01-16-13, 08:44 PM
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Where did you get the hanging-mount Unions?! Or is that a hack you did youself?

Also, specifically, what LEDs did you get?
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Old 01-16-13, 09:01 PM
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Originally Posted by canyoneagle
My dynmo setup is far from C&V but I LOVE it!
Current setup is this hub:


With this light:

I have a similar set up and if you don't know (I did not) you have to use a Supernova taillight if you want to use a wired tailight. The Supernova headlight converts the dyno current from AC to DC and if you use an AC taillight, you can damage/shorten the life span of each light.

I got a Supernova tailight and mounted it in my old (non-c&v) taillight housing. Pics below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/76454470@N05/8359894838/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/76454470@N05/8358830287/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/76454470@N05/8359894778/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/76454470@N05/8358830243/

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Old 01-16-13, 09:02 PM
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Originally Posted by fender1
I have a similar set up and if you don't know (I did not) you have to use a Supernova taillight if you want to use a wired tailight. The Supernova headlight converts the dyno current from AC to DC and if you use an AC taillight, you can damage/shorten the life span of each light.

I got a Supernova tailight and mounted it in my old (non-c&v) taillight housing. Pics below.


I'm using the E3 tail light, too - forgot to include it

They've updated their line for 2013. Dynamo lighting keeps getting better and better.
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Old 01-16-13, 09:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Captain Blight
Where did you get the hanging-mount Unions?! Or is that a hack you did youself?
Other than the rivets i used to re-attach the brackets, that is all stock. Just spin the lens ring 180*, squeeze it onto the main body and you now have a hanging Union light. It isn't meant to be this way, but it will work.

Originally Posted by Captain Blight

Also, specifically, what LEDs did you get?
NL436R *SCREW-CAP E10 **RED*
NL431 *SCREW-CAP E10 **PURE WHITE*
X-Gen voltage regulator

These have the standard screw base, so install was easy. The voltage regulator was needed to limit the amount of power the generator puts out at high speed. One end gets wired to ground (frame) and the other spliced into the positive run.

Read the web page to make sure you order the proper lights, although I suspect my configuration is pretty typical. Also note that these do not have a stand light as discussed in the post below.

3 bulbs, the voltage regulator + shipping from the UK was about $60. It's spendy, but I've wasted much more over the years trying to find the right lights. Knowing myself, I would continue nickel and dimeing my way to a whole lot more continuing the search. Fortunately, the Unions and the BB generator came to me in a fairly cheap box of parts from eBay.

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Old 01-16-13, 09:39 PM
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I like the C&V look of vintage head and taillights, but I like the functionality of modern LED technology. Standlights, in particular, are essential for any serious nighttime riding especially in stop and go traffic. For taillights, it's an easy marriage. For headlights, not as easy. I have retrofitted several vintage taillights with modern LED circuitry, using either B&M seculite or Spanninge Pixeo rear taillight LEDs as the "guts":











And for the more purist C&V enthusiast, Compass Bicycles sells a neat little replacement screw-in "bulb" which contains a red-illuminating LED and has a built-in standight. It doesn't work as well as the B&M full-size units, but it's way brighter than an incandescent, and the standlight works in a less bright mode for a solid 30 seconds (it's on reduced standlight power in this shot):



For headlights, I don't bother retrofitting, because I believe that the optics are as important as, if not more important than, the emitter. So I just go modern and deal with it. At least for my real riders. For my C&V "event" bikes, I keep the C&V lighting stock. Then again, most C&V events are in the daytime. Honestly, I don't mind a modern dynamo hub and headlight on a C&V bike. The anachronism is excusable in light of the functionality:

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Old 01-16-13, 09:46 PM
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Look at that silly light bracket you have!!

Where did you run the wire for the tail light? I see those are VO fenders on the cream frame. Were you able to route the wire through the rolled edge? I stumbled upon that option last night on mine.

FYI, the LED's from Nicelite do not have a stand light. That would be a good thing to have. I'll have to learn how to wire a capacitor into my set up.

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Old 01-17-13, 12:19 AM
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Okay! I guess it's time I learn to solder!
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Old 03-07-13, 10:38 PM
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I don't suppose anyone has tried one of these?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bike-...738244446.html
Imperfect is OK if it works and doesn't look abysmal
Anything I buy for my old lady I will need to import and the free shipping makes this quite affordable.
Anyone have a good reason why this wouldn't work on my 1960 Robin Hood?
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Old 03-08-13, 09:35 AM
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In August, I put a Sanyo dynamo hub and B&M headlight on my Bianchi Volpe.



More recently, I changed the headlight to a Philips and added a B&M taillight. I also have a quick disconnect cable for the front hub in hopes of moving this wheel from bike to bike. I plan to remove the rear rack, so I'll attach the taillight in a different way. I also have two battery-powered taillights, attached to my seat bag. I think I'll attach them a different way, and I'll keep my tools in something else.



Here is the whole series of pictures.
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Old 03-08-13, 10:00 AM
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I don't like the new stuff either, they def do a better job lighting the way and look good on newer bikes, but when you're going "classic/vintage" theres nothing like a classic/vintage light set up.
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Old 03-08-13, 10:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Ericajane
I don't suppose anyone has tried one of these?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bike-...738244446.html
Imperfect is OK if it works and doesn't look abysmal
Anything I buy for my old lady I will need to import and the free shipping makes this quite affordable.
Anyone have a good reason why this wouldn't work on my 1960 Robin Hood?
Yes, that will work with your bike. The aesthetic is even pretty good.
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Old 03-08-13, 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Ericajane
I don't suppose anyone has tried one of these?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bike-...738244446.html
Imperfect is OK if it works and doesn't look abysmal
Anything I buy for my old lady I will need to import and the free shipping makes this quite affordable.
Anyone have a good reason why this wouldn't work on my 1960 Robin Hood?
I read "the tail light do not look perfect" and they do not post clear detailed pics of it as they do with the rest of the set. RED FLAG CAUTION!
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Old 03-09-13, 05:55 PM
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Thanks photgravity. I thought it should look OK. Slightly unsure about the size of the headlight but the shape seems right.
i thought that too ilikebikes but I contacted te seller and they said it was fine. Translator error and they would change the listing. I'll wait and see if that happens. It's escrow payment so I have comeback if they don't deliver what they promise. The lights are chrome over metal rather than over plastic too.
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